Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles – Page 99

Small miners aim for European supply chain for electric vehicles independent from China – by Clara Denina and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters – July 16, 2021)

July 16, 2021

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Growing demand for electric vehicles has spurred small-scale miners of the lithium, cobalt and rare earths that automakers rely on to develop mines and build refining capacity in Europe to reduce their reliance on China.

Efforts by the United States and Europe to build a secure and independent supply chain for the key minerals used in electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines and aircraft engines have accelerated as the pandemic led to shutdowns and shortages.

With companies under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint, processing metals into goods that are circulated within the continent and do not have to travel far is an environmental goal.

Cobalt refinery operators have ambitious plans for ‘Battery Park’ – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 14, 2021)

July 16, 2021July 16, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First Cobalt seeks to bring manufacturing partner to northeastern Ontario for value-added processing

The company refurbishing a mothballed metals refinery near the town of Cobalt are discussing the idea of creating a Battery Park, catering to the supply chain needs of the North American electric vehicle industry.

Toronto’s First Cobalt wants to produce refined cobalt at the facility, along with a used battery recycling plant, but they’re also strategizing to produce nickel sulfate on the same site, five kilometres outside of town, within the next few years. Both nickel and cobalt are used in electric vehicle battery production.

For First Cobalt, this is a US$60-million expenditure to bring the former Yukon refinery back to life. The facility ran for about a decade – producing cobalt, nickel, copper, silver and other products – before being shuttered in 2015. First Cobalt acquired the shuttered building in 2017.

It’s not just mining. Refining holds U.S. back on minerals – by James Marshall (E&E News – Greenwire – July 14, 2021)

July 15, 2021

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Republicans are sensing a vulnerability in the White House’s avowed allegiance to renewable energy, questioning whether the Biden administration will embrace mining projects to ramp up the United States’ access to the minerals vital to building electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.

They have taken aim at a Biden administration decision to delay a land swap that would facilitate copper mining on sacred Apache land and another to postpone orders to open Alaskan land to mineral development (E&E Daily, April 29).

But experts say mining expansion isn’t a silver bullet in the United States’ quest to become competitive with China on critical minerals during the energy transition. Instead, they argue that the key problem the Biden administration must swiftly address is farther up the supply chain: the dearth of U.S. mineral processing plants and refineries.

Can Environmentalists Handle the Truth about Mining? – by Jack Lifton (Investor Intel – July 13, 2021)

July 14, 2021

https://investorintel.com/

Solar panels and wind turbines cannot even begin to supply the concentrated
power needed for smelters, steel furnaces, copper refining, aluminum
production, and myriads of other energy intensive necessary processes.

The recovery of the amount of non-fuel natural resources necessary for the world, or even just the USA, or the EU, or China, to go “green” would simultaneously entail the construction of a massively enlarged minerals processing industry the likes of which the world has not seen since the creation and growth of the steel industry, which is and will remain the structural backbone of our civilization.

Much of the sourcing and processing infrastructure that is needed for its own domestic consumption of natural resources has already been accomplished by China.

But for the rest of the world, such resource recovery and processing onto useful forms at that “greening” scale would require the diversion of a significant percentage of national GDPs for decades.

Top-10 Canadian base metal and uranium explorers and developers (Mining.com – July 13, 2021)

July 14, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Demand for greener energy has put companies with uranium and base metal projects under the spotlight. Here’s a list of the top ten Canadian-headquartered base metal and uranium juniors with no production. The ranking is based on the companies’ market capitalization as of June 3, and compiled by MiningIntelligence.

NexGen Energy – Market capitalization: C$2.7 billion ($2.3 billion)

NexGen Energy’s (TSX: NXE; NYSE: NXE) market cap has increased fivefold from last year, pushing it from third to first place in this year’s top ten ranking.

The exploration and development company’s valuation has been boosted as the spot price for uranium edged higher in May to pass $32 per lb., and comes after several years in which uranium was trading in the $25-30 per lb. price range.

KPMG NEWS RELEASE: Rising demand for ‘green’ metals renews growth optimism for Canadian mining companies (July 8, 2021)

July 8, 2021

For report: https://bit.ly/3qZTGKX

ESG, sustainability, and innovation key to growth prospects, KPMG in Canada report finds

TORONTO, July 8, 2021 /CNW/ – Rising demand for ‘green’ metals as the world transitions to clean energy is contributing to renewed optimism in the growth prospects for Canada’s mining industry, finds a new KPMG in Canada report, Risk and Opportunities for Canadian miners.

Minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel are critical to the green and digital transition now underway to achieve a below 2°C future. The production of minerals needed to deploy wind, solar, and geothermal power, as well as energy storage, is predicted to increase by nearly 500 per cent by 2050, according to the World Bank. Demand for lithium used in batteries, for example, including electric vehicles, is expected to expand by a factor of 30 by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

“The outlook for the mining industry is extremely positive,” says Heather Cheeseman, partner and Toronto mining leader, KPMG in Canada.

Lithium Price Tipped To Rise After Warning Of ‘Perpetual Deficit’ – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – July 2, 2021)

July 7, 2021

https://www.forbes.com/

If you’re investment portfolio is not exposed to lithium, a key metal in the batteries which power electric vehicles (EVs), then consider the price effect on a commodity said to be heading for a “perpetual deficit.”

That remarkable description of surging demand for lithium as EV sales accelerate incorporates the second price driver, a lack of supply response from the world’s major lithium miners.

Two investment banks this week upgraded their assessment of lithium in light of the increasing demand and sluggish supply growth with both upgrading their price forecasts for the metal.

