Tianqi holds about a 20% stake in SQM, which is ironing out the details of a joint venture with Codelco as part of a government mandate to boost state control over the lithium industry.

“It is indispensable that the agreement that is reached between SQM and Codelco is approved by the shareholders,” the company said in a statement.

Chile is the world’s second-largest producer of the metal that powers batteries for electric vehicles, and SQM is the country’s top producer.

SQM and Codelco this week extended the deadline for the deal by two months, to the end of May. SQM in a meeting with shareholders on Thursday attributed the delay to complexity in the negotiations, including ongoing audits.

It also reaffirmed the terms set out in a preliminary agreement in December, including the plan for Codelco to take a stake of 50% plus one share once the partnership goes into effect in 2025.

Tianqi said the meeting still left many aspects of the deal unclear.

“There is still a considerable amount of fundamental aspects of the agreement that are not defined or have not been clearly explained,” Tianqi said in a statement.

Tianqi called for shareholders, not only the board of directors, to also vote on the final deal to ensure transparency and full participation.

SQM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tianqi bought its share in SQM in 2018 for $4.1 billion, becoming the company’s second-largest shareholder, amid concerns from regulators, competitors and consumer groups that the deal could give Tianqi a near monopoly over the global lithium market.

A Chilean antitrust court eventually approved the transaction but set conditions that limited Tianqi’s access to SQM business secrets.

(By Daina Beth Solomon and Alexander Villegas; Editing by Anthony Esposito, Leslie Adler and Nick Macfie)

The detailed structural study seeks to enhance the understanding and exploration of the promising lithium-bearing system identified in a recently completed discovery drill program.

That study had identified numerous high-priority targets for further examination thanks to the combination of geochemical soil data and a high-resolution drone magnetic survey.

Volta said the discovery drill program confirmed the presence of at least six near-surface spodumene-albite pegmatite-hosted lithium, cesium, and tantalum pegmatites within a 300-meter corridor. The area is still open for further expansion, indicating the possibility of more discoveries, the company said.

“Structural geology is one key to understanding the emplacement and evolution of lithium-bearing pegmatites,” Fred Breaks, the company’s technical advisor, said in the statement. “The structural study is crucial at this project stage and will further generate prospective targets for our exploration program.”

Northwestern Ontario has become a hub for lithium exploration, with many junior players engaging in active staking and land acquisition activities. Unlike companies focused on precious and base metal exploration, lithium junior miners face a more complex operating environment. 

There are no lithium refineries in the province for converting lithium oxide into high-quality battery-grade material known as lithium hydroxide, though  companies such as Rock Tech Lithium (TSX-V: RCK) are trying to fill this gap. 

The clean technology firm inked earlier this month a binding cooperation agreement with BMI Group to build Ontario’s first refinery at the former Norampac paper mill site. 

Volta Metals is in the final stages of preparing its exploration program for 2024, which will involve comprehensive geochemical sampling, mechanized trenching, and, depending on outcomes, diamond drilling.

The company also said that it has so far not applied for lithium blocks on a nomination basis from the Indian government.

In June last year, Reuters reported that NMDC’s unit Legacy Iron Ore had signed a lithium exploration pact with Australia’s Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd.

NMDC shares were down 1.7% on Friday.

(By Neha Arora, Ashna Teresa Britto and Navamya Ganesh Acharya; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

Owner SQM is lining up giant tanks and vats for a new processing line, with construction set to start in earnest next year, production manager Humberto Carvajal said. The $490 million project to churn out more lithium hydroxide — a compound resembling white sugar that helps power electric-vehicle batteries — is SQM’s latest bet on a highly volatile and still immature market.

SQM is plowing ahead with expansions at its brine extraction and processing operations, even as many peers cut spending and output to cope with a supply glut that sent lithium prices plunging last year.

SQM’s unwavering approach is a double-edged sword for an industry reeling from a painful price capitulation. By expanding when buyers are still running down inventories, the strategy may help prolong the glut. But the world’s No. 2 producer is backing up its bullish demand outlook, preferring to stockpile unsold material rather than scaling back.

“We always produce at maximum levels,” Carvajal said from the Salar del Carmen plant, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) from the salt flat where SQM pumps up lithium-laced brine.

The refinery’s transformation into an 840-acre (340-hectare) mega-complex mirrors the emergence of lithium as a critical material for weaning the world off fossil fuels. The plant — like the lithium market itself — has more than tripled in size in the past several years. Further expansions will take annual capacity from about 200,000 metric tons to as much as 300,000 tons, making it the world’s biggest refinery. That level of output represents the entire lithium market of just five years ago.

The refinery expansion also reflects the development of different EV segments — from high-performance Teslas to affordable city cars — and efforts by Western nations to loosen China’s grip on battery supply chains. Much of the recent investments have been directed at boosting output of hydroxide to give SQM more flexibility in fast-changing markets.

“Hydroxide is costlier,” Carvajal said. “But it’s much better in terms of quality.”

SQM’s current extraction contracts expire in 2030. Its ability to reach 300,000 tons of production in Chile depends on a proposed deal to hand over a majority stake in its brine assets to state-owned Codelco in exchange for extending operations for three more decades. SQM’s biggest shareholders are Julio Ponce, the former son-in-law of dictator Augusto Pinochet, and China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp. The latter is seeking more information on the Codelco accord before supporting any binding deal.

Central in the talks with Codelco are efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of the brine and plant operations. About $2 billion has been earmarked to boost efficiencies — including introducing direct extraction technologies to work alongside the current evaporation method. Squeezing out more lithium from less brine also goes down well with local communities and a battery supply chain focused on environmental, social and governance issues.

Running at full tilt through a downturn is nothing new for SQM. Since cutting back in the wake of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, the company has been operating pretty much at capacity. One reason is to make the most of state-assigned production quotas. As a major producer, there’s also a responsibility to avoid supply scarcities that undermine buyer confidence and encourage further work into alternatives to lithium batteries.

Growing its share of the market is another reason. At current prices, some of SQM’s higher-cost rivals are losing money. In the last round of earnings calls, some industry executives stressed the need for supply discipline.

“In markets as dynamic as ours, growth companies must be able to pivot and pace with disciplined decision making and focused execution,” Kent Masters, chief executive officer of top producer Albemarle Corp., said in February. In practice, for Albemarle that means cutting costs, reducing its workforce and scaling back expansion plans.

SQM is taking a more optimistic approach, planning to pump out more lithium than it will sell this year in anticipation of a rebound in demand. Right now, its stockpiles stand at three to four months of supplies, according to Carvajal.

“Having an additional inventory is going to be very good news in order to face what is expected for the year 2025 onward,” SQM CEO Ricardo Ramos said on an earnings call last month. “We have a strategy of having stocks and being ready to sell if the market needs at any time.”

(By James Attwood and Mark Burton)

SQM and Codelco hammered out a preliminary agreement in December in line with a government mandate to boost state control over the lithium industry in Chile, the world’s second-largest producer of the metal that is essential for electric vehicle batteries.

The companies were set to announce final terms by March 31, but on Wednesday extended that deadline to the end of May.

On Thursday, SQM summarized what management discussed with shareholders in a meeting held that day at the request of China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp., a major shareholder.

