Saturday 30 July 2016

Elon Musk Launches Tesla Gigafactory: The Goal - Exit The Fossil Fuels Era As Soon As Possible.


  Elon Musk: "Gigafactory is the giant machine, we had to design it as a product - as a machine building other machines. We have just to build it and it has to be big, very big. Because the world is big. We could not find enough lithium batteries for our cars. Total lithium batteries output in 2014 was 30 GWh, Gigafactory will produce 50 GWh in 2018 for 500,000 electric cars and 150 GWh at full capacity for 1.5 million electric cars and Tesla Energy."





"Now you can better appreciate the enormous scale of Tesla Gigafactory and Elon Musk's vision why all cars will be electric and very soon. Elon Musk has confirmed the most important information for the mass market for electric cars: he expects that cost of lithium batteries for Tesla Electric Cars will drop to $100 per kWh by 2020.  It means that Tesla Model 3 60 kWh lithium battery will cost ... only $6k! We can start seriously talking about my magic formula to make all cars electric: 20/200 when $20k buys you beautiful type BMW 2 electric car with a better performance and 200 miles range on a charge. Watch the video."








Goldman Sachs' Lithium Rush: Tesla Electric Trucks And Master Plan 2.0 Explained.


 "Goldman Sachs is really into lithium now and pushing it across all social media platforms and to its clients.  The real story with Lithium is happening in China already and Elon Musk tells everybody who would listen what is coming next. This video from Tesla Trip is summarizing very well the latest developments with Tesla. Below you can find a lot of information about the far-reaching consequences for the strategic commodities like Lithium which is at the very heart of this Energy rEVolution and Electric Cars. Read more."



Lithium 2.0 Launch: Security Of Supply - Galaxy Resources To Buy General Mining In Lithium Takeover.





  This chart of lithium price in China is keeping awake at night very many people now in our very small industry. Quite a lot of them have totally missed the launch of Lithium 2.0 and now the security of supply is the major geopolitical issue. Tesla is still relying on Panasonic to supply lithium cells and a lot of people are relying on the "Lithium Found in Nevada" under Tesla's Gigafactory floor.
  Ganfeng Lithium: $4.5 billion giant from China is the strategic partner of International Lithium and now financing two of our J/V operations in Ireland and in Argentina. We are going where Lithium is and not just the hype around it. As we have discussed before, Lithium 2.0 is now for real as we have the real electric cars finally on the road and GM Bolt and Tesla Model 3 bring us mass market for electric cars.  Cheap lithium batteries change everything. Exponential growth in EVs sales is following by deployment of Energy Storage now.
  This Lithium M&A is pointing out another very important quality of Lithium 2.0 Launch: separation of dreams from the real people with the real projects, capital and technology to put them forward. There are only very limited number of quality lithium projects and even less capable teams with access to the capital and technology, like in the case of International Lithium and Ganfeng.
  Galaxy is back from after the death experience and moves into the "New Lithium Top Six" taking over the "Old Lithium Big Three". Albemarle, SQM and FMC are being chased by very aggressive Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi from China. Now we can add Galaxy to this very small space for investors to play around with the security of lithium supply for the future when all cars will be electric. That chart of lithium price shows what is happening when in the last 5 years out of 80k T of LCE expected new production annually only 18k T was put on-line and when Gigafactory and Megafactories are only coming on. 
  Now is time to check out the Gigafactories Game of Lithium Demand: 

Before we were talking about: 

1. Tesla Gigafactory 1 with 35 GWh and cost $5bn in Nevada, US.
2. LG Chem with 7 GWh and cost $0.5bn in China.
3. FOXCONN with 15 GWh and cost  $0.81bn in China.
4. BYD with 20 GWh in China - Warren  Buffett owns a stake in BYD, leader of EV sales in China.
5. Boston Power 10 GWh in China - Ganfeng Lithium ILC partner owned 10% of Boston Power.

Total: 87 GWh - a point of reference: total world lithium batteries production in 2013 was 35 GWh.

Now we have to add here:

- 17 lithium battery start-ups in China, totally unquantifiable number and I will leave it out as speculative. 

