Lithium – Page 24 – Republic of Mining

AVZ vs Zijin: the fight for the world’s biggest lithium deposit – by Jevans Nyabiage (South China Morning Post – October 30, 2022)

October 31, 2022

https://www.scmp.com/

The discovery of a gigantic deposit of lithium had raised hopes for the sleepy town of Manono in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a tin boom went bust years earlier.

Australia-based AVZ Minerals announced in 2019 that the Manono lithium-tin project in the DRC probably had the world’s largest untapped lithium deposit, with estimates of 400 million tonnes of lithium ore. Lithium is essential in making rechargeable batteries for phones and electric vehicles, and is in high demand as countries around the world make the shift to green energy.

Manono Lithium-Tin Project (Mining Technology – March 9, 2021)

October 31, 2022

https://www.mining-technology.com/

The Manono Lithium-Tin Project is an open-pit mining development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa. It is estimated to be one of the largest lithium-rich LCT (lithium, caesium, tantalum) pegmatite deposits in the world.

AVZ Minerals currently holds a 65% interest in the property while the remaining stake is held by Dathcom Mining, a joint venture between AVZ Minerals and La Congolaise D’Exploitation Miniere of the DRC Government. AVZ Minerals reached an agreement to acquire an additional 10% equity in the project for $15.5m in September 2020.

The Lithium Market Is Hotter Than Ever and Traders Are Moving In – by Mark Burton, Archie Hunter and Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – October 29, 2022)

October 31, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — When the oil market liberalized in the 1970s, a group of commodity trading buccaneers led by the infamous Marc Rich made fortunes by connecting buyers and sellers and surfing the price swings of this newly tradable commodity. Half a century later, some of Rich’s spiritual descendants are hoping to pull off a similar trick in lithium.

A vital component in most electric-vehicle batteries, lithium is becoming one of the world’s most important commodities. Prices have soared to unprecedented levels as demand forecasts keep growing, leaving automakers scrambling to secure future supplies.

Mining the Northwest: Charged up lithium explorers move toward mine production – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 26, 2022)

October 27, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Tech Metals buys out partner, Rock Tech Lithium firms up European supply chain

A pair of lithium junior miners in northwestern Ontario are making moves to consolidate ground and firm up its supply chain to feed the downstream electric vehicle manufacturers.

Australia’s Green Technology Metals is dissolving a joint venture partnership with Ardiden to acquire the remaining 20 per cent stake in its Ontario lithium properties. The deal worth (Australian) $18.5 million gives Green Tech full control of three lithium holdings including Seymour, located just outside of Armstrong, that the company is touting as a mine development.

Why this lithium boss stopped taking calls from buyers in a boom – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review- October 25, 2022)

October 26, 2022

https://www.afr.com/

Pilbara Minerals boss Dale Henderson says his phone is switched to silent as a constant stream of car and battery makers try to secure supplies of lithium, and he doesn’t expect the calls to stop any time soon.

The $16 billion company’s operations in Western Australia continued to spew cash in the September quarter after an increase in production – albeit at a lower grade – and higher spodumene concentrate prices.

China’s lithium appetite to fuel European production, miner says – by Annie Lee and Harry Brumpton (Bloomberg News – October 25, 2022)

October 26, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

An Australian company on track to become Europe’s first lithium producer said China’s appetite for the material, which is key to the renewable-energy transition, has created a clear runway for further expansion in the continent.

“A lot of supply is going into China, and China’s own needs are growing,” Critical Metals Corp. Executive Chairman Tony Sage said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Perth on Wednesday.

‘The part of Cornwall nobody ever sees’: the hi-tech future for lithium and tin mining – by Jasper Jolly (The Guardian – October 20, 2022)

October 24, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/

A foggy, overgrown quarry in a quiet part of Cornwall is a good place to contemplate Britain’s industrial past. It is here that miners used steam power, explosives and their own hands to dig out china clay for ceramics. The industry helped to fuel the Industrial Revolution and briefly made Redruth one of the richest places in the UK.

The quarry is also a pretty good place to contemplate Britain’s industrial future. Cornish Lithium, a UK startup, is one of a clutch of businesses hoping to revive British mining amid a global scramble for the battery minerals that are crucial for the transition away from fossil fuels.

Frontier announces $20M bought deal to fund PAK exploration – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – October 20, 2022)

October 20, 2022

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Frontier Lithium (TSXV: FL; OTC: LITOF) is raising $20 million with which to continue exploration of the PAK lithium project in northwestern Ontario. The bought deal is underwritten by a syndicate led by RBC Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs.

