Africa’s first major lithium project without Chinese funding is set to bolster US ambitions of developing its own battery-making industry.

Half of the output from Ghana’s Ewoyaa mine, being built by Australia’s Atlantic Lithium Ltd., is earmarked for a refinery that Piedmont Lithium Ltd. plans to construct in Tennessee. Piedmont is Atlantic Lithium’s second-largest shareholder and has agreed to provide most of the funds for the project.