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Lithium

China’s lithium plants generate jobs in Zimbabwe, but expansion is pushing some locals out of their homes – by Jeffrey Moyo and Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – November 16, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A thunderous explosion echoes through the Nora Valley, and a thick cloud of white and grey dust rises from the blast site at a lithium plant. At a nearby school, two students scream with shock and bolt for cover. At a teacher’s house, dust wafts from a widening crack above the entrance door.

Welcome to the Zimbabwean lithium boom. Lithium, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles, has become the fastest-growing industry in Zimbabwe, with Chinese companies investing billions of dollars in the mining and processing of what is sometimes called “white gold.” But along with the surging investment, there is growing controversy over the impact of the Chinese projects on communities and the environment.

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Exxon Mobil Plans to Produce Lithium in Arkansas – by Clifford Krauss (New York Times – November 13, 2023)

https://www.nytimes.com/

The move is the oil giant’s first foray in the production of a metal vital for electric vehicle batteries.

Exxon Mobil said on Monday that it planned to set up a facility in Arkansas to produce lithium, a critical raw material for electric vehicles, which pose one of the biggest challenges to the company’s oil business.

Coming just a month after Exxon said it would spend $60 billion to buy Pioneer Natural Resources, the announcement signals that the large oil company intends to hedge its big bets on conventional fossil fuels with at least some investments in cleaner forms of energy that are needed to combat climate change.

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Allkem and Livent bosses face down criticism of $16b lithium merger – by Brad Thompson and Anthony Macdonald (Australian Financial Review – November 12, 2023)

https://www.afr.com/

Senior executives at Allkem and Livent say investors are supportive of the $US10 billion ($16 billion) merger between the two mining groups despite increasing concerns that volatility in the lithium price is making the deal, struck in May, increasingly unattractive to the former’s shareholders.

Allkem managing director Martín Pérez de Solay and his Livent counterpart, Paul Graves, are in Australia to meet investors this week before a shareholder vote on the deal on December 19. There have been – so far limited, but growing – calls for the deal to be reconsidered, and it has been described by Jefferies analysts as a “cheap reverse acquisition of Allkem”.

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Ganfeng Open to Mexico Venture to Revive Cancelled Lithium Mine – by Maya Averbuch and James Attwood (Bloomberg News – November 9, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Ganfeng Lithium Co. is open to forming a partnership with the Mexican government on a project that would turn the Latin American nation into a commercial producer of the battery metal and resolve a dispute over the asset.

While the Chinese firm is appealing the government’s August decision to cancel its concessions, an alternative is to form some kind of public-private partnership for a project valued at more than $1 billion, said the head of Ganfeng’s Bacanora Lithium unit. The suggestion comes as talks with Mexico’s government have stalled.

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Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium secures $2 million to advance its processing technology – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 10, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mining company scouring the region for site to place its lithium refinery

Despite some unexpected freakish fall weather, Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium had its day in the sun yesterday. The junior exploration company was the recipient of a $2-million grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund (NOHFC) to further test out its lithium processing technology to complement its future mine project in northwestern Ontario.

Before touring Frontier’s new corporate headquarters, now under construction in the Val Caron industrial park, Premier Doug Ford, flanked by three Northern Ontario cabinet ministers, endured buffeting winds and a hail storm at an outdoor news conference, prompting Frontier’s president-CEO, Trevor Walker, to extend a “warm, Northern welcome to our premier,” eliciting a chuckle from chilled onlookers.

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Ford in Sudbury to announce $4.1M for five mining projects – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – November 9, 2023)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Major announcement is $2.1 million for Frontier Lithium to develop a new lithium extraction method at its big deposit in Northwestern Ontario

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was in Sudbury with three of his cabinet ministers Nov. 9 to announce more than $4 million from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to boost five mining supply and service projects.

The announcement was made amidst a cold and blustery late afternoon snow and hail outbreak at the Frontier Lithium yard in the Val Caron industrial park. Premier Ford was accompanied by Mines Minister George Pirie, Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Minister Vic Fedeli, and Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford.

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Fierce community opposition to copper, lithium projects threatens energy transition – by Editor (Mining.com – November 9, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

Nationwide protests against mining projects are once again grabbing headlines amid a sweeping sense of urgency from governments and communities to gain greater control over minerals and metals that are essential for the transition to a low-carbon economy.

While nothing new, resource nationalism has ignited high-profile disputes in recent weeks, with First Quantum’s struggles in Panama and lithium miners’ in Portugal the two most radical examples.

