Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 94

Demand is suddenly soaring for electric vehicle batteries. Can Canada seize the moment? – by Alex Ballingall (Toronto Star – January 30, 2022)

January 31, 2022

https://www.thestar.com/

“It’s still a question mark as to whether these economic opportunities will be realized,” said one expert.

OTTAWA — Business is business, but it’s not Jamie Deith’s dream to sell his precious graphite to China.

The crystalline carbon mineral is among those required for electric vehicle batteries, a 21st-century technology that is sparking what some call a “global arms race” for supplies, refining capacity and manufacturing. But Canada, despite the federal government’s grand vision to get a piece of the action, is still standing on the sidelines of this exploding global industry.

Industry Minister mum on when he became aware of Chinese firm’s plans to acquire Neo Lithium – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 27, 2022)

January 31, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne would not say when he was notified of Chinese state-owned Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd.’s ZIJMF unchno change plans to acquire Canadian lithium company Neo Lithium Corp., despite being repeatedly pressed in a parliamentary committee.

During a hearing called on Thursday by the industry and technology committee, Mr. Champagne was asked on multiple occasions when he became aware of Zijin’s plans to buy Neo Lithium, but he would not answer. Instead he repeatedly insisted the deal was subject to a rigorous security review.

Parliamentary hearing witnesses call for more scrutiny over China in Canadian critical minerals after state-owned Zijin Mining buys Canada’s Neo Lithium – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 26, 2022)

January 31, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ottawa should mandate that state-owned firms that target Canadian companies are automatically subject to a full national security review, a security expert testified at a parliamentary hearing looking into the sale of a Canadian lithium company to a Chinese-government controlled firm.

The hearing was held on Wednesday, and called after The Globe and Mail reported the federal government gave the thumbs up to state-owned Zijin Mining’s $960-million acquisition of Canadian lithium development company Neo Lithium Corp. without conducting a formal security review.

Let China squander its money on critical minerals. It doesn’t make sense for Canada to – by David Olive (Toronto Star – January 27, 2022)

January 31, 2022

https://www.thestar.com/

It is, on the face of it, an attractive proposition. Canada becomes a global powerhouse in the production of the critical minerals used in electric vehicles (EVs), smartphones, solar panels, and other means of achieving a decarbonized world.

Demand for those critical minerals and metals, including cobalt, lithium, graphite and nickel sulphate, is poised to skyrocket. Such a project, much discussed in Ottawa these days, could give Canada greater geopolitical clout. It also appeals to our “own the podium” quest to achieve world leadership.

Temiskaming refinery operator to source battery recyclables from Asia-Pacific region – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 21, 2022)

January 26, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Electra Battery Materials inks supply agreement with Japan’s Marubeni Corporation

Electra Battery Materials has found an overseas supplier of recycled battery material to feed its soon-to-be commissioned refinery in Temiskaming.

The Toronto processing company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Marubeni Corporation, a Japanese trading conglomerate, to source a part of the ‘black mass’ material for the recycling operation Electra wants to start up in 2023.

Biden Administration Cancels Mining Leases Near Wilderness Area – by Hiroko Tabuchi (New York Times – January 26, 2022)

January 26, 2022January 26, 2022

https://www.nytimes.com/

The leases, reinstated during the Trump years, would have allowed a Chilean mining conglomerate to dig for copper and nickel near the Boundary Waters wilderness in Minnesota.

The Biden administration said Wednesday that it had canceled two mining leases that would have allowed a copper mine to be built near an area of pristine wilderness in Minnesota.

The Interior Department said it had determined that the leases, held by Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean mining conglomerate Antofagasta, were improperly reinstated by the Trump administration in 2019.

RANKED: Top 20 EVs of 2021 – costs jump as lithium, cobalt, nickel prices surge – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 13, 2022)

January 26, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

Ranking of world’s 20 best selling electric cars and their battery metals show automakers grappling with soaring raw material prices

Sales of battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids are set to double in China this year and reach 5 million units in the world’s top auto market. In Europe, EVs have overtaken sales of diesel-powered vehicles for the first time ever, and now account for one out of every five cars driving off lots.

In North America last year, unit sales were 87% ahead of 2020 and will accelerate again this year, with the launch of all electric pick-up (and perhaps cyber) trucks.

