Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 118

This commodity boom could quickly turn to bust – but a better opportunity awaits – by David Rosenberg (Financial Post – February 25, 2021)

March 1, 2021

China’s dominance, India’s rise and the shift towards green energy bodes well for some commodities

The recent run-up in commodity prices has unsurprisingly spurred discussions about a newly emerging commodity supercycle. It’s clear that we are in the midst of a supply-constraint led boom in this space, but this does not portend a long-term trend or decades-long supercycle ahead.

Indeed, any outlook of the sort that depends on a Roaring Twenties narrative, where global economies surge back to life once the pandemic is behind us, needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt.

However, we do see secular changes arising such as China’s increasing dominance and India’s rise (part of our “Go East” theme), as well as the global shift towards electrification creating opportunities for investors within a certain class of rising commodities.

Indonesia is poised for EV riches as Tesla circles, but a nickel rush could hurt the environment – by Jack Board (Channel News Asia – February 28, 2021)

March 1, 2021

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/

BANGKOK: As American electric vehicle maker Tesla eyes up a hefty investment in Indonesia, concerns are growing over the potential environmental consequences of a nickel mining rush.

Tesla has reportedly tabled a proposal to establish a battery production facility in the country, though no official announcement has been made and government decision-makers remain tight-lipped about details.

Still, the prospects of Indonesia becoming a global hub for battery production in the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, and a key link in the global supply chain, has already seen mining and nickel processing ramp up across the country.

Canada Used To Provide A Lot Of World’s Lithium, But Can It Revive That? – by Michael Barnard (Clean Technica – February 24, 2021)

February 25, 2021

https://cleantechnica.com/

Lithium used to be used to treat mania and mood swings, and now its availability or lack thereof is making market swings. In the 1950s, Canada was actually a player in the international lithium market, with a mine in Quebec providing tons of the salt, then failing as the market failed.

Fast forward to 2021, and lithium is a core component of the electrification of transportation, in all of our electronic gadgets and a lesser component for grid storage.

Canada actually has massive lithium reserves underground. Can it return to being, if not the king of lithium, at least a well-positioned pawn?

Electric cars are fueling the US’s lithium mining boom – by Michael J. Coren (Quartz.com – February 21, 2021)

February 23, 2021

https://qz.com/

Lithium, a silvery metal so lightweight it floats on water, has been dubbed “white gold.” The element is key to the future of the automobile industry, increasingly powered by powerful batteries that require the metal, and meeting climate deadlines to decarbonize the global economy.

After decades relying on imports, countries are now scrambling to secure their own domestic supplies of the crucial ingredient, also used in ceramics, glass, lubricants, and polymers.

“Lithium supply security has become a top priority for technology companies in the United States and Asia,” according to the US Geological Survey (USGS) (pdf). The US Interior Department listed lithium as a critical mineral in 2018, fast-tracking mine permits.

Africa’s edge in the green mineral economy – by Gregory Mthembu-Salter (The Africa Report – February 18, 2021)

February 23, 2021

https://www.theafricareport.com/

The continent’s rich resources, including cobalt and lithium, mean African miners will be key players as the world switches to electric vehicles and wind and solar power. For the moment, though, platinum and palladium for fuel-injection vehicles are very much in demand.

Loose talk from mining companies about “sustainability” irritates their critics, who point out that it cannot be sustainable to extract minerals such as copper or cobalt that are non-renewable resources.

Mining companies may, however, be on surer ground when they stress their contribution to the ‘green economy’.

Canada could be top player in global EV battery market — report – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 22, 2021)

February 23, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Canada has a sizeable opportunity to become one of the world’s leaders in the lithium-ion battery market, but that potential needs to be recognized and nurtured by regulators and miners, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence director Simon Moores told the House of Commons on Monday.

Moores, who joined a parliamentary discussion on Canada’s role in building a domestic and global lithium-ion battery ecosystem, said the combination of natural resources and a highly-skilled workforce should make it easy for the country to create a sustainable value chain for battery materials.

Canada is rich in lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, aluminum and manganese, key ingredients for advanced battery manufacturing and storage technology.

Sudbury lithium company talks of Great Lakes port-side processing plant – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – February 19, 2021)

February 19, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Frontier Lithium predicts 28-year mine life for its PAK project in northwestern Ontario

An emerging lithium producer is considering a chemical processing plant at a “Great Lakes port” as part of a US$685-million plan to bring an open-pit mine project into production in northwestern Ontario.

Frontier Lithium, a Sudbury company with two high-quality lithium deposits north of Red Lake, released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on Feb. 16 of its PAK Lithium Project, estimating a 26-year mine life.

The company has an ambitious goal of becoming a vertically integrated supplier of battery-grade lithium hydroxide to the North American electric vehicle market with a mining and milling operation and a downstream, value-added, processing plant.

These Metals Are Soaring on a Green Frenzy and Global Recovery (Bloomberg News – February 19, 2021)

February 19, 2021

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Industrial metal prices are powering to the highest in years on bets an economic recovery from the pandemic and worldwide push for cleaner, greener energy will unleash vast amounts of pent-up demand.

From base-metal bellwethers to essential inputs for batteries and home electronics, post-crisis consumption threatens to outstrip near-term supply.

Governments and companies globally are announcing net-zero emissions goals, Europe is rolling out a package of environmental initiatives as part of its growth plan, and President Joe Biden has pledged $400 billion on clean energy research and development over 10 years.

