Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 80

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.

‘Like a car rolling down a hill’: Canada’s junior nickel miners loving price spike – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 8, 2022)

March 8, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Record nickel prices could jumpstart a half-dozen mining projects in Canada. Prices have been climbing steadily for months, as investors bet supply for the metal, a key ingredient in batteries, would fall short of growing demand for electric vehicles. Then, on March 8, the price surged to US$100,000 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) from about US$20,000 per tonne before trading was halted.

The LME attributed the surge to concerns about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which accounts for 11.2 per cent of world nickel production, according to Statistics Canada. Analysts and industry executives also pointed to rumours that a large investor had staked out a short position on the metal, and were applying a squeeze.

A stunning day for nickel prices – by Staff (Sudbury Star – March 8, 2022)

March 8, 2022

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The metal used in stainless steel and lithium-ion batteries rose as
much as 90 per cent to $55,000 a metric ton, the highest in the
35-year history of the contract. That topped a previous record
of $51,800 reached in 2007.

It was a wild day for nickel prices on Monday – reaching $US20 a pound briefly before retreating to $17.32 – still an increase of a little more than $4 a pound compared to Friday.

Russia’s invasion is the main reason behind the dramatic increase in price. Russia supplies around 10 per cent of the world’s nickel, and investors fear that Western sanctions against Russia could disrupt air and sea shipments of commodities produced and exported by Russia, Reuters reported Monday.

[Norilsk Nickel] This Russian Metals Giant Might Be Too Big to Sanction – by Alistair MacDonald (Wall Street Journal – March 2022)

March 8, 2022

https://www.wsj.com/

Norilsk Nickel is a key supplier of nickel and palladium, two metals that are key for electric-vehicle batteries and semiconductors

From its base at a former Arctic gulag, Russia’s MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC digs up a large portion of two metals that are essential to greener transport and computer chips.

So far the U.S. and its allies haven’t sanctioned the company, or its oligarch chief executive, underscoring the dilemma some analysts say governments face in seeking to punish Russia without hurting their own access to key commodities.

Ukraine invasion sets back Musk’s dream for cheaper EVs, for now – by Hyunjoo Jim (Financial Post/Reuters – March 8, 2022)

March 8, 2022March 8, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

SAN FRANCISCO — Surging raw materials costs, made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could set back the dream of Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other auto executives to roll out more affordable electric vehicles.

Rising prices of nickel, lithium and other materials threaten to slow and even temporarily reverse the long-term trend of falling costs of batteries, the most expensive part of EVs, hampering the broader adoption of the technology, said Gregory Miller, an analyst at industry forecaster Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

This is why lithium skyrocketed 10x over two years and is critical to national security (Kitco News – March 4, 2022)

March 4, 2022March 4, 2022

https://www.kitco.com/

Lithium is a metal that is used in almost all electronics today, with a surge in demand over the last two years pushing up the price more than ten times during that time.

The metal’s production is concentrated in only a few countries, with 80% of the global production and refining coming from China. This presents a unique national and economic security challenge. In fact, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has declared that lithium is “essential” to U.S. economic security and “critical” to national security.

AFRICA: DRC tin mining town finds hope in lithium – by Annie Thomas & Lucien Kahozi (Mail and Guardian – March 3, 2022)

March 4, 2022

Homepage

Near the rusting carcass of a smelter, barefoot men and women scratch the ground in the quest for cassiterite — the tin oxide ore that generations ago gave the town of Manono a taste of the good life.

The diggers carry the sandy earth to the Lukushi River where women wash the grit in metal bowls, hoping to find some black nuggets from which to make a living. Standing in the water from morning to evening and looking for ore brings in between 15 000 and 18 000 Congolese francs ($7.50 to $9) a day.

Nickel price spike during Russia-Ukraine conflict could drive up EV costs – by Camille Erickson (S & P Global – March 3, 2022)

March 4, 2022

https://www.spglobal.com/

Nickel prices jumped after Russia, a top global nickel producer, invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, threatening to drive up electric vehicle battery costs that were already under pressure from rising raw material prices.

The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price increased on the news of Russia’s incursion, reaching an 11-year high of $25,575 per tonne in trading on Feb. 24, while LME stocks tumbled in the run-up period, dipping throughout February to 82,314 tonnes as of Feb. 22, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

Before Invasion, Ukraine’s Lithium Wealth Was Drawing Global Attention – by Hiroko Tabuchi (New York Times – March 2, 2022)

March 4, 2022

https://www.nytimes.com/

Deep below the ground in Ukraine, where Russia continues to mount an aggressive attack, lies vast, untapped mineral wealth that could hold the keys to a lucrative, clean-energy future for the Eastern European nation.

Ukrainian researchers have speculated that the country’s eastern region holds close to 500,000 tons of lithium oxide, a source of lithium, which is critical to the production of the batteries that power electric vehicles. That preliminary assessment, if it holds, would make Ukraine’s lithium reserves one of the largest in the world.