Mass production of lithium
batteries brings the Holy Grail to electric cars - the cost of batteries
is fast approaching the magic $100 per kWh. The auto industry and corrupted
politicians are still fighting unavoidable: Elon Musk was talking one year ago
about the all-in cost for his lithium batteries at $190 per kWh. Now there are
reports already that Gigafactory allows for Tesla to go below $150 per kWh.
There is a claim in a new promotional video that Tesla will achieve 35% cost
reduction for lithium batteries produced at Gigafactory, according to ElecTrek,
it can be as low as $124 per kWh!
We are talking here about
the magical 20/200 when $20,000 buys you an electric car with a better
performance than BMW 2 and range over 200 miles. It means that not only the
cost of ownership for EV is lower than a comparable ICE car, but a beautiful
electric car is cheaper and better than anything ICE can offer. We are talking
here about all cars being electric much faster than you think.
Mass production of lithium batteries brings the Holy Grail to electric cars - the cost of batteries is fast approaching the magic $100 per kWh. The auto industry and corrupted politicians are still fighting unavoidable: Elon Musk was talking one year ago about the all-in cost for his lithium batteries at $190 per kWh. Now there are reports already that Gigafactory allows for Tesla to go below $150 per kWh. There is a claim in a new promotional video that Tesla will achieve 35% cost reduction for lithium batteries produced at Gigafactory, according to ElecTrek, it can be as low as $124 per kWh!
We are talking here about the magical 20/200 when $20,000 buys you an electric car with a better performance than BMW 2 and range over 200 miles. It means that not only the cost of ownership for EV is lower than a comparable ICE car, but a beautiful electric car is cheaper and better than anything ICE can offer. We are talking here about all cars being electric much faster than you think.
Expanding our focus to include investments in opportunities on a broader scale that may see mine production in the near term and seek financing in creative manners that restrict shareholder dilution to fund these acquisitions will be in alignment with our current partners and shareholders and give us an edge over other companies that are closely tied to specific exploration prospects. This new business model will allow ILC to capitalise on the growth of our industry which is providing the material base for the ongoing Green Energy rEVolution. Lithium based energy storage technology is at the centre of the exponential growth in the markets for electric cars and Energy Storage Systems, which are providing the necessary technical solutions for solar and wind power generation that are intermittent in their nature.” Read more.
“I welcome each of our new team members and am confident that their high level of professional experience will help to move ILC forward with its new business strategy, creating value for our shareholders while maintaining the highest standards of corporate responsibility.” Kirill Klip, Chairman, President and CEO of International Lithium Corp.
"Very early into this game, I have learned to stick with the best people in the industry who has made it before. The story of Veladero Gold project in Argentina where Lukas Lundin family has invested $16 million in the developing of the project which was later bought by Homestake (Barrick Gold) for $300 million will get your attention. Lukas Lundin was teaching me as his very happy investor in Tenke Mining and other companies to trade exploration risk for political one: countries can change, one-off incredible gigantic deposits will stay. And if you are lucky they can become yours. Lucas Lundin and Tenke Mining story deserve a full book as a part of MBA in mining investment and economics. Read more."
International Lithium Corp. Appoints CFO and Adds to Management Team
Vancouver, B.C. February 22, 2017:International Lithium Corp. (the “Company” or “ILC”) (TSX VENTURE: ILC.V) is pleased to announce the appointment of Patricia Fong as Chief Financial Officer and further additions to the Company’s management team.
Patricia Fong, CPA, CMA, brings over twenty years experience working with public companies in the resource sector. For eleven years, she held the role of Controller for the Lundin Group of Companies and since 2009, she has served as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary for several public resource companies. Ms. Fong is also fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese which will be an appreciable asset to the Company.
Ms. Fong replaces Maurice Brooks who had taken on the role of Chief Financial Officer on an interim basis earlier this year (Company news release, January 25, 2017). Mr. Brooks, recently appointed to the board of directors of ILC (Company news release, February 16, 2016), will remain a special advisor to the Company in the capacity of strategic risk management and internal audit.
