Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 112

Serbia may decide fate of Rio Tinto’s lithium project in referendum – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 7, 2021)

June 10, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, may seek voter approval for Rio Tinto’s Jadar lithium project near the city of Loznica, in western Serbia, as community opposition grows.

Speaking on local TV on Monday, Vucic said the government fully supports the project, which could become Serbia’s second largest export earner once developed. He also said his administration won’t let it happen if it doesn’t get the people’s approval first.

Jadar has been facing local opposition due to heritage issues. Its footprint covers the area around Paulje, a Bronze Age archaeological site, as well as several classified natural monuments.

U.S. must work with allies to secure electric vehicle metals -White House – by Trevor Hunnicutt and Ernest Scheyder (Financial Post/Reuters – June 8, 2021)

June 10, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

WASHINGTON — The United States must work with allies to secure the minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries and process them domestically in light of environmental and other competing interests, the White House said on Tuesday.

The strategy, first reported by Reuters in late May, will include new funding to expand international investments in electric vehicles (EV) metal projects through the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, as well as new efforts to boost supply from recycling batteries.

President Joe Biden’s administration will also launch a working group to identify where minerals used in EV batteries and other technologies can be produced and processed domestically. It was not immediately clear what that meant for existing EV minerals projects.

EDITORIAL: Green groups against renewable energy (Las Vegas Review-Journal – June 8, 2021)

June 10, 2021

https://www.reviewjournal.com/

It’s become apparent that radical environmentalists aren’t just waging war on fossil fuels, they’re against virtually any energy development at all. This deserves more attention, particularly given the rush by Democrats in Nevada and other states to impose renewable mandates.

Last week, the Biden administration announced it would seek to protect Tiehm’s buckwheat, a wildflower found only in a remote area of western Nevada, under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision came after the Center for Biological Diversity threatened the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management with legal action.

World needs Congo copper to kick fossil fuels, Friedland says – by James Attwood, Erik Schatzker and Michael J. Kavanagh (Bloomberg News – June 8, 2021)

June 8, 2021

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

An African nation emerging from decades of conflict and corruption holds the key to greening the global economy.

That’s the view of mining magnate Robert Friedland, whose Kamoa-Kakula venture just started producing copper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

After scouring 59 countries over more than three decades, the Canadian billionaire says Congo has the world’s best deposits of the metal used in everything from electric cars to solar panels and power grids.

Biden Administration Moves to Unkink Supply Chain Bottlenecks – by Katie Rogers and Brad Plumer (New York Times – June 8, 2021)

June 8, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday planned to issue a swath of actions and recommendations meant to address supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and decrease reliance on other countries for crucial goods by increasing domestic production capacity.

In a call on Monday evening detailing the plan to reporters, White House officials said the administration had created a task force that would “tackle near-term bottlenecks” in construction, transportation, semiconductor production and agriculture.

The officials also outlined steps that had been taken to address an executive order from President Biden that required a review of critical supply chains in four product areas where the United States relies on imports: semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, pharmaceuticals and their active ingredients, and critical minerals and strategic materials, like rare earths.

Wyloo Metals would put proposed Sault ferrochrome plant under the microscope, if successful in bid for Noront Resources – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 7, 2021)

June 7, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/ Australian mining investor focused on mining, processing nickel for Ontario’s electrical vehicle manufacturers The prospective Australian buyer for Noront Resources won’t make any immediate shifts in strategy in the Far North mineral exploration camp should it acquire the Toronto junior mining company. But it will reassess the location of a proposed ferrochrome processing plant …

Nickel: No longer a forgotten battery metal – by Gerard Peter (Mining Review Africa – June 7, 2021)

June 7, 2021

https://www.miningreview.com/

Nickel will be the key beneficiary of electric vehicle (EV) adoption against the backdrop of other battery metals such as lithium and cobalt, supported by its dominant long-range capabilities. Furthermore, a wealth of nickel deposits will position Africa to benefit from an uptrend in prices in the coming years writes GERARD PETER.

These are the key findings of a recent Fitch Solutions report that looks at the opportunities and risks for nickel in the battery revolution.

The basis of the report has been founded on a recent Mining Review Africa webinar titled, Nickel: The Forgotten Battery Metal where Fitch Solutions, Carly Cassidy was a participant.

Cash-strapped Noront Resources rebuffs Wyloo Metals’ loan offer in Ring of Fire takeover bid – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 4, 2021)

June 4, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Wyloo owner Andrew Forrest sends a “big hug” to Matawa First Nation chiefs

Noront Resources is rejecting the offer of a $5-million loan from Australia’s Wyloo Metals, which is seeking to take over the Ring of Fire mine developer.

In a June 4 news release, Noront admitted it “has an immediate need for funding” but intends to go the private placement financing route to raise $6.1 million to keep the company running and to work on its exploration properties in the remote James Bay region.

Perth-headquartered and privately owned Wyloo, a major mining investor and explorer in Australia with global ambitions, came aboard last October to become Noront’s largest shareholder at 23 per cent. BaoSteel of China is Noront’s next largest shareholder at 5.4 per cent.

