Billionaires v BHP: who is right about lithium?

Earlier this year, Tim Goyder became a poster boy for the lithium boom.

The surge in demand for electric vehicles and the batteries that power them, turned his lithium hopeful Liontown Resources into a takeover target. US giant Albermarle offered $6.6 billion, making Goyder – Liontown’s chairman and major shareholder – a paper billionaire.

However, last week, Albermarle walked away. And the deal’s collapse has reignited debate about the future of the lithium sector and its importance to the Australian economy.

This week on The Fin podcast, resources reporters Peter Ker and Elouise Fowler on lithium’s rise and fall and rise again, why the Liontown deal collapsed and whether the critical mineral could become the next iron ore for Australia.

Explore the big issues in business, markets and politics with the journalists who know the inside story. New episodes of The Fin are published every Thursday.