Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 79

Ontario risks losing its auto crown as cheap, green power gives Quebec the EV edge – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 12, 2022)

March 14, 2022

As both provinces race to woo automakers and battery makers, a new quandary could arise

Ontario Premier Doug Ford this past fall spoke at a provincial construction industry conference and told his audience that his province would be at the vanguard of the next revolution in automotive production. “We’re going to be the No. 1 manufacturer of electric cars anywhere,” he said.

Similar things are said next door in Quebec. Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon regularly brags about the powerful combination of his province’s rich mineral endowment and the cheap, low-emission electricity produced by Hydro-Québec.

Critics urge government to block Russian investment in Canadian-owned lithium mine – by Anita Balakrishnan (Financial Post – March 12, 2022)

March 14, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

The federal government should block a Russian state-backed investment in a Canadian-owned lithium mine, critics say, as Ottawa looks for ways to punish Russia economically for its invasion of Ukraine.

At the end of November, Vancouver-based Alpha Lithium announced a deal to sell 15 per cent stake of its Tolillar Salar mine in Argentina to a subsidiary of Uranium One, which is part of a network of companies owned by ROSATOM, Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation.

‘The Steve Jobs of metals’ who brought the nickel market to a halt – by Neil Hume, Hudson Lockett, Eleanor Olcott and Gloria Li (Australian Financial Review – March 13, 2022)

March 14, 2022

https://www.afr.com/

London | To understand why Xiang Guangda is regarded as the Steve Jobs of metals, look at an aerial shot of the Morowali Industrial Park on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It is here that the Chinese businessman built a vast manufacturing complex that stands as a testament to his domination of the global stainless steel industry.

“Xiang is a visionary,” says Kenny Ives, the former head of nickel trading at Glencore. “Tsingshan’s success in both China and Indonesia over the last 10 to 15 years is extraordinary.”

Frontier Lithium boosts spodumene resources ahead of prefeasibility study – by Naimul Karim (Northern Miner – March 9, 2022)

March 11, 2022

https://www.northernminer.com/

With the aim to supply raw materials for about half a million electric vehicles annually by 2025, Frontier Lithium (TSXV: FL; US-OTC: LITOF) has stepped up its pace by quadrupling indicated resources at its Spark deposit in northwestern Ontario.

Spark now hosts 14.4 million tonnes grading 1.40%, up from the previously estimated 3.3 million tonnes grading 1.59%, after the company conducted two drill programs last year covering 3,269 meters.

GM, POSCO Chemical partner for $500-Million EV battery supply chain plant in Quebec – by Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – March 7, 2022)

March 11, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canadian governments’ efforts to woo investment in electric-vehicle manufacturing are starting to bear fruit – especially with one aspect of the supply chain, in one corner of Quebec.

On Monday, General Motors Co. announced that, in partnership with the South Korean company POSCO Chemical Co. Ltd., it will begin construction on a new $500-million factory in Bécancour, Que. The plant, which GM says will be operational by 2025 and create about 200 jobs, will produce cathode active material (CAM) – a major component of EV batteries that GM will assemble in the United States.

Thacker Pass lithium project gets national spotlight – by Timothy Burmeister (Elko Daily Free Press – March 10, 2022)

March 11, 2022March 11, 2022

https://elkodaily.com/

Thacker Pass today is a quiet stretch of land in Northern Nevada, rolling prairie nestled against the mountains, with lots of sagebrush and few people around.

But in the past year the area has become a hotspot of controversy, with national media pulling in to talk with protesters opposed to the Thacker Pass lithium mine that Lithium Americas is working toward building on the site. Some protesters have been camped out near the project site. Lengthy stories have been written on the protesters and the project.

Is a Madagascan mine the first to offset its destruction of rainforest? – by Patrick Greenfield (The Guardian – March 9, 2022)

March 11, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/

Researchers say the island’s biggest mine is on track to achieve no net loss of forest but that ‘there remain important caveats’

Ambatovy mine on the east coast of Madagascar is an environmental conundrum fit for the 21st century. Beginning operations in 2012, the multibillion-dollar open-pit nickel and cobalt mine is the largest investment in the history of the country, one of the poorest on Earth.

