Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 119

EV metals index beats record by 54% as electric cars reach tipping point – by Frik Els (Mining.com – February 10, 2021)

February 12, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

The global vehicle market in 2020 had its worst year in decades. European sales were the lowest since 1985, 15% fewer cars left US showrooms and while the decline in China was in single digits, it was the third down year in a row for the world’s largest car market.

But 2020 turned out to be a breakthrough year for electric cars, particularly in the two largest markets. EU sales doubled to 1.3 million with penetration reaching a stunning 19% during the final quarter, just eclipsing sales figures in China for the year.

The MINING.COM EV Metal Index, which tracks the value of battery metals in newly registered passenger EVs (including hybrids) around the world set a fresh monthly record of $512.2 billion in December, racing past the previous record and doubling from a year ago.

Why GM’s switch to electric vehicles may be more important for the oilpatch than Keystone XL’s cancellation – by Tony Seskus (CBC News Business – February 10, 2021)

February 11, 2021

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

Comedian Will Ferrell smashed a globe with his fist, caught an arrow in his mouth and travelled to Sweden aboard a storage tanker on Sunday. And it had nothing to do with promoting another goofball buddy flick.

It was a Super Bowl commercial launched by General Motors as the largest U.S. automaker marked its newfound ambitions as an electric-carmaker. Less than two weeks ago, GM caught some people by surprise with its pledge to make the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035.

Amid growing calls for action on climate change, some argue it has the potential to be transformative. And for the North American energy sector, particularly oil and gasoline producers, understanding the implications of the electric vehicle (EV) push just became that much more urgent.

Tesla investment to position Indonesia as EV battery production hub – report – by Editor (Mining.com – February 8, 2021)

February 9, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

In December 2020, reports emerged that Tesla would send delegations to Indonesia in January to discuss potential investment in a supply chain for its electric vehicles.

On February 4, the Jakarta Globe reported that Tesla would submit a proposal to the Indonesian government for the establishment of a battery production facility in the country.

This is on the back of the automaker strive to secure nickel supplies for its larger 4680 cells that is planned to be used in future Tesla vehicles such as the Cybertruck and the Semi models.

Meet the company that’s looking to mine lithium from Alberta’s old oil and gas wells – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – February 5, 2021)

February 8, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

Extracted lithium from brine in old wells could find its way into batteries that power electric vehicles

Chris Doornbos, chief executive of Calgary-based E3 Metals Corp, looks at Alberta’s vast depleted oil and gas reservoirs and sees only opportunity.

His company is testing technology that, if successful, would extract lithium from the brine in old wells, which eventually could find its way into the batteries that power electric vehicles.

“It’s a big opportunity for the province because producing lithium is very similar to producing oil and gas,” said Doornbos, a geologist who previously worked for Suncor Energy Inc.

Opinion: Decarbonisation will need more, better mining (MiningWeekly.com – February 5, 2021)

February 5, 2021

https://www.miningweekly.com/

In this opinion piece, SRK Consulting partner and principal consultant Andrew van Zyl reflects on some of the most prominent topics discussed at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba.

Mining remains a vital part of a low-carbon future, a fact that was confirmed by the topics prioritised at the recent Investing in African Mining Indaba’s virtual conference this week.

The message was clear: mining is part of the solution as the planet addresses climate change through a range of renewable technologies.

President Biden to boost US mining, green energy metals – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 20, 2021)

February 5, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president on Wednesday afternoon only a week after Donald Trump’s supporters, refusing to accept defeat, staged a deadly attack on the Capitol.

Biden used his inaugural address to call for unity and offer an optimistic message that Americans can get past the dark moment by working together.

Canadians, however, don’t seem too optimistic as news of Biden’s reported plans to cancel TC Energy’s (TSX, NYSE: TRP) Keystone XL pipeline permit via executive action has grabbed headlines over the past two days.

African battery metals are central to global ESG agenda, says Indaba panel – by Marleny Arnoldi (MiningWeekly.com – February 4, 2021)

February 4, 2021

https://www.miningweekly.com/

The world is increasingly electrifying, while also focusing on environmental protection using green technology to do so, and Africa needs to capture as much of the investment value that goes along with those trends, Bushveld Minerals CEO Fortune Mojapelo has said.

Speaking during a panel discussion on environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects and “green metals” on the second day of the virtually-hosted Investing in African Mining Indaba, he mentioned that the mining industry was embracing the mantra of going beyond compliance, moving away from ESG considerations being on the periphery and including those considerations in their core strategies.

“Regulation, as a tool to drive ESG, is insufficient; it is only a starting point. Certainly, investors are looking more at ESG commitments and they are defining due diligence capabilities around ESG outcomes.

OPINION: GM’s switch to electric vehicles is part hype, part hope – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – February 3, 2021)

February 3, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It has been a long time since anyone took it on faith that what is good for General Motors is good for America. The question raised by GM’s plans to stop making gasoline-powered cars and light trucks by 2035 is whether the automaker has instead tied its fortunes to China.

The Detroit-based automaker’s announcement last week that it aims to sell only zero-emissions vehicles by the middle of the next decade seemed to signal that its legacy car business is headed for the scrap heap much sooner than most industry watchers had imagined.