“Both the Company and Codelco are conducting an audit or due diligence process of the assets, businesses and contracts that each will contribute to the joint venture,” SQM said in a statement, underscoring that plans were still under discussion and have not been finalized.

Among expected terms, which will allow SQM to continue to operate in the Atacama salt flat from 2031 to 2060, SQM reiterated it plans to transfer to Codelco its mining concessions in Maricunga, a salt flat that has yet to yield commercial lithium production.

It also flagged the purchase and sale of SQM’s mining properties in Maricunga as a condition for the partnership to take effect, along with consultation of local indigenous communities over certain aspects of lithium contracts.

As well, SQM plans to equally share the six board of director seats with Codelco through 2030, while maintaining the power to break ties on board votes. A seventh seat will go to Codelco in the second phase of the partnership set to start in 2031.

SQM also told shareholders it plans to make public all information related to the economic value of the partnership with Codelco prior to signing contracts.

(By Daina Beth Solomon and Alexander Villegas; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and David Gregorio)

Metso’s hydrometallurgical alkaline leach process is a simple and safe way to refine spodumene concentrate to battery-grade end products like lithium hydroxide monohydrate and lithium carbonate. The innovative refining process produces high-purity lithium salts and hydrates, which are needed for the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles.

In the process, lithium is extracted with high yield. Inert and neutral mineral residue is minimized and ready to be reused or disposed of, thus minimizing pollution to air, water, and soil. No additional impurity removal or precipitation stages are needed.

In recent studies, the alkaline leach process has also shown reduced environmental impact compared to other technologies. Based on the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), the process can provide up to 40% to 60%reduction in water consumption, as well reduction in the acidification and eutrophication impact. The compact process also minimizes plant footprint and embedded carbon.

Metso has been developing sustainable alkaline leaching technologies for hard rock lithium sources for 20 years. Today the offering includes comprehensive proprietary technologies for refining lithium from spodumene mineral concentrates. Intensive R&D and piloting is also ongoing in the processing of other lithium-bearing pegmatite hard rocks such as petalite, zinnwaldite, and lepidolite. Metso has proven processes also for the extraction of lithium from brines.

Metso has been developing lithium processing technologies for over 20 years. The processes address all aspects of production from mine to battery materials, and recycling of black mass plus world-class service support.

“As a strong and reliable partner for the development of lithium hydroxide and other battery minerals projects, Metso can deliver the whole production process – from mine to battery materials, and recycling of black mass – complemented with world-class service support,” says Marika Tiihonen, technology manager for lithium at Metso.

In a separate statement, SQM said board member Xu Tieying would step down on April 24. The announcements come on the eve of an extraordinary shareholders meeting requested by China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp, a major shareholder in SQM.

Tianqi, which recommended Tieying for the board, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The purpose of the meeting will be to hear about the status of negotiations between SQM and Codelco, as well as “the detail of the actions and contracts that are expected to be carried out and executed.”

Chile is the world’s top copper producer and second-largest lithium producer.

(By Kylie Madry, Daina Beth Solomon and Alexander Villegas; Editing by Chris Reese and Bill Berkrot)

The first production of eluate was completed in the past week, and it will begin to be shipped in batches to North America, the UK-based lithium developer said. Brine from the company’s Laguna Verde project, located approximately 250 km from the pilot plant, was processed through DLE columns.

“This pilot plant aims to produce significant quantities of battery-grade product for evaluation by potential strategic partners, making CTL one of the few companies in the sector to produce pilot-scale volumes of battery-grade product,” CleanTech CEO Aldo Boitano said in a news release.

“The pilot plant positions CTL as a leader in the sector and in Chile, with the first eluate production representing a significant milestone for the company,” he said.

Read More: CleanTech kicks off exploration at two new Chilean assets

In its request for arbitration, LG Energy alleges that Sigma Lithium is in breach of certain provisions in connection to a lithium supply agreement entered in 2021.

“The claims are completely without merit and intends to defend its interests vigorously,” Sigma said in a statement.

US-listed shares of Sigma were down 1.6% at $12.35 in extended trade.

In 2021, Sigma and LG Energy had entered into a six-year offtake agreement for battery grade sustainable lithium concentrate scales from 60,000 tons per year in 2023 to 100,000 tons per year from 2024 to 2027.

(By Kabir Dweit and Arunima Kumar; Editing by Alan Barona)

“The hard work of our Rincon team is laying the groundwork for our first lithium production by year’s end,” he said in a statement to Reuters late on Monday, after a recent trip to the project in the northern province of Salta.

Rio Tinto, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, is one of the few large mining companies betting on lithium even as counterparts such as BHP stay away from investing in the metal, which is used in electric vehicle batteries.

The company purchased the Rincon project from Rincon Mining in 2022 for $825 million, and plans to develop a battery-grade lithium carbonate plant with an annual capacity of 3,000 tons.

Rio Tinto said it is working with local communities and authorities to ensure environmental standards.

Argentina, part of a so-called “lithium triangle” with Chile and Bolivia which holds half the world’s resources of the mineral, has increasingly attracted investment from international lithium miners.

The country’s lithium production increased more than 45% from 2022 to 2023, according to the US Geological Survey, reaching 9,600 metric tons.

(By Lucila Sigal; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Alistair Bell)

On Tuesday, Salinity announced it has secured an initial investment of $1.27 million to fund the next stage of its growth. It now joins industry-leading companies like Altilium Clean Technology and Electric Era under the SQM Lithium Ventures portfolio.

Salinity is the developer of a groundbreaking “batch reverse osmosis” water treatment technology – the first in the world to be manufactured commercially – to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of water treatment.

This technology uses less energy, purifies a higher amount of wastewater, generates less waste, and is more compact and portable than traditional reverse osmosis systems. The first of Salinity’s five registered patents has been approved in the European Union, China and the United States.

Since launching in 2021, Salinity has completed trials in multiple industries, including lithium mining, industrial and municipal wastewater, and food production. The company has built a strong sales pipeline across multiple sectors and geographies.

“SQM’s investment will help us accelerate Salinity’s growth and achieve our 2024 goals of increasing unit sales and securing our first licensing agreement. Their strategic interests in lithium and water, combined with their geographical reach from Chile to China, offer a perfect fit to support our ambitious growth plans,” Salinity Solutions CEO Richard Bruges said in a news release.

The investment, according to SQM, goes hand-in-hand with the Chilean group’s ongoing drive to improve efficiency and reduce its environmental impact as part of its sustainability goals. These include reducing the use of groundwater by 40% by 2030, decreasing brine extraction in the Salar de Atacama by 20% in 2023 and 50% by 2030, and becoming carbon neutral in lithium production by 2030.

As part of their collaboration with SQM, the Salinity Solutions team will run a pilot project in the Salar de Atacama, with its team members based in Antofagasta and other locations in the north of Chile.

 “SQM Lithium Ventures is investing in Salinity Solutions in hopes that the company, through its revolutionary technology, will be capable of scaling and making an impact across different industries and geographies,” said Angeles Romo, director of SQM Lithium Ventures.

“This marks our first investment in water, one of our core focus areas for investment along with lithium and electromobility.”

The first “bidding event” will be for 10,000 metric tons of spodumene ore and is scheduled for March 26.