The Company is also pleased to announce that Nancy La Couvée has joined the management team to assist in all aspects of corporate development, including corporate compliance, administration and shareholder communications. Ms. La Couvée has over twenty years of experience acting as Corporate Secretary of a number of public and private internationally focused companies.
The Company also welcomes Afzaal Pirzada, M.Sc., P.Geo., as a consultant to the Company. Mr. Pirzada is a Professional Geoscientist with over thirty years of experience in mineral exploration and mining with specific expertise in raw materials such as lithium, rare earth elements, graphite, PGE and uranium, that are required for today’s high tech energy industries. He was previously President, CEO and Director of Rock Tech Lithium and is registered as a Professional Geoscientist with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia. Mr. Pirzada is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. He joins ILC as a Chief Technical Consultant and will act as the Company’s Qualified Person as required.
“I welcome each of our new team members and am confident that their high level of professional experience will help to move ILC forward with its new business strategy, creating value for our shareholders while maintaining the highest standards of corporate responsibility.” Kirill Klip, Chairman, President and CEO of International Lithium Corp.
John Harrop has resigned from his position as Vice President Exploration. The Company would like to thank Mr. Harrop for his many years of service and his technical guidance in helping to build the Company’s current portfolio of projects.
International Lithium Corp. is an exploration company with an outstanding portfolio of projects, strong management, robust financial support, and a strategic partner and keystone investor Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., a leading China based lithium product manufacturer.
The Company’s primary focus is the stratetegic stake in the Mariana lithium-potash brine project (including 10% back-in right), a joint venture with Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. within the renowned South American “Lithium Belt” that is the host to the vast majority of global lithium resources, reserves and production. The Mariana project strategically encompasses an entire mineral rich evaporate basin, totalling 160 square kilometres, that ranks as one of the more prospective salars or ‘salt lakes’ in the region.
Complementing the Company’s lithium brine project are three rare metals pegmatite properties in Canada known as the Mavis, Raleigh, and Forgan projects, and the Avalonia project in Ireland, which encompasses an extensive 50km-long pegmatite belt. The Avalonia project is under option to strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium and the Mavis and Raleigh projects with strategic partner Pioneer Resources Limited (ASX:PIO). The Mavis, Raleigh and Forgan projects together form the basis of the Company’s newly created Upper Canada Lithium Pool designated to focus on acquiring numerous prospects with previously reported high concentrations of lithium in close proximity to existing infrastructure.
With the increasing demand for high tech rechargeable batteries used in vehicle propulsion technologies and portable electronics, lithium is paramount to tomorrow’s “green-tech”, sustainable economy. By positioning itself with solid strategic partners and acquiring high quality assets for the Energy rEVolution supply chain, ILC aims to be the partner of choice for investors in green-tech and to continue to build value for its shareholders.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Kirill Klip
Chairman, President and CEO, International Lithium Corp.
For further information concerning this news release please contact +1.604.687.7551
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “will”, “could” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “could” occur. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” in the interim and annual Management’s Discussion and Analysis which are available at www.sedar.com. While our management believes that the assumptions made are reasonable, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. Forward-looking information herein, and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions change.
BMI is providing us today with another very vivid picture showing the development of Lithium's End Markets. Lithium Technology for Energy Storage is driving this change. Below are a few numbers to consider: What will happen if ... all cars will be Electric by 2030?
