Brazil-based lithium startup Sigma Lithium Resources Corp (SGMA.V) has held talks with Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and other automakers about supplying the key battery ingredient in the coming years, the company’s chief executive said on Thursday.

Japan’s Mitsui & Co. will invest $30 million in Sigma Lithium Resources’ (TSX-V: SGMA) project in Brazil, as demand for the metal used in the batteries that power electric vehicles is set to continue growing, keeping the market tight.

Eloro Resources Granted Option to Acquire the Iska Iska Polymetallic Property, Potosi Department, Southern Bolivia

The Bolivian government is “building a new relation between business and the state,” Bolivia’s Mining and Metallurgy Minister Cesar Navarro tells The Northern Miner in a sit-down interview in his government office.

This month Pacha’s lead geologist for Latin America, Dr. Osvaldo Arce was at our orogenic property situated near Tupiza, Bolivia to initiate detailed GPS mapping and surface sampling of this 800ha. concession.

Mining for lithium could start in the Czech Republic in two years, exploiting Europe’s largest resource of the metal that is used in batteries for electric vehicles and home power storage.

The stability of the Bolivian economy has ranked the country as number one in economic growth in South America in 2016, an achievement that the Government plans to maintain this year, based on dynamic financial activity and social protection programs.