Lithium News

To reach net-zero targets in the coming decades, our transport systems must change – the loud rumble of cars powered by petrol and diesel must be replaced by the low hum of electric vehicles (EVs) on our roads. But while sales of EVs have soared, and 30 governments have said they will stop the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040 or before, there is one very significant problem – the growing demand for lithium.

With projections that we are soon to see shortages in the supply of the ‘white gold’ that is integral to battery production, concern has been raised that targets for EV roll-out may be jeopardised. With supply dependent on just a handful of nations, and protests continuing over the environmental impact of lithium extraction, the race is on to find alternative sources of this precious resource, or even alternative metals altogether.

Why lithium?

Along with nickel and cobalt, lithium is a key component in the batteries found in most of today’s electronic devices, where it is used to make the cathodes that transport electric current from batteries to the devices they are powering. Until recently, the lion’s share of global lithium production was used in the manufacture of batteries for mobile phones and laptops, however, with a battery pack for a single electric car containing around 50kg of lithium carbonate, EVs have now taken top spot.

Rising demand for EVs has led to sharp price hikes – over the last two years, battery-grade lithium carbonate prices have increased10-fold. In 2021, enough lithium was mined to make around 11 million batteries, but in order to reach net-zero targets by 2050, it is estimated that the world will need a cumulative total of 2 billion battery packs for EVs and hybrid vehicles. While estimates put worldwide reserves at enough to produce 2.5 billion, in theory enough to fulfil demand, lithium is also needed for batteries in planes, trains, bikes and consumer goods.

Estimates suggest that across the five years from 2020 to 2025, demand for lithium will treble. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is warning of potential shortages in just two years, leaving many prospective EV buyers, who want to play their part in getting to net zero, at risk of missing out.

India’s Tata Group signed an outline deal on Friday on building a lithium-ion cell factory, based on investment of about 130 billion rupees ($1.58 billion), as part of the nation’s efforts to create its own electric vehicle supply chain.

Compared to the size of its population, India’s car market is tiny. Tata Motors dominates its electric vehicle (EV) sales, which made up just 1% of India’s total car sales of about 3.8 million last year.

A joint statement on the memorandum of understanding, between Tata’s unit Agratas Energy Storage Solutions and the government of the western state of Gujarat, said work on the plant, to be based in Sanand, northern Gujarat, was expected to start in less than three years.

It would have initial manufacturing capacity of 20 Gigawatt hours (GWh), which could be doubled in a second phase of expansion, the statement said.

“The plant will go a long way in contributing to the development of the EV ecosystem in Gujarat and India,” Vijay Nehra, an official in the Gujarat state government told Reuters.

European Lithium (ASX:EUR, FRA:PF8, OTC: EULIF) has signed a binding agreement for joint development and operation of a processing plant in Saudi Arabia with Obeikan Group to convert lithium concentrate into lithium hydroxide.

The 50:50 joint venture (JV) will be geared towards developing, constructing, commissioning and operating the plant for the conversion of lithium spodumene concentrate from European Lithium’s Wolfsberg, Europe’s first fully permitted lithium mine, located in Carinthia, 270km south of Vienna.

The proposed JV will seek to have an exclusive right to purchase spodumene mined from the current resource at Wolfsberg Zone 1, and the facility is expected to be developed to meet the minimum initial capacity and product specifications based on the company’s binding long term supply agreement with BMW.

Subject to the successful commissioning of the plant, EUR will sell the lithium spodumene concentrate to the JV company at a reduced rate with a floor price of $3,000/tonne and a ceiling price of $7,000/tonne over the life of the current resource of the Wolfsberg mine.

Tony Sage, chairman of EUR said the new facility, once operational, was expected to significantly reduce energy costs and deliver savings in opex, in addition to lower capex, for operations at Wolfsberg.

“This strategic step in partnering with Obeikan paves the way for significant Opex savings including greatly reduced energy and financing costs, and a much lower taxation rate,” Sage said in a news release.

“We look forward to progressing our plans to harness the latest technology in developing a facility of the highest quality and efficiency, in doing so, strengthen the economics of Wolfsberg and our future projects.”

Chinese miner Tibet Summit Resources will invest $1.7 billion to develop two lithium projects in Argentina, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, as the South American country eyes burgeoning demand for the metal used in rechargeable batteries.

The projects in the Arizaro and Diablillos salt flats in Salta province are expected to produce 50,000-100,000 tonnes of lithium, the ministry noted in a statement, without elaborating or saying when they would come online.

Tibet Summit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Argentina is the world’s fourth largest producer of lithium, an ultra-light metal in high demand from makers of electric vehicles.

