Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 158

Battery builders get the cobalt blues – by Anthony King (Chemistry World – March 12, 2018)

March 12, 2018

https://www.chemistryworld.com/

Demand for battery metals surges on the back of a global appetite for electric vehicles

At the beginning of 2017, $32,500 (£26,300) would buy you one tonne of cobalt. Today you’d have to fork out $81,000. Since 2016, cobalt’s price has spiked enormously, and it’s all because of batteries.

Cobalt is an essential component of the lithium ion batteries that power our phones and laptops, and which are expected to be a key part of the world’s energy mix. ‘In 2017, we saw demand from the battery sector at 102 GWh, but we expect that to increase to 709 gigawatt hours by 2026,’ says Caspar Rawles, market analyst at Benchmark Minerals Intelligence.

That demand comes from consumer electronics and using batteries as grid storage for renewable energy sources. But by far the biggest driver is electric vehicles, with governments around the world looking to make the switch from petrol and diesel.

Commentary: Why electric vehicles could fracture the nickel market – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – March 8, 2018)

March 9, 2018

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – China’s Ministry of Finance made some minor but significant tweaks to its nickel import tariffs at the start of this year.

The import duty on melting-grade nickel cathode was doubled from 1 percent to 2 percent, while that on nickel sulphate was cut from 5.5 percent to 2 percent. Why the differentiation?

The reason is that nickel sulphate is a form of the metal highly suited to the production of precursor battery materials. China, already a leader in the electric vehicle (EV) battery sector, is evidently laying the ground for stimulating imports of nickel in the most readily usable composition for lithium-ion battery processing.

Cobalt: The Achilles Heel for Electric Car Makers – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – March 7, 2018)

March 8, 2018

https://www.forbes.com/

Fueling future generations of electric vehicles is making some mining entrepreneurs rich as demand grows for critical metals, such as lithium and cobalt. But as with all commodity booms, there are early signs of a shortage turning into a flood, with a predictably depressing effect on prices.

Lithium is the metal most likely to be hit by a surge in production and a fall in price, especially if demand for electric cars does not match optimistic forecasts.

Ironically, it could be a shortage of cobalt that delays the production of the lithium-ion batteries needed to power electric cars and a range of other products, such as smartphones and household appliances.

UPDATE 2-Russia’s Nornickel sees rising battery demand boosting nickel use – by Polina Devitt (Reuters U.S. – March 6, 2018)

March 7, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) – Russian mining firm Norilsk Nickel said on Tuesday rising use of batteries in electric vehicles would create strong demand for nickel from the 2020s.

Nornickel, which vies with Brazil’s Vale SA to be the world’s biggest nickel producer, said the battery industry would use more than 500,000 tonnes a year of the metal by 2025.

It said this “equals almost half of the current consumption of Class 1 nickel”, referring to the highest quality nickel that is now mainly used as an ingredient to produce stainless steel.

The Oligarchs’ Feud That Will Affect Electric Cars – by Yuliya Fedorinova (Bloomberg News – March 5, 2018)

March 6, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Russian billionaires are feuding over control of a giant natural-resource business that dates back to the Soviet era. So far, so Russia.

What makes the battle for MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC more important than typical business maneuvering is that it will affect development of one of the largest deposits of nickel and cobalt, which are used in batteries for goods including iPads and Tesla cars.

1. Who is feuding?

Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska, the two billionaires battling for control of Nornickel (as the company is known), have opposing strategies for its future. Potanin, the company’s chief executive officer and the second-richest Russian, wants to expand the business and develop new deposits to maintain its position in the industry.

UPDATE 2-Zimbabwe has potential to meet 20 pct of global lithium demand – by Alfonce Mbizwo (Reuters U.S. – February 28, 2018)

March 1, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

HARARE, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe has the potential to supply 20 percent of the world’s lithium, the mines minister from Africa’s top producer of the alkali metal used in batteries for electric vehicles said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is keen to attract capital to its mining sector after the ousting last year of former president Robert Mugabe after almost four decades in power and is pushing lithium as a major draw for investors.

