Battery Metals

Researchers at Linnaeus University have developed a more environmentally friendly way of retrieving cobalt from used lithium-ion batteries. With a liquid solvent made of readily available substances, derived from urine and acetic acid, over 97 percent of the cobalt can be recovered. The researchers see good potential for large-scale application.

A new method for recycling cobalt developed by Ian Nicholls’ research group moves us towards a greener battery industry. The method addresses two major problems with current recycling: high energy costs and dangerous waste.

The method involves dissolving the lithium cobalt oxide, a substance used in modern lithium-ion batteries, using a liquid solvent, that separates the cobalt, which can subsequently be used for fabricating new batteries.

“The solvent is a combination of two readily available substances: a simple derivate of urea, which is naturally occurring in urine, and acetamide, which can easily be retrieved from acetic acid,” explains Subramanian Suriyanarayanan, one of the researchers behind the solvent that Linnaeus University has researched since 2013.

The main benefit of the new solvent, compared to widely used methods for recycling cobalt, is that the process can take place at much lower temperatures.

The researchers have extracted over 97 percent of the cobalt from pieces of lithium cobalt oxide that has spent two days in the heated solvent.

“In our case, the reaction is as most efficient at 180 degrees Celsius. That makes our method much more energy efficient than today’s commercial options, such as pyrometallurgy, which require extreme temperatures, often exceeding 1400 degrees,” says Ian Nicholls.

The findings are published in the journal ACS Omega.

Chile’s SQM (NYSE: SQM), the world’s second-largest lithium producer, said on Thursday it had earmarked $3.4 billion of new capital expenditure by 2025 to boost its production capacity to 210,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent a year, from current levels of 180,000tpa.

The hefty planned investment comes as the Santiago-based company reported soaring profits last year on the back of higher prices for the metal driven by soaring demand from the electric vehicles (EVs) sector.

SQM posted net income of $3.9 billion in 2022, an almost three-fold increase from the $585.5 million it amassed in 2021.

Total revenues for the year hit $10.7 billion compared to the almost $2.9 billion reported for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021.

Lithium prices have skyrocketed — up by as much as 1,200% — over the past several years as supply has failed to match rampant demand. Car makers continue to scramble for the battery metals to make more EVs and comply with tougher climate rules from governments.

SQM noted it would invest $1.4 billion from the total planned for the 2023-2025, period this year, as it continues expanding its capacity in Chile. The copper-rich country currently generates about 29% of the world’s supply, but it plans to double production by 2025 to about 250,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.

Beyond Chile

SQM remains bullish on the long-term outlook for the lithium market. It now forecasts demand to reach almost 1.5 million tonnes by 2025.

“This strong demand growth expectations give us confidence as we remain focused on expanding our lithium production capacity,” chief executive officer Ricardo Ramos said in the statement.

The firm announced in January an A$4.2 million ($2.8m) investment in Australia’s Azure Minerals (ASX: AZS), which made it the lithium juniors largest shareholder. The company also said it planned to invest a further A$15.8 million ($10.6m) in Azure.

SQM has also partnered with Wesfarmers to develop the Mt Holland lithium asset in Western Australia. The project is expected to come online by the end of this year, with an initial production capacity of 50,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium hydroxide.

The lithium giant, which bought a refinery plant in southwest China last year, said the facility was expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2023. SQM’s plan is to produce lithium hydroxide from lithium sulfate sourced in Chile.

Car manufacturers acquiring mining companies to secure raw materials needed for electric vehicle batteries will end badly if history is any guide, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s head of commodities.

History is littered with examples of consumers trying to move upstream in commodities markets, Goldman’s Jeff Currie said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg Radio.

“It always ends in tears,” he said. “Going in and being involved in mining projects in places like Southern Africa, it requires an expertise that is very different than producing cars.”

