Northwest lithium explorer inks deal with South Korean battery maker – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 19, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology Metals secures a customer in LG Energy Solutions as Lake Nipigon-area deposit advances toward mine production

An Australian lithium exploration company working ground in northwestern Ontario is doing a direct deal with one of the world’s biggest battery manufacturers.

Green Technology Metals (GT1) announced LG Energy Solutions has signed an offtake sheet to receive 25 per cent of the spodumene concentrate production over a five-year period from the start of mining at its flagship Seymour Project, a 9.9-million tonne lithium deposit.

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Column: Lithium slump puts China’s spot price under the spotlight – by Andy Home (Reuters – May 19, 2023)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) – High-flying lithium has come crashing back to earth. A super-charged two-year rally, which saw Chinese spot lithium carbonate prices rise by tenfold, went into brutal reverse over the first part of this year. The spot price slumped by 70% between November and its low point in April.

The battery metal was knocked off its heights by early-year weakness in China’s electric vehicle (EV) market, still by some margin the world’s largest. The temporary demand hit rippled back up through the Chinese battery chain, generating a collective destocking cycle and killing the spot market.

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How the EV battery boom could change Bécancour, a quiet corner of Quebec, forever – by Nicolas Van Praet (Globe and Mail – May 5, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The countryside city of Bécancour may have finally found its higher purpose: making battery materials for EVs in the global energy transition

Dreams of industrial glory are alive again in Bécancour, Que. On the tidy main streets and busy eateries in this countryside city of 15,000 people, a hopeful buzz is in the air over a wave of new cutting-edge factories set to push up from the ground that could cement the area’s future for decades. An electric vehicle battery boom is nigh.

This is a collection of six villages across the St. Lawrence River from Trois Rivières, grouped together into one municipality for administrative convenience. Each has its own church and local history, and if you’re in the area, Bécancour’s tourism board suggests a hunt for “gnome homes” scattered among historical sites and a circuit of poutine restaurants to satisfy your culinary cravings.

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EXCLUSIVE: Chile mines minister clarifies controversial new lithium strategy – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 16, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

A decision by Chile, the world’s no. 2 lithium producer, to tighten control over the key battery metal sector has triggered speculation on what the announced state-led public-private model will look like and how it may affect the global industry.

To address market rumours and clarify aspects of the strategy described by some as “vague”, MINING.COM spoke with Chile’s mining minister Marcela Hernando, who noted the country had announced a strategy, rather than a policy.

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EU Nears Critical-Materials Agreements With Argentina and Chile – by Jorge Valero and Alberto Nardell(Bloomberg News – May 17, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The European Union is working on deals with Argentina and Chile that will widen its access to critical minerals and metals such as lithium needed for electric-vehicle batteries as part of its goal of creating a less carbon-intensive economy.

Preliminary memorandums of understanding could be signed during the next four months, according to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which added that further partnerships are possible in South America and beyond.

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Lithium prices to keep rising as demand outpaces supply – by Nicki Bourlioufas (Australian Financial Review – May 16, 2023)

https://www.afr.com/

Lithium prices are set to extend their recovery from a brutal sell-off of 70 per cent as demand outstrips weaker-than-expected lithium supply growth, underpinned by the growing take-up of electric vehicles to meet carbon emission targets.

The recent rise in lithium prices follows a horror five-month period during which tumbled more than 70 per cent after China curbed electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in January, a move that led to faltering demand and rising inventories.

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Indonesia’s EV dream crashing on a lack of lithium – by John McBeth (Asia Times – May 15, 2023)

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Indonesia importing a fraction of the lithium needed to crank up EV battery production with no clear new source in sight

JAKARTA – Delivering a speech on the sidelines of last year’s G20 Summit, President Joko Widodo pointed to lithium as the one crucial element Indonesia still needed to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Turning, he gestured towards Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seated near him and observed: “That man has lithium.”

Nickel-rich Indonesia may be on the cusp of an EV battery revolution, but it still lacks a guaranteed supply of lithium for it to become a reality by 2025, the year Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordinating Minister Luhut Panjaitan has targeted for the first battery plant to go into operation.

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The New EV Gold-Rush: Automakers Scramble to Get Into Mining – by Mike Colias and Scott Patterson (Wall Street Journal – May 15, 2023)

https://www.wsj.com/

A scarcity of EV battery materials pushes car companies and miners to work closer together; for both, there is a learning curve

When General Motors began outlining plans in 2020 to fully switch to electric vehicles, it didn’t account for one critical factor: Many of the battery minerals needed to fulfill its plans were still in the ground.

