Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 133

Who should fuel the EV revolution? – by Guy Dixon (Globe and Mail – February 15, 2019)

February 15, 2019

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario is gearing up to power a population of electric vehicles, but how soon is the populace going to drive them?

As an example of one region’s readiness for electric vehicles, Ontario Power Generation, which produces about half of the province’s electrical generation, said it will be able to provide the extra power needed for an estimated three million or more EVs to hit Ontario’s roads in 20 years.

“The energy is there,” but the infrastructure is lacking – the ability for drivers to conveniently plug in their cars en masse overnight, said Andrea Brown, senior manager of electrification development at Ontario Power Generation.

Quebec lithium developer’s stock craters after cost blowout – by Amanda Stutt (Mining.com – February 13, 2019)

February 15, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

Nemaska Lithium’s (TSE: NMX) stock plummeted Wednesday after disclosing it has been forced to revise the budget for the Whabouchi lithium mine and Shawinigan electrochemical plant upward by C$375 million. The company, with a $300 million market cap on the TSX, clawed back some of the early day’s losses, but still closed the day down 35%.

Nemaska, which has also received funding from the Quebec provincial and Canadian federal governments, is building the Whabouchi hard rock lithium mine in the James Bay region and Shawinigan processing plant north of Montreal, aiming to put Canada on the global lithium production map.

Nemaska has already spent over $138 million on the Whabouchi mine and mill, and another $67.3 million for the plant in Shawinigan. The additional funding is largely related to installation and indirect costs, said the company. Direct purchase package costs – mainly equipment – are in line with the original budget.

Column: Nickel rally fades, electric vehicle buzz doesn’t – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – February 12, 2019)

February 12, 2019

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Was it another false dawn for the nickel market? Last week’s rally to a five-month high of $13,350 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange has gone into sharp reverse. Nickel was trading back at $12,385 on Tuesday.

The trigger for the price surge was concern that Brazilian producer Vale’s nickel operations would suffer some sort of knock-on effect from the devastating tailings collapse at the company’s Brumadinho iron ore mine.

Such fears have proved unfounded. So far. There may still be ramifications for Vale’s Onca Puma ferronickel operations in the state of Para. But nickel’s ability to rally at all in the current gloomy macroeconomic environment is testament to continued investor interest in the metal’s potential demand boost from the electric vehicle (EV) revolution.

Cobalt’s price crash bottoming out, stocks to hinder quick rally – by Pratima Desai (Reuters U.S. – February 12, 2019)

February 12, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Cobalt’s near year-long price slide is finally coming to an end, but high inventories of the battery metal will stop prices quickly re-claiming 2018’s 10-year highs.

London Metal Exchange prices have crashed to two-year lows of $32,000 a tonne compared with levels near $100,000 in the first half of 2018.

The drop was sparked by rising supplies from the artisanal and industrial sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a surplus of cobalt chemicals, used to make rechargeable batteries to power electric vehicles, in top consumer China.

India eyes South America’s lithium reserves for battery manufacturing – by Uma Gupta (PV Magazine India – February 12, 2019)

February 12, 2019

PV Magazine India

As India plans to set up large lithium-ion battery plants, the Lithium Triangle countries in South America (comprising Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) have offered to meet India’s growing demand for lithium.

A delegation from Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) recently visited the Lithium Triangle countries in South America (comprising Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) to explore opportunities in the mining of Lithium.

Significantly, as India looks to set up large lithium-ion battery plants, these countries have offered to meet India’s growing demand for lithium, reported The Financial Express.

Electric Minerals: Tesla, Chrysler Feel the Heat as African Nations Demand Bigger Cut – by Greg Thomson (Hacked.com – February 10, 2019)

February 11, 2019

Hacked.com

Officials from mineral-rich African nations met with representatives from the ‘big mining’ industry at the Mining Indaba investment conference in Cape Town this week, with each hoping to make headway amid newly-simmering economic tensions.

Those tensions have been fuelled by a realization on the part of certain African nations that they now hold all the cards when it comes to producing minerals essential for the manufacture of electric vehicles.

As such, countries like Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia have demanded a bigger piece of the pie from mining companies, so much so that the CEO of multi-billion dollar mining company, Barrick Gold, has already labelled the situation ‘untenable’.

Bolivia picks Chinese partner for $2.3 billion lithium projects – by Daniel Ramos (Reuters U.S. – February 6, 2019)

February 7, 2019

https://www.reuters.com/

LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia has chosen a Chinese consortium to be its strategic partner on new $2.3 billion lithium projects, the government said on Wednesday, giving China a potential foothold in the country’s huge untapped reserves of the prized electric battery metal.

China’s Xinjiang TBEA Group Co Ltd will hold a 49 percent stake in a planned joint venture with Bolivia’s state lithium company YLB, the Bolivian firm said. Together, the companies will seek to produce lithium and other materials from the Coipasa and Pastos Grandes salt flats.

Bolivia estimates that development of the projects will cost at least $2.3 billion. The Chinese firm will provide initial investment and YLB will pay its share with future lithium production, YLB’s executive manager Juan Carlos Montenegro said by phone.

U.S. Loosing Global Battery Arms Race that is Critically Dependent on Nickel, Cobalt and Lithium – by Simon Moores (Benchmark Mineral Intelligence – February 5, 2019)

February 6, 2019

Written Testimony of Simon Moores, Managing Director, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
For: US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Hearing: Tuesday, February 5 2019, at 10:00a.m. Room 366, Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.
Subject: Outlook for energy and minerals markets in the 116th Congress.

We are in the midst of a global battery arms race in which the US is presently a bystander.

Since my last testimony only 14 months ago, we have reached a new gear in this energy storage revolution which is now having a profound impact on supply chains and the raw materials that fuel it.

