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Lithium

RESOURCE EXTRACTION: Chile’s lithium – blessing or curse? – by Sophia Boddenberg (Deutsche Welle – May 11, 2018)

http://www.dw.com/en/

Salar de Atacama is rich in lithium, essential to electric cars and other low-carbon tech. But indigenous people are fighting its extraction, saying private interests are cashing in at the expense of their environment.

The Salar de Atacama’s geysers, volcanoes and flamingos attract tourists from around the world. But beneath its dramatic vistas, the Chilean salt flats hide something of far greater economic potential that’s drawing a different kind of interest – from the world’s chemical companies.

Lithium batteries are essential to all kinds of gadgets from laptops and mobile phones to the electric cars and power storage facilities that are to help wean the world of fossil fuels. As the world shifts to renewables, more and more sectors are to be electrified, and demand for lithium is expected to double by 2025.

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Private firm takes on Codelco for control of Chile lithium deposit – by Fabian Cambero (Reuters U.S. – May 9, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A foreign-backed miner has sued Chile to block state-run Codelco from exploiting a lithium deposit where both have claims, according to a lawsuit filed in March that will be carefully watched by potential investors being courted by the country’s new government.

The little-known and remote Maricunga salt flat is far smaller than the expansive Salar de Atacama, where top lithium producers Albemarle and Chile’s SQM SQM_pb.SN rule supreme.

But the legal conflict at Maricunga under the newly inaugurated conservative government of President Sebastian Pinera may prove a bellwether for foreign miners anxious to invest in Chile, which is home to half of the world’s lithium reserves.

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Europe Has the Potential to Develop Domestic Lithium Sources – by Stuart Burns (Metal Miner – May 7, 2018)

https://agmetalminer.com/

We normally associate Cornwall in England with scones and cream teas … or, if we are really metal nerds, we associate the sometimes sunny southeast country of the British Isles with mining (particularly with tin mining).

The area dominated with igneous morphology has been mined since Roman times for tin, copper and a number of other metals. But one metal, not surprisingly, that has never featured is lithium. I say “not surprisingly” because up to the end of the last century, it barely featured as a metal of value.

Nickel metal hydride batteries dominated the small appliance world and lead acid still served the rest. This century has seen an exponential growth in the use of lithium-ion batteries, from iPhones to electric cars to massive storage barns. The growth has been such that fears are mounting of a market shortage in the next decade, fueled in no small part by state support for electric vehicles (EVs) in Asia.

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China lithium top player boosts investment in emerging Australian miner – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 7, 2018)

http://www.mining.com/

Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group, one of China’s largest lithium hydroxide and carbonate producers, is injecting further funds into emerging Australian lithium producer Core Exploration (ASX:CXO) as Chinese companies continue to aggressively try securing supply of the key ingredient needed for making the batteries that power electric cars.

Through its subsidiary Yahua International, Sichuan has given Core Exploration $1.4 million as share placement, on top of a $2 million cash injection it provided it in August last year.

With demand for EVs set to skyrocket in the next decade, Chinese companies have inked several deals in the past year to secure steady lithium supplies with mine developers in Australia, South America, Canada and Africa.

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As Electric Cars Multiply, This IPO Will Test Big Lithium Value – by Carolina Millan and Jack Kaskey (Bloomberg News – May 3, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

How much is a lithium business really worth? Enthusiasts of the metal used in rechargeable batteries are about to find out.

FMC Corp. is looking to separate its lithium assets and list a portion of the shares in October, before providing the remainder to FMC shareholders within six months, the Philadelphia-based company said Thursday. It’s set to be the first U.S. initial public offering by a major lithium pure-play.

The decision comes as lithium demand is expected to surge along with purchases of electric vehicles. Demand for the lightweight metal will rise five-fold by 2025, potentially exceeding the world’s production capacity, Chief Executive Officer Pierre Brondeau said in February.

