Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 64

A Copper Mine Could Advance Green Energy but Scar Sacred Land – by Clifford Krauss (New York Times – January 27, 2023)

January 27, 2023January 27, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/

Tribal groups are fighting an Arizona project whose backers say increasing the supply of copper, crucial to batteries, would reduce fossil-fuel use.

SUPERIOR, Ariz. — As Wendsler Nosie finished his evening prayers sitting before a mesquite fire, a ceremonial yucca staff festooned with eagle feathers by his side, he gazed sternly toward a distant mesa where mining companies hope to extract more than a billion tons of copper.

That mine could help address climate change by helping the United States replace fossil fuels and combustion engines with renewable energy and electric cars. But to Mr. Nosie, a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, it’s the latest insult in a bitter history.

Indonesia pushing for OPEC-style nickel cartel – by James Guild (Asia Times – January 26, 2023)

January 27, 2023

Home

Indonesia wants much more for its ore as demand for nickel used in lithium-ion batteries set to explode in new electric vehicle era

Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia suggested that Indonesia is looking into forming an OPEC-style cartel for nickel and other inputs used in battery production.

Nickel is becoming a hot commodity as it is a key input in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles (EVs) — and Indonesia has the world’s largest nickel ore deposits.

Albemarle calls for high lithium prices to fuel EV industry growth – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – Janaury 24, 2023)

January 27, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

Albemarle Corp (ALB.N) on Tuesday called for lithium prices to remain high indefinitely in order to help the mining industry develop new sources of the electric vehicle (EV) battery metal and fuel the green energy transition.

The push for higher prices by the world’s largest lithium producer is likely to exacerbate the growing tension between EV manufacturers and mining companies that supply the materials crucial for the all-electric shift, with high metals prices threatening EV profitability.

‘Trudeau-pian’ policy drives mining investment away, says Poilievre – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – January 23, 2023)

January 27, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

The opening day of the Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference in Vancouver saw some political sparks fly as natural resources minister, Jonathan Wilkinson and Conservative Party firebrand Pierre Poilievre delivered remarks.

The opposition leader made the point that limelight-loving Liberal leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, had squandered the past eight years to build an alternative supply chain able to service the emerging electric vehicle market and so-called energy revolution.

Lithium giant lifts forecasts by nearly 15pc on EV surge – by Petr Ker (Australian Financial Review – January 25, 2023)

January 25, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Lithium giant Albemarle has raised its forecast for future lithium demand by more than 15 per cent and signalled it would expand its Australian mines to supply the lithium needed for the world to rapidly adopt electric vehicles.

But Mineral Resources swiftly provided a reminder on Wednesday that expanding mines in Western Australia is easier said than done, revealing that expansion of its Mt Marion lithium mine had been delayed by labour shortages and equipment delays, forcing a 17 per cent cut to this year’s export target.

Li-FT Power eyes Yellowknife for continent’s next big lithium resource – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – January 23, 2023)

January 25, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

Yellowknife was founded on gold mining, and now lithium holds the potential of opening a new chapter for the Far North’s second largest city. Just a short drive east of Yellowknife and off the paved, all-season highway the Ingraham Trail, Vancouver-based explorer Li-FT Power (CSE: LIFT) is preparing to turn its drills on 13 targets it calls the Yellowknife Lithium Project.

“When you talk about the potential, it’s just really easy to see because the pegmatites stick out of the ground and you can fly over them, they go for 1.8 km, and you just see almost 100% exposure,” Francis MacDonald, CEO Li-FT said in an interview with The Northern Miner.

Violence at Chinese-owned nickel smelter in Indonesia raises alarm – by Amy Chew and Ismi Damayanti (Nikkei Asia – January 24, 2023)

January 25, 2023

https://asia.nikkei.com/

KUALA LUMPUR/JAKARTA — Recent clashes at a Chinese-owned nickel smelting facility in Indonesia are likely to spread to other parts of the country if the government and Chinese owners fail to address issues of safety, analysts say.

Protests, some violent, have occurred sporadically in recent years on the mineral-rich island of Sulawesi, which is experiencing an investment boom for mining nickel, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. Indonesia is keen to leverage its world-leading reserves of the metal and develop a domestic EV industry.

OPINION: Go big or go home: Canada will need to match U.S. EV subsidies to stay in the game – by Konrad Yakabuski (Globe and Mail – January 25, 2023)

January 25, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry does not have much sympathy for other countries complaining about the massive subsidies President Joe Biden’s administration is offering to electric-vehicle and battery-component makers, as Washington seeks to break China’s dominance of the global EV supply chain.

