Lithium

President Joe Biden will today authorize the use of Title III of the Korean War-era Defense Production Act (DPA) to rapidly step up US production of minerals for electric vehicle and storage batteries.

Tesla has been ramping up deals to secure future supply of critical battery metals at upcoming mines lately, and it’s now adding another lithium contract with a new mine in Australia.

Tesla (TSLA) has signed a contract to secure lithium supply from an upcoming mine in Australia developed by Liontown.

The critical material to battery production is expected to start flowing in 2024.

Most of the materials required for batteries and other clean energy technology are dirty to mine. They’re also mostly controlled by China. Can a recycling technology startup change that?

Electrek spoke with Megan O’Connor, cofounder and CEO of Nth Cycle, a Beverly, Massachusetts-based developer of a recycling technology that extracts critical metals from batteries for a second life, about how to enable a clean, domestic, and streamlined supply of critical minerals for the clean energy transition. Nth Cycle’s technology was developed at Harvard and Yale universities.

In April, Nth Cycle received $3.2 million in seed funding led by Boston-based clean energy venture capital company Clean Energy Ventures.

Snow Lake Resources Ltd. has outlined plans to develop over 55,000 acres in Manitoba, Canada into the world’s first all-electric lithium mine. By utilizing Manitoba’s hydroelectricity, the entire mining operation can run on 98% renewable energy, helping the company sustainably source lithium – a vital resource to EV batteries – domestically in North America. As Snow Lake Lithium works through the environmental red tape to begin mining, it is seeking an OEM to enter in a joint venture to help process the lithium into EV batteries for North America.

In what it claims is a “world first,” British Lithium has produced lithium at pilot scale from the mica in granite in its new government-backed pilot plant near Roche in Cornwall, England.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Denmark’s and Scandinavia’s largest offshore wind farm was inaugurated yesterday.
• A judge denies another bid to halt excavation at the largest-known lithium resource in the US.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• In 2020, clean energy sources generated 21% of all US electricity.
• A judge rules that the largest known lithium resource in the US can be excavated.
• UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes. Click here to learn more and get your quotes. — *ad.

Clean energy may mean less mining for coal, but it also means more mining for minerals such as cobalt for use in alloys and batteries, tellurium for solar cells and semiconductors, and germanium for transistors in electronic devices.

General Motors (GM) has announced a strategic investment and commercial collaboration with Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) to secure lower-cost lithium in the US for the development of its next generation of EV batteries. The legacy automaker hopes this collaboration will garner more environmentally friendly methods of obtaining precious lithium while simultaneously help lower the price of its EVs.

As the demand for EV batteries increases, could lithium be the vital element we need for our electric future? British physicist, oceanographer, and TV presenter Helen Czerski heads to Cornwall, which is rich with lithium, to find out why it’s so important and how it can be more ethically sourced.

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia have figured out how to extract lithium, an essential part of electric vehicle batteries, from seawater in a more cost-effective way.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, given their light weight and theoretical high capacities, are a promising alternative to conventional lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for large-scale energy storage systems and electric vehicles. But Li-S batteries currently suffer from poor longevity.

Now, scientists from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in Korea have discovered a new catalyst material’s ability to significantly improve lithium-sulfur battery life, giving them great commercial potential.

Tesla has signed a long-term lithium hydroxide supply deal with China’s Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group, according to the latter.

In July it was announced that LG Chem was working on a potential new billion-dollar US battery cell factory for electric cars. Today in a security filing in South Korea, LG Chem confirmed that investment, and that GM will invest another billion.

Reuters reports that the location is expected to be in the area of Lordstown, Ohio, where GM (pictured in Detroit) recently sold its factory to an EV startup affiliated with Workhorse. This follows news earlier this week that Piedmont Lithium received an important federal permit to proceed with its lithium mine in Gaston County, North Carolina — the second in North America. Looks like Interstate 77 will be America’s hot new lithium corridor.

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Tesla is currently trying to secure resources for its battery production ramp up at Gigafactory 1.

Now we’ve learned that the automaker has signed a supply agreement with China’s biggest lithium producer.
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Tesla’s raw material needs, including lithium, are increasing rapidly with its battery production ramp-up at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada to support the Model 3 production and other energy storage projects.

In order to secure some of the supply, Tesla has now signed a new offtake agreement with an integrated lithium miner and refiner in Australia.
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You know that argument that comes up when someone sees your electric car and says something like, “it is way worse to mine lithium needed for batteries than oil and what happens when the lithium runs out? I saw a Meme on the internet so I know it is true.”  Well…
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Tesla’s raw material needs, including lithium, are increasing rapidly with its battery production ramp-up at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada to support the Model 3 production and other energy storage projects.

Now we learn that the company is reportedly in talks with SQM, Chile’s largest lithium producer, to secure lithium supply.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly arrived in Chile this week, sparking rumors in the lithium world, which Chile is the center of in some sense.
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For those of us who believe that the entire automotive industry is rapidly transitioning from being powered by fossil fuels to electricity, it becomes important to transfer any asset from one to the other not only from an environmental standpoint, but also from a financial standpoint.

We have reported before on a growing movement to divest from fossil fuels – now reaching over $5.2 trillion – but the question is where do you reinvest that money? What is the new petrol?

The minerals used to make batteries are obvious contenders, but there are a lot of different kinds of batteries using all different minerals. Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is alone expected to double the global battery production over the next year and therefore, it could create a resource boom.
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