Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 59

‘We can catch up’: At PDAC, new optimism critical minerals gap with China can be closed – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 8, 2023)

March 8, 2023

Some experts say Canada and other western nations moving in the right direction on critical minerals

Like clockwork every year, mining executives, bankers, investors and politicians gather in Toronto at the largest mining conference in the world, and bemoan China’s head start in the race to build a critical mineral supply chain years before western countries caught on.

As the Prosperctors & Developers Association of Canada’s conference this week that sentiment remains with one key difference: new-found optimisim.

Tesla, GM Follow Own Shareholders With Push Into Lithium Miners – by Geoffrey Morgan and Esha Dey (Bloomberg News – March 7, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — As automakers seek stakes in lithium miners to lock in supplies for electric-vehicle batteries, they’re following a path already forged by their shareholders.

Take Tesla Inc., which is reportedly interested in buying Toronto-listed Sigma Lithium Corp. If Tesla succeeds, it would follow prominent funds including Manulife Financial Corp., 1832 Asset Management, Maven Securities, DZ Bank and several others that have been snapping up Sigma shares, even as they cut exposure to the electric-vehicle maker.

PDAC 2023: Focus on Ring of Fire overshadows ‘several other’ more advanced projects, says Wilkinson – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – March 8, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

‘Enormously bullish on the mining sector,’ natural resources minister tells conference

The fascination with the Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario is quite evident in the country’s business pages.

Few mining zones receive more press, even though no mine yet exists in the region 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is anxious to change that, asserting a number of times in the last few years that it was time to “hop on a bulldozer” and start building roads to what have been described as one of the “most promising” critical minerals deposits in Canada.

Ottawa mulls ramping up critical minerals funding to ensure ‘level playing field’ with big-spending Biden administration – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 8, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ottawa is considering a major new round of spending on critical minerals that could help Canada become more competitive with the United States, and boost the fortunes of junior miners struggling to raise funds after the federal crackdown on Chinese investment.

As part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s US$440-billion Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, the U.S. Department of Energy last year earmarked US$40-billion in loan guarantees for North American critical minerals companies, with some Canadian miners among the expected recipients.

Iran says it’s discovered what could be the world’s second-largest lithium deposit – by Natasha Turak (CNBC.com – March 6, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://www.cnbc.com/

Iran says it’s discovered a massive deposit of lithium — a key element in batteries for devices and electric vehicles — in one of its western provinces.

“For the first time in Iran, a lithium reserve has been discovered in Hamedan,” a mountainous province in the country’s west, Mohammad Hadi Ahmadi, an official at Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, was quoted as saying on Iranian state television Saturday.

Scratch that: feds to rethink Ring of Fire environmental assessment after First Nations criticism – by Emma McIntosh (TheNarwhal – March 7, 2023)

March 8, 2023

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‘There is no access to critical minerals in Canada without Indigenous Peoples being at the table in a decision-making position,’ Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has agreed to scrap a draft framework for a regional assessment in the Ontario Ring of Fire region and start over, working with First Nations.

For over a decade, governments and companies have sought to mine in the remote and environmentally-sensitive area known as the Ring of Fire. Accessible only by plane, or ice road in the winter, it’s located in the James Bay Lowlands and has deposits of key minerals that some people want to mine to fuel the production of electric vehicles.

Champagne rebuffs criticism his anti-China stance will hurt miners, calling himself a ‘hawk’ on security – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – March 6, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Some miners are worried Ottawa’s newfound emphasis on security could put a chill on investment

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said that his sudden decision to block Chinese investments in three Canadian lithium companies last year was “well-received” by Canada’s partners and allies, as he tried to allay concerns by some miners that the move has had the unintended consequence of making the country a less desirable place to invest.

However, Champagne defended his decision, saying there is “more intersection today than ever before between national security and economic prosperity,” and that most of the world realizes that.

South America looks at creating “lithium OPEC” – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – March 6, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil are analyzing the creation of a lithium cartel of sorts in charge of expanding South America’s processing capacity, turning more of their mined lithium into batteries and tapping into the electric vehicles (EVs) manufacturing sector.

