The shift to electric vehicles has spurred a global rush for lithium. This scramble was demonstrated during a recent auction for a controlling stake in a Chinese lithium mine, which garnered 3 448 bids. The 54.3% stake in Yajiang Snowway Mining Development, which is undergoing a bankruptcy process, was eventually sold for $299-million, after a heated bidding war, joined by 21 participants and watched by about 980 000 people online. Photograph Bloomberg