Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 84

Musk Back Talking Up Tesla Mining Aspirations – by Glenn Dyer (Share Cafe – May 11, 2022)

May 12, 2022

https://www.sharecafe.com.au/

Elon Musk has again raised the idea that Tesla could buy a miner to speed up the supply of metals essential to the production of electric vehicles around the world. It’s not the first time Musk has made such a comment, but so far he has not done anything about it.

Just how that will speed up production was not explained by Musk who continues to try and assemble a group of investors and bankers to finance his $US44 billion takeover of Twitter. The EV industry is getting concerned that there may not be enough supply of lithium, nickel, copper and other metals to match demand later this decade.

How Canada hopes to buy its way on to the factory floor of the EV revolution – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 10, 2022)

May 12, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Billions in government subsidies are going to keep automakers in the country — and so far it’s working

To the surprise of some, if not many, all five of the global automakers who assemble cars and trucks in Canada have committed to making electric vehicles and hybrids here — or “the cars of the future” in the words of federal industry minister François-Philippe Champagne.

The promises required billions of dollars of enticement from the federal and Ontario governments, but there’s no denying that the decision of Stellantis NV to retool its manufacturing operations in Windsor and Brampton to produce EV’s and hybrids signalled a change in the weather for Canada, a relatively high-cost producer which for decades has been losing auto investments to the southern United States and Mexico.

Pentagon asks Congress to fund mining projects in Australia, U.K. – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – May 11, 2022)

May 12, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

May 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Defense has asked Congress to let it fund facilities in the United Kingdom and Australia that process strategic minerals used to make electric vehicles and weapons, calling the proposal crucial to national defense.

The request to alter the Cold War-era Defense Production Act (DPA) came as part of the Pentagon’s recommendations to Congress for how to write the upcoming U.S. military funding bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act.

The Next Frontiers In The Lithium Boom – by Felicity Bradstock (Oil Price.com – May 7, 2022)

May 10, 2022

https://oilprice.com/

Lithium is becoming an increasingly important topic in the oil and gas world as firms realize the importance of lithium-ion batteries in the future of global energy. It will be key to the energy transition, not only for use in batteries for electronic devices but also for electric vehicles (EVs) and to store renewable energy for steady release.

So, what are countries around the world doing to fuel lithium production? Automakers globally are driving up demand for lithium as they increase their EV output, with many car manufacturers planning the rollout of several new EV models by 2030.

Biden Admin’s Anti-Mining Policies at Odds With Green Energy Goals, Experts Say – by Chris Woodward (Inside Sources – May 8, 2022)

May 10, 2022

https://insidesources.com/

President Joe Biden has made two commitments on green energy. One is to dramatically increase the use of green tech like electric vehicles (EVs), windmills and solar power. The other is to build that new tech here in America.

“There is simply no reason why the blades for wind turbines can’t be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing,” Biden said during his State of the Union address. And he wants half of all new cars sold in 2030 to be EVs, too. But there;s at least one reason why these products can’t be built in America: Minerals. Production of green tech, like batteries for EVs, relies heavily on minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper.

The rush to renewable energy means a new mining boom. But first, Australia needs to make some tough choices – by Angus Grigg, Jeanavive McGregor and Lucy Carter (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – May 8, 2022)

May 10, 2022

https://www.abc.net.au/

Electric cars, solar panels, large batteries and wind turbines — the technology needed to go green relies on what can be a dirty industry. “It’s absolutely ironic, but to save the planet we are going to need more mines,” says Allison Britt, director of mineral resources at government agency Geoscience Australia.

The need for one of the biggest increases in mining the world has ever seen is forcing some tough choices and redrawing old battlelines between environmentalists and miners. In Tasmania, a mine that’s been leaking contaminated water for the past five years wants permission to expand into a wilderness area because the lead, zinc and copper it produces are vital for solar panels, electric cars and wind turbines.

Global scramble for metals thrusts Africa into mining spotlight – by Helen Reid and Clara Denina (Finance Yahoo/Reuters – May 8, 2022)

May 10, 2022

https://finance.yahoo.com/

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The need to secure new sources of metals for the energy transition amid sanctions on top producer Russia has increased the Africa risk appetite for major miners, who have few alternatives to the resource-rich continent.

Companies and investors are considering projects they may have previously overlooked, while governments are also looking to Africa, anxious to ensure their countries can procure enough metals to feed an accelerating net-zero push.

Opinion: Is This a Mine Elon Musk and Joe Biden Can Both Support? – by Adam Minter (Bloomberg – May 9, 2022)

May 10, 2022

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A Minnesota project has to overcome tribal and environmental concerns. But the U.S. needs its own source of nickel, which is key to electric-vehicle expansion.

The future of US-made electric-vehicle batteries might be found in a modest white shed in Tamarack, Minnesota, population 104.