"I will throw a few numbers just to give you a teaser here. The rest is on this blog for those who are ready to learn. The cost of Lithium in your iPhone is $1 dollar, in Tesla's Lithium battery cost of Lithium is 2-3% in the price of the finished product. We are in a generational shift 2 to 7,000: 2 is the number of the batteries in your father's remote control, more than 7,000 is the number of lithium batteries in Tesla Model S. It takes 63 kg of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) to build Tesla Model S 70 kWh battery. Every 1% increase in sales of Electric Cars as part of total auto sales brings new demand for 70,000 t of LCE. Total production last year was 160,000 -180,000 t of LCE. During all our humankind history 1,000,000 EVs were sold before 2015. This year alone we can get 1,000,000 electric cars sold.Worldwide we are still close only to 1% of Electric cars in total auto sales. BYD - EV automaker from China where Warren Buffett is holding a 10% stake, will sell this year 100,000 EVs, it took GM 7 years to sell the same amount 100,000 of GM Volts. China is talking now about California style Zero Emissions Mandate: 8% of all news cars to be electric by 2018 and 12% by 2020. Let's digest it for a minute. With sales of EVs now only above 1% mark, we are talking about the factor of 8X in ... two years time and 12X increase in the number of electric cars produced in China by 2020! Now Goldman Sachs numbers can be really conservative: they are talking about 3 times increase in Lithium Demand by 2025. I am talking about the total disruption of $12 Trillion industries: 4$ Trillion Transportation and $8 Trillion Energy and Utilities. I am talking about all cars being electric very soon. Read more."
Ganfeng is the largest integrated lithium producer in China, with a total capacity of around 30,000 tpa LCE. Ganfeng’s products include lithium metal, lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate, lithium fluoride, lithium chloride, and other chemical products of lithium. In Australia, Ganfeng Lithium owns a 43.1% interest in the Mt. Marion lithium spodumene mine with Mineral Resources Ltd. (43.1%) and Neometals Ltd. (13.8%). Ganfeng was founded in 2000 and trades on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of around US$ 3 billion.
Please read legal disclaimer. There is no investment advice on this blog. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. DYOR.
(Please note that International Lithium is an exploration stage company and not producing any lithium materials yet. Company does not have any resources and/or reserves as it is defined by respective policies for disclosure by mining companies other than properly reported in its public filings on SEDAR)
Please Note that International Lithium Qualified Person - as it is defined by NI 43-101, was NOT able to Verify and Confirm Any Provided Information by The Third Parties in the Articles, News Releases or on the Links embedded in this blog post; you must NOT rely in any sense on any of this information in order to make any Resource or Value Calculation, or attribute any particular Value or Price Target to any Discussed Securities.
‘China’ the Centre of the Lithium Universe
Kirill Klip
President of International Lithium Corp.
The recent Volkswagen scandal has once again shed light on polluting vehicles and the health hazard they pose to the public and environment. In hopes of ending this tainted legacy, governments have begun implementing regulations to phase out emission causing vehicles. Respectively, all major automakers have followed suit and pledged to build dozens of electric vehicles in years to come.
Maybe you missed it, but China is now “The Center of the Lithium Universe”. China is already the world’s largest electric vehicle market. BYD, the Chinese company backed by Warren Buffett, is the largest EV manufacturer in the world, thus the Chinese companies are producing the largest amount of lithium chemicals for the batteries required to make them. The market is booming, there are currently 25 companies making 51 models of electric cars in China. Over 500,000 EVs will be sold in China this year alone. By comparison, it took GM 7 years to sell 100,000 Chevy Volts since 2009 which is projected to be also the total of sales for BYD just in this year!
Now there are reports that China is pushing for the very aggressive California style Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program. "8% of new cars to be electric by 2018, 12% by 2020.” Let’s put it into perspective: this year there are just over 1% of new cars sales in China. By 2018 they are talking about a factor of 8x that and 12x by 2020. That’s a 12x increase in the number of electric cars to be produced in China! Let’s digest it all for a moment…
Chinese companies currently control the majority of the Lithium Hydroxide market, a critical chemical product (so-called battery grade lithium) that goes into EV batteries. The same product that also goes into Tesla batteries, which Panasonic makes lithium cells for.
This month Magazine “Industrial Minerals” reported about Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi Lithium from China and their incredible growth: “Lithium boom continues to fuel Chinese majors” – Tianqi Lithium and Ganfeng Lithium both saw turnovers more than double in the first nine months of 2016.
International Lithium stands out among other companies developing lithium resources with its Strategic Partner – $4.5 Billion dollars Market Cap giant from China Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd.