The advent of electric vehicles (EVs) and the emergence of battery energy storage has sparked a wave of lithium ion battery megafactories being built.

Lithium Giant’s Landmark Deal Is Big Step to Battery ‘Dream’ – by Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – January 31, 2019)

February 1, 2019

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The country holding the world’s largest reserves of lithium says it’s one step closer to becoming a manufacturing hub for rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles.

Chile is hopeful that battery makers such as Samsung SDI and POSCO will start installing lithium processing plants in the country by the end of the year, according to Sebastian Sichel, executive vice president of government development agency Corfo. The agency recently reached a deal with top lithium miner Albemarle Corp. that will give battery makers access to cheaper lithium.

“We want manufacturers to get closer and closer to producing a complete battery in Chile — that’s our dream,” Sichel said in an interview in Santiago. “We don’t know if we’ll ever make vehicles, but we would like to at least see battery parts produced in Chile, maybe even the whole battery.”

Lithium and cobalt – what to look for in 2019 – by Wood Mackenzie (Mining.com – January 30, 2019)

January 31, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

Last year saw perhaps less exuberance in the lithium sector. The muted response to the IPOs of industry majors Ganfeng and Livent (ex-FMC) probably best exemplified the lull in excitement. Meanwhile, stocks of already traded lithium companies also had a painful time of it in 2018.

For lithium spot prices in the Chinese domestic market, 2018 saw only one direction – down. Rising domestic supply, EV subsidy changes, and destocking all combined to send prices for 99.5% lithium carbonate from RMB160,000/t at the start of 2018 to RMB77,500/t by the end of the year.

Yet conversely, average prices for seaborne material – largely sold on contract basis – seemingly bucked the trend, with realised prices for SQM and Albermarle increasing up to Q3 2018.

Nickel prices must rise to meet battery demand: AABC (Argus Media.com – January 28, 2019)

January 30, 2019

https://www.argusmedia.com/en/

Higher nickel prices are required to incentivise supply of nickel sulphate for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, particularly given lower cobalt prices, delegates heard today at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC) in Strasbourg, France.

Supply of nickel increased by 7pc last year to about 2.19mn t, but demand increased by 8pc to 2.33mn t, increasing the deficit to 147,000t, from 131,000t in 2017, said Denis Sharypin, head of market research at Russian producer Norilsk Nickel.

The battery sector accounted for 124,000t of consumption last year, and while overall nickel demand is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5pc to 2025, demand from the battery sector is estimated to climb at a CAGR of 18pc over the same period.

In the new lithium ‘Great Game,’ Germany edges out China in Bolivia (Channel News Asia – January 28, 2019)

January 29, 2019

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/

When Germany signed a deal last month to help Bolivia exploit its huge lithium reserves, it hailed the venture as a deepening of economic ties with the South American country. But it also gives Germany entry into the new “Great Game”, in which big powers like China are jostling across the globe for access to the prized electric battery metal.

UYUNI, Bolivia/BERLIN: When Germany signed a deal last month to help Bolivia exploit its huge lithium reserves, it hailed the venture as a deepening of economic ties with the South American country.

But it also gives Germany entry into the new “Great Game”, in which big powers like China are jostling across the globe for access to the prized electric battery metal.

Volkswagen jumps into the EV batteries making wagon – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 25, 2019)

January 25, 2019

http://www.mining.com/

German auto maker giant Volkswagen has just upped its bet on electric vehicles (EVs) by announcing it will begin manufacturing batteries and charging stations for those cars, which the company plans to also start mass producing soon.

The Wolfsburg-based company said it would invest 870 million euros (about $985 million) by 2020 to develop e-vehicle components, adding that its components division, which makes engines and steering parts, will now be in charge of producing, packing and overseeing recycling of battery cells and packs.

VW has been actively promoting the electric push by creating global production capacities for the construction of 1 million electric cars. Late last year, it announced it would spend nearly $50 billion to refocus on the making of electric cars, autonomous vehicles and new mobility services.

U.S. copper projects gain steam thanks to electric vehicle trend – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters Canada – January 24, 2019)

January 25, 2019

https://ca.reuters.com/

YERINGTON, Nev. (Reuters) – Once seen as a laggard in the global mining industry, U.S. copper deposits have quietly drawn more than $1.1 billion in investments from small and large miners alike as Tesla and other electric carmakers scramble for more of the red metal.

Four U.S. copper projects are set to open by next year – the first to come online in more than a decade – with several mine expansions also underway across the country, home to the world’s fifth-largest copper reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The rising popularity of electric vehicles – which use twice as much copper as internal combustion engines – and increasingly pro-mining policies in the U.S. while other nations exert greater control over their mineral deposits are fueling the spending, according to mining executives and investors.

Battery electric in mining here to stay: Panel of experts talk future and challenges of emerging technology at Sudbury event – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – January 18, 2019)

January 18, 2019

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The transition to battery electric vehicles in mining is well underway, but there remain technology issues that need to be addressed, said a panel of industry leaders in Sudbury, Jan.17. The discussion on electric vehicles brought a packed house to the Sudbury chapter of the Canadian Institute of Mining monthly general meeting at Science North.

The panel included Shane Wisniewski, general manager of mining projects at Glencore; Brian Huff, chief technology officer of Artisan Vehicles; Mike Mayhew, mine superintendent of Kirkland Lake Gold; Raphael Tiangco, superintendent of mobile fleet management at Vale; and Maarten van Koppen, senior project engineer at Goldcorp.

The panelists agreed that battery technology is the way of the future for deep hardrock mining, citing everything from cost savings, durability and health and safety. Tiango related his experiences underground when diesel was the dominant energy source.