Beneath bright fluorescent lights, foot-long cylindrical pieces of rock are laid out in cardboard boxes, where they sparkle with grains found in the millions of pounds of nickel that Tesla Inc. committed to buy on Jan. 11. That commitment has the potential to turn into a savvy buy for the electric carmaker.

Sudbury, Northern Ontario well positioned to reap the global rewards of the electric vehicle revolution – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 9, 2022)

May 9, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The global nickel squeeze should turn the world’s critical mineral attention on this region, says mining columnist Stan Sudol

The big splash agreement that Elon Musk and his Tesla car company made last week with Brazilian miner Vale should have a ripple effect in the nickel-rich Sudbury basin and across Northern Ontario, according to a Toronto-based mining columnist.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to highlight the enormous potential of the Sudbury basin for clean, low-carbon nickel,” said Stan Sudol, owner of the Republic of Mining website, who heaped praise on the Tesla CEO.

The Drift: Conference aims to strengthen connection between critical minerals miners and electric vehicle makers – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 5, 2022)

May 6, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

BEV In-Depth: Mines to Mobility will take place May 25-26 at Science North in Sudbury

Could Sudbury become a crucial hub for battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturing expertise in Ontario? A group of Sudbury partners believes so, and they’ll start to examine the possibilities later this month during the inaugural BEV In-Depth: Mines to Mobility conference, hosted by the city’s economic development department and slated to take place May 25-26 at Science North.

Over two days, stakeholders from across industries will gather to talk about emerging BEV technologies and the robust supply chain that will need to be in place to help the province usher in widespread EV adoption.

EPA deals fresh blow to PolyMet’s $1 billion copper-nickel mine – by Editor (Mining.com – May 5, 2022)

May 6, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has dealt a fresh blow to PolyMet Mining’s (TSX: POM) plans to build an open pit copper-nickel mine in Minnesota, by recommending the US Army Corps of Engineers not re-issue a key water-related permit.

The agency said this week the $1 billion NorthMet project, the first large-scale project to be permitted within the Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota, risked increasing levels of mercury and other pollutants in the St. Louis River downstream from the proposed mine.

Vale strikes nickel supply deal with Tesla – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – May 6, 2022)

May 6, 2022

https://www.ft.com/

Tesla has agreed a long-term deal to buy nickel from global miner Vale as the carmaker looks to secure the raw materials needed for its batteries. Nickel is needed for the most powerful lithium-ion cells used in electric vehicles and the supply agreement with the Brazilian group marks the latest move by Elon Musk’s group to lock down non-Chinese supplies.

Analysts estimate more than 80 per cent of the world’s nickel processing is based in China and 60 per cent of the world’s nickel mines are Chinese owned.

Threats to Michigan’s auto industry aren’t just coming from the South – by Rick Haglund (Michigan Advance – May 6, 2022)

May 6, 2022May 6, 2022

Home

Bernard Swiecki, research director at Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive
Research, said Canada has a “secret sauce” of ingredients that make it
particularly well suited for battery investment. Northern Ontario’s
“Ring of Fire” contains virtually all the critical minerals needed
to produce advanced vehicle batteries.

Stunned by Ford Motor Co.’s decision to invest $11.4 billion in electric vehicle assembly and battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky, Michigan in December created a $1 billion fund to lure new electric vehicle operations to Michigan.

An even bigger concern voiced by policymakers and local economic developers was that aggressive southern states were going to steal Michigan’s signature auto industry with huge financial incentives unless the state sweetened its economic development money pot.

Russia’s Potanin dodges politics and sanctions to flourish (Reuters – May 4, 2022)

May 5, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

May 4 (Reuters) – So far, at least, “Nickel King” Vladimir Potanin is Russia’s ultimate survivor. Unlike many of Russia’s notable oligarchs, he has not been sanctioned by the United States or the European Union for his closeness to President Vladimir Putin.

And as Western companies quit Russia because of those sanctions, imposed as retaliation for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, he has snapped up assets to expand his own banking business. On Monday, Potanin’s Interros holding company said it had bought United Card Services, the Russian unit of U.S.-listed Global Payments, for an undisclosed sum.

Oil has long been used as a geopolitical weapon. Could electrified transport change that? – by Andre Mayer (CBC News – May 2, 2022)

May 4, 2022

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

Petroleum industry associated with wild price swings and armed conflict

Climate scientists have been clear that if we want to reduce carbon emissions and slow the pace of global warming, one crucial step is moving from a transportation system run on fossil fuels to one powered by electricity. But it’s possible that doing so might neutralize other toxic aspects of the petroleum industry, such as volatile prices and armed conflict.

“The ability to electrify transportation and get off combusting fossil fuels, and oil specifically, means we would solve massive geopolitical problems, which have been just a plague for the last 100 years,” said Adam Scott, executive director of Shift, a Toronto-based charity that advocates for sustainable investing.