Battery Metals - Copperbelt Katanga Mining

Ford plans to Build EV Battery plant in Michigan with Chinese partner 1

Ford Motor Co. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. plan to build a battery plant in Michigan, according to people familiar with the matter, capping a months-long search that became mired in geopolitical tensions between the US and China. The multibillion-dollar facility, to be located about 100 miles west of Detroit, is expected to create about 2,500 jobs, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t yet public. The agreement could be announced as soon as next week, they said. Ford is moving ahead with… Read More Here

Battery Metals International

Commodity Trader Trafigura Loses $577M in Nickel Fraud Scandal

February 10, 2023February 10, 2023 Constance

Commodity trader Trafigura Group is facing more than half a billion dollars in losses after discovering metal cargoes it bought didn’t contain the nickel they were supposed to. Trafigura has spent the past two months uncovering what it believes is a systematic fraud against it. It has started legal action against Indian businessman Prateek Gupta and several companies connected to him including TMT Metals and subsidiaries of UD Trading Group, Trafigura said in a statement. The missing nickel is a blow for the company that has grown rapidly in the past decade… Read More Here

Battery Metals Cobalt Mining in DRC

Artisanal Cobalt Mines Vital to Global Production

February 9, 2023February 9, 2023 Constance

Cobalt buyers must push for reforms to regulate the operations of artisanal mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as they are crucial in meeting the growing demand for the metal used in electric vehicles and consumer electronics, according to a new report. A paper published by the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights and the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights stated that cobalt buyers face a challenge when trying to differentiate between the production from industrial mines and the significant output from artisanal small-scale mining… Read More Here

Battery Metals International

Africa gears up to keep more of the Profits from Lithium boom

February 9, 2023February 9, 2023 Constance

Lithium-rich African countries, including Zimbabwe and Namibia, are trying to develop processing and refining industries to capture more of the profits of global demand for battery material. As the auto industry shifts towards electric vehicles (EVs) – spurred by proposed bans on fossil-fuel cars beginning at the end of the decade – lithium prices and demand have soared. China, the world’s top lithium refiner, and a leading producer dominates the supply chain, but Western governments and international companies are trying to challenge that and see Africa’s lithium reserves as an… Read More Here

Mining in DRC Battery Metals Copper Gold

Cobalt, zinc, tin and Gold prices up this Week

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 Constance

The main mining products exported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in particular cobalt, zinc, tin and gold, should register a slight price increase on the international market for the period from February 6 to 11, 2023. C This is what the National Commission for Mercurial Prices of the Ministry of Foreign Trade indicates in its weekly report on the evolution of the prices of mining and agricultural products and forest menus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to this structure, cobalt should be trading this week… Read More Here

International Battery Metals Cobalt

Indonesia Emerges as the Top Cobalt Producer Outside of Africa

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 Constance

Indonesia has emerged as a significant player in the global cobalt production, becoming the second-largest producer of the battery material. According to US government data, Indonesia surpassed other countries such as Russia and Australia to secure the second spot in 2022. This expansion is expected to continue this decade, reducing the world’s dependence on the Democratic Republic of Congo for over two-thirds of cobalt supplies and avoiding potential shortages. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has been promoting the country’s battery and EV industries, leveraging its abundant mineral resources. The country already… Read More Here

Mining in DRC Battery Metals

Microsoft calls for ‘coalition’ to Improve Congo’s Informal Cobalt Mines

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 Constance

Microsoft visited an artisanal cobalt mine in Democratic Republic of Congo in December as part of attempts to jump-start formalization of the little-regulated and dangerous industry that experts say is key to meeting global demand for the battery material. Congo accounts for three-quarters of the world’s mined cobalt supply. Industrial mines produce most of Congo’s cobalt, but “artisanal” miners, who dig by hand and often die when tunnels cave in, account for up to 30% of production, though that fluctuates depending on price. In the first known visit by a… Read More Here

Mining in DRC Battery Metals

Gecamines Aims to Diversify into Minerals for Energy Transition

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 Constance

Congo’s state-run mining company, Gecamines, aims to explore for minerals critical to the energy transition, such as lithium, tin, and rare earths, said the company’s Chairman Alphonse Kaputo Kalubi, yesterday 7th February. The company, which was once one of the world’s leading copper and cobalt producers in the 1980s, hopes to increase production to 100,000 tonnes of copper per year and diversify its operations. Kaputo mentioned that Gecamines’ geologists will organize campaigns to prospect for various minerals including lithium, tin, cobalt, coltan, titanium, wolframite, gold, and rare earths. He encouraged… Read More Here

Mining in DRC Battery Metals Cobalt Copper

DRC President Seeks New Ventures for Green Energy Metals Exploration

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023 Constance

President Felix Tshisekedi aims to establish the Democratic Republic of Congo as a crucial provider of metals for the transition to green energy. This objective requires fresh exploration for nickel and chrome. President Felix Tshisekedi announced at the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday 7th February, that exploration for nickel and chrome in the diamond-rich Kasai region of southern Congo will commence in the near future. The country is currently seeking investment partners for the processing of cobalt, tantalum, tin, and lithium. The shift… Read More Here

Battery Metals Mining in DRC

AVZ reacts to two decrees from the DRC Ministry of Mines which notably revoke the Manono license

February 7, 2023February 7, 2023 arnbethnic

The Manono lithium project is becoming like a Novellas television series, every day we are witnessing a new enigma, which in reality only delays the start of lithium exploitation in the province of Tanganyika in Manono by the Australian company, AVZ Minerals which owns 75% of the shares of Dathcom. Dathcom being a Joint-Venture between the Congolese State represented by COMINIERE which should hold 25% of the shares, of which 15% were illegally sold (according to the IGF which is the General Inspectorate of Finance of the DR Congo) to the… Read More Here