Lithium – Page 27 – Republic of Mining

Lithium Refining Is a ‘License to Print Money,’ Musk Says – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – July 20, 2022)

July 21, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca

(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk has called for more investment in global lithium refining to ease shortages in battery materials — and promised those who seize the opportunity it’s as lucrative as “basically minting money.”

“I’d like to once again urge entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business. The mining is relatively easy, the refining is much harder,” Tesla Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Musk said on a Wednesday earnings call, adding there are software-like margins to be made in lithium processing. “You can’t lose, it’s a license to print money.”

Chinese Lithium Giant Pulls EVs Deeper Into Forced Labor Glare – by David Stringer and Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – July 17, 2022)

July 19, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A lithium producer for carmakers including BMW AG and Tesla Inc. is beginning work to assess battery metals projects in Xinjiang, deepening links between electric vehicle supply chains and a region at the heart of human-rights allegations against China.

Ganfeng Lithium Co., China’s top producer of the material, is partnering through a subsidiary with a state-backed entity to accelerate exploration for and potentially develop lithium, nickel and other critical metal assets in the region.

Chief Harvey Yesno: One of CIM Magazine’s 2022 Names to Know – by Tijana Mitrovic (CIM Magazine – July 18, 2022)

July 19, 2022

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

Chief Harvey Yesno and Donald Bubar first met 20 years ago as panelists focused on development opportunities in northwestern Ontario. At the time, Chief Yesno was representing the interests of the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund, which provides financing and business support to Indigenous businesses in northern Ontario. Then, as now, Bubar was CEO and president of Avalon Advanced Materials.

Today, Yesno, a former Chief of the Eabametoong First Nation, past director of community relations for Ontario’s Ring of Fire Secretariat and Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation is the newest member of Avalon’s board of directors.

US losing ground to China, Russia in South American lithium rush – by Rafael Bernal (The Hill – July 19, 2022)

July 19, 2022

https://thehill.com/

U.S. companies are hitting speedbumps in the race to win contracts to extract lithium in the Americas, particularly as the Chinese and Russian governments throw their weight around to land such agreements.

While the most easily exploitable currently known lithium deposits are in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, the United States has so far not been able to capitalize on its influence in the Western Hemisphere to support its companies.

Nationalize LATAM’s Lithium to Become Global Power: Evo Morales – by Fernando Mares (Mexico Business – July 13, 2022)

July 13, 2022July 13, 2022

https://mexicobusiness.news/

Former President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, urged lithium-producing countries to take advantage of what he calls the decline of the US as a superpower to nationalize the lithium industry. By doing so, the Latin American region could play a major role in the world’s economics.

“The west does not want us to add value to our natural resources. If we industrialize the peoples’ lithium in the hand of the state, we could be global powers, at least in this environment,” Morales said at a conference at the El Rosario University in Argentina.

China’s Ganfeng Lithium buys lithium mines in Argentina – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – July 11, 2022)

July 12, 2022

https://www.ft.com/

Purchase of Lithea comes as global competition for metals needed to power electric vehicles hots up

Ganfeng Lithium has agreed to buy Argentina-focused mining group Lithea for up to $962mn, as China steps up its battle for the metals needed to power electric vehicles.

The deal will give Shenzhen-listed Ganfeng rights to Pozuelos and Paston Grandes, two salt lake brines in Argentina that can produce lithium carbonate, a key material for batteries used in electric vehicles.

Sibanye-Stillwater to raise stake in Finland’s Keliber (Reuters – June 30, 2022)

July 8, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

June 30 (Reuters) – Sibanye-Stillwater (SSWJ.J) plans to increase its shareholding in Finnish lithium firm Keliber to 50% plus one share, the South Africa-listed miner said on Thursday, and is offering to buy minority shareholders out to boost its stake to over 80%.

Sibanye-Stillwater agreed to take a 30.29% stake in Keliber in February as part of its strategy of diversifying away from South African platinum and gold production into battery metals, which have benefited from surging prices.

The World Can’t Wean Itself Off Chinese Lithium – by (Wired Magazine – June 30, 2022)

July 7, 2022

https://www.wired.com/

China dominates the global supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. Now rival countries are scrambling for more control over “white oil.”

THE INDUSTRIAL PORT of Kwinana on Australia’s western coast is a microcosm of the global energy industry. From 1955, it was home to one of the largest oil refineries in the region, owned by British Petroleum when it was still the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

It once provided 70 percent of Western Australia’s fuel supplies, and the metal husks of old tanks still dominate the shoreline, slowly turning to rust in the salt air.

