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Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals

RPT-COLUMN-Blue skies, green cars and a year of revolution for industrial metals – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – December 21, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) – A little bit of metals history was recorded on March 29 this year. The small Central American country of El Salvador became the first nation to ban all exploration, mining and processing of metals.

Don’t worry if you didn’t notice. El Salvador doesn’t have any operating mines. It was going to have a gold mine, but in a public debate pitting economic growth against clean water supply, water won. Such environmental push-back against mining has become an ever more common feature of the metals industry.

But this year has marked a tipping point with China, a dominant producer of so many industrial metals, launching its own clamp-down on pollution. Multiple supply chains from aluminium to zinc have been disrupted with largely bullish, albeit at times chaotic, price impact.

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Trump: Break Chinese, Russian stranglehold over mineral supplies – by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner – December 20, 2017)

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/

President Trump ordered the U.S. military and the Interior Department to take immediate action to “break” the nation’s dependence on Russian and Chinese supplies of critical minerals as a matter of national security.

“This dependency of the United States on foreign sources creates a strategic vulnerability for both its economy and military to adverse foreign government action, natural disaster, and other events that can disrupt supply of these key minerals,” read an executive order signed by the president on Wednesday.

The order explained that the U.S. has the resources to end the unnecessary dependence on foreign sources of minerals, but must provide its miners with information necessary to begin mining and exploration of critical mineral deposits. This data would include new topography maps and other information on where the largest deposits of critical minerals can be found.

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Zinke wants to expand critical minerals production, saying: ‘We are vulnerable as a nation’ – by Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post – December 19, 2017)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke launched a push Tuesday to expand critical minerals production in the United States, saying “we are vulnerable as a nation” because we rely so heavily on imports from China.

The move comes as the U.S. Geological Survey published its first assessment of the country’s critical minerals resources since 1973, an analysis the agency began in 2013. The report concludes that 20 out of the 23 critical minerals the nation relies on are sourced from China.

“It is time for the U.S. to take a leading position,” Zinke told reporters at a briefing. “And it’s not that we don’t have the minerals in the U.S. It’s likely we do.”

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Rare earth element mine could mean big changes for Labrador town – by Evan Careen (St. John’s Telegram – December 20, 2017)

http://www.thetelegram.com/

Public asked to comment on project located near St. Lewis

ST. LEWIS, NL – The federal and provincial governments are looking for comments on a proposed rare earth element mine on the south coast of Labrador. The Foxtrot Rare Earth Element Mine Project is currently the subject of an environmental assessment by the provincial government.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) is deciding whether a federal environmental assessment is required. Both processes are currently asking for comments from the public and impacted groups.

The proposed project is near the Town of St. Lewis. Mayor Helen Poole said council certainly plans to submit comments. “I know it’ll have an impact in all the communities in the area, but it’ll really impact us,” she said. “We’re excited but we have to be cautious on how it’s going to impact us, so we want this environmental study done.”

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U.S. sees foreign reliance for ‘critical’ minerals as security concern – by Valerie Volcovici (Reuters U.K. – December 19, 2017)

https://uk.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States needs to encourage domestic production of a handful of minerals critical for the technology and defense industries, and stem reliance on China, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said on Tuesday.

Zinke made the remarks at the Interior Department as he unveiled a report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which detailed the extent to which the United States is dependent upon foreign competitors for its supply of certain minerals.

The report identified 23 out of 88 minerals that are priorities for U.S. national defense and the economy because they are components in products ranging from batteries to military equipment.

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NEWS RELEASE: Critical Minerals of the United States (December 19, 2017)

https://www.usgs.gov/

It would be no exaggeration to say that without minerals, no aspect of our daily lives would be possible.

Click here for entire report: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1802

From the high-tech devices we use to access the information superhighway to the cars and trucks we use to drive the freeways, from the urban jungle to rural farms, every aspect of our lives relies on minerals. Thus, access to sufficient supplies of these minerals is a crucial part of keeping our economy and our security running.

In this new volume, entitled Critical Minerals of the United States, USGS geologists provide the latest and greatest on the geology and resources of 23 mineral commodities deemed critical to the economy and security of the United States. This work is meant to provide decision-makers, researchers, and economists with the tools they need to make informed choices about the mineral mix that fuels our society.

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Could Cobalt Choke Our Electric Vehicle Future? – by Prachi Patel(Scientific American – January 2019)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/

Demand for the metal, which is critical to EV batteries, could soon outstrip supply

An electric car future is speeding closer; economic analysts project that a third of all automobiles could be battery-powered by 2040. Most of these vehicles rely on large lithium-ion batteries, prompting worries about whether the world’s lithium supply can keep up.

But another element—cobalt—is a bigger concern, scientists reported in October in the journal Joule.

“The best lithium battery cathodes [negative electrodes] all contain cobalt, and its production is limited,” says study lead Elsa Olivetti, a materials scientist and engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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What Needs to Happen Before Electric Cars Take Over the World – by Jack Ewing (New York Times – December 18, 2017)

https://www.nytimes.com/

On the slope of a thickly forested Czech mountain, three men in hard hats and mud-spattered fluorescent vests dig for the metal that could power a new industrial revolution.

They watch carefully as a mobile rig, mounted on tank treads, hammers and spins a drill bit hundreds of yards into the bedrock. Water gushes from the bore as the bit punctures an underground spring.

The men are prospecting for new sources of lithium, a raw material now found primarily in China and Chile that could become as important to the auto industry as oil is now. Faster than anyone expected, electric cars are becoming as economical and practical as cars with conventional engines. Prices for lithium-ion batteries are plummeting, while technical advances are increasing driving ranges and cutting recharging times.

