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Lithium

Lithium’s Feast-or-Famine Future Keeps EV Makers Guessing – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – February 8, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Lithium’s vital role in electric-vehicle batteries means automakers, miners and investors are racing to figure out how much supply the world will need in the coming years — and also how much it’s going to get. The problem is the predictions vary wildly.

The metal’s price has surged fivefold in the past year, reflecting mounting worries about availability. For years, batteries and EVs have become cheaper to make as the technology improved and production stepped up. But now there’s a risk that rising costs of raw materials — and lithium in particular — could hobble the transition just as momentum picks up.

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U.S. lawmaker calls Chinese takeover of Canadian lithium firm ‘very alarming’ – by Andy Blatchford (Politico.com – February 4, 2022)

https://www.politico.com/

A Florida congressman says he’s pressing the Biden administration on Canada’s decision to skip an extended national security review of a Chinese state-owned company’s takeover of a lithium mining firm.

“It was quite surprising to me to hear of this acquisition, given there’s a clear national security nexus and I would think there’s clear national security concerns,” Florida Rep. Michael Waltz (R) told POLITICO. “Not just any acquisition — but from a Chinese state-owned firm is, again, very surprising and very alarming.”

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Mexico Declares Lithium Too Strategic for Private Investors – by James Attwood and Maya Averbuch (Bloomberg News – February 2, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is ratcheting up nationalistic rhetoric around the country’s untapped lithium deposits, signaling private capital isn’t welcome in the industry.

Unlike other metals such as gold and silver, lithium is a strategic mineral like oil that belongs to the nation, AMLO, as the populist president is known, told reporters in Mexico City on Wednesday, announcing plans to create a state lithium company.

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Industry Ministry under fire for vague testimony to parliament about security review of Chinese acquisition of Canadian lithium firm – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 3, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Federal Industry Ministry is under fire from security experts for being vague about the length of its security screening of Chinese-state-owned Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd.’s acquisition of Canadian lithium development company Neo Lithium Corp.

As a domestic company being acquired by a foreign buyer, Neo Lithium was subject to a review by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), to determine whether the transaction threatened Canadian national security. A review can start as soon as the government becomes aware of a deal.

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It’s absurd for Trudeau to let China buy a Canadian lithium firm — especially without a security review – by Peter MacKay (National Post – January 24, 2022)

https://nationalpost.com/

The Liberals must stop rewarding Beijing’s unconscionable behaviour

For some time now, it has seemed as if Canada’s foreign policy approach toward China has been similar to that old Abbott and Costello baseball shtick of “Who’s on First?”

That is to say, Ottawa’s strategy, insofar as one can even call it that, has been a circular, confusing and nonsensical parody. The major difference is, clearly, there is no humour to be found; rather, this comedy of errors carries only dire consequences for Canada.

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‘It really hurts’: Cree trapper struggles with losing more of his trap line to lithium mine – by Tom Fennario and Shushan Bacon (APTN News – January 30, 2022)

https://www.aptnnews.ca/

Ernie Moses is what Cree in Quebec call a tallyman – someone who is in charge of their family’s trapline. It’s something Moses has done for over 20 years. Located near the Cree First Nation of Eastmain in the James Bay region of Quebec, there’s not much else the 64-year-old would rather be doing with his time.

“How do I explain it… it’s just so open!” said Moses, illustrating with his arms. “Seeing nature, that’s what I love. And trapping, moose hunting, setting snares, and all of that.” Moses’s favorite animal to trap? The beaver.

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Buying Canadian lithium firm part of China’s aim to dominate high-tech manufacturing, MPs told – by Anja Karadeglija (National Post – January 26, 2022)

https://nationalpost.com/

How can Canada build a lithium supply chain or any other critical mineral for that matter, when it allows the assets of Canadian companies to be acquired’

China buying a Canadian lithium mining company is part of a wider strategy by the Chinese to become “dominant in global high-tech manufacturing,” an analyst told a parliamentary committee Wednesday.

“Securing access to lithium and other critical mineral reserves is essential to the achievement” of that industrial policy, said Jeff Kucharski, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and adjunct professor at Royal Roads University.

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Industry Minister mum on when he became aware of Chinese firm’s plans to acquire Neo Lithium – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 27, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne would not say when he was notified of Chinese state-owned Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd.’s ZIJMF unchno change plans to acquire Canadian lithium company Neo Lithium Corp., despite being repeatedly pressed in a parliamentary committee.

