Syrah Resources gets $107m loan for Louisiana EV battery plant
Top coal mines in India struggle to expand as protests slow work
Shanghai zinc price soars to near 15-year high
Lithium mining: How new production technologies could fuel the global EV revolution
Despite expectations that lithium demand will rise from approximately 500,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2021 to some three million to four million metric tons in 2030, we believe that the lithium industry will be able to provide enough product to supply the burgeoning lithium-ion battery industry. Alongside increasing the conventional lithium supply, which is expected to expand by over 300 percent between 2021 and 2030, direct lithium extraction (DLE) and direct lithium to product (DLP) can be the driving forces behind the industry’s ability to respond more swiftly to soaring demand. Although DLE and DLP technologies are still in their infancy and subject to volatility given the industry’s “hockey stick” demand growth and lead times, they offer significant promise of increasing supply, reducing the industry’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) footprint, and lowering costs, with already announced capacity contributing to around 10 percent of the 2030 lithium supply, as well as to other less advanced projects in the pipeline.
However, satisfying the demand for lithium will not be a trivial problem. Despite COVID-19’s impact on the automotive sector, electric vehicle (EV) sales grew by around 50 percent in 2020 and doubled to approximately seven million units in 2021. At the same time, surging EV demand has seen lithium prices skyrocket by around 550 percent in a year: by the beginning of March 2022, the lithium carbonate price had passed $75,000 per metric ton and lithium hydroxide prices had exceeded $65,000 per metric ton (compared with a five-year average of around $14,500 per metric ton).
Kilembe has an estimated 4 million tonnes of ore, of which 1.98% is estimated to be pure copper and 0.17% cobalt
Uganda said on Tuesday it was inviting expressions of interest from investors to restart a vast copper mine in the country’s west that also holds significant cobalt deposits.
The Kilembe mine, which sits on the foothills of the ice-capped Rwenzori mountains on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is estimated by government geologists to contain about four-million tonnes of ore that is 1.98% copper and 0.17% cobalt.
“We have invited companies to express their interest in partnering with the government through a mineral production sharing agreement,” Uganda’s finance and mining ministers said in a joint statement.
“The redevelopment of Kilembe Mines will have a catalytic effect of facilitating industrialization, offer significant employment opportunities and increase revenue.”
Illegal mining, abuses surge on Brazil indigenous land: report
Illegal gold mining surged by a record amount last year on Brazil's biggest indigenous reservation, said a report published Monday, which carried chilling accounts of abuses by miners, including extorting sex from women and girls.
The area scarred by "garimpo," or wildcat gold mining, on the Yanomami reservation in the Amazon rainforest increased by 46 percent in 2021, to 3,272 hectares (8,085 acres), the biggest annual increase since monitoring began in 2018, said the report by the Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY).
"This is the worst moment of invasion since the reservation was established 30 years ago," said the indigenous-rights group, in a report based on satellite images and interviews with inhabitants.
"In addition to deforesting our lands and destroying our waters, illegal mining for gold and cassiterite (a key tin ingredient) on Yanomami territory has brought an explosion of malaria and other infectious diseases... and a frightening surge of violence against indigenous people."
China’s virus lockdowns are spreading to other parts of the country, keeping metals supply chains snarled and demand subdued even as the situation in Shanghai seems to be improving.
There are signs that some of the transport bottlenecks and factory closures in and around Shanghai are easing, but anti-virus measures now appear to be spreading to other parts of Asia’s largest economy. Tighter controls have been imposed in the cities of Suzhou and Zhengzhou, the capital of the central Henan province. China has so far decided to stick with its Covid Zero policy, despite growing evidence that it’s threatening economic growth.
A copper fabricator in Henan that produces pipes and parts used in household appliances and medical devices said its sales were down 20% to 30% in tonnage terms in the first half of April from a year earlier. Many customers are at a standstill due to restrictions, said an official at the company, who asked not to be identified because of internal rules.
In the south-west of China, Yunnan Tin Co., the country’s largest producer of the metal, said it had halted production at its mining unit to comply with local government virus restrictions. The disruption was expected to be short term, the company said in an exchange filing.
The official at the fabricator in Henan said its customers around China were facing problems, with some air-conditioner producers unable to operate due to lack of component deliveries.
Syrah Resources gets $107m loan for Louisiana EV battery plant
Syrah’s Balama graphite project in Mozambique.
The U.S. Department of Energy is lending $107 million to graphite miner Syrah Resources Ltd to build an electric vehicle battery parts facility in Louisiana, the first loan in more than 10 years from the department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) funding program.
President Joe Biden has set aggressive targets for half of all vehicles sold in the United States to be electric-powered by 2030, a goal that will require more domestic processing of EV building blocks. While the ATVM program has lent to automakers Ford Motor Co and Tesla Inc in the past, the Syrah loan is the first not directly to an automaker.
“The U.S. is serious about onshoring the battery manufacturing and critical materials supply chains,” Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, told Reuters. He estimated the United States only has about 5% of the manufacturing capacity needed to hit Biden’s 2030 target.
Lithium Americas Corp, ioneer Ltd, Lordstown Motors Corp and Piedmont Lithium Inc have said they also have applied for ATVM loans.
Top coal mines in India struggle to expand as protests slow work
Protests over land sold for mine expansions in one of India’s top coal regions are hindering efforts to boost production and avoid a repeat of last year’s energy crunch.
Residents in the central state of Chhattisgarh, where Coal India Ltd. operates some of Asia’s biggest coal mines, have accused the producer of reneging on offers of employment made under sale agreements.
Demonstrators have in recent weeks refused to vacate land earmarked for development, or disrupted operations at existing mine sites, according to company officials who asked not to be identified.
The protests come as high seaborne coal prices have limited India’s imports, contributing to a decline in inventories at power plants as the nation heads into its high-demand summer months. Coal India is already prioritizing deliveries to power generators ahead of other key consumers including aluminum smelters and cement factories.
Locals have been protesting at the Kusmunda coalfields for weeks, while similar actions are also being carried out in the Gevra and Dipka areas, according to the officials.
Coal India is examining the merits of demands made by the demonstrators, including on employment, the company said in an email. The firm is talking to both the protesters and local government and hopes to soon amicably settle the issue, it said.
Shanghai zinc prices rallied to their highest since July 2007 on Wednesday on worries over supply shortages in top consumer China.
The most-traded May zinc contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 5.4% to 28,995 yuan a tonne ($4,554.16), before settling up 3.2% at 28,395 yuan ($4,459.92).
Benchmark zinc on the London Metal Exchange hit $4,521.50, the highest since March 8. Prices of the metal, used to galvanize steel, hit a record high of $4,896 a tonne last month.
“Zinc inventories have drawn down sharply and the situation is worsening for European smelters to keep their margins positive amid fears of another power crisis,” said ANZ analyst Soni Kumari.
