Battery Metals - Copperbelt Katanga Mining

US takes stake in battery-metals firm to wean itself off China

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 admin

The US government has taken an equity stake in a battery-metals company in a move that undercuts dependence on China for a key material used in electric vehicles. TechMet received a $25-million investment from the US International Development Finance Corporation to help develop a Brazilian nickel and cobalt mine, the Dublin-based company said Monday in a statement. Cobalt is an important ingredient in cathodes of most electric-vehicle batteries and its refining capacity is largely under China’s control. “Investments in critical materials for advanced technology support development and advance US foreign… Read More Here

Battery Metals International

Tesla unveils new 4680 battery cell

September 23, 2020September 24, 2020 admin

Tesla revealed its new ‘4680 cell’ at the company’s Battery Day, promising five times more energy capacity and six times more power than previous cells, key factors to fulfill its long-term objective to sell a low cost mass-market electric vehicle. The company also said it is planning to build its own cathode factory in North America, and when Elon Musk announced the company’s claim on 10,000-acre lithium clay deposit in Nevada, it signaled that Tesla is officially getting into the mining business. According to Tesla’s estimates, using its new extraction and… Read More Here

Cobalt Battery Metals Mining in DRC

5G technology to boost demand for cobalt, expected to reach 73,000 tonnes by 2025

September 23, 2020September 23, 2020 arnbethnic

According to analysts, 5G technology will be one of the main consumers of cobalt within five years, with demand expected to drop from 45,000 tonnes this year to 73,000 tonnes in 2025, reports Agence Ecofin, which relayed Reuters. 5G could become the number one consumer of cobalt over the years, supplanting the electric vehicle sector which currently occupies the largest share of the global market. Indeed, the antenna of 5G stations requires rechargeable batteries more powerful, able to accumulate enough energy to allow its operation. In addition, the batteries used in… Read More Here

Cobalt Battery Metals International

Tesla “battery day” a possible blow to cobalt miners

September 21, 2020September 21, 2020 admin

Elon Musk’s Tesla will hosts its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 22, followed by the highly anticipated “battery technology day”, a worldwide live-streamed event during which the firm is expected to unveil its own new type of battery cell. Speculation points to a cobalt-free battery that uses more of less costly metals such as nickel and manganese. Tesla currently uses the nickel-cobalt-aluminum cathode chemistry, which has a low cobalt content of about 5%, for their cars produced outside China. The company also embraces the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) to identify red flags such as child labour in their cobalt sourcing.… Read More Here

Battery Metals International

EV Metal Index surges 64% as Europe tops China

August 18, 2020August 18, 2020 admin

Europe has now overtaken China – not long ago responsible for every other electric car sold worldwide – as the globe’s largest EV market. Over the first seven months of the year, Europe’s electric vehicle sales (including plug-in hybrids) outpaced that of China reaching the half million mark thanks to record-breaking monthly sales of 53,000 units on the continent in July. More remarkable considering Chinese so-called New Energy Vehicle (NEV) sales data also include fuel cell and commercial vehicles. July was also the first month of annualized positive growth in China with sales… Read More Here

Battery Metals Nickel

Russians appeal to Elon Musk against Nornickel

August 9, 2020August 10, 2020 arnbethnic

A group of indigenous people in Russia are asking Tesla’s Elon Musk to stop buying supplies from miner MMC Norilsk Nickel until the company compensates them for environmental damage to their ancestral lands. “The lands of indigenous people appropriated by the company for industrial production now resemble a lunar landscape,” members of the Aborigen Forum network wrote in an open letter to Musk this week. “Traditional use of these lands is no longer possible.” The group is asking Nornickel to assess the damage from a massive fuel spill in the Arctic earlier this year, revise… Read More Here

Battery Metals Nickel Uncategorized

Tesla offers “giant contract” to responsible nickel miners

July 24, 2020July 25, 2020 arnbethnic

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) boss Elon Musk is calling miners to produce more nickel, a key ingredient in the batteries that power his company’s electric cars, and has offered a “giant contract for a long period of time” to any firm able to extracted it in an efficient, environmentally sustainable manner. Musk noted on a second-quarter earnings call that the high price of electric car batteries continues to be one of the main hurdles for Tesla. TESLA’S PRIMARY BATTERY TECHNOLOGY IS BASED ON A BLEND OF NICKEL, COBALT AND ALUMINUM “The real limitation… Read More Here

Battery Metals Cobalt Mining in DRC

BMW avoids the Congo conundrum for now | Cobalt price

July 18, 2020July 18, 2020 arnbethnic

German luxury vehicle maker BMW this week signed a $2.3 billion long-term deal with Swedish battery maker Northvolt, the latest of such deals, as European carmakers try to compete with Tesla in the burgeoning electric vehicle market. MANAGEM OWNS BOU-AZZER, THE ONLY PRIMARY COBALT MINE IN THE WORLD AND IN OPERATION SINCE 1930. Tesla’s gigafactories and battery technology have long given it an edge in the EV market (Northvolt was started by two former Tesla execs), but when it comes to the sourcing of raw material for lithium ion batteries,… Read More Here

Battery Metals Lithium Mining in DRC Mining Supply Tenders New Mining Projects

AVZ Minerals issues tenders worth US$300m for Manono works | DRC

July 3, 2020September 16, 2020 arnbethnic

Australia-based exploration company AVZ Minerals has issued tenders worth around US$300 million for pre-mining infrastructure work at its planned Manono lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The AVZ Minerals tenders cover infrastructure work including a process plant package, development of the Kabondo Dianda intermodal staging station and for diesel storage facilities and supply, as well as work site buildings and enterprise resource systems. “We will have final pricings on our various tenders back in July and August and then expect to be in a position to… Read More Here

Cobalt Battery Metals Economy International Mining in DRC

What Investors Should Know About Cobalt Supply Chains

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020 arnbethnic

Interest in the cobalt space surged in 2017 and 2018, when prices were going through the roof on the back of expected demand from the electric vehicle (EV) space. Cobalt is a key element in the lithium-ion batteries used to power EVs, and even though prices are far away from those highs, the long-term future of the metal is still quite bright. When looking at the cobalt supply chain, there are two countries that dominate. On the mining side, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) takes the lead, with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence… Read More Here