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Lithium

Dormant Swedish Mine Comes Alive in Rush for Car Batteries – by Niclas Rolander and Jesper Starn (Bloomberg News – April 3, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The global race to develop batteries for electric cars is reaching deep into the pine forests of central Sweden, where a dormant graphite mine is getting a new lease on life.

Woxna, situated about 160 miles (259 kilometers) north of Stockholm, was mothballed in 2001 amid a slump in prices. Now, a Canadian company called Leading Edge Materials Corp. is preparing to revive operations.

Though graphite has grabbed fewer headlines than other battery components like lithium and cobalt, whose prices have surged in recent months, the carbon material makes up a large part of the raw material costs.

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Exploration project’s purity surprises mining company: Frontier Lithium touts PAK project as a rare and valuable find – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – March 23, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Garth Drever can’t hide his excitement over Frontier Lithium’s Pakeagama Lake Pegmatite (PAK) project’s initial findings and estimates. But he is reluctant to say it could be the first lithium mine in Canada.

“It could be a few years before we go into production, but we are very happy with what we are seeing,” said Drever, vice-president of exploration of the Sudbury-based junior mining company, formerly known as Houston Lake Mining.

“The deposits are very clean, very high grade and that’s generating a lot of interest.” He was speaking on the latest findings from the project at the monthly meeting of the Sudbury Prospectors and Developers Association on March 20.

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Lithium Miner Eyes Even Greater Riches in Piles of Battery Waste – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – March 22, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Recycling lithium material from used electric vehicle batteries promises to be even more profitable than mining the increasingly valuable metal, according to an Australian producer building a test facility in Canada.

Perth-based Neometals Ltd. is working to recover raw materials including lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper from expired batteries at a facility in Montreal, aiming to add production from recycling to its existing output from mining.

The electric vehicle revolution has sparked a surge in demand for battery materials, driving up prices and triggering a rush to secure new sources of supply.

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The Lithium Sector Surge Is Poised to Ignite a Deals Bonanza – by David Stringer, Jack Farchy and Crystal Tse (Bloomberg News – March 21, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The tripling in lithium prices over three years is poised to fuel a multi-billion dollar rush of deals as major players jostle for dominance to supply the metal needed for the electric vehicle battery revolution.

China’s expected to lead a mergers and acquisition bonanza as companies seek to wrest more control of the market from Western rivals. The Asian nation accounted for more than half of global electric vehicle sales last year, which exceeded 1 million for the first time. And that’s just a taster of what’s to come as the government targets 7 million vehicles by 2025.

“You’ll see elevated activity this year driven mainly by the Chinese,” Chris Berry, a New York-based analyst on energy metals, and founder of House Mountain Partners LLC, said in an email. “The consolidation necessary in the space will start to happen now.”

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Tiny Chilean regulator thrust into global lithium battle – by Dave Sherwood (Reuters U.S. – March 20, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A global battle for lithium has landed in the office of a tiny Chilean regulator, which may decide a winner as it reviews a petition to block Chinese firms from buying a stake in top producer SQM SQM_pb.SN.

The scramble for lithium, used in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones to electric vehicles, is pitting the Chilean government against China and, potentially, the independent regulator against the Latin American country’s new business-friendly government.

The National Economic Prosecutor’s office, known by its Spanish initials FNE, is set to review the sale by Canada’s Nutrien Ltd of a 32 percent stake in Santiago-based SQM for more than $4 billion to Chinese bidder Tianqi Lithium or any state-backed firm. Chile’s development agency Corfo said in a complaint on March 9 that the transaction would “gravely distort market competition.”

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New Chile govt undecided on blocking SQM sale to China firms -official – by Antonio De la Jara (Reuters U.S. – March 16, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO, March 16 (Reuters) – Chile’s new government is evaluating whether to support a petition filed by its predecessor to block the sale of a stake in top lithium miner SQM to a Chinese firm, a senior government official told Reuters on Friday.

Chile development agency Corfo filed a complaint last week to block the sale of a 32 percent stake in SQM to China’s Tianqi Lithium or any related entities or state-backed firms, saying it would “gravely distort market competition.”

The move was the latest in a battle to secure lithium, a major ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, mobile phones and tablets.

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Battery Chemistry Review – Can lithium continue to dominate? – by Lara Smith (InvestorIntel.com – March 16, 2018)

https://investorintel.com/

Although the technology was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, the first lithium batteries didn’t make it to market until the 70s, and it was a series of breakthroughs in the early 80s that cemented it as the market leading product it is today.

Lithium (and cobalt / graphite / nickel / manganese) cells replaced lead acid as the foremost battery chemistry simply because lithium has the lightest weight, highest voltage, and greatest energy density of all metals (why is a bubble round?); nevertheless, its relative scarcity and recent price escalation has some manufacturers shopping for alternatives.

The expansion of energy storage capacity is undoubtedly a societal necessity for the foreseeable future, but with extensive R&D in this area being a constant force for change, there is no reason to expect a single type of device to dominate the market indefinitely.

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Electric car dreams may be dashed by 2050 on lack of cobalt, lithium supplies – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – March 16, 2018)

http://www.mining.com/

Supplies of cobalt and lithium, key for making the batteries that power electric cars and mobile phones, are likely to be limited by 2050, German researchers have warned.

According to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) study, published this week in the journal Nature Reviews Materials, a shortage and price increase of cobalt are likely to occur in about thirty years, especially since demand for the metal is expected to be twice as high as today’s identified global reserves.