Battery metals are critical over the next decade, Roskill says – by Carl A. Williams (Northern Miner – February 18, 2021)

February 19, 2021

https://www.northernminer.com/

The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is driving the increasing demand for lithium, nickel and cobalt – critical metals used as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries in the automotive, energy and electronics industries.

According to Deloitte’s Electric Vehicle Trends, EV sales are forecast to grow from 2.5 million in 2020 to 11.2 million by 2025, and to 31.1 million by 2030. Analysts from Roskill, a commodity research firm and a leader in critical materials supply chains, provide an outlook on battery metals’ markets over the next decade.

Lithium

Global demand for lithium carbonate — one of two primary forms of lithium used in EVs — is expected to exceed one million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2026, according to David Merriman, an expert on EV and battery materials at Roskill.

WORLD BANK NEWS RELEASE: Mineral Production to Soar as Demand for Clean Energy Increases (May 11, 2021)

February 19, 2021

For Report: https://bit.ly/3bl6pkb

The more ambitious climate targets, the more minerals needed for a clean energy transition

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2020 — A new World Bank Group report finds that the production of minerals, such as graphite, lithium and cobalt, could increase by nearly 500% by 2050, to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies. It estimates that over 3 billion tons of minerals and metals will be needed to deploy wind, solar and geothermal power, as well as energy storage, required for achieving a below 2°C future.

The report “Minerals for Climate Action: The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition” also finds that even though clean energy technologies will require more minerals, the carbon footprint of their production—from extraction to end use—will account for only 6% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by fossil fuel technologies.

The report underscores the important role that recycling and reuse of minerals will play in meeting increasing mineral demand. It also notes that even if we scale up recycling rates for minerals like copper and aluminum by 100%, recycling and reuse would still not be enough to meet the demand for renewable energy technologies and energy storage.

Li-Cycle rides excitement around surging EV sales with SPAC merger – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – February 18, 2021)

February 18, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

Ajay Kochhar, co-founder and chief executive of Mississauga-based Li-Cycle Corp. sometimes refers to his company as akin to an urban miner — a subtle hint at how excitement around the electric vehicle industry is reshaping global industry.

His business involves shredding lithium-ion batteries, and separating out the metals inside — mainly lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese — so they can be recycled for use in future electric vehicle or smartphone batteries.

On Tuesday, Li-Cycle announced a deal to combine with Peridot Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC, which raised US$300 million in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September.

Nickel, graphite to benefit from explosive growth in battery storage market – by Richard (Rick) Mills (Kitco News – February 17, 2021)

February 18, 2021

https://www.kitco.com/

The challenges most countries are facing right now are daunting. Not only do they need to have a plan for recovering from covid-19, the supply chains that have been interrupted or broken by the virus have to be repaired.

On top of the covid crisis there is a climate crisis, and for lack of a better term, a “technology” crisis. Governments must make funding available for 5G networks so that businesses are not left behind as the world moves more into digitization and automation which require robust internet and cellular infrastructure.

The fossil-fueled based transportation system needs to be electrified, and the switch has to be made from oil, gas and coal-powered power plants to those which run on solar, wind and thorium-produced nuclear energy. If we have any hope of cleaning up the planet, before the point of no return, a massive decarbonization needs to take place.

Explainer: Latin America’s Lithium Triangle – by Elizabeth Gonzalez (AS/COA.org – February 17, 2021)

February 17, 2021

https://www.as-coa.org/

The insatiable demand for the latest smartphone, along with a need to transition to clean energy, keeps driving demand for the lightest of metals.

Lithium, with its high electrical conductivity, is key to many rechargeable devices, such as cellphones, laptops, and energy storage systems, not to mention electrical vehicles, for which global sales are expected to rise 70 percent in 2021. All in all, the global lithium market is projected to quintuple over the next 35 years.

That bodes well for the countries of the Lithium Triangle—Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile—where 58 percent of the world’s identified lithium resources lies, per January 2021 data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Electric vehicles can drive more responsible mining – by Pius Ginting and Payal Sampat (China Dialogue Ocean – February 12, 2021)

February 16, 2021

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Pius Ginting is the coordinator of Aksi Ekologi dan Emansipasi Rakyat in Indonesia. Payal Sampat is the mining program director at Earthworks in the United States.

The ocean waters surrounding eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea lie within the biodiverse Coral Triangle, home to some of the world’s most highly concentrated – and endangered – coral reefs.

In addition to being globally significant ecological sites, the reefs supply habitat for several important commercial and subsistence fisheries central to local communities’ lives.

Meanwhile, the area’s nickel deposits are attracting the attention of electric vehicle manufacturers, which rely on batteries containing nickel and other minerals like lithium and cobalt. Nickel demand is expected to increase six-fold by 2030 and Indonesia, which is already the world’s largest nickel producer, is dramatically scaling up production to meet it.

China’s 2020 refined nickel imports slump to 6-year low – by Andy Home (Financial Post – February 11, 2021)

February 16, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

LONDON — China has bailed out the copper and aluminum markets by importing record amounts of the rest of the world’s surplus metal. Not so the nickel market, however.

Chinese imports of refined nickel fell by 32% year-on-year to 130,700 tonnes in 2020. It was the lowest annual total since 2014.

This has not held back the London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel price, currently trading close to 17-month highs at $18,675 per tonne.