The aim, according to Albemarle’s notice to customers, is to “explore price discovery while ensuring a fair and transparent process for all customers”.

The key word in that sentence is “transparent”. The entire lithium supply chain has been rocked by the collapse in prices over the last year.

But just how reliable an indicator are those prices? Albemarle’s decision to conduct a series of online auctions suggests it thinks the lithium industry could do better.

Fractured pricing

The explosive growth of the electric vehicle battery market has transformed lithium from a specialty niche product to mainstream industrial material in the space of just 10 years or so.

Lithium pricing hasn’t yet evolved to match the scale of that transformation.

Albemarle, like most established producers, has historically sold most of its lithium on fixed-term contracts directly negotiated with buyers.

That, however, only partly insulates it from the volatile spot price, which is primarily determined in China, the world’s largest converter of lithium raw materials into battery-grade material.

China’s first futures price came in the form of the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange, which launched a lithium carbonate contract in July 2021.

Wuxi immediately had an outsize influence on global pricing, although it was a problematic benchmark, based on spot physical trading of non-battery grade carbonate among a limited number of Chinese players. The relationship between Wuxi futures pricing and lithium reality was at best unclear.

Wuxi’s influence on Chinese and international prices has waned after the July 2023 launch of a lithium carbonate contract by the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX).

GFEX, though, has turned out to be just as wild a price indicator as Wuxi. A wave of speculative enthusiasm saw volumes on the new contract almost double between October and November with the exchange forced to hike margins, opens new tab and expand trading limits to cope with the volatility.

That hasn’t stopped GFEX from rapidly becoming the accepted reference point for lithium pricing, even though non-Chinese entities will struggle to access it.

Western companies looking for price management tools are currently limited to the CME’s lithium hydroxide contract, which has built up impressive momentum but remains small relative to its Chinese peer. CME open interest at the end of February was 22,275 metric tons, compared with 321,329 on the GFEX.

The London Metal Exchange’s lithium contract has failed to trade at all, while that listed with the Singapore Exchange traded just 18 lots last year and has notched up volumes of only 30 lots so far this year.

All Western futures contracts are settled against price assessments from Fastmarkets, which like fellow price reporting agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence publishes an array of assessments intended to capture the complexity of the lithium supply chain.

A third way?

It’s not difficult to see why Albemarle is looking to find a third way between the wild eastern Chinese carbonate market and a Western hydroxide futures offering which rests on third-party price assessments.

Ironically, the only other hard pricing reference point looks set to disappear.

Pilbara Minerals has held regular auctions for its spodumene via the Battery Metals Exchange, generating a degree of price transparency at the upstream end of the production chain.

However, Australia’s largest independent miner has said it now has little uncommitted material left to sell, meaning future spot sales are “unlikely”.

Albemarle’s spodumene auction later this month will help fill the pricing gap, but it seems highly likely that more tenders of lithium in other forms will follow.

If there are enough of them, it may be possible for Metalshub to generate a price index based on the physical peer-to-peer transactions on its site.

Metalshub has built its trading platform around steel alloys such as manganese and chrome.

As with lithium, such metals tend not to come in standardised form and have historically not been exchange-traded but rather assessed by the likes of Fastmarkets.

Metalshub has changed that dynamic and is now working with the LME to open up a forum for the trading of low-carbon nickel with the ultimate goal of producing a transaction-based “green” nickel index, opens new tab to complement the LME’s standard Class I contract.

Such digitalization of markets “is becoming more relevant and Albemarle supports this development”, the company said in its alert to customers about the upcoming “bidding event”.

Desperately seeking stability

Global lithium mine production has mushroomed from 25,000 tons in 2010 to 180,000 tons last year, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The world needs a lot more of the stuff if it’s going to move away from the internal combustion engine to reduce global emissions.

But producers’ ability to finance and build new capacity has been undermined by a boom-bust pricing loop, with last year’s collapse being the latest downturn of the cycle.

To some extent this reflects the problems of aligning production with demand in a fast-evolving market. But the lack of a transparent benchmark price and limited ability to hedge price risk is not helping.

The lithium supply chain is maturing but the metal’s pricing seems trapped at the early development stage.

Albemarle should be credited for trying to change that problematic price paradox.

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, Andy Home, a columnist for Reuters.)

(Editing by Paul Simao)

The first drawdown will be for C$2.75 million, and is expected to close within the next two weeks, the Canadian lithium developer said, noting that this initial fund will be used to accelerate work at its planned lithium processing facility located in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

In July 2023, Avalon announced it is teaming up with Finnish mining tech group Metso to build what would be the first battery-grade lithium facility in the province. Under the partnership, the company would be able to license Metso’s technologies to produce lithium hydroxide cathode materials for the global EV market.

A month prior to the announcement, Avalon finalized the purchase of a 383-acre industrial property with unique access to a deep-water port, rail, road and other critical infrastructure to house the lithium processing facility.

“We are very pleased to continue our long-term relationship with Avalon, dating back to our first investment together in 2017, by making this new investment to support Avalon’s processing facility in Thunder Bay,” Phillip Valliere, managing director at the Lind Partners, said in a statement.

“We are optimistic of their Thunder Bay strategy and believe that Avalon has a unique opportunity to become a significant player in the lithium supply chain for EV battery manufacturers in Ontario.”

The entire financing is in the form of a convertible security. The security in the first drawdown will have a two-year term and accrue a simple interest rate obligation of 10% per annum, which is prepaid and attributed to the face value upon issuance, resulting in a face value of C$3.3 million.

Lind will be entitled to convert the face value amount over a 24-month period at a conversion price equal to 85% of the five-day trailing volume weighted average price of Avalon’s common shares prior to the date of conversion.

Shares of Avalon Advanced Materials gained 5.9% by 10:30 a.m. ET on the financing announcement, trading at C$0.09 apiece, at the lower end of its 52-week range of C$0.08-C$0.18. The company’s market capitalization sits at C$48 million ($35.4m).

Billionaire Chris Ellison who leads the diversified miner has been vocal about his plans to centrally process lithium ore mined in the region from third parties and from miners it has a stake in, in a “hub and spoke” model.

Australia ships out around half of the world’s supply of the battery raw material and the move is another step in the magnate’s plan to dominate the lithium sector where it already owns three hard rock mines.

“We intend to bring our expertise in spodumene production to Lake Johnston, which has the potential to service projects throughout the world’s most prospective region for lithium,” Ellison said in a statement.

MinRes will convert the existing nickel plant to be able process the lithium into spodumene concentrate. It has not disclosed the capital costs of the project.

Ellison has said that further processing in Australia such as the battery grade lithium hydroxide that Tianqi and Albemarle make was too expensive in current conditions.

It will pay A$1 million ($655,900) on execution of the acquisition agreement, A$6.5 million on completion of the deal and a further A$7.5 million, a year after the completion.

The move comes as the Australian government considers a tax credit for companies that build processing facilities to boost the value of green energy minerals and as nickel miners have put projects on ice due to low prices.

“He’ll either buy (spodumene) at the mine gate or toll it through the plant.. There will obviously be a number of different arrangements he can do with the juniors,” said analyst Glyn Lawcock of Barrenyjoey in Sydney.

Ellison will be able to “clip the ticket” several times, by charging for opportunities such as mining, crushing and transportation, Lawcock added.

