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Lithium

Can lithium be produced with a lower environmental impact? – by Javier Lewkowicz (Dialogo Chino – September 28, 2022)

Dialogo Chino

Lithium production is facing a transformation. Mining, automotive and chemical companies around the world are in a race to improve the efficiency of production processes and reduce the environmental impact of the dominant methods of lithium extraction, in order to meet the exponential growth in demand associated with the scale-up of electric vehicles.

“Traditional brine processes have a high environmental impact, due to high levels of water evaporation,” says researcher Michelle Lee Yin of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. “There are different alternative technologies with the potential to replace and/or support the current production method, with the aim of achieving a more sustainable industry over time.”

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Manitoba juniors look to capitalize on lithium fever – by James Snell (Northern Miner – September 27, 2022)

https://www.northernminer.com/

With lithium prices at a record high – around US$71,000 a tonne for lithium carbonate – and demand for green technology surging, a cadre of exploration and development companies is looking to Manitoba as a source for the essential battery metal – and governments are signalling their approval.

Snow Lake Lithium (NASDAQ: LITM), which is drilling and expanding historical spodumene pegmatite deposits on its 223.8-sq.-km Thompson Brothers project in northwest Manitoba, is leading the charge. It plans to enter production by 2026 using the province’s 99% renewable hydroelectric power grid.

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How the U.S. fell behind in lithium, the ‘white gold’ of electric vehicles – by Jeniece Pettitt (CNBC.com – January 15, 2022)

https://www.cnbc.com/

The United States has a lithium supply problem. Nearly every major automaker has announced a transition to electric vehicles, Tesla delivered almost one million cars in 2021, and a handful of new electric vehicle companies like Rivian and Lucid are rolling new models off the line.

In order to power all of these EVs, we will need batteries — lots of them. Electric vehicle growth will be responsible for more than 90% of demand for lithium by 2030, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. But lithium is also in our phones, computers, ceramics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and is essential for solar and wind energy storage.

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‘This is a very, very big deal for Manitoba’ – by Martin Cash (Winnipeg Free Press – September 24, 2022)

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Snow Lake Resources working with LG Energy Solution to establish lithium supply chain in province

An important first step was taken on Thursday for Manitoba to aggressively insert itself into the global supply chain for lithium ion batteries, a product that is in red hot demand from vehicle manufacturers around the world.

LG Energy Solution, the second largest battery maker in the world, signed a memorandum of understanding with Snow Lake Resources to work together to potentially build Canada’s first lithium hydroxide processing plant in Winnipeg.

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Australian explorer aims to be Ontario’s first lithium miner and refiner – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 26, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Tech Metals strikes strategic alliance with LIthium Americas to establish a northwestern Ontario supply chain for the automakers

An Australian lithium explorer operating in the Armstrong-area is teaming up with a Canadian multi-national to develop a lithium mining and processing business in northwestern Ontario.

Green Technology Metals (GT1) has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC) of Vancouver to start a lithium supply chain for the auto sector.

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Canadian miners eye more lithium deals after LG Energy signs three deals in 24 hours – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – September 24, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

The deals paint a hopeful picture at a time when demand for EVs has increased and the world looks to shift away from coal

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd. announced three agreements in a span of 24 hours with Canadian miners to source materials required to make batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) as it looks to boost its focus on North America.

After announcing its three-year cobalt deal with Toronto-based Electra Battery Materials Corp. on Thursday morning, the Tesla Inc. supplier announced agreements to source lithium from Toronto-based miner Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. and Winnipeg-based Snow Lake Resources Avalon Advanced Materials Ltd., which is developing a lithium project in Manitoba.

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How a Quebec Lithium Mine May Help Make Electric Cars Affordable – by Jack Ewing (New York Times – September 20, 2022)

https://www.nytimes.com/

The project also illustrates how difficult it is to get lithium out of the ground and break China’s dominance in processing the metal and turning it into batteries.

About 350 miles northwest of Montreal, amid a vast pine forest, is a deep mining pit with walls of mottled rock. The pit has changed hands repeatedly and been mired in bankruptcy, but now it could help determine the future of electric vehicles.

The mine contains lithium, an indispensable ingredient in electric car batteries that is in short supply. If it opens on schedule early next year, it will be the second North American source of that metal, offering hope that badly needed raw materials can be extracted and refined close to Canadian, U.S. and Mexican auto factories, in line with Biden administration policies that aim to break China’s dominance of the battery supply chain.