About 9,000 Malagasies are employed by the project, owned by the Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation and Korean firm Komir, which mines minerals destined for the world’s electric car batteries.

Chinese Tycoon Tells Banks He Wants to Keep Shorting Nickel – by Jack Farchy, Alfred Cang and Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – March 10, 2022)

March 11, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The Chinese tycoon whose big short bet on nickel helped trigger one of the most dramatic price spikes in history has told his banks and brokers that he doesn’t intend to reduce his position, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move is a characteristic display of self-confidence from Xiang Guangda, the owner of Tsingshan Holding Group Co., and means that the nickel market could be set for more fireworks once it reopens.

Researchers Examine the Negative Impact on Flamingo Population Due to Climate Change and Lithium Mining (AZO Cleantech – March 10, 2022)

March 11, 2022

https://www.azocleantech.com/

Lithium is powering the world’s electric vehicles, making it a critical component in the fight against carbon pollution. According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the conjunction of lithium mining and climate change in the Andes Mountains may be seriously impacting flamingo populations.

The research looked at the impacts of lithium mining and climate change on shallow, saltwater lakes in the Chilean Andes, where flamingos congregate for eating and mating. The findings demonstrate that two species of flamingos that exclusively breed in these mountains had lost 10 to 12% of their population in just 11 years, but only at the lake polluted through mining.

A Nickel for Your Ukraine Thoughts – by the Editorial Board (Wall Street Journal – March 8, 2022)

March 10, 2022

https://www.wsj.com/

Wars rarely go as planned and they invariably have collateral economic damage that surprises the unsuspecting. That’s the story this week in the chaos in the market for nickel, a crucial metal used in electric-vehicle batteries, among other things.

The London Metal Exchange on Tuesday suspended trading in nickel, after the price soared 66% on Monday to more than $100,000 a metric ton. This was the first time the LME suspended trading in a metal since the international tin cartel collapsed in 1985.

Wild Nickel Market May Get Relief From Indonesia’s Higher Output – by Eko Listiyorini (Bloomberg News – March 9, 2022)

March 10, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Indonesia, the world’s top nickel producer, will raise production capacity of the metal after prices soared past $100,000 a ton, while the coal market is unlikely to get similar relief.

The country is set to add 393,000 tons to 400,000 tons of nickel in metal output capacity this year, bringing the total to as much as 1.4 million tons, according to Coordinating Minister for Investment and Maritime Affairs Luhut Panjaitan. Next year, Indonesia will add another 500,000 tons of annual production capacity, he added.

Column: Nickel, the devil’s metal with a history of bad behaviour – by Andy Home (Reuters – March 10, 2022)

March 10, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

The global nickel market is in a pricing black-out. The London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month nickel price sits in suspended animation at $48,048 per tonne, Monday’s closing price and the last trade with even a semblance of legitimacy.

Tuesday’s mayhem and the resulting decision by the LME to suspend all trading has frozen what is the core reference price for the global supply chain stretching from miners to stainless steel mills and electric vehicle battery makers.

After 16 Years, Vale’s Big Nickel Bet Is Looking Like a Winner – by Mariana Durao and James Attwood (Bloomberg News – March 8, 2022)

March 9, 2022March 9, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — An unprecedented surge in nickel prices fueled by the war in Ukraine is turning a once-sputtering portfolio of mines into prized assets.

In the heady days of the 2000s commodities supercycle, Brazilian iron ore giant Vale SA made a $17 billion bet on a metal used mainly to make stainless steel. The purchase of Canadian nickel miner Inco Ltd., announced in 2006, was part of then-CEO Roger Agnelli’s goal of turning Vale into a diversified global heavyweight at a time of seemingly insatiable Chinese demand for raw materials.

Nickel prices leap to a record over global supply fears and short sales – Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 8, 2022)

March 9, 2022March 9, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The London Metal Exchange (LME) suspended nickel trading on Tuesday, after the price of the base metal skyrocketed to a record amid escalating uncertainty around major supplier Russia, and after an intense short squeeze.

Nickel rose to a record US$101,365 per tonne, more than doubling in a matter of hours. The previous all-time high was US$51,800 per tonne reached in 2007, at the tail end of a near-decade long economic boom.