Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 42

Why crashing lithium prices will not make electric cars cheaper (The Economist – April 20, 2023)

April 21, 2023

https://www.economist.com/

The race to secure enough of the battery metal is just getting started

Among the commodities that are key to decarbonisation, lithium is in the driving seat. Dubbed “white gold”, the metal is needed to produce nearly all types of batteries powering electric vehicles (evs). A single pack typically includes ten kilograms of the stuff.

In the past two years turbocharged ev sales worldwide helped boost prices twelve-fold, prodding miners to invest, carmakers to sign supply deals and governments to label it a strategic material. Most commodity prices stalled this winter, but lithium continued to ride high.

Ottawa matches U.S. with up to $13-billion in subsidies to land Volkswagen EV battery plant – by Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – April 21, 2023)

April 21, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government will provide Volkswagen with up to $13-billion in production subsidies for the new electric-vehicle battery plant it plans to build in St. Thomas, Ont. – nearly double the estimated $7-billion cost of construction.

Ottawa’s backing, which also includes about $700-million in additional support for nearer-term capital costs, is by far the most generous subsidy that Canada has ever provided to an automaker for locating a factory here.

Chile Unveils Public-Private Model to Share Vast Lithium Riches with Mining Industry – by James Attwood (Bloomberg News – April 20, 2023)

April 21, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chile delivered its long-awaited lithium policy late Thursday, giving the state a majority stake in all new contracts and sending shares in the two current producers in the South American nation — SQM and Albemarle Corp. — tumbling.

While the government will respect existing arrangements with the two companies, both would move to the state-controlled model once contracts expire in 2030 and 2043, respectively. Alternatively, they could opt to give up a majority stake in their operations before then. SQM shares were down a record 20% at 3:35pm in New York, while Albemarle lost 10%.

Australian junior miner grows its lithium bank in northwestern Ontario – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 19, 2023)

April 20, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology Metals boasts two lithium deposits as Sioux Lookout-area project shows growth potential

Green Technology Metals, an Australian exploration upstart, is boosting its storehouse of lithium resources in northwestern Ontario. The company posted a first-time resource estimate for its Root Project, situated northeast of Sioux Lookout, and one of their two leading properties.

The maiden estimate for Root is 4.5 million tonnes at 1.01 per cent lithium oxide, along with 110 parts per million tantalum pentoxide, all in the inferred category. It stems from an almost 15,000-metre drilling program that the company kicked off on the property last August.

Mining Lithium in Abandoned Oil Fields for Tomorrow’s EVs – by Jacob Lorinc and Robert Tuttle (Bloomberg News – April 20, 2023)

April 20, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chris Doornbos pulled up to Alberta’s foundational oil field in a baby-blue Tesla Model Y, a not-so-subtle nod to a new world order. It was a crisp January afternoon in Canada’s top-polluting province and a biting -5C (23F), and the 40-year-old mining executive squinted at a patch of dirt that midcentury prospectors had once scoured for oil. It doesn’t look like much now, he admitted, but what counts is the lithium beneath the soil.

The Leduc oil field was discovered in the 1940s, when a group of Imperial Oil Ltd. workers stumbled upon a well so profuse with petroleum that, on first drill, it burped a gaseous fireball almost 15 meters (49 feet) into the air.

Sources say Volkswagen’s new Ontario plant will dwarf previous automaker investments – by Tonda MacCharles and Robert Benzie (Toronto Star – April 20, 2023)

April 20, 2023

https://www.thestar.com/

Ottawa and Queen’s Park hope the auto giant’s new manufacturing complex will be the lynchpin of a new “green” supply chain in Canada.

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford hit the road Friday to finally unveil plans for the new multi-billion dollar Volkswagen electric vehicle “gigafactory” in St. Thomas. Ottawa and Queen’s Park hope the German auto giant’s massive new manufacturing complex will be the lynchpin of a new “green” supply chain in Canada.

Volkswagen announced last month it chose southwestern Ontario over U.S states like Oklahoma that were vying for the global automakers’ first battery plant outside Europe. The “gigafactory” will sprawl over hundreds of acres near London, Ont., and produce hundreds of thousands of electric car batteries a year to generate “gigawatts” of battery power for the burgeoning EV market in North America.

Yellowknife emerging as EV metals hub – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – April 10, 2023)

April 18, 2023

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

The Northwest Territories capital city of Yellowknife is emerging as a northern link in North America’s electric vehicle supply chain. Already home to Canada’s only rare earths mine, a 160-kilometers (100 miles) area around this northern mining town happens to be enriched with the lithium and cobalt that is in massive demand for EV batteries, along with numerous other minerals critical to both Canada and the United States.

A roughly 9,600-square-kilometer (3,700 square miles) area that extends 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Yellowknife to Vital Metal Ltd.’s Nechalacho rare earths mine is riddled with hardrock lithium sources known as pegmatites.

Copper Shortage Threatens Green Transition – by Yusuf Khan (Wall Street Journal – April 18, 2023)

April 18, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/

Challenges in opening new mines expected to leave production lagging behind rising demand

Metal markets seem to think copper is the new lithium. A lack of new mining activity has added to worries that there won’t be enough of the red metal for the energy transition, a popular topic at this week’s World Copper Conference in Santiago, Chile.

