Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 83

How battery electric vehicles will help make mining cheaper – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – May30, 2022)

June 1, 2022

https://www.sudbury.com/

Mining industry finds that apart from the environmental benefit of electric vehicles, there is an economic payoff as well

Using battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Northern Ontario mines is not just a nod toward being more environmentally tuned in, it is also something that makes good economic sense.

That was part of the message from Sudbury mining executive Peter Xavier who was a speaker last week at Sudbury’s first ever municipal conference to examine the importance of BEVs. Xavier, who is Vice President of Glencore’s Integrated Nickel Operations in Sudbury, said the company is finding it has to go to greater depths to find and recover new sources of nickel.

Eramet plans more lithium plants in South America – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 31, 2022)

June 1, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

France’s Eramet said on Tuesday it aims to expand its lithium footprint in South America, where it is already developing a production plant, as part of the miner’s strategy to shift towards minerals used to power electric vehicles (EVs).

The company owns a large lithium deposit in the Centenario-Ratones salt flat located in north-west Argentina, which attracted last year Chinese steel group Tsingshan as a partner. This agreement covers the plant construction, with commissioning scheduled for early 2024.

China’s EV Growth Forecasts Are Starting to Look Shaky – by Danny Lee (Bloomberg News – May 30, 2022)

June 1, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Optimism this would be a banner year for the world’s biggest electric-car market is starting to wane. After all, who wants to spend big bucks on a vehicle right now in China?

Shanghai’s grueling two-month lockdown and whack-a-mole restrictions in cities from Beijing to Tianjin have had a deleterious effect on consumer confidence and left the economy reeling. In fact, not a single car was purchased in Shanghai in April — not surprising given no one could leave their homes and dealerships were closed.

Sudbury miners look to fill the critical minerals demand and supply void – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – May 30, 2022)

May 30, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Looming battery electric vehicle demand has Glencore on a metals recycling kick

As much as Ontario is ready to reap the rewards of the anticipated boom in battery electric vehicles (BEV) in the next 10 years and beyond, the move to go green is not as rosy as it might seem.

That was revealed during the two-day BEV conference held at Science North in Sudbury to explore the future of the BEV industry. On the first day of the conference, it was revealed the province has a virtual treasure trove of all the right minerals — nickel, lithium, cobalt, and copper — right here in Northern Ontario.

Sudbury’s tailings ponds could hold key to easing EV battery shortage, researcher says (CBC News Sudbury – May 29, 2022)

May 29, 2022

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

Metal-eating bacteria could help extract $7B-$10B worth of minerals at Copper Cliff

The key to supplying the automotive industry with enough electric vehicle batteries may rest in a toxic eyesore: Sudbury’s vast tailings ponds.

Tailings are the waste material left over from ore extraction processes — often mixed with water and stored in ponds. But for several years, the potential for leaks of toxic substances into the surrounding environment has raised concerns about these tailings and questions about what, if anything, can be done with them.

Conference highlights Sudbury’s role in green transportation – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – May 27, 2022)

May 27, 2022

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Mines electrifying own fleets while supplying ingredients for broader battery market

As they produce the material to electrify traffic on highways and streets, mining companies are increasingly using the same green technology to power their own subterranean fleets.

“We have a responsibility to keep pace with what is happening above-ground,” said Alex Mulloy, BEV program lead with Vale, at a conference Wednesday that drew together a wide range of players in the growing EV scene. Projected on a screen behind him in the Vale Cavern at Science North was a massive green haulage truck the company recently acquired for use at a local operation. It weighs 42 tonnes, but can run without a drop of diesel.

The Trouble With Lithium – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – May 25, 2022)

May 26, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk wants to mine it, China is scouring Tibet for it, battery makers are crying out for it. Lithium, the wonder metal at the heart of the global shift to electric cars, is in a full-blown crisis. Demand has outstripped supply, pushing prices up almost 500% in a year and hindering the world’s most successful effort yet to halt global warming.

The shortage of lithium is so acute that in China, which makes about 80% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries, the government corralled suppliers and manufacturers to demand “a rational return” to lower prices. Analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd. warned of a “a perpetual deficit,” while Citigroup Inc. nearly doubled its price forecast for 2022, saying an “extreme” rally could be coming.

Chinese Companies Seize Indonesian Nickel Resources Amid New Energy Battery Opportunities – by Anne Zhang (The Epoch Times – May 26, 2022)

May 26, 2022

https://www.theepochtimes.com/

The recent big investments Chinese companies are making in Indonesian nickel mines are attracting renewed attention. China’s CNGR Advanced Materials Co Ltd. announced on May 19 that it will expand its nickel matte business in Indonesia, partnering with Singapore’s RIGQUEZA International Co., LTD.