During a hearing called on Thursday by the industry and technology committee, Mr. Champagne was asked on multiple occasions when he became aware of Zijin’s plans to buy Neo Lithium, but he would not answer. Instead he repeatedly insisted the deal was subject to a rigorous security review.

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Parliamentary hearing witnesses call for more scrutiny over China in Canadian critical minerals after state-owned Zijin Mining buys Canada’s Neo Lithium – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 26, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ottawa should mandate that state-owned firms that target Canadian companies are automatically subject to a full national security review, a security expert testified at a parliamentary hearing looking into the sale of a Canadian lithium company to a Chinese-government controlled firm.

The hearing was held on Wednesday, and called after The Globe and Mail reported the federal government gave the thumbs up to state-owned Zijin Mining’s $960-million acquisition of Canadian lithium development company Neo Lithium Corp. without conducting a formal security review.

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RANKED: Top 20 EVs of 2021 – costs jump as lithium, cobalt, nickel prices surge – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 13, 2022)

https://www.mining.com/

Ranking of world’s 20 best selling electric cars and their battery metals show automakers grappling with soaring raw material prices

Sales of battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids are set to double in China this year and reach 5 million units in the world’s top auto market. In Europe, EVs have overtaken sales of diesel-powered vehicles for the first time ever, and now account for one out of every five cars driving off lots.

In North America last year, unit sales were 87% ahead of 2020 and will accelerate again this year, with the launch of all electric pick-up (and perhaps cyber) trucks.

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Canada’s mineral policy in need of a critical review after China’s lithium firm purchase – by Anja Karadeglija (National Post – January 26, 2022)

https://nationalpost.com/

The Conservatives accuse the Liberals of not taking Canada’s national security seriously, while the Liberals say there was no need for a security review

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne will appear at a parliamentary committee Thursday to defend the government’s decision not to hold a national security review of the acquisition of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese enterprise.

The Conservatives have charged that means the Liberals aren’t taking Canada’s national security seriously, while the Liberals say there was no need for a security review. The National Post’s Anja Karadeglija examines the issues.

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Analysis-Rio Tinto has few options to save Serbia lithium mine, none good – by Clara Denina (Yahoo Finance – January 24, 2022)

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Rio Tinto has only bad options as it tries to salvage its $2.4 billion Serbian lithium project after the country’s leaders bowed to environmentalists and cancelled it last week.

The Anglo-Australian miner could sue the government, a step likely to fail and further antagonise Belgrade, or bet that pro-mining politicians emerge victorious in April parliamentary elections, a result that would embolden opponents.

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OPINION: Canada has a strategy for a critical minerals. But there are some critical issues – The Editorial Board (Globe and Mail – January 25, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada has big ambitions in clean technology – to become “a world leader” in critical minerals and batteries, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in December. The goal, however, exists mostly on paper. Canada is barely out of the starting blocks. There’s ambition, but it doesn’t always jibe with actions.

An important agreement was struck between Canada and the United States in early 2020. The U.S. had a list of 35 minerals it deemed “critical to economic and national security.”

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No national security issue in Chinese takeover of Canadian lithium company: Liberals – by Joan Bryden (Canadian Press/Sask Today – January 20, 2022)

https://www.sasktoday.ca/

OTTAWA — The pending takeover of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese state-owned company raises no national security concerns, federal Liberals argued Thursday.

Liberal MP Andy Fillmore, parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, told a House of Commons committee that the Industry Department reviewed last fall the proposed takeover of Neo Lithium Corp. by China’s Zijin Mining Group Ltd.

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Is A Lithium Cartel Inevitable? – by Robert Rapier (Forbes Magazine – January 20, 2022)

https://www.forbes.com/

The more people I speak with about lithium, the bigger this story gets. Following my previous article — How The U.S. Is Losing The Lithium Industry To China — several readers told me that this battle is already lost. And, I have to admit that the trajectory we are currently on gives little reason to believe that China’s dominance will be threatened any time soon.

In today’s article, I want to reiterate two threats to U.S. national security based on the current trajectory. Then, I want to revisit why China jumped ahead of the U.S. Finally, I want to talk about steps that are aimed at addressing this.

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