Canada-based miner AsiaBaseMetals is planning to begin exploring for lithium on land in central Myanmar. According to an article in the Myanmar Times, the company will become the first company to systematically explore for lithium in Myanmar. It will do so on 74 square kilometers of land close to Thazi, in Mandalay Region. Lithium is a chemical compound that can be used for medicine. It is also used in the making of aircraft and some batteries. “The company’s planned entry into the lithium space, starting especially in Myanmar, a country having both China and India as neighbors who may well represent the largest users of batteries in the world, is a significant move,” Raj Chowdhry, president, CEO and chair of AsiaBaseMetals, was quoted as saying. International companies have expressed significant interest in Myanmar’s mining industry. New mining rules were enacted in February 2018, allowing foreign firms to invest in large-scale sites of more than 500,000 acres. The rules also allow medium scale sites of up to 247 acres.