A total investment of $1.26 billion will be put in a production line in Indonesia with an annual capacity of 40,000 tons of nickel matte. This is the second cooperation between the two companies in Indonesia. In 2021, the two sides signed a cooperation project agreement to produce 60,000 tons of nickel matte per year.

Sudbury’s economy to get ‘massive’ boost from electric vehicles – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – May 26, 2022)

May 26, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Delegates from government, the mining industry, mining supply, auto industry and battery development companies converge on the Nickel City for BEV In Depth, a major conference on the future of battery electric vehicles

Greater Sudbury’s first ever municipal conference to explore the commercial viability of the battery electric vehicle (BEV) industry was told Wednesday that massive economic opportunities will exist in Sudbury and Northern Ontario because of it.

The conference — BEV In Depth — is being held at Science North, hosted by Greater Sudbury Economic Development with delegates from government, the mining industry, mining supply industry, the auto industry and the battery development companies.

The Lithium War Next Door – by Alexander C. Kaufman (Huff Post – May 23, 2022)

May 25, 2022

https://www.huffpost.com/

A lithium mining startup promised to make a rural pocket of North Carolina a clean-energy boomtown. But perceived slights and concerns over water have turned neighbors against the project.

GASTON COUNTY, North Carolina — Brian Harper opened the door to his back porch, stepped outside, and inhaled the brisk air. Exhaling, he stretched his arms out wide as if to embrace the bucolic scene before him.

Moments like this were sacred — and, he feared, fleeting. On that late afternoon in early January, the sun cast a golden tint over the brown frost-nipped fields behind the Harper family’s stately brick home. Just a few hundred feet away was the red barn containing his workshop, where he makes precision gears for clients like Duracell, Dart Container Corp. and Nestlé.

Legendary lithium riches from Bolivia’s salt flats may still just be a mirage – by Marcelo Rochabrun (Reuters – May 23, 2022)

May 25, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

SALAR DE UYUNI, Bolivia, May 23 (Reuters) – On Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, a vast white salt flat that feels almost otherworldly, Karina Quispe is watching from the sidelines a global resource race for the world’s largest – and almost untapped – trove of battery metal lithium.

Her village on the edge of the salar – from where most of the men have migrated to Chile to find work – has so far seen few jobs or benefits from the mineral wealth beneath the plains.

Lithium Sector Needs $42 Billion as Pivot From China Adds Costs – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – May 16, 2022)

May 25, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The global lithium industry needs as much as $42 billion of investment by the end of the decade in order to meet demand for the crucial battery-making material, with attempts to build supply chains outside of China subject to much higher costs, according to a data and market-intelligence provider.

The sector will require $7 billion of investment each year from now until 2028, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said in a report. That would help it meet forecast demand of 2.4 million tons a year by 2030, which is four times higher than the 600,000 tons that’s estimated to be produced in 2022.

OPINION: So much for the electric vehicle revolution. You cannot make the machines without the metals that power them – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – May 13, 2022)

May 16, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Any successful politician is adept at finding the one bit of good news floating in the ocean of despair, then gushing about it to try to drown our worries.

So it is with U.S. President Joe Biden. A few weeks ago, when the war in Ukraine was propelling gasoline and diesel prices ever higher – regular gas hit a record average of US$4.43 a gallon on Friday – he suggested that painful pump prices will speed the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), fear not. Voila – no more hard decisions about filling your SUV or feeding your kids.

Indonesia’s Jokowi meets Tesla’s Musk after nickel talks – by Stanley Widianto, Ed Davies, Norihiko Shirouzu, Gavin Maguire, Fransiska Nangoy and Kevin Krolicki (Mining.com/Reuters – May 15, 2022)

May 16, 2022May 16, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

Indonesian President Joko Widodo met Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk on Saturday in Texas to discuss potential investments and technology, Indonesia’s government said in a statement.

The meeting between Musk and Widodo, better known as Jokowi, came after a round of working-level discussions on a potential investment in Indonesia’s nickel industry and supply of batteries for electric vehicles, Indonesian officials told Reuters.

Mining Indaba: Robert Friedland: ‘World economy can’t change unless we develop a lot more mines’ – by Henry Lazenby (Mining.com – May 11, 2022)

May 12, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

Global mining personality and financier Robert Friedland has singled out Africa and the Arabian Shield as the venues where the world’s future-facing minerals and metals will be responsibly produced. “This is where humanity is going to make it or break it,” he told the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba currently underway in Cape Town, South Africa.

He points out that the large copper mines in Latin America are aging and declining in grade, requiring increasing amounts of fossil-fuel-derived energy to process ever-increasing tonnages to keep up with historical production.