“I am very pleased that Ganfeng Lithium is reinforcing its strategic stake in International Lithium. Ganfeng is a worldwide leader in lithium materials production based in China. They provide not only the capital to advance our joint venture projects in Argentina and Ireland but the technology to facilitate potential production to their particular needs as a lithium end-user. Ganfeng holds 19 patents and is the only company producing lithium chemicals both from brine and hard rock spodumene sources” states Kirill Klip, President of the Company.
International Lithium develops lithium projects on three continents: in Europe, Argentina and Canada. This year $17 million Canadian dollars were allocated to all ILC projects for development until the end of 2017.
Two J/V with Ganfeng Lithium are financed by ILC’s Strategic Partner: Avalonia in Ireland and Mariana in Argentina.
Now ILC has entered into a new strategic partnership with Pioneer Resources from Australia for their Mavis Lake and Raleigh Lake projects in Canada.
This is the implementation of ILC’s new strategy, developed for the security of lithium supply for North America. International Lithium is advancing a multitude of smaller deposits in the Upper Canada region that possess near perfect accessible infrastructure and that can supply a central lithium carbonate processing facility.
With the increasing demand for high-tech rechargeable batteries used in vehicle propulsion technologies and portable electronics, lithium is paramount to tomorrow’s “green-tech”, sustainable economy. By positioning itself with solid development partners and acquiring high-quality grassroots projects at an early stage of exploration, ILC aims to be the resource explorer of choice for investors in green tech and build value for its shareholders.
Please read legal disclaimer. There is no investment advice on this blog. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. DYOR.
“I am very pleased with how our strategic transition is moving forward at ILC,” states Kirill Klip, Chairman, President and CEO International Lithium Corp. “We are switching from a relatively low profit base of only managing exploration operations for the development of our J/V projects with our strategic partners to building a sizeable portfolio of strategic assets. Examples of our successful past record include the Mariana and Avalonia lithium projects which are being developed in conjunction with lithium industry leaders like Ganfeng Lithium, our strategic partner. Read more."
We are moving very fast with electric cars out of grasp by any politics and towards the economic decisions when customers will start voting with their wallets. This is the bifurcation point to put all ICE cars to rest in a decade. It will be impossible to sell cancer hazard 100 years old oil burning technology anymore. The Switch is happening right now when millions of people are deciding to buy new electric cars. Read more."
THE high-pitched whirr of an electric car may not stir the soul like the bellow and growl of an internal combustion engine (ICE). But to compensate, electric motors give even the humblest cars explosive acceleration. Electric cars are similarly set for rapid forward thrust. Improving technology and tightening regulations on emissions from ICEs is about to propel electric vehicles (EVs) from a niche to the mainstream. After more than a century of reliance on fossil fuels, however, the route from petrol power to volts will be a tough one for carmakers to navigate.
The change of gear is recent. One car in a hundred sold today is powered by electricity. The proportion of EVs on the world’s roads is still well below 1%. Most forecasters had reckoned that by 2025 that would rise to around 4%. Those estimates are undergoing a big overhaul as carmakers announce huge expansions in their production of EVs. Morgan Stanley, a bank, now says that by 2025 EV sales will hit 7m a year and make up 7% of vehicles on the road. Exane BNP Paribas, another bank, reckons that it could be more like 11% (see chart). But as carmakers plan for ever more battery power, even these figures could quickly seem too low.
Ford’s boss is bolder still. In January Mark Fields announced that the “era of the electric vehicle is dawning”, and he reckons that the number of models of EVs will exceed pure ICE-powered cars within 15 years. Ford has promised 13 new electrified cars in the next five years. Others are making bigger commitments. Volkswagen, the world’s biggest carmaker, said last year that it would begin a product blitz in 2020 and launch 30 new battery-powered models by 2025, when EVs will account for up to a quarter of its sales. Daimler, a German rival, also recently set an ambitious target of up to a fifth of sales by the same date.