“We want a mining industry that takes advantage of our resources and generates added value and employment,” said Economy Minister Sergio Massa in the statement.

Massa is visiting China, where he met with executives from Tibet Summit.

Last year, Argentina exported around 40,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, a processed product used in lithium-ion batteries. The country’s growing lithium sector expects to triple shipments in the next few years.

The growth is expected largely due to two lithium projects ramping up production in Jujuy province in Argentina’s arid northwest. One is operated by US-based Livent Corp in Catamarca province and the other by Australia’s Allkem.

The two companies expect to double their current output to about 42,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate each in the next few years, government data show.

Another major lithium project, Cauchari-Olaroz, is expected to come online in June, operated by local firm Exar, which is run by Canada’s Lithium Americas Corp, China’s Ganfeng Lithium and state producer JEMSE.

Exar expects to ramp up lithium carbonate production to around 40,000 tonnes annually beginning next year.

Australia-listed lithium explorer Lepidico Ltd said on Wednesday it had received an arbitration notice from chemicals maker Jiangxi Jinhui Lithium relating to an offtake agreement between its Namibia-based unit and the Chinese firm.

Toronto-based Desert Lion Energy, which was acquired by Lepidico in 2019 and renamed Lepidico Chemicals Namibia, had signed the offtake deal with Jinhui in November 2017 for the sale of stockpiled material from its Karibib project in Namibia.

The notice, filedunder the arbitration rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, includes a claim in the sum of $4.6 million, which is the payment received from Jinhui as part of the offtake deal, Lepidico said.

Lepidico is contemplating counterclaims against Jinhui and believes the arbitration is without merit, it added.

Tohoku University researchers have recently developed a prototype calcium metal rechargeable battery capable of 500 cycles of repeated charge-discharge. Five hundred cycles is the benchmark for practical battery use. The breakthrough was made thanks to the development of a copper sulfide nanoparticle/carbon composite cathode and a hydride-based electrolyte.

With the compulsive sales of electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage systems on the rise, the need to explore alternatives to lithium-ion batteries has never been greater.

The breakthrough has just been reported in the journal Advanced Science.

The advancement is focused on the element calcium and now a prototype is in testing. Calcium (Ca) is the fifth most abundant element in earth’s crust, calcium is widely available and inexpensive, and has higher energy density potential than lithium ion batteries (LIB). Its properties are also thought to help accelerate ion transport and diffusion in electrolytes and cathode materials, giving it an edge over other LIB-alternatives such as magnesium and zinc.

But many hurdles remain in the way of Ca metal batteries’ commercial viability. The lack of an efficient electrolyte and the absence of cathode materials with sufficient Ca²⁺ storage capabilities have proved to be the main stumbling blocks.

In 2021, some members of the current research group provided a solution to the former problem when they realized a new fluorine-free calcium electrolyte based on a hydrogen (monocarborane) cluster. The electrolyte demonstrated markedly improved electrochemical performances such as high conductivity and high electrochemical stabilities.

Kazuaki Kisu, assistant professor at Tohoku University’s Institute for Materials Research said, “For our current research, we tested the long-term operation of a Ca metal battery with a copper sulfide (CuS) nanoparticle/carbon composite cathode and a hydride-based electrolyte.”

Also a natural mineral, CuS has favorable electrochemical properties. Its layered structure enables it to store a variety of cations, including lithium, sodium and magnesium. It has a large theoretical capacity of 560 mAh g-1 – two to three times higher than present cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Through nanoparticulation and compositing with carbon materials, Kisu and his colleagues were able to create a cathode capable of storing large amounts of calcium ions. When employed with the hydride-type electrolyte, they produce a battery with a highly stable cycling performance. The prototype battery maintained 92% capacity retention over 500 cycles based on the capacity of the 10th cycle.

The group is confident that their breakthrough will help advance research into cathode materials for Ca-based batteries. “Our study confirms the feasibility of Ca metal anodes for long-term operations, and we are hopeful the results will expedite the development of Ca metal batteries,” said Kisu.

When one thinks about low cost materials, calcium and its naturally occurring forms comes to mind really quickly. The theoretical potential is outstanding. Getting it to work is now a strong possibility.

Calcium based batteries might make electric vehicles a practical reality. At the moment the practicality is factually a niche, and a not particularly big one at that. Weight has to be reduced dramatically, cost come down by a factor of 5 or more, charge time immensely cut and safety improved such that they can be parked in a garage without the insurance company going nuts.

That makes this important news. Yes it’s a new born technology, but over time the potential is simply huge and the demand for electrical storage grows by the second.