Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 30

Patriot Battery Metals hits back at short-seller report – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 10, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian lithium explorer Patriot Battery Metals (TSX-V: PMET) (ASX: PMT) refuted on Monday claims published in a short-seller report, stating the assertions made by Night Market Research were “factually inaccurate and misleading.” The short-seller said on July 6 it attributed Patriot’s stock price rally to promotion efforts with unnamed marketing outlets that other “Tier-1” developers would avoid.

“Patriot Battery Metals is a rare mining ‘unicorn’ – a lithium explorer ascending to a $2-billion valuation despite having acquired its core asset for $8-million only 16 months ago and lacking an established maiden resource,” the report said.

Mining giant Rio Tinto dips toes in Canadian lithium projects in rare pursuit of EV metal – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – July 10, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Signs option agreement with two Canadian lithium companies

Rio Tinto Ltd., one of the world’s largest mining companies, doesn’t currently produce any lithium, but two agreements in as many months with Canadian companies suggest the giant is quietly exploring projects containing the metal that’s expected to play a key role in powering the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

Rio on July 10 signed an option agreement for about $115.7 million with Longueuil, Que.-based Azimut Exploration Inc., giving it the opportunity to own at least 75 per cent of the Corvet and Kaanaayaa lithium properties in Quebec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region.

Battles brewing as Ontario, Canada push Ring of Fire mining to boost EV plan – by Colin D’Mello & Isaac Callan (Global News – July 8, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://globalnews.ca/

The lawyer representing a number of First Nations communities opposed to the Ford government’s plans for the Ring of Fire is cautioning that the province’s long-term electric vehicle battery manufacturing strategy might be a “fool’s errand.”

Premier Doug Ford agreed to enter into a pact with the federal government to offer hefty subsidies to companies that choose to build lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles in Ontario, seen as the next frontier in the province’s auto manufacturing strategy. Both governments have poured billions into packages to tempt car makers to set up in the province.

Site visit: Unearthing the lithium ‘gold rush’ in Nevada – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – July 6, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

While precious metals-focused juniors are working to revive Nevada’s tired Tonopah Silver District, lithium discoveries to the north, west and south of the desert town’s doorstep could again kick the boom-bust local economy into high gear.

Among a handful of prospectors jumping to capitalize on the battery metal’s EV potential are American Lithium (TSXV: LI), Tearlach Lithium (TSXV: TEA; OTC: TELHF), American Battery Technology Company (OTCQX: ABML) and Century Lithium (TSXV: LCE; OTCQX: CYDVF), all emerging as critical players in the region’s nascent lithium mining industry. They want to exploit lithium’s potential while emphasizing sustainability and community engagement, The Northern Miner learnt on a recent tour of the district’s lithium exploration plays.

The rush for nickel: ‘They are destroying our future’ – by Valdya Baraputri (BBC News Indonesia – July 9, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://www.bbc.com/

Two men are carrying torches and homemade arrows as they slip into the ocean at night on an Indonesian island. They are from an indigenous community of Bajau people – renowned freedivers who find it better to hunt in the dark when fish, lobsters and sea cucumbers are less active.

But they fear time is running out for their traditional way of life. “Right now, the water is still clear,” says Tawing, one of the fishermen. “But it won’t stay that way… nickel waste enters our water during the rainy season and the current carries it here.”

Deep-sea mining tussle pits France and Germany against China – by Kenza Bryan (Financial Times – July 9, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://www.ft.com/

Crunch talks in Jamaica to determine future of drive to extract critical minerals from ocean depths

France and Germany are leading a fightback against plans to allow large-scale commercial mining in the deep seas, warning that a China-supported push to harvest battery metals from the seabed could do lasting harm.

Representatives of 168 member states of the International Seabed Authority will gather on Monday for a marathon, three-week negotiation on whether to lay down the first operating guidelines for the nascent industry.

Canada mimics U.S. strategy by offering nearly $30 billion for Stellantis, Volkswagen battery plants – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – July 7, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Canada, Ontario providing Stellantis up to $15 billion

Seven weeks after the fate of Canada’s first electric-vehicle battery plant was thrown into jeopardy, a new government agreement with the plant’s main investors ensures the project is back on track to start production in 2024.

The Windsor, Ont., lithium-ion battery plant, a joint venture of Stellantis NV and LG Energy Solution Ltd. was first announced in March, but construction was halted in May after Stellantis said the federal government had not met its financial commitments.

China Controls Minerals That Run the World—and It Just Fired a Warning Shot at U.S. – by Jon Emont (Wall Street Journal – July 7, 2023)

July 10, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/

Beijing’s export restrictions on two minerals this week show it is willing to use its dominance to rock Western supply chains

SINGAPORE—China’s decision this week to restrict the export of two minerals used in semiconductors, solar panels and missile systems was more than a trade salvo. It was a reminder of its dominant hold over the world’s mineral resources—and a warning of its willingness to use them in its escalating rivalry with the U.S.