“We believe we have the potential to actually account for 20 percent of global demand when all known lithium resources are being exploited,” Winston Chitando told a mining investment conference in the capital, Harare.

Commentary: Apple and the vertical transformation of mining – by Kurt Breede (Northern Miner – February 26, 2018)

March 1, 2018

The Northern Miner

Kurt Breede, P.Eng. is the Director of Industry Partnerships at the Lassonde Institute of Mining, University of Toronto, one of the leading mining research institutes in Canada. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Apple Inc. was in direct talks with an undisclosed mining company to secure long-term cobalt supplies to support the mounting demands of the company’s power hungry device lineup.

Cobalt, a hard, silver-grey metal once used for jewellery and paints, is the primary component for today’s lithium-ion batteries. Valued at over US$37 per lb. — an increase of 100% from just the year before — the metal is a coveted chalice for power hungry manufacturers seeking footholds in the ever narrowing space.

The potential deal would mark one of several negotiated by vertically integrated manufacturers (VIMs) in recent months to secure supplies of metals required to satisfy expanding production targets. BMW, Volkswagon and Samsung are just some of the industry giants rallying to align themselves with raw material producers.

Lithium glut? No way, say industry executives eyeing demand – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – February 27, 2018)

March 1, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (Reuters) – Forecasts for a glut in lithium, a major ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, fail to account for strong demand and how complicated it is to process and mine, industry executives and analysts said.

Morgan Stanley sent lithium stocks tumbling on Monday after it forecast a surplus in the market in 2022 of 190,000 tonnes, resulting in predicted prices nearly halving to $7,699 a tonne. However, some industry officials took issue with the outlook.

“I am firmly of the view that everyone, including Morgan Stanley, is grossly underestimating how quickly the market is moving on the demand side,” Ken Brinsden, chief executive of Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals, said at a mining conference in Florida this week.

Scarce, expensive cobalt essential for electric cars – by Terry Cain (Globe and Mail – February 27, 2018)

February 28, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The recent market turmoil has knocked back the value of most asset classes. But one group has held up surprisingly well. After rising dramatically in 2017, certain scarce metals, such as cobalt and lithium, continue to be hot commodities. In fact, the price of cobalt has set a new record high. So what is driving this rally, can it continue, and how can investors benefit?

The key factor driving these metals is surging demand for lithium-ion batteries. These power sources are the most popular kind of rechargeable batteries used in home electronics, as well as electric vehicles. Production and sales of these batteries have taken off as global sales for these products surge.

As the name indicates, one of the key ingredients in lithium-ion batteries is lithium. The price of the silvery-white metal, sometimes called “white gold,” has spiked by nearly 500 per cent over the past five years, though it has pulled back in the first part of this year. Australia and South America are the main lithium producers.

South Korea’s POSCO signs long-term deal to buy lithium from Australia’s Pilbara (Reuters U.S. – February 27, 2018)

February 28, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) – South Korean steelmaker POSCO on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy up to 240,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate per year from Australian miner Pilbara Minerals, using the commodity to help supply producers of electric vehicle batteries.

As part of the deal, the Australian unit of POSCO will acquire a 4.75 percent stake in Pilbara for A$79.6 million ($62.49 million).

POSCO said in a statement that it planned to make about 30,000 tonnes of lithium products per year starting from 2020. It plans to supply these to firms including battery material manufacturing affiliate POSCO ES Materials and its joint venture with China’s Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd, as well as South Korean battery makers.

Pandering to electric-vehicle owners contains blind spots – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – February 28, 2018)

February 28, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Electric-vehicle sales more than doubled in Ontario in 2017 as rebates worth up to $14,000 per car propelled the province past Quebec to become Canada’s EV leader. Many electric-car fans celebrated this as proof that Ontario’s latest incentives to encourage EV sales are working.