The group would emulate similar schemes, such as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in terms of coordinating production flows, pricing and good practices, representatives of the Argentinean delegation said at the annual PDAC Convention, held this week in Toronto, Canada.

Curiosity spurred Virginia Heffernan to write a Ring of Fire book – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 4, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Toronto mining journalist hits PDAC 2023 with a primer on arrested development in the Far North

“Keep the faith.” It was an oft-used phrase by Richard “Dick” Nemis, a Sudbury native and colourful mining promoter whose company, Noront Resources, secured one of the largest land positions in the mineral-rich area of the James Bay known as the Ring of Fire.

Nemis clung to that motto even as he was being ousted by shareholders as the president of the junior mining company he helped establish in October 2008. It was personal blow since the exploration outfit was named after his father’s industrial fabrication company, started in the Nickel City in 1945, and still in operation today.

‘Lithium rush’ boosts sales of mineral claims in N.S. – by Catherine Morasse (CBC News Nova Scotia – March 5, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

For as long as she has lived in New Ross, Nova Scotia, Ruth Veinotte has seen different prospectors come and go. What they seek has changed through time, says the woman who has lived in the Lunenburg County community for 67 years. From manganese, which was exploited until the 1930s, the region later drew exploration for tin, uranium and other minerals.

Veinotte looks across the rural landscape that has drawn such interest as she finishes refuelling her pickup truck on the community’s quiet main road.

Gov’t urged to incentivize downstream nickel processing – by Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat (Manila Bulletin – March 5, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://mb.com.ph/

Imposing a ban or tax on the export of raw ore is not the solution to attract middle to downstream nickel processing in the country, but the granting additional incentives to investors, according to a top industry player.

Martin Antonio G. Zamora, president and CEO of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), the country’s lone nickel mining company with a processing operation of its raw ore, said during a media round table that incentives may be granted in the form of additional tax breaks on top of what has been given to manufacturing firms at present to attract more downstream processing operations.

Panic Over Metals for EVs Goes All the Way to Automakers’ C-Suites – by Danny Lee, David Stringer and Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – March 3, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The merry-go-round of private meetings at an annual mining industry conference at Florida’s Hollywood Beach had a cast of new faces this year: auto sector executives increasingly anxious about surging prices and tighter supply of metals used in electric vehicle batteries.

Tesla Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG were among automakers which sent senior staff to mingle with about 1,500 delegates at the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference, an event normally attended mainly by iron ore and aluminum producers.

Two-thirds of European battery production at risk – analysis (Transport Environment.org – March 6, 2023)

March 6, 2023

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More than two-thirds (68%) of lithium-ion battery production planned for Europe is at risk of being delayed, scaled down or cancelled, new analysis shows. Tesla in Berlin, Northvolt in northern Germany and Italvolt near Turin are among the projects that stand to lose the greatest volumes of their slated capacity as the companies weigh up investing in the US instead.

Transport & Environment (T&E), which conducted the research, called for both EU-wide financial support to scale up battery production and faster approvals processes to capture projects at risk from American subsidies.

South America Steps Up Efforts to Turn Lithium Into Batteries – by James Attwood, Jonathan Gilbert and Mariana Durao (Bloomberg News – March 5, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — South American nations are stepping up efforts to propel themselves further down the electric-vehicle supply chain by leveraging their vast mineral wealth, expanding processing capacity, and targeting vehicle manufacturing.

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil plan to coordinate action on turning more of the region’s mined lithium into battery chemicals, as well as moving into manufacturing of batteries and EVs, according to Argentina Mining Undersecretary Fernanda Avila.

Lithium Prices Have Crashed Spectacularly, Here’s What Next – by Alex Kimani (Oil Price.com – March 05, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://oilprice.com/

Over the past few years, the lithium markets exploded as the electrification drive went into overdrive. EV makers like Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) have been scrambling to secure supplies amid rapid EV growth and tight lithium supplies, sending lithium carbonate prices up more than six-fold and spodumene up nearly tenfold in the space of a few years.

But as the old adage in the commodity markets goes, the cure for high prices is high prices, or in more common parlance, what goes up must come down: lithium prices have crashed spectacularly over the past four months, reversing years of gains.