Canada’s mineral policy in need of a critical review after China’s lithium firm purchase – by Anja Karadeglija (National Post – January 26, 2022)

January 26, 2022

https://nationalpost.com/

The Conservatives accuse the Liberals of not taking Canada’s national security seriously, while the Liberals say there was no need for a security review

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne will appear at a parliamentary committee Thursday to defend the government’s decision not to hold a national security review of the acquisition of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese enterprise.

The Conservatives have charged that means the Liberals aren’t taking Canada’s national security seriously, while the Liberals say there was no need for a security review. The National Post’s Anja Karadeglija examines the issues.

Forrest fuels another nickel bidding war – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – January 26, 2022)

January 26, 2022

https://www.afr.com/

Billionaire Andrew Forrest has raised his stake in takeover target Western Areas in a move that confirms suspicions he will try to complicate IGO Group’s friendly takeover of the nickel miner.

Dr Forrest’s private company Wyloo Metals spent $31.4 million buying Western Areas shares on Friday and Monday at an average price of just under $3.43 per share. That valuation is above the IGO offer price of $3.36 per share, which the Western Areas board supported shortly before Christmas.

NIMBYism Is Global, And That’s A Problem For The Energy Transition – by David Blackmon (Forbes Magazine – January 23, 2022)

January 25, 2022

https://www.forbes.com/

It’s one of the grand ironies in the whole energy transition narrative: The same class of left-leaning activists who promote wind and solar and electric vehicles (EVs) as the solution also oppose the mining of the lithium and other critical minerals necessary to make them work.

EVs cannot displace internal combustion engine autos without lithium. The EV industry has irrevocably tied itself to lithium-ion technology for its batteries: Without plentiful and affordable supplies of lithium, the industry will fail.

Analysis-Rio Tinto has few options to save Serbia lithium mine, none good – by Clara Denina (Yahoo Finance – January 24, 2022)

January 25, 2022January 25, 2022

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Rio Tinto has only bad options as it tries to salvage its $2.4 billion Serbian lithium project after the country’s leaders bowed to environmentalists and cancelled it last week.

The Anglo-Australian miner could sue the government, a step likely to fail and further antagonise Belgrade, or bet that pro-mining politicians emerge victorious in April parliamentary elections, a result that would embolden opponents.

OPINION: Canada has a strategy for a critical minerals. But there are some critical issues – The Editorial Board (Globe and Mail – January 25, 2022)

January 25, 2022January 25, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada has big ambitions in clean technology – to become “a world leader” in critical minerals and batteries, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in December. The goal, however, exists mostly on paper. Canada is barely out of the starting blocks. There’s ambition, but it doesn’t always jibe with actions.

An important agreement was struck between Canada and the United States in early 2020. The U.S. had a list of 35 minerals it deemed “critical to economic and national security.”

Political instability in the DRC may affect global battery supply chain – report – by Staff (Mining.com – January 20, 2022)

January 21, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

A new report by Fitch Solutions states that the increased risk of instability between the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s cabinet and parliament could add pressure to the global battery supply chain over the next few quarters.

The African country is responsible for the lion’s share of the global cobalt output, which added up to around 68% of global cobalt production in 2020.

No national security issue in Chinese takeover of Canadian lithium company: Liberals – by Joan Bryden (Canadian Press/Sask Today – January 20, 2022)

January 21, 2022

https://www.sasktoday.ca/

OTTAWA — The pending takeover of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese state-owned company raises no national security concerns, federal Liberals argued Thursday.

Liberal MP Andy Fillmore, parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, told a House of Commons committee that the Industry Department reviewed last fall the proposed takeover of Neo Lithium Corp. by China’s Zijin Mining Group Ltd.

What a Tesla Deal Might Mean for the Tamarack Mining Project in Northern Minnesota – by Walker Orenstein (Twin Cities Business – January 20, 2022)

January 21, 2022

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One of the selling points for several proposed copper and nickel mines in Minnesota has been that the metal can help power green technology like solar panels, electric vehicles and windmills. But that possibility has always been somewhat hypothetical, or at least hard to quantify for the controversial projects.

PolyMet Mining says metal from its proposed mine near Hoyt Lakes would be a commodity sold on a world market. But while there is high demand for things like EV batteries, there is no guarantee how much, if any, of the product would be used for domestic green technology.