The surge has two explanations: the rising cost of complying with emissions regulations and the falling cost of batteries. Pure EVs, which send no carbon dioxide directly into the atmosphere, and hybrids, which produce far less than conventional engines, are a way to meet Europe’s emissions targets—albeit an expensive one. But the gains from cheaper methods such as turbocharging smaller engines, stop-start technology and weight reductions will no longer be enough, since a tougher testing regime, to be introduced in the wake of VW’s diesel-cheating scandal, will make those targets still harder to reach.
The hefty cost of preventing nitrogen oxide spewing from diesel engines, which emit far less carbon dioxide than the petrol equivalent, may see them disappear by 2025. Further development of ICEs could be enough to meet the 2021 targets. Carmakers also need to be prepared to hit the next ones, says Andrew Bergbaum of AlixPartners, a consulting firm. These, yet to be finalised in the EU for carbon dioxide, may be as low as 68g/km by 2025 compared with 130g/km today.
Regulations are favourable outside Europe, too. In China more than 400,000 pure EVs were sold last year, making it the world’s biggest market. The government, keen to clear the air of choking exhaust fumes, has plans for a quota that could insist that 8% of sales are EVs or hybrids by 2018. And even if Donald Trump relaxes American emissions standards, this will not hold back electrification. California, which accounts for one in eight cars sold in America, is allowed to set tougher environmental standards than the national ones. It, and seven of the other states that have adopted its emissions rules, have a target of 3.3m EVs on their roads by 2025.
Moving right along
Technology will have as much impact as politics. Vehicles that carmakers are forced to produce for the sake of the environment will become ones that buyers want for the sake of their wallets. EVs were once generally a second car for richer, environmentally minded drivers, prepared to pay a big premium for a vehicle with a battery that took an age to charge and had a limited range.
The falling cost of batteries will make the cost of owning and running an EV the same as that of a traditionally powered car in Europe by the early 2020s, even without the hefty government subsidies that many rich countries use to sweeten the deal (see article). Better batteries should also conquer “range anxiety”—most pure EVs now run out of juice after around 100 miles (161km). If battery costs continue to tumble and performance improves at the current rate, the price of a car with a range of 300 miles could hit $30,000 by the early 2020s, according to Exane BNP Paribas. Slicker technology will also mean charging in minutes, not hours.
The lack of charging infrastructure still deters buyers, but signs of growth are encouraging. In most rich countries governments, carmakers and private companies are putting up the necessary cash. In America the number of charging points grew by more than a quarter to almost 40,000 in 2016. Even Shell and Total, are planning to put chargers on the forecourts of their petrol stations across Europe.
But EVs are not yet a profitable business for carmakers precisely because of their batteries. Chevrolet’s Bolt, on sale late last year, costs under $30,000 with subsidies and travels 238 miles between charges. But each sale will reportedly set General Motors back $9,000. Tesla’s rival, the Model 3, is set to go on sale later this year; the firm has yet to make an annual profit. Even Renault-Nissan, the world’s biggest EV manufacturer, loses money on electric models.
Research and development also costs a fortune. Daimler says it will spend €10bn by 2025 on just ten battery-powered models. Restructuring is also expensive. For a century carmakers have built factories, employed workers and developed a supply chain around the ICE. In one scenario Morgan Stanley reckons that VW’s entire car business could make a loss between 2025 and 2028 as it transforms itself.
Some carmakers are better placed than others for the transition. Profitable premium brands such as Daimler and BMW have the resources to invest and can be confident that their richer customers will be the first to switch to more expensive EVs. Mass-market carmakers have a trickier task, according to Patrick Hummel of UBS, a bank. Despite falling costs, a cheap EV for the mass market is still a distance away. The likes of Fiat Chrysler (whose chairman, John Elkann, sits on the board of The Economist’s parent company) or PSA Group, which makes Peugeots and Citroëns, have barely begun changing. But these carmakers, already operating with wafer-thin profit margins, must still invest heavily in anticipation of that moment.
EVs may eventually make more money than ICE cars as battery costs fall further. They are competitive in other ways too: EVs are simpler mechanically, and require less equipment and fewer workers to assemble them. But carmakers first face a transition that will hit cashflow and profits. Getting ready for an electric race will be painful, but missing it altogether would be disastrous.