Without a processing hub for third-party ores, much of the region’s material would not be viable to process, Ellison has said.

MinRes has stakes in developers in the region including Global Lithium and Delta Lithium. But it lost out in its bid to buy Azure Minerals, which has a flagship project in the Pilbara region, to fellow billionaire Gina Rinehart and Chile’s SQM late last year.

($1 = 1.5246 Australian dollars)

(By Melanie Burton and Ayushman Ojha; Editing by Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)

According to the study, confidence in the world’s ability to achieve net zero by 2050 seems to be eroding as it becomes more difficult to ensure adequate investment returns and progress diverges in a fragmenting world. This view is consistent across most regions and is most strongly held among people working in the oil and gas sector.

Bain & Company surveyed over 600 industry executives in mining, oil and gas, utilities, chemicals and agribusinesses across the globe to better understand their views on the energy transition, new technologies, and investment opportunities, and where they see the greatest challenges for decarbonization.

“This year’s survey found that energy and natural resource companies have not dampened ambitions for their transition-oriented growth businesses. However, customers’ willingness to pay is a growing issue, as is the ability to generate adequate return on investment (ROI) in energy transition-oriented projects. As a result, companies are focusing on projects with a viable ROI path,” said Joe Scalise, head of Bain & Company’s energy and natural resource practice. “The longer the executives are at the front lines of the energy transition, the more sober they are getting about the transition’s practical realities.”

The survey points out that executives in the Middle East (61%), Asia-Pacific (55%), and Latin America (51%) are feeling more optimistic about the prospects of their transition-oriented growth such as renewables, hydrogen, bio-based products, and lithium and other transition commodities that will contribute to their company’s valuation and profits by 2030. Hence, they are maintaining or increasing green investments. Only 4%, 12% and 10%, respectively, of executives from the three regions expressed less optimism, while the remainder showed no significant change.

The survey revealed a more balanced picture in Europe where 30% of executives revealed more optimism vs. 27% who were less optimistic about their new energy growth business areas contributing to the bottom line.

In North America, 29% of executives were more positive compared to 17% who were less positive on their transition-related growth areas.

Returns to scale-up

“Like last year, executives say the greatest obstacle to scaling up their transition-oriented businesses is finding enough customers willing to pay higher prices (or having equivalent policy support) to create sufficient return on investment,” the report states. “In fact, the share of executives identifying this as a very significant roadblock jumped 14 percentage points from 2023 to 2024, to 70% of executives.”

The experts behind the study note that the direct impact of higher interest rates on the cost of transition projects is likely shaping executives’ perspective on the challenges associated with customer willingness to pay. 

Bain has found that higher rates put upward pressure on the effective cost of low-carbon projects and a 500-basis-point increase in the cost of capital can increase the total annual revenue required to finance a project by as much as 50%.

Trendy North America

The survey presents North America as an emerging leader for green investments as 79% of all executives view it as an attractive region for energy transition investments. The next most attractive region is Europe at 65%. 

Australia and New Zealand come in as second runner-ups at 43%. 

Even as increasing government subsidies make some regions, such as North America, more attractive for investment, executives have growing concerns about policy stability.

The US Inflation Reduction Act is a major factor in North America’s investment attractiveness, but factors such as the availability of relatively low-cost natural gas feedstock also influenced the result. 

“However, while almost two-thirds of US executives surveyed agree that the IRA’s subsidies target the right areas, less than one-quarter believe that the policy regime will remain stable over the next five to 10 years,” the dossier states. “Furthermore, 42% of US executives think the IRA’s subsidies are unclear and that the rules are not easy to follow.”

About 70% of executives worldwide say that reducing policy uncertainty would very significantly improve their ability to scale up transition-oriented businesses.

A suspected arson attack caused production at the plant near Berlin to be halted for a week earlier this month, prompting Tesla chief executive Elon Musk to visit this week.

The elections for the new works council, to be held on March 18-20, are aimed at filling 39 seats, according to IG Metall, the top German trade union which has put forward 106 candidates in an attempt to get a majority.

That would enable it to elect the council’s chairperson and gain greater control over areas where the union has taken issue with the carmaker, which is known for its critical stance towards unions.

Among IG Metall demands is to hire new employees, better planning of working hours, at least 20 days of freely available vacation, better health protection, more security, higher pay and shorter working hours.

“Too often, savings are made on accident protection for ‘Tesla Speed’. That has to change,” IG Metall district manager Dirk Schulze said in a statement.

In order to end the understaffing of shifts, temporary workers should be hired, the union added.

Michaela Schmitz, the plant’s current works council head, told Reuters in e-mailed comments that much had been achieved over the last two years, including pay increases of up to 18%, improvements in occupational health and safety and benefits, including bike sharing and free bus rides.

“All of the aforementioned successes were achieved without the union or a collective bargaining agreement, quickly, easily and customised to Giga Berlin,” she said, adding that meant there was no need for “external influences in the future” – implying IG Metall.

In October, Tesla rejected IG Metall claims that health and safety provisions at its gigafactory near Berlin were inadequate, saying protecting workers was a top priority.

The company also last year raised salaries for the plant’s 12,500 workers, which regional IG Metall head Dirk Schulze welcomed at the time, while still calling for better working conditions at the plant.

(By Christoph Steitz; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Clelia Oziel)

The ruling, which comes amid community concerns over mining’s impact on waterways, requires the Catamarca government to abstain from handing out new licenses as it prepares a report into the industry’s environmental impact, a provincial official said. The province’s first step will be to deliver to the court existing environmental reports that have already been approved.

The court’s decision, which follows a suit filed by an Indigenous group, covers the Los Patos River-Salar del Hombre Muerto area, home to some of country’s biggest lithium deposits. While four projects awaiting licenses will be affected by the permitting freeze, existing operations and projects already under development can continue as normal, the official said.

Still, the case underscores heightened environmental and social scrutiny on an extraction method that involves pumping up huge volumes of lithium-laced brine from South American salt flats, with much of the water lost in an evaporation process. The industry’s ability to prove its green credentials is crucial as demand for the battery metal accelerates in the shift toward electric vehicles.

Arcadium, formed from the merger of Livent Corp. and Allkem Ltd., declined to comment as it prepares a statement on the court ruling.

(By James Attwood)

Read More: Lithium boom in Argentina hinges on politics, Zijin unit says

Economy Minister Nicolas Grau, who expects talks with the Biden administration to conclude this year, said a positive decision would allow locally-manufactured lithium cathode to be built into electric vehicles that receive US subsidies.

“We’re very optimistic that it will happen,” Grau said in an interview from his office in downtown Santiago. “The way the law is framed creates the opportunity.”

As a major producer of key electric vehicle ingredients such as lithium and copper, Chile is at the forefront of the global transition to clean energy. President Gabriel Boric’s leftist administration introduced last year a national lithium policy that, while giving the state a bigger role in the sector, aims to open up new areas to mining as well as encourage more investments in plants to turn semi-processed metal into battery components.

