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Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles

The West needs to level the playing field to compete with China – by Anthony Milewski (Northern Miner – April 23, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Access to the raw materials of the new green economy is increasingly a high-stakes chess match along geopolitical lines dividing the East and the West. China controls access to the bulk of raw and midstream materials that the world needs for its transition to a low-carbon intensity economy. This control has become a critical vulnerability in the Western world’s emerging Industry 4.0 supply chains.

The mechanics of the emerging green economy rely on carbon friendly modes of transport such as electric vehicles, as well as mobile technology, energy storage, rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies fueling increased computing power, and renewable power sources — all made from mined materials such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium.

China’s drive to become the dominant commodity superpower started in the 1990s when it started opening up its economy to the world. The central government mandated unprecedented infrastructure spending, prompting the start of the commodity supercycle that lasted until late in the 2000s. In turn, the enormous demand for raw materials sparked a mining investment boom.

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Freeport beats copper estimates in relief to tight supplies – by James Attwood and Daniela Sirtori-Cortina (Bloomberg News – April 22, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the biggest publicly traded copper miner, produced more than expected last quarter and raised its annual sales projection in a much-needed boost to tight global supplies of the metal.

The Phoenix-based company is on schedule with the ramp-up of underground operations at its flagship Grasberg mine in Indonesia and is stepping up output from North America just as copper surges toward the highest price in almost a decade. At its Cerro Verde mine in Peru, Freeport plans to get back to pre-pandemic levels next year.

At a time of robust demand and production disruptions elsewhere, Freeport’s expansion provides some relief for smelters and consumers of the metal used in wiring.

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Battery Rush Is 21st Century’s New Gold Rush — And Tesla’s Big Future Revenue Source? – by Johnna Crider (Clean Technica – April 25, 2021)

https://cleantechnica.com/

In 1848, gold was first discovered in California. In 1859, the U.S. oil industry began when the first well was drilled in Pennsylvania. Back then, oil from animals (think whale blubber) was typically used, until a patent for creating kerosene from coal oil was patented in 1854.

Once Pennsylvania shale oil was analyzed and determined to be a great source of kerosene, others began looking for “rock oil.” Petroleum soon replaced whale oil and a new term was coined: “black gold.” This is not to be confused with the alloy black gold, which is created by mixing gold with cobalt.

Fast forward into the 21st century and I believe we are about to enter into another gold rush of a sorts. Batteries. In a recent article by Yahoo! Finance, the author pointed out that the real money may not lie in Tesla’s cars, but in its battery business.

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Opinion: More U.S. mineral mining would blunt electric vehicle makers’ dangerous reliance on China – by Robert W. Chase (Cleveland.com – April 25, 2021)

https://www.cleveland.com/

MARIETTA, Ohio — In the 1970s, the harmful effects of an oil embargo shocked Americans. The sudden realization that we needed to take responsibility for our own energy future had quite an impact. Politicians responded accordingly.

Now we must address a huge new concern — the danger of becoming hostage to China for critically important industrial materials.

It’s only a matter of time. China is our leading supplier of minerals and metals, giving it great leverage over our supply chains for advanced technologies. Consider the possibility of waking to the news that China has cut off exports of electric-vehicle battery metals — lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earth minerals.

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Friedland: “It’s copper, copper, copper, copper, copper, copper …” – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – April 19, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

I’ve covered the mining industry for more than a decade and during that time have had many opportunities to listen to presentations and speeches by Ivanhoe Mines’ founder Robert Friedland.

I also interviewed him at length for an article about his career when The Northern Miner gave him a Lifetime Achievement award in May 2017.

But I think his remarks last week at the CRU World Copper Conference were among his most enlightening. Videoed from his home in Singapore, Friedland spoke about the green energy transition and how important copper will be for the new world economy.

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Talon Metals wants US nickel refinery – by Craig Guthrie (Mining Magazine – April 21, 2021)

https://www.miningmagazine.com/

Talon Metals has said a US-based nickel refinery will be needed to create a “Green Nickel” US supply chain for electric vehicles (EVs).

The proposed US refinery would accept feedstock from its Tamarack Nickel Project as well as recycled materials, said Talon Metals.

“I believe that there is enough nickel in the United States for nickel independence – what’s missing is a USA-based refinery that could be used to convert nickel into a final product that can be used for batteries,” said Henri van Rooyen, CEO of Talon.

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New lithium giant emerges to feed surging battery demand – by James Thornhill (Bloomberg News – April 19, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

A planned US$3.1 billion merger of two Australian miners is set to create one of the world’s biggest producers of lithium products key to meeting fast-growing global demand for electric vehicle batteries.

The deal between Orocobre Ltd. and Galaxy Resources Ltd. is the biggest mining sector deal of the year so far, according to Bloomberg data, with shares of both companies closing at the highest in three years in Sydney.

The merger would create the world’s fifth-biggest producer of lithium chemicals, the refined form of the raw materials that are used to make electric vehicle batteries.

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Trafigura Bets on Green-Nickel Squeeze in Defiance of China Cure – by Yvonne Yue Li and Andy Hoffman (Bloomberg News – April 20, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Just weeks after a novel production method upended the nickel market, two of the top names in the battery-supply chain made a play that suggests the world’s worries over sourcing cheap, clean supplies of the metal are far from over.