The authors are not so pessimist when it comes to lithium, as there are several companies rushing to explore and produce the so-called white petroleum. They do warn production will have to be strongly boosted — more than ten times, they predict — to match future demand.

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Explainer: Chile attempts to block China from prize lithium asset – by Dave Sherwood and Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – March 13, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO/VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Chile’s government has asked antitrust regulators to block the sale of a 32 percent stake in Chilean lithium company SQM SQM_pb.SN to a Chinese firm on the grounds it would give it an unfair advantage in the global race to secure resources to develop electric vehicles.

Chile development agency Corfo, which oversees SQM’s lithium leases in the Salar de Atacama, claimed in a 37-page complaint filed on Friday that the purchase of a stake in SQM by “Tianqi Lithium, or any entity related to it directly or indirectly (including companies controlled by the government of China)” would “gravely distort market competition.”

WHY WOULD CHILE WANT TO BLOCK A CHINESE BUYER?

It was unclear if Corfo’s complaint, if upheld, would block all potential Chinese bidders for the stake. But it certainly seeks to block Tianqi Lithium, one of China’s top lithium producers.

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Cobalt: The Achilles Heel for Electric Car Makers – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – March 7, 2018)

https://www.forbes.com/

Fueling future generations of electric vehicles is making some mining entrepreneurs rich as demand grows for critical metals, such as lithium and cobalt. But as with all commodity booms, there are early signs of a shortage turning into a flood, with a predictably depressing effect on prices.

Lithium is the metal most likely to be hit by a surge in production and a fall in price, especially if demand for electric cars does not match optimistic forecasts.

Ironically, it could be a shortage of cobalt that delays the production of the lithium-ion batteries needed to power electric cars and a range of other products, such as smartphones and household appliances.

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UPDATE 2-Zimbabwe has potential to meet 20 pct of global lithium demand – by Alfonce Mbizwo (Reuters U.S. – February 28, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

HARARE, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe has the potential to supply 20 percent of the world’s lithium, the mines minister from Africa’s top producer of the alkali metal used in batteries for electric vehicles said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is keen to attract capital to its mining sector after the ousting last year of former president Robert Mugabe after almost four decades in power and is pushing lithium as a major draw for investors.

“We believe we have the potential to actually account for 20 percent of global demand when all known lithium resources are being exploited,” Winston Chitando told a mining investment conference in the capital, Harare.

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Lithium glut? No way, say industry executives eyeing demand – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – February 27, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (Reuters) – Forecasts for a glut in lithium, a major ingredient in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, fail to account for strong demand and how complicated it is to process and mine, industry executives and analysts said.

Morgan Stanley sent lithium stocks tumbling on Monday after it forecast a surplus in the market in 2022 of 190,000 tonnes, resulting in predicted prices nearly halving to $7,699 a tonne. However, some industry officials took issue with the outlook.

“I am firmly of the view that everyone, including Morgan Stanley, is grossly underestimating how quickly the market is moving on the demand side,” Ken Brinsden, chief executive of Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals, said at a mining conference in Florida this week.

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Giustra-Backed Lithium X Plunges on Doubts About Chinese Buyer – by Natalie Obiko Pearson and Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – February 28, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A lithium explorer backed by Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra dropped in Toronto trading amid speculation that its prospective buyer, a Chinese investment company, may fail to cough up the cash.

Vancouver-based Lithium X Energy Corp. fell the most in nearly two years Wednesday, the latest casualty in a sector that’s been pummeled this week on forecasts that a supply glut may loom for the metal used in electric-vehicle batteries.

In the midst of the lithium boom in December, Beijing-based NextView Capital had struck agreements with two Canadian lithium explorers — a roughly C$53 million ($41 million) deal to buy a 20 percent stake in Calgary-based Bacanora Minerals Ltd. and a few days later a C$265 million plan to acquire Lithium X, founded by Giustra’s Vancouver-based Fiore Group.

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South Korea’s POSCO signs long-term deal to buy lithium from Australia’s Pilbara (Reuters U.S. – February 27, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) – South Korean steelmaker POSCO on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy up to 240,000 tonnes of lithium concentrate per year from Australian miner Pilbara Minerals, using the commodity to help supply producers of electric vehicle batteries.

As part of the deal, the Australian unit of POSCO will acquire a 4.75 percent stake in Pilbara for A$79.6 million ($62.49 million).

POSCO said in a statement that it planned to make about 30,000 tonnes of lithium products per year starting from 2020. It plans to supply these to firms including battery material manufacturing affiliate POSCO ES Materials and its joint venture with China’s Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd, as well as South Korean battery makers.

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Australian miners ramp up investment in electric-vehicle metals – by Kaori Takahashi (Nikkei Asian Review – February 22, 2018)

https://asia.nikkei.com/

Copper and lithium among targets for spending as demand and prices climb

SYDNEY — Australia’s mining companies are shelling out more to find copper and other materials used in electric vehicles as demand for the next-generation automobiles grows.

Anglo-Australian mining group BHP Billiton looks to invest $6.9 billion in plants and exploration in the year through June, up 32% from the previous fiscal year’s $5.22 billion.

The aim is to improve productivity at the company’s core coal and iron ore operations, and to develop its copper business. BHP in February completed a $350 million facilities upgrade at the Olympic Dam copper mine, where it plans to raise output 25-35% on the year.

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