If extended to value-added Chilean lithium, the subsidies will make it more attractive for US companies to invest in the country, said Grau, who holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

While raw materials like lithium produced in US trading allies clearly qualify for the subsidies, there is less clarity on value-added products such as cathode used in rechargeable batteries.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Inflation Reduction Act is intended to encourage carmakers to produce more electric vehicles in North America and secure the key minerals from friendly nations with free-trade agreements, like Chile and Australia, while ensuring independence from economic rival China.

Tesla and LG

After visiting an Albemarle Corp. lithium processing facility during a trip to Chile this month, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US is likely to increase its imports of the metal from the country.

Companies that have held meetings with the Chilean government on lithium in recent months include Tesla Inc., which started local operations this year, and LG Energy Solution Ltd.

In 2023, roughly 65% of Chile’s lithium exports went to China, while 25% went to South Korea, according to government statistics. Producers have been hit by a slump in prices last year, though Grau said analyst forecasts indicate the medium-term outlook remains bright.

The new US-Chile tax treaty, which is designed to prevent companies from being taxed twice on the same income, will facilitate investment between both nations, Grau said.

(By Matthew Malinowski and James Attwood)

The company said the project is on track to start production in mid-2024 and on budget at A$951 million ($624.1 million). In January, it flagged it may delay the planned ramp-up of the project’s underground expansion.

Lithium prices have fallen around 70% over the past year due to slower-than-expected demand from companies that make batteries for electric vehicles. Prices, having steadied in recent weeks, fell sharply in China overnight, leading to losses across the Australian lithium sector on Friday.

Liontown’s net loss after tax widened to A$31 million in the six-month period ended Dec. 31, from A$6.9 million a year earlier.

Last month, peer Pilbara Minerals also reported a plunge in its first-half profit and reduced capital expenditure forecast due to the downturn in prices.

Earlier this week, Liontown – the target of an aborted takeover bid in October by Albemarle – refinanced its debt facility for $363 million to support the Kathleen Valley project’s ramp-up.

Shares of Liontown ended 8.4% lower at A$1.250 on Friday.

“It’s a stock I am happy to just observe at this stage and not invest in,” Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking said.

($1 = A$1.5235)

(By Echha Jain, Megha Rani and Melanie Burton; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Savio Dsouza and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

The ruling involves the Los Patos River-Salar del Hombre Muerto area, where global lithium giant Arcadium Lithium Plc, formerly Livent, has a project. It comes after tensions over water use with local communities in the region.

Argentina, inside South America’s so-called “lithium triangle”, is one of the world’s top producers of the metal that is key for the batteries needed to power electric vehicles.

A local company spokesperson declined to comment.

The ruling, shared with Reuters on Thursday, comes after a case presented in 2021 by a chief of the Atacameños Native Community, which alleged the province authorized mining projects in the Salar del Hombre Muerto basin without informing the population or carrying out an environmental impact assessment.

The case said that local mining operations impacted water supply due to the use of “huge quantities of fresh and salt water”, which they alleged had caused a local river to dry up.

A source from Catamarca’s mining ministry, told Reuters that the province was evaluating the ruling to determine next steps.

The court ordered the local government to “refrain from granting new permits/authorizations” in relation to operations in the Los Patos River – Salar del Hombre Muerto area “until the new environmental impact study is complete”.

Four sources in the industry Reuters spoke to said the sector would have to work on the impact studies to define how they would be able to develop the projects, although in principle the decision would not impact current production.

(By Lucila Sigal; Editing by Adam Jourdan)

Ambassador Cong Peiwu said the Canadian government is “wrong” to prevent Chinese investors from buying majority stakes in domestic mining companies, like it did in 2022 when it forced three Chinese state-owned firms to divest from a trio of lithium companies.

“Politicizing normal commercial cooperation and using national security as a pretext for political interference is wrong. China has expressed firm opposition to this,” said Cong in an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

“We’ll continue to do business on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit.”

The comments follow remarks by Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson last week warning miners that Chinese stakes will face strict national security reviews.

Chinese investment has continued to flow through Canada’s mining sector more than a year after Trudeau moved to tighten its foreign ownership rules.

This year alone, Zijin Mining Group Co. initiated plans to buy a 15% stake in Canadian copper company Solaris Resources Inc., Ganfeng Lithium Group Co Ltd. moved to take a 15% stake in Vancouver-based Lithium Americas Argentina Corp. and Yintai Gold agreed to buy gold explorer Osino Resources Corp. for C$368 million ($271 million).

Canadian government officials, speaking on condition they weren’t named, have told Bloomberg they are tracking the issue closely and are considering whether further measures are needed beyond the current national security review regime.

While Wilkinson warned that recent transactions will be subject to rigorous reviews, Cong urged Canada’s government to “respect market laws, rather than shouting slogans against China and waging these wrong-placed accusations against China by over-stretching the concept of national security.”

China has found an ally in Canada’s cash-strapped junior mining firms, some of which have called on Ottawa to relax tougher rules on Chinese investment while the sector struggles to raise capital while commodity prices are low.

China’s investments provide capital to those firms at a time when metals have become an essential ingredient to the global transition away from fossil fuels. Minerals including lithium, copper, nickel and cobalt are key components of electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, though countries like Canada and the US have pushed to build a domestic supply chain to reduce China’s dominance in the global mining industry.

“Critical mining is about those materials to be used in sectors like new-energy vehicles,” said Cong. “That’s good for the whole world. We’re talking about coping with climate change.”

(By Jacob Lorinc and Brian Platt)

CHART: China’s Belt and Road mining investment hits record

Under the agreement, Pilbara will deliver 20,000 tonnes of the mineral from its Pilgangoora operation in Western Australia this year and 100,000 tonnes annually in 2025 and 2026, with an option to supply an extra 60,000 tonnes each year, according to the Perth-based company’s March 12 news release.

“This offtake builds on an established relationship between our companies, having previously completed a number of sales together,” Pilbara managing director and CEO Dale Henderson said in the release.

As Australia’s largest independent lithium miner, the new offtake comes on the heels of Pilbara in January increasing its sales contract with another Chinese company, Ganfeng Lithium, over the next three years and has the option to boost the spodumene concentrate tonnage sold to the major. In February, it amended a spodumene supply deal with chemicals producer Chengxin Lithium Group, raising agreed sales volumes and extending the contract’s duration.

Pilbara says the spodumene will be sold at market prices at the time of each delivery. Prices for lithium carbonate, a precursor to lithium hydroxide used in batteries, have fallen sharply in the past 12 months. Lithium carbonate fetched about $15,653 per tonne as of Wednesday, down from about $23,658 in September and 80% lower than in 2022, according to Trading Economics.

Yahua, known for its stature in the lithium market, serves major clients like Tesla and LG Chem, establishing itself as one of the leading lithium hydroxide producers.

The scale and quality of the operation have attracted a consortium of high-profile global partners, including POSCO, Ganfeng, General Lithium, Yibin Tianyi, Chengxin Lithium and Yahua.

Pilbara is focusing on enhancing the value of its hard rock spodumene ore to expand its business. The company is establishing a demonstration plant at Pilgangoora to process lithium. According to the company, if this technology utilizes renewable energy, it could reduce carbon emissions by over 80% during one of the most energy-intensive phases of lithium battery material production.

Additionally, the plant aims to support Pilbara in achieving a production target of 1 million tonnes of spodumene concentrate by next year.