“I remember seeing a report from our raw-materials team at the time saying, ‘There is plenty of lithium out there. There is plenty of nickel’,” said Sham Kunjur, an industrial engineer now in charge of securing the raw materials for GM’s batteries. “We will buy them from the open market.”

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Merger of lithium giants expected to create Quebec powerhouse – by Andrew Willis and Nicolas Van Praet (Globe and Mail – May 12, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Two of the world’s largest lithium producers announced a US$10.6-billion merger on Wednesday that is expected to speed development of mines and a refinery in Quebec.

Brisbane, Australia’s Allkem Ltd. is joining forces with Philadelphia-based Livent Corp., LTHM-N uniting the owners of lithium mines in Canada, Argentina and Australia, and a global network of processing plants. The merger creates the world’s third-largest miner of a key raw material in electric vehicle batteries.

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Mining giants have underestimated the lithium wave – by David Fickling (Bloomberg – May 13, 2023)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

While the market for electric-battery materials was booming, one group of investors stayed on the sidelines: mining giants. That seems surprising. Firms such as Anglo American Plc, BHP Group, Glencore Plc, Rio Tinto Group and Vale SA got where they are today by spotting whatever commodities would see strong demand and weak supply in future, scouring the world for the best resources, and watching the money roll in.

A decade ago, the likes of lithium, cobalt and graphite were minor materials, affected less by electric vehicles than the markets for lubricants, drill-bits and smelting equipment. Nowadays, battery demand is so intense that rising prices risk holding back the energy transition, and major industrial consumers are rushing to lock down supplies.

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Next step in Ontario EV auto strategy is a lithium hydroxide plant: minister – by Allison Jones (Canadian Press/Global News – May 11, 2023)

https://globalnews.ca/

TORONTO — Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli calls it the “sleeper story” of the province’s massive auto industry transition. Now that his quest to establish end-to-end electric vehicle production in the province has landed two battery plants, he’s setting his sights on lithium hydroxide, a critical component of those batteries.

There are two or three “very good prospects” for bringing a lithium hydroxide facility to the province, with a particular eye on northern Ontario, Fedeli said in an interview.

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Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada faces court in June – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – May 9, 2023)

https://www.northernminer.com/

The top lawyer for Lithium Americas’ (TSX: LAC; NYSE: LAC) Thacker Pass project, which is developing the largest lithium deposit in the United States in northwest Nevada, says it could be free of legal challenges by late summer or early fall.

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is to hear arguments against the project on Jun. 26 and a ruling could be handed down within a few months, according to Laura Granier, a lawyer with Holland & Hart, which represents Lithium Americas.

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Elon Musk and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott break ground on Tesla lithium refinery – by Lora Kolodny (CNBC.com – May 8, 2023)

https://www.cnbc.com/

Tesla CEO Elon Musk joined Texas Governor Greg Abbott to break ground at the site of the electric vehicle maker’s new lithium refinery in Corpus Christi on Monday. Tesla plans to invest $375 million to build the facility on the Gulf coast that will help it secure a domestic supply of lithium hydroxide, a key ingredient used to make batteries for its electric vehicles, and its home- and utility-scale batteries.

Musk said that Tesla is aiming to produce enough battery-grade lithium at the refinery to manufacture one million vehicles per year, and to produce more lithium than the rest of North America’s refining capacity combined there.

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India’s industry minister invites Canadian miners to ‘join us’ in search for critical minerals – by Naimul Karim and Stephanie Hughes (Financial Post – May 11, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Piyush Goyal says India open to Canadian miners exploiting its lithium deposits

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the south Asian nation is open to Canadian miners exploiting the country’s lithium deposits, an indication that critical minerals could form the basis of a renewed commercial relationship between Canada and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

“I would very much like Canadian mining companies to join us,” Goyal said at a press conference in Toronto while wrapping up a three-day visit to Canada on May 10. “Mining companies from Canada must visit India. We will make sure to send them into meetings both at the government level and also with mining companies in India … and see how we can expand our own mining system.”

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How Chile is shaping the global market for lithium, a vital component of EV batteries – by Katie Brigham (CNBC.com – May 6, 2023)

https://www.cnbc.com/

The global boom in electric vehicle production has sent demand for lithium-ion batteries soaring. That’s turned Chile’s vast, lithium-containing salt flats into a vital national resource. In Chile’s Salar de Atacama, near the border with Argentina and Bolivia, close to one-third of the world’s lithium is produced from brines.

But South America’s fifth most-populous country is losing market share on the world stage to Australia, which in 2017 leapfrogged Chile to become the largest producer of lithium. Argentina is also gaining momentum thanks to increased international investment.

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