Tesla to begin lithium-ion battery production at US megafactory – bodes well for $DGO.ca $BFF.ca $PFN.ca $SX.ca $FMR.ca
Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors says it has started producing lithium-ion battery cells at its $5 billion factory in Nevada.
The company says it began making high-performance cells in December and production started overnight for cells used in Powerwall energy-storage products.
Tesla plans to start making batteries for its Model 3 sedans later this year.
The massive Gigafactory outside Sparks is coming online in phases, with a goal of full operation in 2018.
Officials say it could almost double the world’s production of lithium-ion batteries, making them more affordable as the company looks beyond the luxury niche market.
The electric carmaker says it has more than 850 full-time employees, plus more than 1700 construction workers.
Nevada has promised Tesla $1.3 billion in state tax incentives based on projections that it’ll employ 6500 people at full production.
Source: https://thewest.com.au/business/startup/tesla-begins-lithium-ion-battery-production-at-us-megafactory-ng-b88347284z
Will $PFN.ca $DGO.ca $BFF.ca SX.ca supply the lithium needed to run the future’s electric cars?
Volkswagen Chairman Herbert Deiss told CNBC at the Paris Motor Show in November that “electric mobility will take off by 2020,” while Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in May his aim for annual production to be at 1 million vehicles by this same year.
The onus is now on rechargeable batteries – rather than petrol – to propel the automotive industry into its proposed greener future, with lithium ion cells being the prevailing form of this technology.
“Lithium is a pretty abundant element naturally,” Jamie Speirs, a fellow in energy analysis and policy at Imperial College London, told CNBC via telephone. But, though worldwide production of the metal is increasing year on year, he detailed that “the current supply chain will not match up with lithium demand by, say, 2040.”
Unsurprisingly, as automakers gear up to sell more electric vehicles, prices for lithium have also risen.
“Owing to increased worldwide demand, spot lithium carbonate prices (in 2015) increased approximately 10% to 15% from those of 2014,” wrote the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in January of this year. So, which countries are crucial to lithium’s production – and who has the potential to control this market in the future? CNBC investigates.
China
Analysts CNBC spoke to concurred that China was ahead of the game in terms of its lithium production.
China’s lithium reserves are an estimated 3.2 million metric tons, according to the USGS in January 2016, meaning that the superpower ranks among those with the largest domestic supply. Most resources are located in its Qinghai and Tibet regions.
Perhaps in response to how much the market has grown – and where it may progress to in coming years – the price of Chinese battery grade lithium is currently well over $20,000/tonne, compared to $7,000/tonne in mid-2015, according to mining analysis firm CRU.
“China has a stranglehold on lithium production,” Speirs said. “Well organised and professionally run mining companies” make this enterprise profitable, he added.
This is bolstered by the convenient fact that China is the world’s largest electric vehicle market. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, sales of battery electric vehicles reached 258,000 units in the first ten months of 2016, increasing 102.5 percent year on year. In addition, the Chinese government has unveiled several incentives in recent years aimed at addressing the country’s environmental problems.
“In the future, we expect supply from China to increase significantly to meet the domestic demand,” CRU told CNBC via e-mail.
Latin America’s ‘lithium belt’
Argentina, Bolivia and Chile form a troika of lithium producers in Latin America, otherwise known as the “lithium belt” or “lithium triangle.” Could these countries spearhead a second commodity boom in the region?
“Latin American countries once produced lithium from ore, as with other metals, but can now do so from brine, which is cheaper,” Speirs explained. Contributing to the metal’s profitability, CRU added that for Latin America, “industrial-grade lithium carbonate contract prices increased by around 40% in 2016 due to strong demand growth and the ongoing supply deficit. Battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide prices surged higher.”
But, structural problems could hamper this particular market from taking off.
Chile, with its dry climate and lithium-rich Salar de Atacama salt flats, is an ideal production environment. The country is also popular with investors due to its free market economy. In addition, Reuters reported in November that Chilean firm SQM, one of the world’s largest lithium producers, saw 2016 third quarter profits more than quadruple due to rising lithium prices.
But, CRU told CNBC via e-mail that, “the [Chilean] industry is facing serious issues such as [the] imposition of production quota, on-going labour disputes [and] water shortage.”
Bolivia, though boasting 9 million metric tons in lithium resources, has suffered from a lack of exploration, infrastructure and technology, according to CRU. But, the Bolivian government is looking to establish a more foreign investment-friendly environment to encourage the growth of its lithium mining industry.
Unwinding Argentina’s formerly protectionist economy has been a key goal of President Mauricio Macri, which could foreground the country’s role in the lithium supply market. “Abolition of export duty on value-added products and capital controls have encouraged lithium players to consider Argentina for investment destination,” CRU told CNBC via e-mail.
Australia
According to the USGC in January of this year, Australia’s estimated reserves sit at 1.5 million metric tons. By way of contextualizing this figure, CRU said that “in 2015, Australia was the largest producer of lithium and accounted for around 40% of global lithium supply.”
It added that lithium production capacity will increase, meaning that the country is expected to maintain its position as one of the largest lithium producers in the long term.
Location is key for Australia, as CRU explained that the country enjoys investment from “downstream players such as battery manufacturers in Asian countries.” Considering that lithium is not currently traded on any major commodities or futures exchanges, shoring up future supply is crucial.
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Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/30/the-new-opec-who-will-supply-the-lithium-needed-to-run-the-futures-electric-cars.html
Company Sifts oilfield waste for US$10,000-per-tonne #lithium
- MGX Minerals Inc. has been buying up metal and minerals permits in Alberta’s oil and gas producing regions but has no intention of mining the areas for lithium carbonate, which is used to make batteries for electric vehicles
- Jared Lazerson, MGX’s president and CEO, said the company is working to sign agreements with oil and gas producers to process their wastewater, a byproduct of oil and gas production, so the company can extract the lithium carbonate from that water, which would otherwise simply be treated like waste.