Pilgangoora hosts proven and probable reserves of 214.2 million tonnes grading 1.19% lithium oxide for 2.5 million tonnes of lithium. The resource base across all categories totals 413.8 million tonnes grading 1.15% lithium oxide for 4.8 million tonnes of metal.

Pilbara shares closed Wednesday at A$4.18 apiece in Sydney, giving the company a market capitalization of A$12.6 billion ($8.3 billion).

The project will be adjacent to Lithium Americas’ $2.2 billion Thacker Pass mine, which aims to produce an initial 40,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate. The mine is also expected to create approximately 1,800 direct jobs during its three-year construction period and around 360 jobs in operations for its 40-year mine life.

This funding represents the largest-ever loan to a mining company from the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, amid increasing efforts to bolster domestic supplies of critical minerals. General Motors, which has invested $650 million in Lithium Americas, has an exclusive offtake agreement for 100% of the lithium production from the mine for up to 15 years after expected production begins in 2027.

The proposed mine has the potential to become North America’s largest source of lithium for electric vehicle batteries and would support US President Joe Biden’s efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supplies of the metal.

Currently, about 65% of the critical mineral is processed in China, although US lithium production is projected to increase 13-fold thanks to tax credits and other subsidies provided in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday at a conference held by SAFE.

Measured and indicated mineral resources at Thacker Pass are estimated at 385 million tonnes averaging 2,917 parts per million (ppm) lithium for 6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). Inferred resources are 147 million tonnes averaging 2,932 ppm for 2.3 million tonnes of LCE.

Shares of Lithium Americas surged 28% in New York trading and 18% in Toronto on Thursday morning. The Vancouver-based miner has a market capitalization of C$1.18 billion ($870m).

(With files from Bloomberg)

Lithium has historically been sold on long-term contracts by Albemarle and other producers, making it difficult for automakers and other customers to determine a benchmark price.

The slowing pace of EV adoption globally, combined with lithium overproduction in China, has dragged down lithium prices and seen job cuts by producers. A basket of lithium prices compiled by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has dropped 80% in the past year.

While the CME Group has in recent years started to trade lithium, volumes on those contracts are dwarfed by contracts for copper and other critical minerals.

Working with London Metal Exchange partner Metalshub, Albemarle said it plans to hold several auctions for lithium supplies to allow potential customers “to state what they consider the appropriate price.”

The first auction is planned for March 26.

“Our emphasis is on promoting price transparency,” said an Albemarle spokesperson.

“We see this as a responsible approach to price discovery that can lead to fair product valuation – for both buyers and sellers – and drive towards a more robust, sustainable market.”

As part of the first auction, Albemarle plans to offer 10,000 metric tons of chemical-grade spodumene concentrate, which is made from the company’s hard rock mines in Australia.

The March 26 auction will be in English and Mandarin and will use the Chinese Yuan as currency. The bids will be confidential.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company had moved to cut costs in January amid falling prices for lithium.

(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Michael Perry)

The company reported on Tuesday an A$167.6 million loss for 2023 as its share price has crumbled in the past year from A$1.20 to A$0.20 at the close on Wednesday.

“Despite the sharp drop in lithium prices, we’ve improved production and efficiencies, producing 49,530 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in the latter half of 2023,” outgoing CEO Gareth Manderson said.

Despite halting mining on Jan. 5 at its Finniss lithium operation in Australia’s Northern Territory, the company continues processing existing ore stockpiles to maintain spodumene concentrate production. The focus has shifted towards cash preservation and assessing the viability of its lithium projects, along with exploring the potential in its wholly owned gold, uranium, and base metal assets.

Manderson, a former Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) executive who joined Core in August 2022, has decided to step down as CEO. Under his leadership, the company saw the establishment of a proficient management team and the start of operations at Finniss despite facing such challenges as underperforming open-pit mines and incomplete infrastructure.

His tenure was marked by developing efficient operations and fostering a culture focused on safety, professionalism, and accountability, the company said in a Tuesday release.

Following Manderson’s departure, Doug Warden, the current CFO, will serve as the interim CEO, receiving an additional monthly allowance for his new duties. The company is actively seeking a permanent CEO replacement. In parallel, James Virgo steps in as the interim CFO, bringing extensive financial management experience from his time at Resolute Mining.

Andrea Hall, a non-executive director since April 2023, also resigned, aiming to facilitate a board restructuring that aligns with the company’s future strategy.

Core produced 49,530 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in H2 2023, improving production and efficiencies despite the drop in lithium prices.

Core continues to evaluate its strategic options amidst the challenging market conditions, focusing on sustainability, operational efficiency, and financial stability.

As of October 2023, Finniss held 10.5 million tonnes across three resource categories grading 1.53% lithium oxide for 160,000 tonnes of metal.

At A$0.20 per share on Wednesday, Core’s Sydney-listed equity is down 83% over the past 12 months, and it has a market capitalization of A$427.4 million.

UBS Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have trimmed their 2024 supply estimates by 33% and 26%, respectively, while Morgan Stanley warned about the growing risk of lower inventories in China. The revisions come after lithium prices cratered last year as supply ran ahead of demand, with some producers cutting output.

Now, prices of the key material used to power electric vehicles are showing signs of a revival after the rout last year sent stocks spiraling and attracted short sellers. Bets against top producer Albemarle Corp. and Australian miner Pilbara Minerals Ltd. account for more than a fifth of their outstanding shares, or the equivalent to about $5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Double-digit capacity has already been taken out of the lithium market and that usually is a sign that the commodity price is bottoming,” said Jun Bei Liu, a hedge fund manager at Tribeca Investment Partners in Sydney, who holds a long position in Pilbara. Shorting the company “is very dangerous” given signals of support for the metal’s price.

Pilbara Minerals said Thursday it accepted an offer for a lithium spodumene concentrate cargo ahead of a scheduled digital auction. This fills the company’s offtake book until December, the company said in a statement to the exchange. The contract “is an early sign of price improvement after the commodity’s recent plunge,” wrote Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mohsen Crofts in a note.

Some short sellers may already have been caught after the two producers each climbed around 20% in February. The Solactive Global Lithium Index, which tracks the performance of 40 of the largest and most liquid lithium-related companies, jumped 10% in the same period, swinging from an almost 20% decline in January.

Investor bets against Pilbara Minerals are hovering around record levels at about 22% of free float, equivalent to $1.8 billion, making it the most shorted stock on Australia’s benchmark equity index, S&P Global data shows. For Albemarle, short interest stands at a similar proportion and represents $3.2 billion in market value.

“We’re seeing improved sentiment so a lot of those short positions will need to be covered,” said Ron Mitchell, managing director of Australian miner Global Lithium Resources Ltd.

Read More: After massive bust, global lithium market shows signs of life

Not everyone is convinced about the rebound, however. The surge in lithium contracts “should not be interpreted as the end of the bear market,” Goldman Sachs said in a note. The surplus remains sizable, it warned.

Still, other analysts expect prices to stabilize after those of lithium carbonate in China slid more than 80% from record highs in 2022. Capital markets firm Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. said in a note earlier this month that “sustainable” levels would soon return, while UBS doubts there will be further declines.