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NOT ALL LITHIUM MINING IS EQUAL: HARD ROCK SHOWS POTENTIAL TO DISRUPT LITHIUM EVAPORATION – by Nicholas LePan (Mining Feeds.com – April 30, 2018)

http://www.miningfeeds.com/

Argentinian lithium producer Orocobre (TSX: ORL) recently reported lower than expected lithium production in its third fiscal quarter because weather interfered with its evaporation rates of its lithium brines. This reveals two problems with lithium brine production: reliability and geography. Another source of lithium is rising to met these problems, hard rock lithium mining.

One analyst pointed out that Orocobre’s production problems “clearly demonstrate” that production is not a straightforward process. “Weather events are beyond the control of Orocobre, but this reaffirms that there is still room to improve on the robustness of operations and reduce production variability from we ather impacts,” the analyst stated.

The company reported a 25-per-cent lower evaporation rate compared with the same quarter in 2017 which caused production problems and lithium output to fall 29 percent to 2,802 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate equivalent, from 3,937 tonnes in the December quarter. Its February rates were the lowest since 2011.

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Britain looks to ancient mines for electric future – by Barbara Lewis (Reuters Canada – April 27, 2018)

https://ca.reuters.com/

SOUTH CROFTY, England – Britain is banking on a series of ancient mines on its southwestern tip to secure a slice of the global electric car revolution.

The English county of Cornwall and the surrounding area boast one of the world’s largest tin deposits yet their centuries-old mines have lain abandoned since the 1990s when a collapse in prices for the metal made them unviable.

Now however a rise in demand for tin, along with other metals that can be used in electric vehicles, electronics and renewable energy, has helped create a global deficit and quadruple prices. British officials are supporting reopening of the mines and seeking investment, leading to a mini-rush of mining companies into the area.

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The World’s Lithium King Is Ready to Unleash a Flood of New Supply – by Laura Millan Lombrana (Bloomberg News – April 26, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A little-known Chilean company that until recently churned out mostly crop nutrients may hold a key to the future of electric-vehicle production. And a Chinese mining company is standing ready, poised to grab a big piece of it.

Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA sits on the world’s richest deposit of lithium. It already produces more than 20 percent of the global supply and is about to produce a whole lot more. SQM will at least double and could eventually quadruple lithium capacity, thanks to recent agreements between the company and the Chilean government.

Ramping up production of the mineral, once mined mostly as the main ingredient in anti-schizophrenia drugs, will help meet seemingly insatiable demand from electric-car makers.

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Lithium in abundance, but…: Bolivia’s huge resources face huge challenges, Simon Moores points out – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – April 26, 2018)

http://resourceclips.com/

It’s a testament to lithium market expectations that companies will compete with each other to do business in Bolivia. When news broke that the country wanted help to develop its fabled Salar de Uyuni, several firms showed willingness to overlook a history of investment confiscation. So has one of the world’s worst mining jurisdictions become serious about opening what just might be the world’s largest lithium resources?

Yes, an April 21 government announcement would seem to indicate. Media reports say the German firm ACI Systems GmbH had been selected out of five applicants from China and one each from Canada and Russia to team up with the state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos, which would hold the lion’s share of a 51%/49% joint venture. The actual agreement has yet to be signed.

Clearly there’s an incentive for Bolivia to change its approach to mining. According to la Razón, the deal calls for $900 million from YLB (all figures in U.S. dollars) and $1.3 billion plus expertise from ACI to develop facilities that would process lithium and manufacture batteries and cathodes, primarily for the European electric vehicle market.

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Raw material suppliers join Finland battery factory project – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – April 25, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Five companies that can supply essential raw materials for an emerging battery industry in Finland have joined a cooperation network that aims to obtain international investment in the battery cluster.

The cooperation network includes the cities of Vaasa and Kokkola, Freeport Cobalt, the world’s largest cobalt refinery and producer of battery chemicals, Norilsk Nickel, the producer of nickel metals and nickel chemicals in Harjavalta, Terrafame Group, the parent company of Terrafame producing nickel, zinc, cobalt and copper in Sotkamo, Keliber, which is preparing to start lithium production in Kaustinen and Kokkola, as well as Beowulf Mining, the owner of a graphite deposit in Heinävesi.