CALGARY – A tiny Vancouver-based mining company is betting Alberta’s energy sector could benefit from the rise of electric vehicles by harvesting its oilfield wastewater for lithium carbonate.
MGX Minerals Inc. has been buying up metal and minerals permits in Alberta’s oil and gas producing regions but has no intention of mining the areas for lithium carbonate, which is used to make batteries for electric vehicles.
Instead, Jared Lazerson, MGX’s president and CEO, said the company is working to sign agreements with oil and gas producers to process their wastewater, a byproduct of oil and gas production, so the company can extract the lithium carbonate from that water, which would otherwise simply be treated like waste.
MGX claims to be the “largest lithium brine land holder in Canada” with permits covering over one million barrels per day of brine production by various oil field operators throughout Alberta.
While MGX has yet to deploy a pilot project in the oilfield (a pilot is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2017), in December the company signed an agreement with oilsands giant Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. to work on the Sturgeon Lake region, near Grande Praire, Alta.
“Canadian Natural has allowed a third party to obtain water samples from our operations for their work in lithium carbonate,” CNRL spokesperson Julie Woo said in an email. “Beyond that, no decisions, plans or commitments have been made on the application of this technology in Canadian Natural’s operations.”
Lazerson said he hopes that MGX’s technology, for which it has filed patents, will allow oil and gas producers to help supply new energy markets, including the market for electric vehicles.
“Who better to have a big piece of the new energy sector than the energy sector?” he said. “I think there are going to be incredible efficiencies from oil and gas and new ideas as word starts to get out.”
Wood Mackenzie analysts expect lithium demand will double by 2024 as more and more consumers, especially in Europe, purchase electric vehicles.
Lithium prices have spiked in recent years because, as Wood Mackenzie noted in a November report, that lithium ion “has become the technology of choice” for electric vehicles.
The commodity is not traded on any exchange, however, and analysts say that current prices – which have reached US$10,000 per tonne – are likely to fall as new supplies become available.
“The trick isn’t finding lithium, the trick is producing it inexpensively,” Stormcrow Capital president and lithium analyst John Hykawy said in an email.
Hykawy said there are several companies attempting to produce lithium using water treatment technologies like reverse osmosis and nano-filtration but cautioned these are early-stage technologies being developed in a time of high prices.
Most of the lithium carbonate produced in the world is produced in South America’s “lithium triangle,” — the salt flats in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina — where new projects are also set to begin production.
“Prices will fall again, it might take a year or two,” Hykawy said. “But almost none of the smaller companies in the space, with the exception of Orocobre Ltd., are in a position to produce and have their profits benefit from these high prices. By the time most will be able to sell something, prices will be back to lower levels.”
MGX’s Lazerson hopes to move from a pilot project in the first quarter of next year to a full-scale commercial project by the third quarter. MGX, which trades on the alternative Canadian Securities Exchange, has seen its share price rise 110 per cent this year.
The company’s goal, Lazerson said, is to connect its water-treatment units with oil and gas operators in regions where they produce between 12,000 barrels per day to 20,000 bpd.
“Big picture, this is an add-on to oil and gas,” Lazerson said, adding that he thinks energy companies will see the value in the minerals in their waste and venture with MGX to process their water.
Financial Post
gmorgan@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/geoffreymorgan
Source: http://business.financialpost.com/news/vancouver-mining-company-plans-to-scour-oilfield-waste-for-us10000-per-tonne-lithium?__lsa=0ccc-5bdd
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Fairmont Resources Inc. (TSX-V: FMR) Announces Proposed Private Placement Financing of Flow-Through and Non-Flow-Through Units $FMR.ca
- Proposed non-brokered private placement financing of up to 2,142,857 units at a price of $0.07 per NFT Unit
- Gross proceeds of up to $150,000 and a minimum of 1,250,000 and maximum of 1,875,000 units at a price of $0.08 per FT Unit for gross proceeds of up to $150,000
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Dec. 22, 2016) – Fairmont Resources Inc. (“Fairmont”) (TSX VENTURE:FMR) is pleased to announce a proposed non-brokered private placement financing of up to 2,142,857 units (the “NFT Units”) at a price of $0.07 per NFT Unit for gross proceeds of up to $150,000 and a minimum of 1,250,000 and maximum of 1,875,000 units (the “FT Units”) at a price of $0.08 per FT Unit for gross proceeds of up to $150,000.
Each NFT Unit will be comprised of one common share of Fairmont and one common share purchase warrant (a “NFT Warrant”), with each NFT Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at $0.15 per share for a period of two years from the date of issue. Each FT Unit will be comprised of one flow-through common share of Fairmont (of which $0.072 of each flow-through common shares will be committed to qualifying expenditures) and one common share purchase warrant (a “FT Warrant”), with each FT Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at $0.15 per share for a period of two years from the date of issue.
Canadian Wealth Minerals to acquire Chile’s Laguna Verde lithium project
Canadian junior Wealth Minerals (TSX-V:WML) said Monday it has signed a letter of intent to acquire one of Chile’s attractive lithium projects located in the country’s north, known for its vast salt flats under which experts say there is enough of the commodity to supply the world for decades.
The project, known as Laguna Verde, comprises 23 concessions for a total of 2,438 hectares, with total inferred resource of 512,960 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent and 4,223,123 tonnes of potassium chloride equivalent, based on a technical report from 2010, the Vancouver-based company said.
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