CATL has made a $297 million offer to buy Canadian lithium miner Millennial Lithium Corp with the aim of securing a sustainable supply of lithium. Prices for the key raw material in batteries continue to surge, thanks to a strong rebound of electric vehicle sales. The offer comes just a few days after CATL, China’s top battery maker, poured $240 million into Australian mineral explorer AVZ Minerals, which has a 51% interest in the Manono lithium-tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s largest measured and indicated source of lithium. [Reuters]