Working for them, maybe. But what about for taxpayers and the planet? We already know that government rebates on EV purchases are a horrendously expensive way to reduce carbon. Encouraging consumers to move to smaller gasoline-powered cars by increasing sales taxes on fossil fuels would do so much more to cut emissions.

What’s more, it is now becoming clear that mining the massive amounts of cobalt and lithium needed to manufacture the bigger batteries required to increase EV range and reliability risks creating a slew of unintended social, economic and environmental consequences.

‘Boring’ Gold Giants Struggle to Compete With Hot Battery Metals – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – February 28, 2018)

February 28, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Gold producers are doing everything they’re supposed to be doing — squeezing more profit out of mines, penny-pinching on projects and resisting the kind of big deals that got them into trouble when prices fell.

While that’s satisfying their large institutional shareholders, it’s not enough to lure more general investors drawn to flashier electric-vehicle commodities, as well as to stocks riding the marijuana and cryptocurrency booms.

Large producers such as Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. surged in 2016 as they emerged from a painful multi-year downturn. Since then, they’ve largely decoupled from bullion, which has continued to rise, and are trading at the cheapest versus the Dow Jones Industrial Average in more than a year.

Electric Car Myth Buster — The Electrical Grid – by Steve Hanley (Clean Technica – February 25, 2018)

February 28, 2018

https://cleantechnica.com/

The CleanTechnica Myth Buster series is intended to counteract the wealth of misinformation and outright lies about electric cars that is currently found on the internet. Usually, these “talking points” are taken straight from hit pieces bought and paid for by organizations supported by the Koch Brothers.

According to the Washington Post, the Dastardly Duo have committed to spending up to $10 million a year to spread misinformation about electric cars and promote the advantages of fossils fuels.

The front group for this assault was called Fueling US Forward, which was formed in 2017, then quietly shut down in October with all references to its existence on the internet deleted. But not before publications like Forbes and the Wall Street Journal ran propaganda pieces provided by shadowy figures associated with Koch Industries.

Agnico Eagle Is Reviewing Cobalt Assets After Receiving Interest – by Danielle Bochove and Susanne Barton (Bloomberg News – February 26, 2018)

February 27, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. is dusting off cobalt assets in Ontario for potential sale as a global search for the rechargeable-battery ingredient expands amid surging demand.

The gold producer is doing an analysis of its Canadian cobalt holdings after receiving five or six inquiries, Chief Executive Officer Sean Boyd said Monday in a Bloomberg TV interview at the annual BMO mining conference in Florida.

The move comes at a time when manufacturers are seeking to secure cobalt on behalf of battery makers as demand heats up from the electric-vehicle and mobile-phone industries.

Cobalt price: Supply scramble heats up with Canadian deal – by Frik Els (Mining.com – February 22, 2018)

February 23, 2018

http://www.mining.com/

Investors piled into Cobalt 27 Capital Corp (TSX-V:KBLT) and RNC Minerals (TSX:RNX) on Thursday after the companies entered into a royalty deal on all future nickel and cobalt production at RNC Minerals’ Dumont project in Quebec in a deal worth $70 million.

Shares in Toronto-based Cobalt 27 gained as much as 6% in lunchtime trade lifting its market cap to C$440m ($350m) . Investors who bought into the battery metals story when Cobalt 27 listed in June are now enjoying a 45% appreciation in the value of the stock since then. Cobalt 27 stockpiles the metal, holds options on cobalt juniors and enters into streaming and royalty deals in an effort to be a pure play on the cobalt price.

RNC Minerals stock popped 12% shortly after the open on the TSX affording the company a market value C$90m before cooling off in later trade. The Toronto-based firm which changed its name from Royal Nickel Corp in 2016 owns 50% of the Dumont project in the Abitibi mining camp in a joint venture with Waterton, a private equity investor. RNC Minerals is up 43% year to date.