Such a development would have vast – and mostly negative – implications for North American supply chains, which remain overwhelmingly tied to the manufacturing of gasoline-powered vehicles.

US government gives high priority status to Graphite One’s Alaskan project – Daniel Sekulich (Northern Miner – February 3, 2021)

February 3, 2021

https://www.northernminer.com/

In mid-January Graphite One’s (TSX: GPH; US-OTC: GPHOF) Graphite Creek project in Alaska was designated as a High-Priority Infrastructure Project (HPIP) by the U.S. government’s Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Committee (FPISC). The approval comes after the project was originally nominated for HPIP designation by Alaskan governor Mike Dunleavy in October, 2019.

In his 2019 nomination letter to the FPISC, Governor Dunleavy wrote that designating Graphite Creek as a High-Priority Infrastructure Project “will send a strong signal that the U.S. intends to end the days of our 100% import-dependency for this increasingly critical mineral.”

The Vancouver-based company says that Graphite Creek, which is located in Alaska’s Seward Peninsula, about 55 km north of the city of Nome, is the highest grade and largest known large flake graphite deposit in the U.S. The site is adjacent to the Imuruk Basin, which opens into the Bering Strait that separates Alaska from Siberian Russia.

General Motors sets goal to be carbon neutral in products and operations – by Jeffrey Jones and Eric Atkins (Globe and Mail – January 29, 2021)

January 29, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

General Motors Co. plans to build only zero-emission cars and trucks by 2035 as the centrepiece of an ambitious corporate target of being carbon-neutral five years after that.

In the latest push by a major company to move away from fossil fuels in the fight against climate change, the auto giant said on Thursday it will offer emission-free light-duty vehicles across its price ranges.

It will spend US$27-billion to accelerate the transition over the next five years – an increase of US$7-billion from its prepandemic budget.

All the mines Tesla needs to build 20 million cars a year – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 27, 2021)

January 27, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Elon Musk and his merry band of executive vice presidents had plenty of advice for the mining and metals industry at the company’s Battery Day event in September, where the road map to a $25,000 Tesla was laid out.

How easy it is to mine lithium (just add salt), just how much of it there is in Nevada (enough for 300 million EVs), how to be environmentally friendly (“put the chunk of dirt back where it was”) and, given these facts, why miners haven’t been trying harder.

Since lithium is “just like widely available” and Tesla’s scientists have eliminated other hard to come by metals like graphite (replace it with sand, obvs) and cobalt from batteries (at least in theory), Musk’s prime raw material worry is nickel.

[Kabanga Nickel/Tanzania] Green technology boost for African mining – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – January 26, 2021)

January 27, 2021

https://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The key to unlocking value of Kabanga Nickel and enabling the full beneficiation of new era metals in Tanzania is an environment-friendly hydrometallurgy process that eliminates smelting and thus slashes the need for electricity.

The Kabanga Nickel Hydromet process – which takes ore to refined metals at lower capital and operating costs cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emission by 80% and eliminating sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission altogether – is seen as a game changer for Tanzania, by providing the maximum in-country value-add to the East African nation.

Once developed, Kabanga will produce class 1 nickel and cobalt products – two of the key elements used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries – and London Metal Exchange grade A copper cathode.

Lithium miner back in the driving seat on electric vehicle rebound – by Nick Toscano (Sydney Morning Post – January 25, 2021)

January 25, 2021

https://www.smh.com.au/

For Australia’s miners of lithium, one of the critical metals to make electric batteries, last year started out like the one before it: with the same weakness in demand and pricing that has been forcing operators into survival mode.

The markets for battery ingredients lithium and cobalt, which soared from 2016-18, went from boom to bust after a rush of new projects tipped the industry into oversupply, and reductions in Chinese subsidy programs put a pause on the electric vehicle revolution.

The price of hard-rock lithium concentrate known as spodumene had crashed by nearly half already and the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to drive car sales even lower.

UK produces first-ever battery grade lithium carbonate in Cornwall – by Cristina Belda (Metal Bulletin – January 20, 2021)

January 22, 2021

https://www.metalbulletin.com/

Lithium carbonate has been produced for the first time in Cornwall in southwest England, the Li4UK consortium said this week.

Following an 18-month project, Li4UK confirmed that the purity of the lithium carbonate produced at Cornish Lithium’s Trelavour project Cornwall is “near battery grade,” the consortium said on Monday January 18.

“Li4UK (Securing a Domestic Lithium Supply Chain for the UK), is a consortium that comprises exploration firm Cornish Lithium, mining consultancy Wardell Armstrong International (WAI) and the UK’s Natural History Museum.

Old EV Batteries Look Like a Gold Mine for Dogged Entrepreneurs – by Kyle Stock (Bloomberg News – January 21, 2021)

January 22, 2021

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Electric vehicles have been coming for more than a decade; now they are starting to go as well.

Like wind turbines and nuclear fuel rods, car batteries don’t last forever. Today, 13 years after the 2008 Tesla Roadster made its debut, a first generation of EVs is nearing retirement. The cars, and their 1,000-pound battery packs, are creating a mountain of electronic scrap.

Several entrepreneurs have begun pulling those batteries out of the pile, cracking them open, and cooking them down to recover cobalt, lithium, nickel, and other raw ingredients that can be recycled almost endlessly.