The broker also said the market is re-balancing after some miners curtailed production. Core Lithium Ltd. halted operations at its flagship lithium mine in January and is turning to uranium after a sharp rally in prices for the nuclear fuel. Meanwhile, Arcadium Lithium Plc said it will reduce output of spodumene, a mineral from which lithium is extracted.

“I suspect we are at or close to the bottom in lithium prices,” said Matt Griffin, a fund manager at Maple-Brown Abbott Ltd. in Sydney. “The sign we are looking for to get bullish on the space is an increase in demand — either through EV demand surprising to the upside, or a restocking cycle in the battery supply chain.”

(By Georgina McKay, Richard Henderson and Paul-Alain Hunt)

The debt facility would ensure that the project is funded through first production and ramp up to 3 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) base case.

“The debt facility provides financial certainty and sufficient time for Liontown to complete the previously announced review of Kathleen Valley’s 4 Mtpa expansion,” the miner said.

The company said in January it was reviewing the project to lower near-term funding needs, which could include delaying its 4 Mtpa underground development, other mine plan adjustments, and further cost cuts.

($1 = 1.5142 Australian dollars)

(By Ayushman Ojha; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

If constructed, Vancouver-based Teck’s recycling facility would be the largest recycling plant on North America’s western coast and have the capacity to recycle the equivalent of 35,000 metric tons annually of battery material each year, Price told the SAFE Critical Minerals Summit in Washington, D.C.

He declined to estimate the facility’s potential cost, but said the facility would process batteries from roughly 140,000 electric vehicles each year.

“There’s a big opportunity for us to play a bigger role in the circular economy,” Price told the conference, a gathering of policymakers, executives, investors and politicians to discuss critical minerals supply for the energy transition.

Mining companies are increasingly eyeing the recycling space as a potential growth area, especially as consumers and regulators increasingly advocate for the circular economy, in which materials and minerals are recycled and used again in a continuous manufacturing loop.

For example, Albemarle, the world’s largest mining company, has announced plans to incorporate recycling into its planned North American processing hub. And metals trading and mining giant Glencore is a major investor in Ontario battery recycler Li-Cycle Holdings.

(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Read More: Li-Cycle stock surges on $75 million investment from Glencore

Glencore last year said it planned to develop a recycling hub in Europe with Li-Cycle to produce materials including lithium carbonate in response to a global shortage of key raw materials for the fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) market.

This not the first investment Glencore made in Li-Cycle. In June 2022, it invested $200 million in the Canadian-based battery recycling firm. Li-Cycle’s CEO Ajay Kochhar said at the time that the agreement would “further secure and diversify” the company’s lithium-ion battery supply and feedstock sources and help improve its position in North America and Europe.

The demand for lithium-ion batteries used in EVs has been on the rise as the world looks to meet its goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels by 2050. The recycling of lithium-ion batteries, however, is not expected to take off before 2030 due to obstacles such as the lack of recyclable feedstock and the long life of EVs, according to Wood Mackenzie.

“This financing enhances Li-Cycle and Glencore’s existing long-term, strategic partnership and represents an interim step in our funding strategy to support Li-Cycle’s future plans,” Kochhar said in a news release. “We also continue to work closely with the US Department of Energy on the conditional commitment for a loan of up to $375 million.”

Li-Cycle said it is continuing to review its global recycling network and its go-forward strategy for the paused Rochester Hub in the US, including analyzing potential end-product mix options and construction strategy.

“Glencore is committed to bringing scalable and sustainable circularity into the supply chain of battery materials,” Kunal Sinha, Glencore’s global head of recycling and non-executive director of Li-Cycle’s board, said in the statement.

“Our original investment in Li-Cycle, alongside key commercial agreements, formed part of this strategy. Today, we are pleased to further support Li-Cycle through this additional $75 million investment so both Li-Cycle and Glencore can continue to build the battery circularity platform of choice for our customers.”

Li-Cycle’s stock surged over 38% in Tuesday’s afternoon trading in New York. By 2 p.m. EDT, the shares had traded at a volume of 51.6 million, compared to an average daily volume of 3.3 million. The company has a $97.8 million market capitalization.

The spot price of lithium carbonate in China – the key material used to power electric vehicles – has rebounded to the highest level since December following its 80%-plus collapse in 2023. On the Guangzhou Futures Exchange, meanwhile, the most-active contract has jumped by more than a fifth over the past month.

Lithium is a commodity that’s central to the energy transition given its role in batteries, but a global glut torpedoed prices last year as supply ran ahead of demand. Despite the tumult, major producers are keeping the faith, with No. 1 Albemarle Corp. maintaining that low prices are unsustainable, and No. 2 SQM plowing ahead with expansions as it holds onto a positive outlook.

The rout spurred some producers to cut output. Among them, Core Lithium Ltd. has suspended some mining operations to reduce cash costs, citing the “significant decline” in prices.

“The lithium market is rebalancing, with industry curtailing production and projects,” UBS Group AG said in a recent report, while cautioning that a surplus remains. There’s been progress on the overall balance “but we highlight it could be transitory if price sentiment lifts too far, too fast,” it added.

In China, the industry is focusing on speculation that an environmental crackdown in a supply hub could spur disruptions, adding to Western cuts.

Not everyone is convinced about the rebound, however. The rally in lithium contracts “should not be interpreted as the end of the bear market,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a note. The surplus remains sizable, it warned.

At BloombergNEF, analyst Allan Ray Restauro was also wary. “The near-term price gains are likely immediate impacts of the environmental crackdown in China,” he said. Nothing explicit points to a sustained rally as, despite supply cuts and project slowdowns, supply will top demand, he said.

(By Annie Lee)

Read More: Gulf oil giants Saudi Aramco, Adnoc set sights on lithium

Australia’s Core Lithium said on Tuesday CEO Gareth Manderson will step down after more than a year in the role, as part of a strategic review, and finance chief Doug Warden has been appointed as the interim chief.

The lithium miner also appointed James Virgo, who is the financial controller, as the interim CFO in place of Warden.

Core said it is restructuring its business in response to a rapid decrease in prices of spodumene, an important source of lithium.

Prices of lithium have come under pressure in recent times due to slower-than-expected sales of electric vehicles.

Earlier in January, Core suspended mining operations at the Finniss project in Northern Territory.

Manderson, who was focused on the development of the Finniss project, will leave the company on March 18.

The search for a new CEO is underway, Core said.

(By John Biju; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

(By Roshan Thomas; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

Other oil companies, including Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum, plan to take advantage of emerging technologies to filter lithium from brine, as the world seeks to move away from fossil fuels.

Saudi Arabia, whose economy for decades has relied on oil, has spent billions on trying to turn itself into a hub for EVs as part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s attempts to find alternative sources of wealth.

Three people familiar with the matter said Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) were in the very early stages of work to extract lithium, regarded as a critical mineral by many major economies because of its use in battery manufacture.

They declined to give detail on the type of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology that would be used.

Aramco did not respond to a request for comment, Adnoc declined to comment.

The three sources declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

DLE technology is in its infancy and its economics are far less certain than those of oil.

But Saudi Arabia and the UAE can draw on expertise in handling oil brine and wastewater at oil production sites.

An advantage of filtering the ultralight battery metal from salt water is that it avoids the need for costly and environmentally challenging open pit mines or large evaporation ponds, as employed in the world’s leading producers Australia and Chile.