Currie was commenting in response to a question about the prospect of Tesla Inc. acquiring Sigma Lithium Corp. The electric-car maker has been mulling a takeover of the miner amid rampant demand for the material crucial to powering EVs, Bloomberg News reported last month, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Automakers have been pushing into mining more aggressively to lock in supply for batteries that increasingly are replacing internal combustion engines. Stellantis NV took a 14% stake in a McEwen Mining Inc. copper subsidiary, and General Motors Co. is said to be vying for a stake in Vale SA’s base metals unit. In January, GM struck a $650 million pact with Lithium Americas Corp. to develop the top US lithium deposit.

Car companies will be better off sticking to their core competencies and reducing their exposure to commodity price swings through hedging, said Currie, who declined to comment on Tesla specifically.

American Battery Technology Company (OTC: ABML) (ABTC) announced Tuesday the results of a third-party audited inferred resource report on the lithium deposit at its Tonopah Flats project in Nevada, which it said has resulted in the identification of one of the largest known lithium deposits in the United States.

The Tonopah Flats lithium project in Big Smoky Valley encompasses 517 unpatented lode claims covering approximately 10,340 acres, and ABTC controls 100% of the mining lode claims comprising the Tonopah Flats property and the rights to all locatable subsurface minerals without any royalties.

ABTC began surface sampling of these claims in the summer of 2021, and subsequently performed multiple subsurface drilling programs totalling 12,000 feet of exploration covering approximately 65% of its property.

Through the this analysis, an open-pit resource estimate was developed that would support a processing rate of at least 200,000 tons of claystone per day, the company said.

The ABTC Tonopah Flats inferred resource has an estimated 15.8 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, according to the analysis.

The company said that combined with its internally developed lithium extraction and hydroxide manufacturing techniques makes it a potentially critical source of domestically produced lithium to meet increasing demand for lithium products.

There is also potential to significantly expand the resources with further drilling extending to the north and south property boundaries and at greater depths, it said.

“Having identified one of the largest premier lithium deposits in the US is extremely exciting,” ABTC CEO Ryan Melsert said in the statement. “However, the identification of an inferred resource in and of itself is not enough to address our critical challenges of increasing our domestic production of critical battery metals, reducing the costs of manufacturing of these battery metals, and decreasing the environmental impacts of their production.”

The development of a resource needs to be paired with the development of targeted technologies for the extraction of these metals, he said.

“We have spent the past several years developing technologies specifically targeted at these Nevada-based claystone lithium resources and to have been recognized by the US Department of Energy for the performance of these technologies through our selection for a competitive R&D scale grant in 2021 and for a competitive grant to construct a commercial scale claystone lithium hydroxide refinery in 2022.”

American Battery Technology Company’s stock surged 37% on the OTC on the news. Trading volume reached 13,486,442, nearly 13 times the daily average of 1,380,062. The company has a $566.8 million market capitalization.

Stellantis NV is buying into a firm run by mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen, potentially giving the automaker access to a giant copper deposit in Argentina as the race for metals used in electric vehicles heats up.

At a little over $150 million, Stellantis’ investment in McEwen Copper isn’t huge. But it’s the latest reminder of how keen car companies are to lock in future supplies of the materials needed to move away from fossil fuels. EVs use more than twice as much copper as gasoline-powered cars.

The maker of Peugeot cars and Jeep sport utility vehicles has its eye on one of the world’s bigger underdeveloped copper deposits in Argentina’s San Juan province. McEwen is raising funds — including from a unit of Rio Tinto Group — to develop the Los Azules project at a time when copper demand is accelerating while the industry’s production pipeline is running dry. A feasibility study for Los Azules may be ready in 2024.

The transaction, which gives Stellantis 14.2% of McEwen Copper, comes as General Motors Co. is said to be vying for a stake in Vale SA’s base metals unit and as Tesla Inc. weighs a takeover of Sigma Lithium Corp. In January, GM struck a $650 million pact with Lithium Americas Corp. to develop the top US lithium deposit.