Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles

Nationalisation, Sovereignty and Geopolitical Realignment in African Mineral Extraction: The case of West Africa – by Elio Brando (Italian Institue for International Political Studies – June 5, 2025)

June 5, 2025

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The global resource market is experiencing a sustained surge in demand for crucial minerals, such as gold, lithium, silver, bauxite, uranium, and cobalt. Two key forces are driving this trend: rising geopolitical and economic uncertainties, which are channelling increased investment in hard commodities, and the accelerating technological transition, which demands a significant expansion of mineral production and refinery.

Africa is bound to be deeply affected by current developments. The continent holds approximately 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves, with individual nations possessing significant shares of specific resources. The global interest in precious minerals (such as gold, platinum, and silver) is paired by a rising demand for critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, manganese, and bauxite.

Rio Tinto bets lithium will retain its battery metal crown – by Andy Home (Reuters – June 3, 2025)

June 5, 2025

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – It’s a tough time to be a lithium producer as the light metal sinks under the weight of excess supply. Lithium hydroxide prices have collapsed by 90% from their 2022 peak and show no signs of recovery.

Multiple producers are now operating at zero or negative margins, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. Even giants like Albemarle, the world’s largest producer of the battery metal, have been cutting costs and deferring new projects to weather the supply storm. Rio Tinto, however, is undaunted. The global mining house remains “consistent in its belief in the long-term outlook for lithium”.

Delegates to Sudbury conference remain bullish on electric vehicles – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – May 31, 2025)

June 2, 2025

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury and Canada will benefit because it has the minerals needed to build electric batteries, they say

Despite the code orange threat level emanating from south of the border, delegates attending the BEV In Depth conference said on Thursday they remain optimistic about an electrified future. Steve Gravel, manager of the Centre for Smart Mining at Cambrian R&D, said until recently, the market for industrial battery-electric vehicles has been “red hot, especially in underground mining.” While it has cooled a bit, it is still a booming field.

“When you’re not pumping diesel exhaust into the mining environment, there are a lot of gains to be made around ventilation provision and things like that,” he said. “Some operators think they have more power when they’re in the muck pile, for example. They’re really good pieces of equipment.”

Bolivian court pauses Chinese, Russian lithium deals – by Staff (Northern Miner – June 2, 2025)

June 2, 2025

https://www.northernminer.com/

Bolivia’s plans to emerge as a major lithium producer have hit an impasse after a local court ordered the suspension of two major extraction deals signed last year valued at more than $2 billion, according to media reports.

The contracts were signed in 2023 and 2024 respectively with China’s CBC consortium, which includes battery manufacturer CATL, and Russia’s Uranium One Group, a subsidiary of state nuclear firm Rosatom, as revealed by various publications including Bolivia-based El Deber.

Frontier feasibility lifts PAK lithium reserves by 37% (Northern Miner – May 29, 2025)

May 29, 2025

https://www.northernminer.com/

Frontier Lithium said a definitive feasibility study for the $943-million capex PAK project in northern Ontario boosted reserves by 37%.

The study, which calculates a net present value of $932 million based on a discount rate of 8%, provides a “robust basis” for Frontier to target a final investment decision within two years, according to a statement issued Thursday.

Frontier is making progress on project financing and has started the permitting process, which should also be completed by mid-2027.

Opinion: The EV fantasy is running out of juice fast – by Kenneth Green (Financial Post – May 29, 2025)

May 29, 2025

https://financialpost.com/

Companies are pausing investments, not because of tariffs but because demand isn’t growing nearly as fast as hoped

The vision of an all-electric transportation sector, shared by so many policy-makers across Canada, is fading fast. The latest failure to charge is Honda’s recent announcement, citing lack of demand, that it will postpone a $15-billion electric vehicle (EV) project in Ontario for two years.

Compounding the hurt, it will move some of its EV production to the United States, partly in response to the Trump tariff wars. The focus on tariffs may be misdirection, however, concealing failures in the electrification agenda that have been evident for years, certainly well before Trump’s tariffs.

Hopes of lithium revival dashed as prices crater to four-year lows – by Alex Gluyas (Australian Financial Review – May 21, 2025)

May 22, 2025

https://www.afr.com/

Just last week investors betting on a resurgence in lithium were cheering some much-needed positive news after Core Lithium unveiled a plan to revive its mothballed operations near Darwin.

On the surface, it was a momentous decision. Core was the first miner in Australia to consider reopening an idled operation since the downturn began, signalling that sentiment may finally be turning. The news sent the stock surging more than 40 per cent last week.

Lithium Triangle region remains strategic amid uncertainties and trade disputes – by Anne Barbosa (S&P Global – May 20, 2025)

May 21, 2025

https://www.spglobal.com/

Despite the recent tariff agreement between China and the United States, the ongoing trade dispute continues to create global uncertainties and may affect tax revenue and employment in the Lithium Triangle of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. However, it also presents opportunities, specialists told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Manuel Viera Flores, president of the Chilean Mining Chamber, said in a recent interview that although some minerals are currently tariff-free, “We must be cautious about what may come and be prepared for it, as any tax increase is negative for the development of various economic activities.”

