Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 59

‘The part of Cornwall nobody ever sees’: the hi-tech future for lithium and tin mining – by Jasper Jolly (The Guardian – October 20, 2022)

October 24, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/

A foggy, overgrown quarry in a quiet part of Cornwall is a good place to contemplate Britain’s industrial past. It is here that miners used steam power, explosives and their own hands to dig out china clay for ceramics. The industry helped to fuel the Industrial Revolution and briefly made Redruth one of the richest places in the UK.

The quarry is also a pretty good place to contemplate Britain’s industrial future. Cornish Lithium, a UK startup, is one of a clutch of businesses hoping to revive British mining amid a global scramble for the battery minerals that are crucial for the transition away from fossil fuels.

LME Week: cocktails, canapés and crises – by Andy Home (Reuters – October 21, 2022)

October 24, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

It’s not the first time the 145-year-old London Metal Exchange (LME) has found itself in crisis. There was the Tin Crisis of 1986, the Nickel Crisis of 1988, and what at the time was dubbed “The Sumitomo Scandal” but could now better be described as The 1996 Copper Crisis.

This year, however, is still something of a stand-out with not one but two tsunamis rocking the grand old dame of industrial metals trading. March brought Nickel Crisis II, a much scarier update of the original, and now we have the unfolding Russian Metal Crisis.

Frontier announces $20M bought deal to fund PAK exploration – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – October 20, 2022)

October 20, 2022

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Frontier Lithium (TSXV: FL; OTC: LITOF) is raising $20 million with which to continue exploration of the PAK lithium project in northwestern Ontario. The bought deal is underwritten by a syndicate led by RBC Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs.

The underwriters have agreed to purchase 9.1 million units of Frontier at a price of $2.20 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one-half of one purchase warrant. Each full warrant will entitle the holder to purchase a common share at a price of $2.75 within a period of 36 months following the closure of the bought deal. Closing is expected on Nov. 8, 2022.

Europe joins the ‘white gold’ rush for lithium and faces an energy transition challenge – by Cyrielle Cabot (France24.com – October 19, 2022)

October 20, 2022

https://www.france24.com/en/

Shortly before arriving at the Paris Motor Show on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron told the financial daily Les Echos that his administration wanted to make electric vehicles “accessible to everyone”.

Macron then proceeded to announce a series of measures to enable households to acquire electric vehicles. With the EU seeking to ban the sale of combustion engine vehicles from 2035, France is trying to gradually phase out fossil-fuel cars. While the move is seen as an essential step on the road to energy transition, it also poses a serious problem: it will require massive quantities of metals needed to manufacture batteries, especially lithium.

LMEWEEK-Spotlight on LME nickel debacle and the fate of Russian metal – by Pratima Desai (Reuters – October 19, 2022)

October 20, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Possible sanctions on Russian metal, lawsuits, a battle to recover trust and a slump in nickel trading after the March fiasco are just some of the headwinds facing the London Metal Exchange (LME) as the industry prepares to meet in the British capital.

Market fundamentals and industry developments typically dominate talks between producers, traders, miners and end users, crowned by cocktails and dinner in London’s Mayfair district.

Digging for green minerals a priority for the North, says federal minister – by Liny Lamberink (CBC News North – October 17, 2022)

October 19, 2022

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

N.W.T. MLA says sentiment amounts to call for deregulation of mining

Speeding up the regulatory process for critical mineral mines in the North is a goal of the federal government, according to Canada’s natural resources minister.

“Critical minerals are essential for us to be able to successfully execute an energy transition,” said Jonathan Wilkinson. If Canada doesn’t mine more critical minerals, he said, it can’t make batteries for electric vehicles needed to reduce emissions from transportation.

Dirty metals for clean cars: Indonesian nickel could be key to EV battery industry – by Erwida Maulia (Nikkei Asia – October 19, 2022)

October 19, 2022

https://asia.nikkei.com/

Rich nickel reserves attract Chinese investment but environmental hurdles remain

JAKARTA/MOROWALI, Indonesia — A group of fishermen and their wives looked forlorn on the porch of their stilt houses, perched on the sandy coast of Indonesia’s remote Bahodopi district.

Their homes, along with the few dozen others that make up the fishing hamlet, stood against a backdrop of towering cranes and billowing white smoke from the chimneys of Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), a sprawling nickel processing complex in Central Sulawesi province that hosts an array of Chinese companies and their partners, led by stainless steel giant Tsingshan Holding Group.

There’s a Billion-Dollar Bidding War for EV Plants Across the US – by Gabrielle Coppola (Bloomberg News – October 13, 2022)

October 19, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer wasn’t happy. Ford Motor Co., a company whose very name is synonymous with Detroit, had just announced it had chosen two southern states, Tennessee and Kentucky, as sites for an $11 billion electric-vehicle project.