Commodity trader Trafigura Group and Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. signed a deal in late March to enter the Goro mine in New Caledonia, part of a group that will take the operation off the hands of Vale SA. The transaction wasn’t a surprise, with Vale in talks to offload the under-performing mine for months. But the deal’s timing was telling.

Earlier the same month, China’s Tsingshan Group triggered the biggest two-day nickel rout in a decade with its plans to make battery-grade metal from materials previously reserved only for stainless steel, potentially flooding the market. Wall Street banks lowered their nickel forecasts after futures plunged from about $19,000 a ton to $16,000.

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Mining companies’ struggle to reduce Scope 3 emissions may jeopardize ability to survive – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – April 20, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The world’s biggest mining companies are both blessed and cursed. They are blessed because most of them produce the commodities – copper, nickel, cobalt, among others – that are essential for the transition to the “clean” economy.

They are cursed because most of these same companies also produce the commodities – coal, oil, iron ore – that are warming the planet and falling out of favour with investors who increasingly view their portfolios through the lens of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

So far, the cursed side is winning, with the Big Five mining companies trading at low valuations, generally 2½ to four times enterprise value (debt and equity) to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

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Skyrocketing metal prices threaten to hinder EV affordability – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – April 14, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

A surge in demand for electric vehicles is sending the price of raw materials soaring, threatening to slow the push toward making cheaper batteries that are key to more widespread adoption.

Lithium, the mainstay for rechargeable power packs used in EVs, is roaring back after a three-year slump in prices, while cobalt surged about 57% last quarter.

Nickel jumped to a more-than six-year high earlier this year on optimism about the clean energy transition, though fell in March on plans by a top Chinese producer to beef up its battery business.

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The tipping point for electrification is here – by Robert Hiltz (CIM Magazine – April 01, 2021)

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

Battery-electric vehicles are just one of the driving points for mining companies thinking about how they power their underground mines

Around five years ago, a change that was slowly happening in the mining industry began to gather speed: battery electric vehicles (BEVs) went from a curiosity to a compelling alternative to diesel fleets in underground mines.

The more that BEVs proved themselves at mines like Kirkland Lake’s Macassa and the more that were deployed in support applications (such as personnel carriers), the more attention the technology earned from miners and equipment manufacturers. Now, half a decade later, the industry finds itself at a tipping point: The question is no longer why use BEVs, but why not?

Some mines are looking at eschewing diesel equipment altogether, according to MacLean Engineering’s Anthony Griffiths, product manager of fleet electrification.

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Macquarie joins peers on bullish lithium price outlook – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 14, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

Lithium shares are on a roll after investment bank Macquarie (ASX: MQG) joined peers in predicting a further increase in prices for the key battery metal driven by increasing demand from the electric vehicles (EVs) sector, which is expected to push the market into undersupply.

Analysts at the bank are now forecasting prices to rise by between 30% and 100% over the next four years.

“Our bullish EV demand outlook sees the lithium market move to deficit in 2022 with material shortages emerging from 2025,” Macquarie said in the report.

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Copper is ‘the new oil’ and could reach $15,000 by 2025 as the world transitions to clean energy, Goldman Sachs says – by Sophie Kiderlin (Markets Insider – April 14, 2021)

https://markets.businessinsider.com/

Copper will be crucial in achieving decarbonization and replacing oil with renewable energy sources, and right now, the market is facing a supply crunch that could boost the price by more than 60% in four years, Goldman Sachs said in a report on Tuesday.

Increased demand and likely low supply are set to drive up the price from the current levels of around $9,000 per ton to $15,000 per ton by 2025, the bank said.

As a cost-effective metal, copper is majorly important in the process of creating, storing and distributing clean energy from the wind, sun and geothermal sources as it has the physical attributes needed to do so, Goldman’s team of analysts, led by Jeff Currie, said in a report titled “Copper is the new oil”.

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Rio Tinto produces battery grade lithium in the US – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 7, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) has kicked off lithium production from waste rock at a plant located at a borates mine it controls in California.

The demonstration facility is the next step in scaling up a breakthrough lithium production process developed at the Boron mine. The method allows Rio Tinto to recover the critical mineral and extract additional value out of waste piles from over 90 years of mining at the operation.

An initial small-scale trial in 2019 successfully proved the process of roasting and leaching waste rock to recover high grades of the metal, vital in the production of batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs) and most high tech electronics.

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Battery and ‘green’ metals brighten outlook for mining sector – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – April 6, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

The transition to electric vehicles could take a decade or two but demand for the key metals in batteries and energy storage systems will only continue to grow as the shift to a greener future gains traction.

China currently leads the world in EV and battery production. The latest statistics from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, according to BMO Capital Markets, show that sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in February were 585% higher than the same month in 2020, and the country’s production of lithium-ion batteries jumped 108% year-on-year to 18.25 billion units annually in the months of January and February.

The U.S. wants to catch up. Under U.S. President Joe Biden’s US$2.3 trillion infrastructure renewal and job creation plan announced last week, US$174 billion has been earmarked for EVs.

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