China’s Journey To The Center Of The Earth – For Rare Minerals – by Ariel Cohen (Forbes Magazine – June 2, 2021)

June 4, 2021

https://www.forbes.com/

The recent $3 billion sale of Chile’s Compañía General de Electricidad to China’s State Grid Corporation brought total Chinese control of electricity transmission in Chile up to 57%.

Similar PRC acquisitions and projects are currently being advanced in Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Honduras, Peru, and Columbia, where corporations are building hydropower, wind, and solar power stations. But China’s energy push into Latin America is not limited to infrastructure.

This is fast becoming a multi-pronged approach that also includes the securing of critical minerals, particularly rare earth elements (REEs). The United States, meanwhile, is mum.

Tesla chair says mining to underpin potential Australian battery, EV production – by Anthony Barich (SP Global – June 3, 2021)

June 4, 2021

https://www.spglobal.com/

Tesla Inc. wants to support Australian miners critical to facilitating the country’s involvement throughout the electric vehicle supply chain, including possible EV manufacturing.

Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm voiced support for the country’s mining sector at a June 2 Minerals Council of Australia event in Canberra, the nation’s capital. Denholm is an Australian who was appointed chair of the Tesla board in November 2018, after joining in 2014.

Denholm said the carmaker expects to increase spending on Australian minerals to more than $1 billion per annum “in the next few years.”

Wyloo’s bid for Canadian nickel-copper miner Noront shows scramble for battery metals is accelerating – by Jeff Lewis (Globe and Mail/Reuters – June 3, 2021)

June 4, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

He compared northern Ontario to Western Australia’s Pilbara region, rich
in iron ore and home to miners like BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Forrest’s
Fortescue Metals Group.“I think if you went to the Pilbara 20 years ago
you would never think that you would have major mining companies and the
infrastructure that exists there today,” he said.

A fight over Canadian nickel-copper miner Noront Resources shows the scramble for battery metals is accelerating, with global miners racing to secure supply ahead of an expected surge in demand from electric vehicles.

Wyloo Metals, a unit of Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang investment group, plans an unsolicited bid for the remaining shares of the Canadian miner valuing Noront at $133-million, or $0.315 per share. Wyloo is Noront’s top shareholder, with a 23 per cent stake as of December.

Noront adopted a poison pill and said it has yet to receive a formal offer. The company declined further comment.

The future of Canada’s nickel supply is NOT Indonesia – by Richard (Rick) Mills (A Head Of The Herd.com – June 2, 2021)

June 3, 2021

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China says it has found a way to make “green” nickel chemical for EV batteries from nickel laterite deposits in Indonesia that could help to alleviate the coming supply deficit in the metal that is essential to electric vehicle batteries.

Don’t be fooled. The process itself is extremely polluting, and ‘ocean tailings ponds’ are anything but green. Thankfully car companies aren’t buying it. Future nickel supply for battery-making is therefore unlikely to come from Indonesia or anywhere else where nickel laterites are mined.

EVs coming to Canada

Canada is in the beginning stages of developing an electric vehicle supply chain that capitalizes on the country’s rich battery metals endowment and cheap hydro-electric power particularly in Quebec and British Columbia.

Indonesia On Track To Dominate The Supply Of Nickel To Make Batteries – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – June 2, 2021)

June 2, 2021

https://www.forbes.com/

Indonesia is on track to become the world’s nickel capital with new projects potentially lifting the country’s share of the important stainless steel and battery metal ingredient to a whopping 60% of global output later this decade.

Much of the planned investment is linked to Chinese companies keen to cement their grip on stainless steel production and to meet fast growing demand for batteries which require a range of new-energy metals such as nickel, lithium, cobalt and copper.

The pace of growth in the Indonesia nickel sector can best be measured by an investment bank forecast that the country could lift its share of worldwide nickel production from 28% to 60% inside the next eight years.

Tesla eyes over $1 billion of Australian minerals a year – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 2, 2021)

June 2, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Electric cars giant Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) said it expects to soon begin buying more than $1 billion a year of Australian lithium, nickel and other critical minerals for its batteries and engines.

Chairman Robyn Denholm said the country has taken important steps towards cleaning its image of polluting commodities exporter and it is poised to become a globally significant supplier of climate change solutions.

“Australia has the minerals to power the renewable energy age throughout the world in the coming years,” Denholm, an Australian, said in a speech during a Minerals Council of Australia event.

Trudeau’s EV ambitions need strategic shift, nickel CEO says – by Yvonne Yue Li and Stephen Wicary (Bloomberg News – May 31, 2021)

May 31, 2021

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Canada needs a better strategy to build up an electric-vehicle supply chain and become a North American battery hub that takes advantage of a global push toward cleaner energy.

That’s the parting advice Sherritt International’s outgoing CEO David Pathe has for the Canadian government and an industry set to disrupt everything from mining to automaking.

“Canada as a whole, with some leadership from the federal government, needs to be more strategic about how we develop that industry from a national industrial policy perspective,” Pathe, 50, said in a Friday interview.