Clean cars drive some very dirty businesses and grubby regimes. That’s the main takeaway from Henry Sanderson’s fine new book Volt Rush: The Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green.
Among the winners he describes are copper miners exploiting child labor, nickel miners dumping tons of waste into the sea, corrupt businesspeople paying off venomous African politicians, and a host of Chinese billionaires. It’s a far cry from the sanitized vision sold to Tesla owners.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
Tesla officials have scouted Sudbury as a possible home for a factory that would build electric batteries or battery materials, Electric Autonomy Canada reports. In an online story, Electric Autonomy Canada said Tesla went on a site-scouting expedition in Ontario and Quebec during a trip to visit Vale Canada last month.
“Multiple sources with knowledge of the matter, but not authorized to speak, told Electric Autonomy that, earlier (last) month, high-level Tesla employees visited Vale Canada operations in Sudbury, Ont., just ahead of the Mercedes-Volkswagen announcements (in August).
Climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act put the U.S. back on track toward significant emissions reductions, potentially reducing greenhouse gas output by 40% of 2005 levels.
But one miner warned that when it comes to the transportation sector, domestic resources for lithium, the most critical mineral used for electric vehicle production, may not be sufficient enough to meet some of the most ambitious targets. The Biden administration, for instance, aims to slash the sale of gas-powered vehicles to 50% of all new purchases by 2030.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Rock Tech Lithium will ship northwestern Ontario lithium concentrate overseas to German refinery
Mercedes-Benz is signing a supply deal with a Nipigon-area mine builder to provide lithium needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.
Vancouver-based Rock Tech Lithium announced it intends to enter into agreement with the German luxury car maker to provide up to 10,000 tonnes of processed lithium hydroxide annually over a five-year period, starting in 2026. The Canadian-German mining company delivered the news on Aug. 23 amid much fanfare of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Canada.
The world is preparing for a lithium boom, mainly due to the anticipated increase in EV production and uptake over the coming decades. Several celebrities and tech billionaires are backing lithium mining in a bid to support a green transition.
In addition, many countries are rapidly developing their mining capabilities to establish their place in the global minerals and metals market, which is expected to expand significantly over the next decade.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Canada was supposed to be about LNG, not hydrogen
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Canada this week and you’d be forgiven for thinking, based on the agenda for his visit, that Germany has an urgent hydrogen shortage it needs to solve.
Scholz and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau journeyed to the western Newfoundland town of Stephenville on Tuesday to sign a deal for the export of “green” hydrogen to Germany in the coming years. But Scholz’s trip to Canada was never supposed to be about hydrogen. It was meant to address liquified natural gas exports, as Germany and the rest of Europe struggle to replace Russian natural gas in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
Many junior companies remain stuck in the doldrums during one of the best nickel markets in years
On Tuesday, Volkswagen AG chief executive Herbert Diess travelled to Toronto to meet with Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne. After months of emails, texts and meetings in Germany, Deiss rewarded Champagne’s persistence by crossing the Atlantic Ocean to sign agreement that signalled VW’s interest in investing in Canadian mining and exploration companies — a sign that plans to turn Canada into a major player in the electric vehicle industry may amount to more than hype.
While Deiss made no firm commitments to invest in Canada, the agreement marked the latest effort by a Western government to forge closer collaboration between automakers and mining companies, amid growing concerns about dependence on China for much of what’s needed to make batteries.
Aug 25 (Reuters) – California on Thursday moved to require all new vehicles sold in the state by 2035 to be either electric or plug-in electric hybrids, a landmark move that could speed the end of gasoline-powered vehicles.
California Governor Gavin Newsom first announced the plan to phase out vehicles that run only on gasoline by 2035 in September 2020. The California Air Resources Board voted on Thursday to approve the new rules, which set yearly rising zero- emission vehicle rules starting in 2026, but the Biden administration must still approve the new requirements before the plan can take effect.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The folks who revolutionized the auto industry when they rolled out the Beetle are now shaking up the way they make cars, to Canada’s benefit.
On Tuesday, Volkswagen AG revealed a new approach to its supply chain as the company prepares to fill the roads with electric vehicles. The German automaker said that for the first time, it plans to take direct stakes in mining companies – with a focus on investment in Canada – to ensure a reliable supply of critical minerals.
https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/
China aims to expand its influence in the “Lithium Triangle” as a component of a broader campaign to construct a near-monopoly in the global lithium market. The Lithium Triangle, comprising Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile, accounts for approximately 56% percent of global lithium supply.
Beijing’s acquisition of multiple Argentinian, Chilean, and Bolivia lithium mining operations enables China to dominate regional lithium operations. From 2018- 2020, China invested approximately $16 billion on mining projects in the Lithium Triangle and will likely continue to invest in the region.
A Detroit automaker and US steel producer sparred at an industry gathering this week on whether steel or aluminum is the preferred metal for electric-vehicle bodies.
The top executive of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., the second largest US steelmaker, said that EV companies were preferring steel over aluminum. But an executive director from General Motors Co., the biggest US automaker, said there’s no broad brush.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Avalon Advanced Materials looks to install demonstration-scale plant this fall for 2023 startup
A First Nations-participating construction consortium has been handed the job to do the site preparation for the pilot processing plant and haul road at a proposed northwestern Ontario lithium mine.
Toronto’s Avalon Advanced Materials said in a news release that SOW Construction Ltd. Partnership has been awarded the contract. In a project update of its Separation Rapids lithium project, north of Kenora, Avalon said the site work by SOW is underway and will be completed later this summer.
The Biden administration is looking at funding Canadian mining and metals companies, as the new climate law sends U.S. automakers scrambling to find new sources of raw materials for electric vehicles.
Manufacturing low-carbon energy and transportation products like electric vehicles can call for a set of unique raw minerals and materials that are often produced and processed in China, and are not mined in the U.S. at all. It’s an import imbalance that security hawks believe will be a strategic vulnerability in a decarbonizing world.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The developers of a proposed copper-nickel mine upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota sued the Biden administration Monday to seek the reinstatement of federal mineral rights leases that are crucial to the $1.7 billion project.
Twin Metals Minnesota alleged in its lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, that the Department of the Interior acted illegally earlier this year when it canceled the leases. The company asked the court to declare that those leases remain valid and in force, so that it can proceed with the environmental review and permitting process.
https://www.mapleridgenews.com/
The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States last week could be one of the most significant pieces of legislation the Americans have passed related to Canadian manufacturing and mining in decades.
One of the provisions in the extensive bill introduces big tax credits for electric vehicles – but with the caveat that they have to be built or sourced within North America. Likewise, battery materials are to be sourced from nations with which American has free-trade agreements.