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Electric cars have made this once obscure metal the hottest commodity of 2017 – by Eshe Nelson (Quartz Media – December 18, 2017)

https://qz.com/

2017 belonged to cobalt. The silvery-blue metal, which is mined as a by-product of copper and nickel, is a crucial element in the lithium-ion batteries that power everything from electric cars to Apple products.

This year, it has completely outshone the rest of the commodities market. The price of cobalt surged 120%, while the Bloomberg commodity index fell 4%.

The market for cobalt has increased from about $4 billion last year to about $8 billion, according to Bloomberg. Traders and automakers are betting that consumers will increasingly switch to electric vehicles as several countries around the world try to drastically cut down carbon emissions by banning gas and diesel cars.

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How Batteries Sparked a Cobalt Frenzy and What Could Happen Next – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – December 17, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Cobalt left other metals in the dust this year, driven by demand from electric carmakers like Tesla Inc. But with new supply coming online and high prices likely to spur substitution and recycling, the market for the key battery component could prove choppier next year. Here are five themes that will capture the market’s attention in 2018.

Record Prices

After prices more than tripled in the past two years, cobalt has become a valuable prize for the handful of miners producing it at scale. The global market has increased from about $4 billion a year at the end of 2016 to about $8 billion now and is roughly equal in size to the tin market.

But cobalt could be set to level out in 2018. BMO Capital Markets sees prices averaging about $68,200 a ton from about $72,000 now as Glencore Plc and Eurasian Resources Group ramp up major new projects in 2018 and 2019.

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BMW Sees 10-Fold Jump in Its Need for Battery Materials by 2025 – by Elisabeth Behrmann (Bloomberg News – December 15, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

BMW AG’s needs for car-battery raw materials such as cobalt and lithium will surge 10-fold by the middle of the next decade, pushing the German carmaker increasingly to forge long-term deals as shortages loom.

Purchase contracts with five- to 10-year time frames are close to being completed, the manufacturer’s head of procurement told reporters in Munich Friday. Concerns about supply bottlenecks, especially for cobalt, have prompted auto producers including Volkswagen AG to step up efforts to ensure they have enough. BMW plans to offer 25 electrified vehicles by 2025, while VW is targeting a 300-model battery-powered lineup by 2030.

“We’ve been intensively focusing on how to manage future cobalt supply for about a year now,” said Markus Duesmann, the BMW purchasing executive. “Before, it wasn’t clear just how quickly demand will accelerate.”

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Australia cobalt rush accelerates on electric vehicle demand, DRC troubles – by Melanie Burton (Reuters Canada – December 15, 2017)

https://ca.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia, home to the world’s second-biggest cobalt reserves, is seeing a rush of interest in projects still years from production as makers of batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs) seek supplies of the metal from a more costly but less risky source than top miner, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As auto makers seek to develop greener cars, shares in Clean TeQ CLQ.AX – owner of one of the largest cobalt deposits in Australia – have trebled this year. Minnows Cobalt Blue COB.AX, Australian Mines AUZ.AX, Artemis Resources ARV.AX and Aeon Metals AML.AX have also seen shares surge.

On Friday, Aeon, developing a copper-cobalt project in Queensland, raised A$30 million ($23 million) from institutional investors.

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America’s mining policy undermines national security – by Jeff A. Green (The Hill – December 14, 2017)

http://thehill.com/

Jeff A. Green is president and founder of J.A. Green & Company, a bipartisan government relations firm based in Washington D.C.

After nearly two decades of war, the American military must address a readiness crisis. Both Congress and the Trump administration are working to rebuild the military’s front-line forces. But readying America’s industrial base to support the force of the future requires further action.

The Department of Defense should be gravely concerned that disruptions in America’s mineral supply chain could undermine our national security. The U.S. military uses 750,000 tons of minerals each year to keep our country and troops safe. However, the U.S. is now entirely reliant on other countries for at least 20 minerals needed to build fighter jets, engines, radar, missile defense systems, satellites, precision munitions and other key technologies.

These key minerals enable the “overmatch” that Secretary of Defense James Mattis demands, which ensures we can not only win any war, but win it in overwhelming fashion.

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Glencore sees battery minerals powering profit in 2017 and beyond – by Barbara Lewis and Arathy S Nair (Reuters U.K. – December 12, 2017)

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Miner and trader Glencore (GLEN.L) said on Tuesday its battery minerals, especially cobalt, should spur profit in 2017 and beyond in an update for investors that also promised to grow the business, especially through partnerships.

It said its marketing, or trading, division’s 2017 EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) would be at the top end of its previous guidance at $2.8 billion, steady from 2016 but effectively an increase given that Glencore sold half of its agriculture business last year.

The company also issued full-year 2018 overall EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) guidance of $16.2 billion, slightly below some analysts forecasts, but higher than Glencore’s guidance for full-year profit this year of $15 billion.

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Glencore to Double Cobalt Output on Electric Vehicle Demand – by Thomas Wilson (Bloomberg News – December 12, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc will double its production of cobalt in the next two years, tightening its grip on the market for the key battery component of electric vehicles.

The Swiss commodity giant’s Toronto-listed Katanga Mining Ltd. in the Democratic Republic of Congo will produce as much as 34,000 tons in 2019, Katanga said Monday. That compares with the 20,000 tons-a-year guidance Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg gave in August and could give Glencore control of about 40 percent of world supplies, according to current data.

Glencore, which mines products from coal to zinc and trades some 100 raw materials, is zeroing in on cobalt after prices more than doubled this year on demand from automobile and battery manufacturers.

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