South America currently dominates copper production and Chile is the largest mined producer. Increasing mine output has proved a challenge, prompting a wave of deal making in the industry and warnings of a serious supply shortfall over the next decade.

Will we have enough nickel for our EVs in 2030? – by Brian Donovan (Globe and Mail – April 18, 2023)

April 18, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Nickel demand is increasing with the shift to electric vehicles. Let’s take a look at what is happening with this commodity.

Pricing:

Nickel prices were very volatile in 2022. On March 8, 2022, the metal topped US$100,000 a tonne before the London Metal Exchange halted trading, something that has never happened in the nickel market. The spike was driven initially by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which led to a short squeeze and margin calls for Tsingshan Holding Group Co., a large stainless-steel manufacturer in China.

Major drop in lithium prices could mean cheaper electric vehicles – by Philippe de Montigny (CBC Sudbury – April 17, 2023)

April 18, 2023

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

Key ingredient in batteries down more than 65 per cent after two-year rally

The significant drop in lithium prices since the beginning of the year could mean cheaper electric vehicles (EVs) down the road. After soaring for two years, the price of lithium carbonate — a key ingredient in EV batteries — sank by more than 65 per cent since January, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

“Prices peaked at over $85,000 US in November,” mining industry analyst Jean-Charles Cachon said, a level he deemed “unsustainable.” Today, one metric tonne of the battery-grade lithium salt sells for less than $30,000 US.

Indonesia’s nickel boom tests Western green sensibilities (The Economist – April 13, 2023)

April 14, 2023

https://www.economist.com/

Making batteries for electric vehicles requires environmental and geopolitical trade-offs

In a miserable year for initial public offerings, Indonesia’s capital is turning heads. The Jakarta Stock Exchange enjoyed record IPO volumes in the first quarter. The $800m raised in these flotations outstripped the sums drummed up on Hong Kong’s or New York’s stock exchanges in the same period.

The bulk of the money came from the listing of Pertamina Geothermal Energy, a green subsidiary of the state oil-and-gas giant. It may have been just the start of Indonesia’s clean-energy IPO boom. On April 12th Harita Nickel, a firm that processes the battery metal, pulled off the country’s biggest IPO in almost a year, raising nearly $700m at a valuation of around $5bn. Later this month Merdeka Battery Materials, another nickel firm, aims to raise more than $500m.

Africa has ‘golden opportunity’ in battery commodities market – by Simone Lieditke (MiningWeekly.com – April 14,2023)

April 14, 2023

https://www.miningweekly.com/

The battery commodities market is experiencing a golden age of growth and development, spurred by rapid technological advances and the growing demand for batteries to support cleaner mobility and the roll-out of variable renewables generators.

Global battery demand is forecast to grow by some 1 615 GWh, or 384.5%, over the next eight years, according to statistics aggregator Statista. This anticipated upsurge in demand for lithium-ion and other batteries is largely attributed to the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), which are expected to progressively replace internal combustion engine passenger cars.

‘Net Zero’ Will Mean a Mining Boom – by Daniel Yergin (Wall Street Journal – April 12, 2023)

April 14, 2023

https://www.wsj.com/

But political instability will make it difficult to obtain all the minerals electric cars will need.

California made a stunning decision last year—that by 2035 all new cars sold in the state must have at least 2½ times as much copper as conventional cars today. That’s not literally what the mandate said, of course, but it’s the practical effect of ordering all cars to be electric in the next 12 years.

“Big Shovel” will compete with “Big Oil” as mining ramps up to supply the vast increase in a wide range of minerals that energy transition requires. But getting everything that will be needed will be tough.

Lundin’s bid for Chilean copper hints at returning investor optimism – by Fabian Cambero and Divya Rajagopal (Reuters – April 14, 2023)

April 14, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO, April 14 (Reuters) – Lundin Mining Corp’s (LUN.TO) bid for control of Chile’s Caserones copper mine comes despite ongoing uncertainty over potential policy changes to royalties and taxes, an indication that investors may be regaining confidence in the world no.1 copper-producing country.

Lundin last month agreed to pay $950 million for 51% control of the mine, calling the deal “an endorsement that we believe the mining royalty and taxation discussions are trending in the right direction.”

NEWS RELEASE: LAND SECURED AT KWINANA FOR AUSTRALIA’S FIRST PROPOSED INTEGRATED BATTERY MATERIAL FACILITY (April 14, 2023)

April 14, 2023

IGO Limited (ASX: IGO) (IGO) and Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd (Wyloo) have today announced that land has been secured at Kwinana for their proposed integrated battery material facility (IBM Facility or the Project).

IGO, in conjunction with Wyloo, is working towards making a financial investment decision on the development of the Project which involves integrating a downstream nickel refinery with a plant producing high-value nickel dominant precursor cathode active material (PCAM) for the battery supply chain.

The proposed Project would combine IGO’s disruptive nickel refining technology with PCAM production expertise via a low-cost and low-carbon process. The Project would represent the first commercial production of PCAM in Australia and would align with the State Government’s drive to grow Western Australia’s future battery industry.