Around two-thirds of the world’s lithium and cobalt—essential for electric cars—is processed in China. The country is the source of nearly 60% of aluminum, also used in EV batteries, and 80% of polysilicon, an ingredient in solar panels. It has an even tighter grip on rare-earth minerals that go into crucial technologies, like making smartphone touch screens and missile-defense systems, accounting for 90% of their refining, according to the International Energy Agency.

Chinese owner of Manitoba mine wants to drain lake to extract more cesium from one of world’s few deposits – Bartley Kives (CBC News Manitoba – July 6, 2023)

July 6, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/

The Chinese owner of the Tanco mine in eastern Manitoba has revived talk of partly draining a lake in order to extract more cesium from one of the world’s few deposits of the critical mineral.

Sinomine Resource Group is musing about a long-term redevelopment of its mine it purchased in 2019 along the shore of Bernic Lake, a small Canadian Shield body of water located between Whiteshell and Nopiming provincial parks. The goal is to reach cesium that can not be mined right now because it’s embedded in vertical columns that hold up the roof of the underground mine.

Stellantis, LG reach new EV battery plant deal for up to $15-billion in subsidies from Ottawa, Ontario – by Adam Radwanski and Laura Stone (Globe and Mail – July 6, 2023)

July 6, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Stellantis NV STLA-N and LG Energy Solution have reached a new deal with the federal and Ontario governments for as much as $15-billion in subsidies for their electric-vehicle battery factory in Windsor, bringing an end to a months-long saga in which the companies halted construction on the project while they pushed for greater financial backing.

The agreement was announced by Stellantis late Wednesday afternoon through a press release. It was subsequently confirmed by Ottawa in a statement issued by Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Construction of the plant will resume immediately, according to Stellantis.

Australia forecasts brutal lithium price correction as output surges – by Frik Els (Mining.com – July 4, 2023)

July 5, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

The lithium market has been in turmoil with dramatic price swings over the last five years as demand from electric cars take off and global supply growth struggles to keep up.

In its quarterly report released on Monday, the Australian government said it expects spodumene prices to decline slightly from an average of $4,368 a tonne in 2022 to average $4,357 a tonne in 2023 as the precipitous decline from record spot prices in the second half of last year take time to feed into long-term supply contracts.

Forrest makes a ‘whatever it takes’ bet on clean nickel – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review – July 5, 2023)

July 5, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Billionaire Andrew Forrest is rewriting history in nickel-rich Western Australia, returning to the scene of his biggest career heartbreak as the owner of Mincor Resources. He is willing to invest “whatever it takes” to become a global force in nickel via his private investment vehicle, Wyloo Metals, in a sector where BHP leads the way in terms of Australian output.

Dr Forrest famously backed Anaconda Nickel in the late 1990s, building it up from nothing before things went badly wrong at the Murrin Murrin mine out in bush near Leonora. He lost some skin and reputation before exiting as chief executive in 2001.

New technology could cement Indonesia’s dominance of vital nickel (The Economist – July 5, 2023)

July 5, 2023

https://www.economist.com/

But harvesting the crucial metal will be bad news for the country’s rainforests

Each year scientists discover an average of five new bird species. In 2013, on a trip to a remote set of islands in Indonesia, researchers found ten in six weeks—the biggest haul in more than a century.

The region in question, known as Wallacea after Alfred Russel Wallace, a 19th-century naturalist, is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Its rainforests host creatures found nowhere else, such as the maleo, an endangered bird that uses sunlit beaches and geothermal heat to keep its eggs warm rather than incubating them itself.

Mining the Northwest: How Northern Ontario’s first lithium mine and refinery project could come together – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 4, 2023)

July 5, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Avalon Advanced Materials gets back on the hop in striking partnership deals, expediting government approvals to feed the electric vehicle industry

Zeeshan Syed claims Avalon Advanced Materials is out to create a “catalytic event” in selecting a site in Thunder Bay to place Ontario’s first proposed lithium processing refinery. After years of much talk and little action, the Toronto-based junior miner took a great leap forward in June with the announcement that a former forest products mill site in the city’s north end is the spot for a lithium hydroxide conversion plant.

Avalon also introduced a joint venture partnership with Antwerp-headquartered Sibelco, a deal that brings $63-million to the table to bring Separation Rapids, its Kenora-area lithium deposit, into production by late 2025, early 2026.

How China Came to Dominate the World’s Largest Nickel Source for Electric Cars – by Jon Emont (Wall Street Journal – July 5, 2023)

July 5, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/

Chinese firms mastered a process that unlocked Indonesia’s ore for use in making EV batteries

Across the Indonesian archipelago, new industrial plants are going up to process chunks of nickel ore for use in electric-car batteries. Five years ago, there were none. What changed? Chinese companies had a breakthrough.

They tamed a refining process that was once unwieldy, unlocking Indonesia’s expansive deposits for the nickel-hungry EV industry. In doing so, they established Chinese dominance over what has grown into the world’s largest source of the commodity.