The underwriters have agreed to purchase 9.1 million units of Frontier at a price of $2.20 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one-half of one purchase warrant. Each full warrant will entitle the holder to purchase a common share at a price of $2.75 within a period of 36 months following the closure of the bought deal. Closing is expected on Nov. 8, 2022.

Europe joins the ‘white gold’ rush for lithium and faces an energy transition challenge – by Cyrielle Cabot (France24.com – October 19, 2022)

October 20, 2022

https://www.france24.com/en/

Shortly before arriving at the Paris Motor Show on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron told the financial daily Les Echos that his administration wanted to make electric vehicles “accessible to everyone”.

Macron then proceeded to announce a series of measures to enable households to acquire electric vehicles. With the EU seeking to ban the sale of combustion engine vehicles from 2035, France is trying to gradually phase out fossil-fuel cars. While the move is seen as an essential step on the road to energy transition, it also poses a serious problem: it will require massive quantities of metals needed to manufacture batteries, especially lithium.

In the search for the lithium that will power our future, these three women see a bigger lesson – by Dennis Wagner (Techxplore.com – October 10, 2022)

October 12, 2022

https://techxplore.com/

Three women trek into the barren Nevada desert, boots crunching down a wash until one of them stops at an overhang, pulls out a geology pick, and chips away a chunk of rock. Over the next few minutes, and during hours of interviews, they explain the relationship between this stone and the battery that powers your electric car.

They talk about prehistoric volcanoes, subterranean brine lakes, advanced technology and the mineral that is changing the future of our planet. Lithium. This curiosity of the periodic table is an element so sensitive it can’t be found alone in nature. The pure white metal, when exposed to air, promptly oxidizes and turns black.

Princeton sells most holdings in Lithium Americas, Protect Thacker Pass argues not enough – by Lia Opperman and Miriam Waldvogel (Daily Princetonian – October 6, 2022)

October 7, 2022

https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/

The University sold the majority of its stake in the Lithium Americas Corporation during the second quarter of 2022, according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings released over the summer. As of last filing, the University’s holdings in the company are around $4.5 million, down from $92 million earlier this year.

Still, Protect Thacker Pass, a Nevada-based coalition of activists, has argued that the University’s holdings in the company remain unacceptable. Max Wilbert, the co-founder of Protect Thacker Pass, said, “We need far deeper and more significant change, including an end to car manufacturing, to stop the [ecological] crisis we’re in.” According to the U.S. Department of Energy, lithium is used in most of today’s electric vehicles.

Australia could grab 20% of the world’s lithium refining by 2027 – by James Fernyhough (Bloomberg News – October 3, 2022)

October 7, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Australia is poised to grab a fifth of the world’s lithium hydroxide refining capacity within five years as demand grows for battery metals that bypass China, Canberra said in a report.

China produces more than 80% of the world’s lithium hydroxide, a processed form of the in-demand metal, according to the International Energy Agency. However, several companies are building refineries in Australia that would turn locally-mined lithium ore into battery-grade chemicals.

Surging coal, lithium prices can’t stem sell-off in top 50 mining stocks – by Frik Els (Mining.com – October 5, 2022)

October 7, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

Volatility on metal and mining markets continued in the third quarter with copper losing sight of record prices hit in March, gold’s bounce back sputtering, lithium doubling in price year to date, coal surging to unprecedented levels, potash advancing to a 14-year peak and uranium experiencing the best market since Fukushima.

The MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners lost $134 billion – based on primary exchange share price movements converted into US dollar – over the course of the third quarter and are now worth $1.22 trillion.

U.S. steps away from flagship lithium project with Buffett’s Berkshire – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – October 5, 2022)

October 7, 2022October 7, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

Oct 5 (Reuters) – In a February meeting with mining executives, President Joe Biden laid out an aggressive goal for the United States to produce more of its own minerals for the electric vehicle revolution in ways that respected the environment.

A “big part” of those efforts, the president said, was a plan by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc to filter lithium from superhot geothermal brines swirling beneath California’s Salton Sea, something that had never been done before.

Canadian-based International Battery Metals claims to have better way of extracting lithium – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2022)

September 29, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The head of a Canadian-listed company that’s developed a new system for extracting lithium, a critical mineral for electrification of the global economy, says it has proven it can tap smaller concentrations of the substance with minimal environmental disturbance.

International Battery Metals Ltd. said on Tuesday an independent engineering review has concluded the company’s modular, mobile lithium extraction plant obtains more than 65 per cent of the lithium from brine, which is saline groundwater enriched with dissolved lithium. It also recycles and reuses 94 per cent of the water in the process, according to a report by SLR Consulting Ltd.