Kokkola Industrial Park, in Kokkola, is home to Freeport Cobalt’s cobalt refinery and Keliber’s lithium refining chemical plant will also be located there.

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UPDATE 1-Chile’s SQM says lithium industry needs at least $10 bln investment over 10 yrs – by Ton Daly (Reuters U.S. – April 18, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) – The global lithium industry will need $10 billion-$12 billion of investment over the next decade to meet surging demand amid the electric vehicle boom, an executive of Chilean miner SQM said on Wednesday.

Demand for the metal is set to grow by 600,000-800,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over the next 10 years, Daniel Jimenez, senior commercial vice president at SQM, said. Lithium carbonate is a chemical used to make batteries for electric vehicles.

“So a lot of capital needs to be put on the table for this to materialise, which is a challenge,” Jimenez told the Metal Bulletin Battery Materials Conference in Shanghai.

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SoftBank’s first lithium deal raises prospects for junior miners – by Susan Taylor and Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – April 6, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO/VANCOUVER (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp’s (9984.T) entry into the lithium sector, a hot commodity for electric car batteries, is raising hopes that small miners struggling to secure bank funding can tap alternative financing to cash in on booming demand.

Japan’s SoftBank, with investments including ride-services firm Uber [UBER.UL] and Chinese online retailer Alibaba (BABA.N), will invest up to C$99.1 million ($78 million) for a stake of up to 9.9 percent in Nemaska Lithium Inc (NMX.TO).

Separately, Nemaska is also in talks with U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance on a streaming deal, a type of specialized mining finance, people familiar with the transaction told Reuters. Nemaska shares jumped as much as 20.5 percent on Friday, giving the Quebec-based company a market value of C$566 million.

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Lithium Glut Fears Tempered by Optimism Over Surging Demand – by Ranjeetha Pakiam (Bloomberg News – April 9, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Warnings of a lithium glut may be premature. For one thing, doomsayers assume all the lithium in brine or hard rock deposits will get processed, but that’s not the case, said Jay Roberge, partner and managing director at Tehama Capital Corp., a Vancouver-based merchant bank.

“There’s no shortage of lithium in the world, but the concern is processing it and developing it into lithium carbonate, lithium products and lithium metal,” Roberge said in an interview.

“Not all lithium projects that will have a decent grade of lithium are necessarily economical, because you have to be able to process the lithium into the end-product.”

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As China ties up global lithium, Asian rivals must bet big on South America – by Dave Sherwood and Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – April 6, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO/VANCOUVER (Reuters) – South America’s lithium triangle is the lowest-cost place to produce the vital battery ingredient, but political hurdles will require Japanese and South Korean companies to make big investments to crack into the region as they chase Chinese rivals who have tied up resources in other parts of the world.

Even China, the leader in the global race for the metal used in batteries for everything from smartphones to electric cars, has had its efforts thwarted in the lithium triangle of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, home to around two thirds of global reserves.

Because of China’s problems, market experts say the lithium triangle is one place South Korean and Japanese auto and battery makers can play catch-up.

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Chasing lithium around the world: Is the red-hot metal about to leave miners in the cold? – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – April 5, 2018)

http://business.financialpost.com/

It’s 11:55 p.m. and Steven Howard has just returned to his hotel room in Beijing after a draining day of meetings to promote his lithium exploration company. The next morning, he would fly to Seoul to do it again, and then on to Tokyo.

“I’ve got wings and wheels strapped to my rear end,” he says about his travel schedule which included stops in Hong Kong, Shenzen, Huizhou and Tianjin.

Howard, whose background is in oil and gas, leads one of the dozens of Canadian-listed mining companies looking to capitalize on the roaring demand for lithium being created by the world’s budding electric vehicle industry, before the bubble bursts.

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