Lithium – Page 33 – Republic of Mining

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

July 13, 2022July 13, 2022

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.

Internal DND study calls green technology minerals 21st-century ‘oil weapon’ – by Chris Arsenault and Philippe Le Billon (CBC News Business – June 20, 2022)

June 21, 2022

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

Skyrocketing demand for copper, lithium and rare earths sparks geopolitical race, worrying environmentalists

Minerals needed to power the green transition from fossil fuels could become “the 21st-century version of the ‘oil weapon,'” warns an internal study commissioned by Canada’s Department of National Defence.

There is widespread agreement among scientists that drastic cuts in fossil fuel consumption are needed to stave off catastrophic climate change — and a transition to electric cars, wind and solar power form key pillars of this shift.

Chile at risk of missing lithium boom amid political, policy instability – by Marta Lillo (SP Global – June 16, 2022)

June 16, 2022

https://www.spglobal.com/

Chile may miss out on the lithium price boom if it cannot set policy to allow development of its vast reserves. With lithium prices soaring through most of 2021 and 2022, major miners have been eyeing Chile as a potential new source of the white metal.

But Chile has been flailing for half a decade to create a legal framework to sell concessions to developers to extract its 19.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, and the country has only issued a handful of permits.

Column: Goldman sparks bear-bull battle in the lithium market – by Andy Home (Reuters – June 15, 2022)

June 15, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) – Is the white-hot lithium market about to be dowsed in a cold cyclical shower of oversupply? Goldman Sachs thinks so.

“We expect lithium prices to continue to correct for the rest of the year and remain under pressure from increasing supply over the next few years,” the Wall Street heavyweight argued in a May 29 battery metals research note. (“The end of the beginning”). It’s a bold call, given the supply-chain stresses that have caused spot lithium carbonate prices to surge over 900% since the start of 2021.

Benchmark: Here’s what Goldman got wrong about lithium prices – by Frik Els (Mining.com – June 9, 2022)

June 10, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

At the end of May, Goldman Sachs rattled lithium stocks after the investment bank declared the battery metals bull market “over for now”.

Goldman called today’s lithium levels a “fundamental mispricing [that] has in turn generated an outsized supply response well ahead of the demand trend.” Goldman predicted an average around $55,000 a tonne for this year, but its forecast for 2023 was particularly eye-raising – a very precise $16,372 a tonne.