Lithium stays sky-high as other EV battery metals come down to earth (Nikkei Asia – July 6, 2022)

July 7, 2022

https://asia.nikkei.com/

Changing tech trends in top auto market China reduce demand for nickel and cobalt

TOKYO — Prices for key metals used in electric-vehicle batteries have diverged, with lithium holding strong on brisk demand and tight supply while nickel and cobalt start to fall out of favor in the crucial Chinese market.

All of these materials are used in cathodes. These components make up about 40% of the cost of a battery cell, which itself accounts for a sizable chunk of electric vehicle production expenses.

Piedmont Lithium and Sayona Mining formalise restart plans for NAL – by Will Owen (Global Mining Review – July 4, 2022)

July 4, 2022

https://www.globalminingreview.com/

Piedmont Lithium has announced that the board of directors of Sayona Quebec Inc. (SYQ), which is owned 75% by Sayona Mining (Sayona) and 25% by Piedmont, authorised the restart of spodumene concentrate production at its North American Lithium (NAL) project located near Val-d’Or, Quebec.

The NAL restart will feature significant operational upgrades totalling approximately US$80 million aimed at improving product quality and plant utilisation. Long-lead equipment was ordered and detailed design engineering commenced in late 2021 based on our jointly planned timeline.

Imperial Oil joins E3 on pilot project to extract lithium in Alberta – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – June 23, 2022)

July 4, 2022

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Imperial Oil Ltd. has joined a pilot project to extract lithium in Alberta, lending its energy expertise in the quest to recover the critical mineral from a once-prolific oil formation.

Calgary-based Imperial said on Thursday that it is investing $6.35-million to acquire warrants in E3 Lithium Ltd., giving it a window into plans to pump what the companies hope will be lithium-rich brine from the aquifer under the sprawling Leduc formation.

Lithium plant developer zeros in on Thunder Bay refinery site – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 29, 2022)

June 29, 2022

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Avalon Advanced Materials making purchase offer on city property to start refinery construction by 2023

The developer of a much-anticipated lithium processing plant in Thunder Bay said he’s narrowed down his city-wide search to one property that fits the bill. But Don Bubar, president and CEO of Avalon Advanced Materials, isn’t disclosing the specific site just yet as his company is in the process of making a purchase offer to the property owner.

Bubar delivered an update on Avalon’s Separation Rapids Project in northwestern Ontario and its refinery plans for Thunder Bay with an online presentation at the Emerging Growth Conference last week. “It’s all coming together pretty nicely,” said Bubar.

Sayona and Piedmont approve C$98m Quebec lithium restart – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – June 28, 2022)

June 28, 2022

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Emerging lithium producer Sayona Mining has cemented plans to get its North American spodumene production off the ground in 2023, following a formal agreement of the North American Lithium (NAL) restart programme.

Sayona Quebec, which is 75% owned by Sayona and 25% by Piedmont, has formally authorised the restart of spodumene concentrate production at the NAL operation, in Quebec, requiring significant plant and infrastructure upgrades.

Lithium Battery Valley emerges in Quebec – by Shane Lasley (Metal Tech News – March 16, 2022)

June 22, 2022

https://www.metaltechnews.com/

Becancour, a small Quebec town along the shores of the St. Lawrence River about midway between Montreal and Quebec City, is rapidly emerging as an epicenter for producing the advanced materials needed for lithium-ion batteries powering the electric vehicle revolution.

This rural Canadian town of around 12,800 people surfaced in the battery space about a year ago when Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. announced plans to build a facility there to produce the coated spherical purified graphite that goes into the anodes of lithium-ion batteries. Now, General Motors, POSCO Chemical, and BASF are setting up shop to produce cathode active materials and lithium battery recycling in this strategic Quebec locale.

Piedmont Lithium looks abroad amid North Carolina uncertainty – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – June 22, 2022)

June 22, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

June 22 (Reuters) – Piedmont Lithium Inc’s (PLL.O) first steps toward securing lithium supplies will be in Quebec or Ghana, not the United States, as an intensifying North Carolina regulatory review delays the miner’s goal of anchoring America’s electric vehicle battery renaissance.

The delay has forced Piedmont to expand its strategy beyond its proposed North Carolina mine – a project it has touted as the best way to help secure American energy independence, but one that now faces a regulatory quagmire – and fund mines abroad.