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Thunder Bay edges closer to building a lithium processing plant – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 23, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Avalon Advanced Materials in talks to secure supply agreement with South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solutions

South Korean lithium-ion battery maker LG Energy Solution (LGES) is looking to Northern Ontario to secure its raw material supply chain.

Hours after inking a three-year cobalt deal with Electra Battery Materials to source cobalt sulfate from its Temiskaming refinery starting next spring, LGES has entered into negotiations with Kenora lithium mine developer Avalon Advanced Materials to supply them with battery-grade lithium hydroxide by 2025.

It could secure a funding partner that will help Avalon build a much anticipated lithium refinery in Thunder Bay by next year.

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Australia ‘too far behind’ to make EV batteries: lithium giant – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review – September 19, 2022)

https://www.afr.com/

Albemarle boss Kent Masters says it will be hard for Australia to make the leap from mining key ingredients to making batteries for electric vehicles.

That’s despite the company having just built one of the world’s biggest and most advanced lithium hydroxide plants – estimated to have cost more than $2 billion – at an industrial park south of Perth.

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Lithium price smashes new record as supply struggles to feed EV growth – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – September 16, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

The surge in prices of lithium, the key battery material used to power electric cars, is seemingly unstoppable.

Lithium carbonate hit a fresh record of 500,500 yuan ($71,315) a ton in China Friday, according to data from Asian Metal Inc. Prices more than tripled in the past year, inflating the cost of batteries used in electric vehicles, with recent gains driven by strong demand and disruptions at a domestic producing hub.

Consumer support for new-energy vehicles has been gathering pace amid a global transition away from fossil fuels.

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The timing is finally right for Quebec’s lithium miners – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – September 14, 2022)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Quebec, more than any other province in Canada, has been ahead of the curve in working to join the EV economy. Its vast hydroelectricity infrastructure gives it an advantage in clean, low-carbon energy that is essential to “green” manufacturing, and it has supported the nascent battery industry with significant public investment.

It was also the first to outline plans for critical minerals exploration and production as well as for the development of a complete battery supply chain in-province — from mining through processing to manufacturing.

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Charging up lithium mines in Canada – by Eric Niemi (Canadian Mining Journal – September 2, 2022)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The world is starting to see the beginning of a transformational phase in mining especially as it comes to lithium, a new hot commodity. While lithium has been used in some ceramics and glass, lubricating greases, continuous casting fluxes among others, its demand is growing with the rise of electric cars that use lithium-ion batteries.

In fact, electric vehicles, are now responsible for 71% of global demand for lithium, according to Natural Resources Canada. Before the battery rush over the past decade, lithium carbonate prices have been notoriously volatile. However, the winds are beginning to change in response to new demand from the green technology and automotive sectors.

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Standard Lithium retools operations after short seller’s attacks – by Ernest Scheyder (Yahoo Finance/Reuters – September 7, 2022)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

Standard Lithium Ltd is trying to become the first new U.S. source of lithium for electric vehicle batteries in decades, a bullish target fueled in part by technical and engineering changes the company is making in response to accusations that its technology does not work.

Vancouver, British Columbia-based Standard is among a wave of companies, including mining major Rio Tinto Ltd, trying to use direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/new-lithium-technology-can-help-world-go-green-if-it-works-2022-04-07 to supply the battery metal to the EV industry.

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The Race for US Lithium Hinges on a Fight Over a Nevada Mine – by Daniel Moore (Bloomberg News – September 5, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The high-desert mountain pass overlooking alfalfa fields and RV parks doesn’t look like a battleground that will shape the country’s clean energy future.

But when the rock samples here are pulverized, pulled apart and mixed with chemicals, they yield a metal increasingly seen as white gold: lithium, a critical ingredient for batteries used in electric vehicles, solar energy storage, and consumer electronics.

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‘We don’t have enough’ lithium globally to meet EV targets, mining CEO says – by Akiko Fujita (Yahoo Finance – September 5, 2022)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

Climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act put the U.S. back on track toward significant emissions reductions, potentially reducing greenhouse gas output by 40% of 2005 levels.

But one miner warned that when it comes to the transportation sector, domestic resources for lithium, the most critical mineral used for electric vehicle production, may not be sufficient enough to meet some of the most ambitious targets. The Biden administration, for instance, aims to slash the sale of gas-powered vehicles to 50% of all new purchases by 2030.

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