Energy storage boom drives battery shift, leaving nickel, cobalt behind – by Eric Onstad (Reuters – May 21, 2025)

May 21, 2025

https://www.reuters.com/

When Fidra Energy acquired a 55-acre (22-hectare) patch of northern England countryside in 2023, its plan to transform it into a 1.45 gigawatt energy storage facility – Europe’s largest once completed – was far from a done deal.

“We were struggling to make the economics work,” Chris Elder, the Edinburgh-based company’s CEO, told Reuters. But that was before the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries being used in the project, which were already recording significant improvements in performance, roughly halved in cost in a period of just 18 months. Fidra now plans to start installing battery units for its 600-million pound ($800-million) Thorpe Marsh project next year.

Vale’s Strategic Alternatives for Nickel Assets in 2025 – by John Zadeh (Discovery Alert – April 30, 2025)

May 2, 2025

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Market Challenges and Future Outlook

Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A. faces critical decisions regarding its nickel operations amid a complex global market landscape dominated by oversupply pressures and shifting demand dynamics. The company’s strategic review of its nickel portfolio, initiated in early 2025, reflects both short-term operational challenges and long-term optimism about nickel’s role in the energy transition.

This report synthesizes Vale’s current challenges, strategic options, and the broader market forces shaping its decisions, with a focus on Indonesia’s disruptive production growth and the evolving electric vehicle (EV) sector.

What Challenges Is Vale Facing in the Nickel Market?

Gold rush unleashed: The global struggle for control over Central Asia’s mineral wealth – by Zeynep Gizem Özpınar (Daily Sabah – April 10, 2025)

April 10, 2025

https://www.dailysabah.com/

Central Asia’s mineral wealth sparks global rivalry, shaping the region’s economic and geopolitical future

Central Asia is becoming increasingly critical on the world stage in terms of rare earth elements and strategic minerals. These resources have become indispensable in many sectors, from modern technology to the defence industry, from renewable energy to advanced manufacturing processes.

Since rare earth elements have a wide range of uses, from semiconductors to batteries, from military equipment to wind turbines, countries with these minerals are strategically important. While the competition of global powers in this field is increasing, the riches of Central Asia turn the region into not only an economic centre of attraction but also a geopolitical battleground.

Lithium company exploring N.W.T. hopes to refine material in Canada, not China – by Jocelyn Shepel (CBC News North – April 04, 2025)

April 7, 2025

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Canada can’t refine the mineral from hard rock right now but companies are looking to change that

A lithium exploration company working in the N.W.T. says getting a mine ready for production could be anywhere from six to eight years away – but already, it’s evaluating how it would get the material refined and battery ready without relying on China.

“It’s likely that Edmonton will be an obvious place for an energy hub for lithium processing in future,” said David Smithson, Li-FT’s senior vice president of geology. According to the International Energy Agency, worldwide demand for critical minerals – like lithium – is expected to double by 2040. Keeping the supply chain within Canada is one of the major tasks ahead.

As Chile revs up lithium plans, Indigenous groups demand more control – by Daina Beth Solomon (Reuters – April 7, 2025)

April 7, 2025

https://www.reuters.com/

Chile’s Indigenous communities in the lithium-rich Atacama Desert are in talks with two of the nation’s biggest miners to gain more influence over plans to increase extraction of the battery metal, according to the companies and community sources.

The negotiations with Chile’s State-run Codelco, the world’s biggest copper producer, and Chilean lithium producer SQM, come as the companies are close to finalizing a partnership that will mark the state’s entry into production of the metal that is crucial for electric vehicle batteries.

Multiple Dams Fail at Indonesian Nickel-Mining Facilities – by Ellen Moore (Earthworks.org – March 28, 2025)

March 31, 2025

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Three people are feared dead and hundreds more are at risk of negative health impacts after multiple tailings dams, which store toxic mine waste, collapsed inside an industrial park in Indonesia. According to media and worker testimony, on March 16, the PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt tailings storage facility was breached, and liquified tailings flowed into the Bahadopi River.

The breach flooded facilities at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) and the village of Labota with a wave of red water, putting the health of workers and 341 families at risk through exposure to heavy metals.

Column: Europe’s future metals strategy hindered by current crisis – by Andy Home (Reuters – March 31, 2025)

March 31, 2025

https://www.reuters.com/

The European Commission has identified 47 strategic projects which it hopes will kickstart the region’s critical minerals sector and reduce its dependence on imports, particularly from China. But even as European policymakers work to build a future industrial base, they are facing a crisis in the region’s existing metals sector.

Chinese over-capacity and high energy prices have accelerated the long-term decline of European steel and aluminum production. The latest threat, however, is coming from the United States. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, particularly the increased tariff on aluminum imports, risk displacing a flood of metal into Europe.