Lithium supply chain threatened by East-West geopolitical tensions – report – by Staff (Mining.com – July 6, 2021)

July 7, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

Geopolitical risks and the US-China tensions pose threats to the global lithium supply chain, a new report by Fitch Solutions Country Risk & Industry Research states.

Based on questions asked by the participants in the webinar “Global Lithium Outlook – Key Themes For A Fast-Growing, Fast-Evolving Sector,” the report presents the viewpoint of Fitch’s experts on what the future of the lithium market may look like.

According to the analyst, increasingly tense relationships between the West – a rising battery manufacturer and key EV end market and China – a dominant lithium-processing player and current leading battery manufacturer – are the main issues raising risks over the resilience of supply chains.

Pallinghurst makes billion-dollar bet on Quebec as global battery hub – by Nicolas Van Praet (Globe and Mail – July 5, 2021)

July 5, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

European private equity investor Pallinghurst Group is making a billion-dollar bet that Quebec will recover from its early blunders in battery materials and become a dependable pillar for supply in North America, as the global shift to electric transportation accelerates in the years ahead.

London-based Pallinghurst has invested more than US$500-million to date in two key battery-mining and material-processing projects in the province, with plans for more.

The company scooped up mining company Nemaska Lithium Inc. out of bankruptcy protection in a partnership with the Quebec government’s investment arm and built up a 15-per-cent position in another supplier, Nouveau Monde Graphite.

The US wants to make EV batteries without these foreign metals. Should it? – by Maddie Stone (Grist.org – June 30, 2021)

July 5, 2021

https://grist.org/

Nickel and cobalt have precarious international supply chains, but eliminating them from batteries raises tough questions.

The electric vehicle or EV revolution owes its existence to lithium batteries, and those batteries have a cocktail of specialized minerals to thank for their high performance.

In most cases, that cocktail’s ingredient list includes cobalt and nickel, minerals that help deliver the long lifespan and range that consumers increasingly demand of EVs.

But with hundreds of millions of new EVs expected to hit the streets in the coming decades, skyrocketing demand for nickel and cobalt could strain mineral supply chains. Fearing a supply shortage that would slow the EV boom, the U.S. Department of Energy is now proposing that we eliminate cobalt and nickel from batteries altogether.

OPINION: The government’s 2035 electric vehicle mandate is delusional – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – July 3, 2021)

July 5, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Whether or not you want one, can afford one or think they will do essentially nothing to stop global warming, electric vehicles are coming to Canada en masse. This week, the Canadian government set 2035 as the “mandatory target” for the sale of zero-emission SUVs and light-duty trucks.

That means the sale of gasoline and diesel cars has to stop by then. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra called the target “a must.” The previous target was 2040.

It is a highly aspirational plan that verges on the delusional, even if it earns Canada – a perennial laggard on the emission-reduction front – a few points at climate conferences. Herewith, a few reasons why the plan may be unworkable, unfair or less green than advertised.

Liberals say by 2035 all new cars, light-duty trucks sold in Canada will be electric – by Stephanie Taylor (Financial Post – June 30, 2021)

July 5, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

Government has already poured at least $300 million into a rebate program that offers consumers a break when they buy electric cars

OTTAWA — The Liberal government is speeding up its goal for when it wants to see all light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be electric. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Tuesday that by 2035 all new cars and light-duty trucks sold in the country will be zero-emission vehicles.

Until now the government had set 2040 as the target for when it wants to see all passenger vehicles sold to be powered by this technology.

Alghabra cited a recent report from the International Energy Agency that says by 2035 nearly all new light-duty vehicle sales would have to be electric to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century.

CHART: Study predicts over 400% increase in copper, lithium, nickel battery demand – by Editor (Mining.com – June 30, 2021)

July 5, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

BloombergNEF has upped its predictions for annual demand for lithium-ion batteries by more than a third from its previous forecast on the back of expectations for rapid growth in the passenger vehicle segment.

BNEF predicts annual demand for lithium-ion batteries will pass 2.7 terawatt-hours per year by 2030 – a 35% increase from the analytics company’s forecast made last year. Passenger vehicles will represent 72% of the overall market as sales race to 14 million by 2025 from just over 3 million last year.

BNEF expects China to extend its lead in the battery supply chain — particularly processing and refining. The country accounts for almost half of new lithium hydroxide projects coming online this year and has 55% of the world’s nickel sulfate market and 80% of the global market for cobalt sulfate, according to the report.

Sudbury Vale Strike impacting battery market – by Staff (Sudbury Star – July 2, 2021)

July 2, 2021

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Analyst senses labour dispute could extend for months

A strike at Vale’s Sudbury operations is taxing a nickel market that’s key to powering electric vehicles. The job action by USW Local 6500 is now entering its second month, with no new contract talks planned.

Bloomberg News notes that Sudbury is one of the world’s few producers of nickel pellet, a form used to produce alloys for aerospace, electronic and nuclear industries.

Production at Vale’s northeast Ontario operation halted when unionized workers went on strike on June 1. The disruption is driving consumers to tap battery-grade nickel briquette as an alternative.

Vale spending $150 million on first phase of Thompson mine extension project – by Ian Graham (Thompson Citizen – June 29, 2021)

June 29, 2021

https://www.thompsoncitizen.net

Vale is spending $150 million on the first phase of the Thompson mine extension project, which will extend current mining activities by 10 years, the company announced June 29.

“Aggressive” exploration drilling of known orebodies is also continuing, which could mean ore extraction could continue well past 2040, Vale says.

Work to be completed during the first phase of the project includes construction of new ventilation raises and fans, increasing backfill capacity and adding power distribution infrastructure. Vale expects the changes to improve current production levels by 30 per cent.