China is the biggest processor and consumer of lithium, needed for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Concentration and price collapse

For now, global economic weakness has depressed buying of new vehicles and led lithium prices to dive.

Lithium prices have fallen by about 80% since touching a peak in November 2022 as a slowdown in EV sales exacerbated a supply glut.

Leading carmakers, however, are among those looking for new lithium supplies in anticipation of future demand.

Analysts have said the EV industry will depend on lithium for years to come, even though cheaper battery technology alternatives using less or no lithium are being studied.

An issue with extracting lithium from brine is that concentration levels can be very low, making already uncertain economics less favourable.

One of the people said Aramco was working on using new filtration technology that seeks to solve the issue of concentration, while another person said Adnoc was also addressing that.

Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth means it can afford to take a financial risk and its diversification plans include establishing itself as a hub for EVs to make use of whatever lithium it produces.

The kingdom has established its own EV brand Ceer, and built an EV metals plant. Its sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has a goal to produce 500,000 EVs annually by 2030.

Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden), the Gulf’s largest miner, is working to extract lithium from seawater.

“There is good research in the kingdom with Ma’aden …and Aramco because the discharge of the oilfields have good salinity and good traces of minerals,” Saudi vice minister of industry and mineral resources Khalid bin Saleh Al-Mudaifer told Reuters on the sidelines of a press conference in Riyadh in December.

“They have done good work, they have done good extractions of sodium, magnesium, and traces of lithium. The technologies are in the early stage, but there is good work and good investment,” Al-Mudaifer added.

(By Clara Denina, Sarah McFarlane, Maha El Dahan, Pesha Magid, Ernest Scheyder and Eric Onstad; Editing by Veronica Brown and Barbara Lewis)

The Andean nation is in discussions with Wall Street to sell debt earmarked for mining lithium — a key component in electric—vehicle batteries, Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said.

By tapping the market’s demand for clean-energy investments, the nation expects to drive borrowing costs to 10% or lower, Montenegro said, even as its existing debt trades at levels suggesting traders are bracing for a default.

“This is tied to something very important for Europe and elsewhere, which is the rapid move toward clean energy use,” Montenegro said in an interview in La Paz Friday. “If I just blundered into the market thoughtlessly, and did a normal sale with the banks that help us I’d have to pay 18% or 19%, if I even managed to sell any bonds at all.”

Bolivian officials have met with institutions in New York over the possible emission of between $500 million and $1 billion, he said. He declined to name them.

A giant salt flat in the Bolivian Andes contains the world’s largest lithium deposits. But while Bolivians have long anticipated a bonanza from the metal, they have yet to extract it in commercial quantities. Bolivian brine has high levels of magnesium, which make its lithium less pure and costlier to produce, while the nearest port is at least 500 kilometers away in Chile.

A history of political and social unrest and a state-led approach to natural resources have also deterred private investors, as has the recent plunge in prices.

Bolivia’s sovereign bonds have returned 19% this year, among the best performances in a Bloomberg index of emerging market dollar debt. Montenegro attributed the rally to a 10-point plan the government announced last month to address a dollar shortage and ease restrictions on exporters.

Even so, the notes trade at distressed levels and the extra yield investors demand to hold the bonds hovers around 1,786 basis points over US Treasuries, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. data.

‘Manageable’ payments

Montenegro said that the nation’s outstanding bond schedule is “manageable,” adding that the government has demonstrated its willingness to honor obligations. Principal payments start in 2026 on a $1 billion note that matures in 2028, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A sovereign bond sale was already approved by congress last year. But in future, the government is likely to find it harder to borrow abroad after lawmakers in the ruling socialist party split between those loyal to President Luis Arce and allies of former President Evo Morales, effectively depriving the government of its majority.

“For multilateral lenders, Bolivia has a lot of space for important projects, but it’s in congress that they have put a lot of restrictions on the topic,” Montenegro said.

Bolivia narrowly prevented a financial crisis last year by passing a law to allow the central bank to sell about half of its gold reserves. The most recent foreign reserve figures published in December showed the bank has sold almost all the gold it was allowed to, and has also used up nearly all of its cash.

Although the 16-year-old currency peg of about 6.9 bolivianos per dollar still exists on paper, in practice neither importers nor ordinary citizens can easily access currency at that price. A few blocks from the finance ministry, black market currency traders last week were offering dollars for more than 8 bolivianos each.

Bolivia’s annual inflation was 2.5% in February, among the lowest levels in the Americas. But some economists are predicting a spike in consumer prices this year as the dollar shortage makes imported goods more costly.

Montenegro said that the government’s subsidies of fuel, electricity and food will help keep a lid on inflation. He forecasts consumer price rises of 3.6% this year, and 3.5% to 3.6% in 2025.

(By Matthew Bristow and Sergio Mendoza)

Decarbonization emerges as one of the industry’s foremost challenges, as the survey conducted last month with 75 mining company decision-makers revealed.

Survey respondents anticipate heightened scrutiny from investors this year regarding their decarbonization strategies.

Findings indicate that fewer than a quarter have made formal commitments to achieve all scope-related carbon emission reductions by 2050 or earlier. About a quarter have not yet made formal commitments but are actively developing emission reduction plans. Moreover, 10% lack both ESG and carbon reduction strategies, while 7% either do not intend to implement such strategies or face challenges in reducing emissions at present, according to KMPG data.

Scope 1 encompasses greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions directly owned or controlled by organizations, while scope 2 includes indirect emissions resulting from the production of purchased energy. Reducing scope 3 emissions, which traverse the company’s value chain, poses a considerable challenge.

“Many in the industry face substantial hurdles to reducing scope 3 emissions, particularly due to Canada’s limited smelting or refining capacity for critical minerals,” wrote Heather Cheeseman, national mining leader for KPMG in Canada.

Intermediary minerals produced in Canada are shipped to smelters worldwide.

“Until Canada develops smelting or refining capabilities for mined minerals, miners will encounter limitations,” Cheeseman said.

According to the survey, nine out of 10 Canadian mining leaders are optimistic about the country’s potential to emerge as a global leader in critical minerals.

However, an overwhelming majority (98%) said there is an urgent need for increased investment, government commitment, and favorable tax policies to bolster the sector’s growth.

Read More: Canada plans scrutiny of Chinese offtake deals, minister says at PDAC

As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Navajo Nation, NTEC will oversee permitting requirements, conduct additional exploration drilling, design mining operations, carry out environmental assessments, and manage the development of the lithium project.

A very shallow, flat-lying mineralized sedimentary lithium resource, Big Sandy has indicated and inferred (JORC compliant) resources of 32.5 million tonnes grading 1,850 parts per million lithium for 320,800 tonnes of Li2CO3 (lithium carbonate), as estimated after a 2019 drill program.

“Big Sandy represents a substantial development opportunity holding 320,800 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), with only 4% of the project drilling, providing significant exploration upside once permitted,” Arizona Lithium managing director Paul Lloyd said in a news release.

As part of the latest agreement, NTEC chief executive officer Vern Lund, with more than 25 years in the mining industry, will become a member of the Arizona Lithium board.

Shares of Arizona Lithium rose 4.1% in Monday trading on the ASX. The company has a market capitalization of A$114 million ($75 million).