They had won Ford over by dangling huge incentives, and Whitmer knew Michigan needed to do more to compete. So she pleaded with lawmakers in a letter last October to put “more tools in our economic toolbox to attract private investment.” Two months later, they delivered, handing her a $1 billion fund for corporate subsidies. And a month after that, Whitmer dipped into the fund to net a giant deal from General Motors Co.: a $6.6 billion electric-truck factory and battery plant.

U.S. says Chinese lithium-ion batteries are made with child labour as trade war spills into EVs – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – October 18, 2022)

October 19, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Experts say it’s a subtle example of how the U.S. intends to offset Beijing’s influence over a once-in-a-lifetime technological change

The U.S. government’s decision to tie a generous electric-vehicle subsidy to inputs from friendly countries was an obvious attempt to shift the EV supply chains away from China.

But the power of the purse isn’t the only strategy available to Washington. The Biden administration in late September added lithium-ion batteries from China to the U.S. Labor Department’s list of products derived from child and forced labour, a more subtle example of how the United States intends to offset Beijing’s influence over a once-in-a-lifetime technological change, some industry insiders say.

The Drift: ‘Landmark’ project to boost Vale’s nickel production by 10,000 tonnes annually – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – October 14, 2022)

October 14, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

South Mine expansion called key link in supply of critical minerals for EV production

Vale’s $945-million expansion of its South Mine near Sudbury will be a key driver in the production of critical metals for the province’s battery electric vehicle (BEV) industry and ensure continued local operations for years to come.

That was the word from Deshnee Naidoo, Vale’s executive vice-president of base metals, who was on hand at the company’s Copper Cliff Complex on Oct. 13 to officially mark the opening of the mine expansion.

Vale’s base metals chief vows to turn around underperforming Sudbury nickel mines – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 13, 2022)

October 14, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The head of Vale SA’s base metals group is vowing to turn around its poorly performing Canadian nickel operations, as the Brazilian mining giant makes a play for a bigger piece of the fast-growing EV-battery-minerals market.

Vale entered the Canadian nickel market in 2006 when it paid $19.4-billion to acquire Inco Ltd., a company that had mined the critical mineral in Sudbury for a century.

Ford: Mine expansion opening ‘a fabulous day’ for Ontario – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – October 13, 2022)

October 13, 2022

https://www.sudbury.com/

Premier was on hand in Sudbury for the official opening of Phase 1 of Vale’s Copper Cliff Mine Complex South Mine, which breathes new life into the shuttered mine and will double ore production at the site, creating 270 new jobs

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said today he was impressed that mining giant Vale has spent $945 million to bring an old mine “back to life,” saying the project was a key part of the province’s critical minerals strategy.

The premier was in Sudbury for the official opening of the Phase 1 expansion to Vale’s Copper Cliff Complex South Mine, a project that connected the South Mine operation to the North Mine creating the new Copper Cliff Mine Complex.

New Vale Canada mine in Sudbury worth almost $1 billion – by Staff (Sudbury Star – October 13, 2022)

October 13, 2022

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Premier Doug Ford among those to celebrate opening of Copper Cliff Complex South Mine Project

Vale Canada Limited on Thursday officially opened the initial phase of its CDN$945 million Copper Cliff Complex South Mine Project in Sudbury.

“This first phase of the Copper Cliff Mine Complex South Project enhances our supply of low-carbon nickel and other critical minerals and adds to the long-term sustainability of our Sudbury operations,” Deshnee Naidoo, executive vice-president of Vale’s Base Metals business, said in a release. “The successful delivery of this project is a major accomplishment for Vale and great news for Sudbury and the Province of Ontario.”

In the search for the lithium that will power our future, these three women see a bigger lesson – by Dennis Wagner (Techxplore.com – October 10, 2022)

October 12, 2022

https://techxplore.com/

Three women trek into the barren Nevada desert, boots crunching down a wash until one of them stops at an overhang, pulls out a geology pick, and chips away a chunk of rock. Over the next few minutes, and during hours of interviews, they explain the relationship between this stone and the battery that powers your electric car.

They talk about prehistoric volcanoes, subterranean brine lakes, advanced technology and the mineral that is changing the future of our planet. Lithium. This curiosity of the periodic table is an element so sensitive it can’t be found alone in nature. The pure white metal, when exposed to air, promptly oxidizes and turns black.

How a Quebec graphite mine is dividing a community’s support for the EV revolution – by Neal Rockwell (Globe and Mail – October 9, 2022)

October 12, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Matawinie mine is part of a larger plan to make Canada into a manufacturing hub for lithium ion batteries. But some worry the project isn’t as clean as it claims to be

The Matawinie graphite mine, located about two hours north of Montreal, is a small part of an ambitious government plan to make Canada into a manufacturing hub for lithium ion batteries. Electric cars can’t function without somewhere to store electricity, the thinking goes, meaning this country needs battery supply chains if it hopes to stay relevant in a future without fossil fuels.

But the mine has not yet begun producing graphite at commercial scale. It is still in the early phases of construction and – like many Canadian resource projects – it is riven with controversy.