Mining companies will gain an extra $2 billion to expand the production of critical minerals needed for renewable energy and high-tech devices under a federal plan to meet soaring demand for the components tightly controlled by China.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will double the finance available to key exporters from $2 billion to $4 billion in the hope of unlocking vast reserves of lithium, nickel and other essential elements for batteries and other renewable technologies.
Despite the push toward decoupling, China-West collaboration persists in South America’s Lithium Triangle. But in the age of strategic competition, how long will this last?
In the vast, almost haunting expanse of the high Argentine desert, beneath layers of brine and time, lies an element that could easily be mistaken for table salt. Yet, this mineral holds the key to power electric vehicles, cell phones, and the whole green energy revolution. They call it “white gold” – lithium.
The Cauchari-Olaroz mine, located in Argentina’s Jujuy province, promises to churn out 40,000 tons of lithium over the next 40 years. But more riveting than the mineral is the strange corporate partnership extracting it. The mine is jointly owned by Canada’s Lithium Americas and China’s Ganfeng Lithium.
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They call themselves the “Dahn lab” graduates, and they’re powering an unlikely, Halifax-based research hub for batteries designed to replace fossil fuels.
At the tightly wired network’s heart is Jeff Dahn, a professor of chemistry and physics at Dalhousie University, who on Oct. 9 was presented with the Olin Palladium Award from the Electrochemical Society for a lifetime of working to improve rechargeable batteries. The prestigious prize has previously been won by Nobel laureates.
Beijing bolsters export restrictions on strategic mineral days after U.S. squeezed Chinese access to advanced semiconductors
HONG KONG—China is strengthening restrictions on exports of graphite, a key mineral needed for the production of electric-vehicle batteries and fuel cells, the latest move in an intensifying global tussle over the building blocks of critical technologies.
Citing national-security concerns, China’s Commerce Ministry said Friday that exports of several categories of natural and synthetic graphite materials would require permits under a system used to control trade in items with dual civilian and military uses starting Dec. 1.
Lithium, cobalt and nickel prices tumble as ‘irrational exuberance’ wears off and surge in supply hits markets
Prices for key battery materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel have sharply fallen this year as electric-vehicle sales in China cool off and a surge in supply hits the market.
Since the start of the year, lithium prices have fallen almost 70 per cent and nickel prices have dropped by 40 per cent, while the cobalt market is in a glut with prices hovering slightly above record lows, according to data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence Ltd., Refinitiv Ltd. and Argus Media Ltd.
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Zeeshan Syed, a former Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) executive who was engulfed in a public sector spending scandal in Alberta only four years ago, welcomed two Liberal cabinet ministers to the Thunder Bay site of his junior mining company’s proposed lithium refinery last week, and is optimistic he can attract taxpayer funding for the venture.
The visit, which was widely publicized by Mr. Syed’s company to attract media and investor attention, saw both François-Philippe Champagne, the Federal Industry Minister, and Patty Hajdu, Indigenous Services Minister, heap praise on his struggling penny stock mining company, Avalon Advanced Materials Inc..
LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) – China is upping the critical minerals stakes by curbing exports of graphite, a key raw material in electric vehicle batteries. The West can’t say it wasn’t warned.
When China announced restrictions on exports of gallium and germanium in July, former Vice Commerce Minister Wei Jianguo was quoted in the China Daily as saying it was “just the start” if the West continued to target China’s high-technology sector.
“The company” — a sprawling nickel industrial area better known as the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) — is a site of national strategic importance to Indonesia and one of the first minerals processing mega-developments that has enabled the country to emerge as the biggest refiner of nickel in the world.
Built with billions of dollars of mostly Chinese money over the last decade, IMIP in Central Sulawesi now spans more than 20 square kilometres with infrastructure including an airport, seaport, and worker accommodation that supports 52 enterprises. IMIP primarily processes nickel ore for stainless steel but now is increasingly producing higher-grade nickel for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Rock Tech Lithium looks to place its second lithium refinery in Northern, Eastern Ontario
Rock Tech Lithium, a German-Canadian company with a Lake Nipigon-area lithium deposit, is scoping out processing sites in Northern and Eastern Ontario. Sudbury, Thunder Bay, the Nipissing District covering the North Bay-Temiskaming area, and Leeds Grenville in the Brockville area are on Rock Tech’s shortlist, according to a company news release issued today.
The company, which recently opened an office in Toronto to oversee its Canadian operations, has ambitious goals to build “several lithium converters.” Its first lithium hydroxide processing site will be in Guben, Germany, and is targeted for production in 2026.
Chilean state-owned copper miner Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, has reached a deal with Lithium Power International (ASX: LPI) to buy the Australian producer of the battery metal for A$385 million ($244 million).
The deal reached by the parties, which have been involved in negotiations for weeks, involves a cash offer of 0.57 Australian dollars per LPI share.
Prices of the key battery metal have fallen by roughly 70% this year, easing battery-cost worries but casting doubt on longer-term supply
High oil prices deter people from buying gas guzzlers: What is good for Exxon Mobil XOM 1.18%increase; green up pointing triangle is bad for Ford. But 100 years ago, both companies were growing rapidly: More cars meant more fuel.
Both dynamics are at play in the relationship between electric vehicles and lithium, the key ingredient of electric-vehicle batteries. More EVs will require more lithium, but only at the right price. This makes it a tough market to time for investors—and indeed for lithium producers such as Albemarle.
Oct 18 (Reuters) – Mining giant Glencore (GLEN.L) said on Wednesday it was set to close its copper operations at Mount Isa mines in Queensland, Australia by the second half of 2025.
The decision followed studies and reviews that it is not possible to further extend the life of the underground mines, the Swiss miner and trader said.
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Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo finished off a recent trade mission to Ontario and Quebec by hosting a reception in downtown Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame. The evening was marked by two striking moments. The first was the sight of the Nevada delegation, decked out in their Vegas Golden Knights jerseys, posed around the Stanley Cup, while Mr. Lombardo said, with a smile: “We waited a long time for this.”
He said this to a room full of Toronto Maple Leaf fans, who’ve been waiting a little longer than the Knights’ six years for a championship.
Ontario is going bigger on the electric vehicle battery business, joining the federal government in providing almost $1 billion in subsidies toward a $2.7-billion parts plant near Kingston employing 600 workers to start.
Ontario is going bigger on the electric vehicle battery business, joining the federal government in providing almost $1 billion in subsidies toward a $2.7-billion parts plant near Kingston employing 600 workers to start.
The factory, to be operated by Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials Canada Inc., will make cathode materials crucial for producing EV batteries, which a Volkswagen subsidiary near St. Thomas and a Stellantis joint venture in Windsor will soon be assembling at plants now under construction.
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Robert Friedland, billionaire founder and executive co-chair of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN), criticized lithium mining at a London conference, ridiculed the West’s green energy transition and urged prayer to end the Israel-Hamas war.
Researchers at Ivanhoe start-up Pure Lithium in Boston are going from lithium brine to lithium metal in a step that could radically transform the electric vehicle battery market valued at around US$50 billion a year, Friedland told The Northern Miner’s Canadian Mining Symposium on Friday.