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Portuguese PM António Costa resigns over lithium deal probe – by Ana Nicolaci da Costa (British Broadcasting Corporation – November 7, 2023)

https://www.bbc.com/

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa resigned after investigators searched his official residence in an inquiry into alleged corruption. He said he had not been named as a suspect but believed the inquiry was incompatible with staying in office.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday they were investigating concessions awarded for lithium mines and hydrogen production. They said detention warrants were issued for five people including Mr Costa’s chief of staff, Vítor Escária.

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Alberta lithium fields lure investment from South Korea’s Posco Holdings – by Amanda Stephenson (Canadian Press/CBC Calgary – November 8, 2023)

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

Memorandum of understanding signed with Crown corporation Invest Alberta

South Korean company Posco Holdings is considering investing in the exploration, development and commercialization of lithium in Alberta. The company — which is best known for steel production but also invests in minerals, energy and more — signed a memorandum of understanding this week with provincial Crown corporation Invest Alberta.

Under the terms of the agreement, Posco will begin exploring prospects for lithium investment in Alberta, while the province will support the Korean company’s ambitions by helping them navigate the acquisition of mining rights as well as regulatory and tax-structure requirements.

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China’s Ganfeng indefinitely postpones Mexican lithium target date amid gov’t spat – by Valentine Hilaire (Reuters – November 9, 2023)

https://www.reuters.com/

MEXICO CITY, Nov 9 (Reuters) – A recent government push to cancel Ganfeng Lithium’s concessions has forced the Chinese company to indefinitely postpone its target to start mining the battery metal in Mexico, a company executive told Reuters.

Mexican mining authorities have issued a notice to Ganfeng’s local subsidiaries indicating nine of its concessions had been canceled, saying it had failed to comply with minimum investment requirements, the company said in an August filing.

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Where China’s Lithium Monopoly Comes From – by Tim Worstall (The Diplomat – November 7, 2023)

https://thediplomat.com/

There is no shortage of raw lithium. China’s dominance of lithium processing is where the potential problem lies.

2,850,000 billion and 20 million: two numbers that can enlighten us all about the looming lithium shortage. That first is mine and therefore wrong – but it’s useful still.

Scientists think they know the rough composition of the crust of the Earth, the lithosphere. The percentage of each element contained is the Clarke Number. That times the known weight is how much is out there of each element. For lithium, that gives us 2,850,000 billion tonnes.

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Portugal PM Quits After Chief of Staff Held in Corruption Probe – by Henrique Almeida and Joao Lima (Bloomberg News – November 7, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Portugal’s Antonio Costa unexpectedly ended his eight years as prime minister after revelations about an investigation into possible government corruption involving lithium and hydrogen projects.

The resignation on Tuesday came as police raided locations including offices used by the premier’s chief of staff as well as the environment ministry and the infrastructure ministry.

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‘Waiting on government is not a strategy,’ says NW Ontario mine developer – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 11, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Frontier Lithium ramps up pressure on Ottawa to deliver on Berens River bridge and road project

Federal funding appears to be slowly rolling out for the Berens River road and bridge in northwestern Ontario. The long-awaited infrastructure project is a vital link that would connect seven remote First Nations to the provincial highway system for the first time and allow Frontier Lithium, a Sudbury mine developer with two massive lithium deposits, to finally get its product to market.

Indigenous Services Canada told Northern Ontario Business on Friday that more than $7.7 million of the $9.5 million for the design of the bridge and road project has been released with $1.8 million scheduled for released in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

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Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium awards feasibility study contract (Sudbury.com – November 4, 2023)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Company said this is moving forward on the next step toward project engineering

Frontier Lithium Inc. (TSXV: FL) a Sudbury-based lithium mining exploration company, has announced the first phase of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the PAK lithium project in a remote area of Northwestern Ontario.

The contract has been awarded to DRA Americas Inc., a fully-owned subsidiary of DRA Global (DRA). DRA Global is an international multi-disciplinary engineering, project delivery, and operations management group primarily focused on the mining, minerals, and metals industry, said a Frontier news release.

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Nipigon-area lithium miner sees Red Rock for potential refinery – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 3, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Rock Tech LIthium inks MOU with the Veldmans and Red Rock Indian Band

Rock Tech Lithium is eyeing the site of the former Norampac Paper mill site in Red Rock as a potential site for a lithium refinery.

The future mine developer and processor has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the brownfield property owners, BMI Group, and its partners, the Red Rock Indian Band to conduct an assessment for a 50-acre development footprint.

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