“The reaction shouldn’t be ‘Oh my God, you shouldn’t be doing that, you’re putting us in an unfair position,’” Mr. Kerry said last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Do it! Everybody’s got to do the same thing to accelerate this process even more.”

Electric Vehicles Are Not the Answer to Saving the Environment, May Be Quite the Opposite – by (Auto Evolution – January 23, 2023)

January 25, 2023

https://www.autoevolution.com/

It is a classic shoot-yourself-in-foot scenario in the U.S. with lithium, the soft metal critical to the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles. Current environmental laws and regulations are preventing two private companies from mining two large lithium deposits in Nevada.

The U.S. Government is not striking a NIMBY pose as it has done recently with oil production, but rather finds itself in quite a pickle on how to move forward to facilitate its battery content mandates outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Doug Ford pledges to turn Ontario into ‘auto manufacturing powerhouse’ driven by minerals from Ring of Fire – by Kris Ketonen (CBC News Thunder Bay – January 23, 2023)

January 24, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Premier discusses Ontario’s critical mineral strategy, plans for EV production during ROMA speech

Companies that want to extract Ontario’s critical minerals to make EV batteries will also need to open factories in the province, Premier Doug Ford said Monday.

Speaking at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association’s (ROMA) annual general meeting, Ford said northern Ontario boasts deposits of 34 of the “most critical minerals the whole world wants.” “Everyone’s here wanting to get the minerals,” Ford said. “I have one condition.

How Is Your Phone Powered? Problematically. – by Matthieu Aikins (New York Times – January 23, 2023)

January 23, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/

Siddharth Kara’s “Cobalt Red” takes a deep dive into the horrors of mining the valuable mineral — and the many who benefit from others’ suffering.

Cobalt, a mineral essential to the batteries of smart devices and electric vehicles — and therefore to the future — is haunted by a past of slavery and colonialism. The phone in your hand contains several grams of this element; some of it, as Siddharth Kara shows in “Cobalt Red,” was likely mined by people hacking away in toxic pits for subsistence wages.

Used as a source of blue pigment since antiquity, cobalt has joined blood diamonds and forced-labor shrimp as the latest bête noire of critics of globalization. Nearly half of the world’s reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a conflict-stricken country that has long been the site of a geopolitical scramble for strategic resources.

OPINION: Electric vehicles versus oil and gas – the new fault line among U.S. states – by Gus Carlson (Globe and Mail – January 21, 2023)

January 23, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Gus Carlson is a U.S.-based columnist for The Globe and Mail.

The push by a group of state lawmakers in Wyoming last week to introduce a bill banning the sale of electric vehicles by 2035 elicited as many sarcastic snickers as concerned frowns.

Even the backers of the bill admitted the effort was mostly symbolic, a supportive nod to the state’s oil and gas industry – a huge job-creation machine and revenue generator. And even if the proposed bill becomes law, its six Republican authors concede it will be difficult to enforce and unlikely to make an impact.

EV ‘Mania’ May Be ‘Over,’ Production Estimates and Executive Enthusiasm Wane as Sustainability Questioned – by Naveen Athrappully (The Epoch Times – January 22, 2023)

January 23, 2023

https://www.theepochtimes.com/

Electric vehicle (EV) “mania” might be at an end, or, at a minimum, easing down, according to research, as concerns about supply chains, lithium sourcing, inflation, and more affect production capacities while customer demand decelerates globally, as evidenced by industry leader Tesla cutting prices in order to increase sales.

In Europe, EV car manufacturers are slowing production due to uncertainties around lithium supply for batteries as well as electric vehicles proving to be expensive for the middle class, according to a Jan. 18 Institute for Energy Research (IER) post.

States see lithium rush for EVs as environmentalists urge caution – by Zack Budryk (The Hill – January 20, 2023)

January 23, 2023

https://thehill.com/

Nevada and other states are poised to rake in huge benefits from a boom in lithium mining for batteries pushed by federal incentives as U.S. demand surges for electric vehicles (EVs).

Environmentalists, however, are warning amid investments from the Biden-backed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that a heavy-handed approach to lithium mining could bring many of the same problems associated with fossil fuel extraction.

U.S. strikes at China with EV battery deal – by David Iaconangelo (E & E News – January 20, 2023)

January 23, 2023

Homepage

The U.S. moved this week to counter China’s control over production of electric vehicle batteries at a time of widespread concerns over global shortages of key minerals and labor abuses in African mines.

In a memorandum of understanding Wednesday, the State Department pledged to help build an EV battery supply chain in Congo and Zambia. The department and other U.S. agencies will offer technical assistance to the two countries, cooperate on feasibility studies and explore opportunities in the sector for U.S. companies, according to the MOU.