6. BYD plants in Brazil and Argentina.
7. Panasonic in China.
8. LG Chem in Europe.
9. Mercedes in Europe.
10. A123 in Europe.
11. BMZ with 30 GWh planned capacity in Germany, Europe.
12. Volkswagen with $11.2 cost planned in Germany, Europe.

Total: more than 117 GWh of new lithium batteries capacity. 

  Now you can appreciate that my scenario of lithium demand doubling within next 5 years as the conservative one. Only Tesla with its plan of 1 million EVs produced by 2020 will consume at least 60 GWh of lithium batteries capacity assuming the average of 60 KWH batteries per EV. Knowing the Elon Musk's maniacal insistence on producing the most of all components in-house, we can add Gigafactory 2 in Europe as well to the list above.
  Where will all this lithium come from? This is the very good question to ask the best experts at coming Benchmark Minerals Intelligence Lithium Batteries Supply Tour 2016, which will start in London on June 6th at UBS. I will give you a teaser and few links on this blog to dig out your own conclusion.  Albemarle is the top lithium producer now. SQM is struggling with political issues, FMC is struggling with lithium production and both are producing Lithium for less than 20% of revenue. It means that even if you can technically produce more, you have to sell 80% more of other products as fertilisers as well. Ganfeng and Tianqi are taking the market by the storm and both are in fierce competition. Now Tianqi controls Talison with Albemarle (Albemarle has acquired Rockwood Lithium) and Ganfeng is buying lithium spodumene from Talison and lithium brine concentrate from SQM. It is not very well constructed base for the exponential growth and at AGM on 21st of September 2015 Ganfeng Lithium has officially informed its shareholders: "its major risk is the security of lithium supply." Ganfeng has invested in Neometals and approved budgets for International Lithium J/V projects in Ireland and Argentina. Ganfeng owns 15% stake in International Lithium. The presentations below will provide you with more initial information for your due diligence. 


International Lithium At Wentworth 2016 Presentation.




CEO-Roaster With International Lithium Corp.: Building A Green Energy Metals Royalty Company.




  It took International Lithium 7 years of building its Lithium business and 5 years of partnership with Ganfeng Lithium: $4.5 billion market cap giant from China - to receive this acknowledgement to celebrate our 5th IPO anniversary: Watch the video."


"Ganfeng has a strong commitment to supply Lithium product to various industries worldwide,” stated Ganfeng’s Director, Wang Xiaoshen, “so we clearly have a vested interest in these projects and have been very hands-on in the evaluation of ILC’s properties. Our company is the only one in the world that has commercial production capacities to extract Lithium from both brine and spodumene, and we continually implement cutting-edge technologies to our processes. I feel confident that this is a fit for our operations and the potential these projects hold."




Race For Renewable Energy Technologies Charges Lithium Market. Chinese Lithium Leader Secures Supply Sources.







  Here is the link to answer all your questions why Lithium will power us for the next 50 years and after that Robots:



Lithium-Air Battery Breakthrough Will Make Diesel And Petrol Cars Obsolete.














Please carefully read my legal disclaimer, nothing on this blog represents investment and/or tax advice. Please always consult your qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions. 

Friday 29 July 2016

Goldman Sachs' Lithium Rush: Tesla Electric Trucks And Master Plan 2.0 Explained.


  
  Goldman Sachs is really into lithium now and pushing it across all social media platforms and to its clients.  The real story with Lithium is happening in China already and Elon Musk tells everybody who would listen what is coming next. This video from Tesla Trip is summarizing very well the latest developments with Tesla. Below you can find a lot of information about the far-reaching consequences for the strategic commodities like Lithium which is at the very heart of this Energy rEVolution and Electric Cars.





Energy rEVolution: As Lithium Demand Grows, China 'Charged Up And Ready To Grow'.




   Tesla Gigafactory "Grand Opening" this week on July 29th has brought Lithium back into headlines. CNBC is pushing the story out after UBS and Goldman Sachs have endorsed Electric Cars and Lithium respectively. I will not be very cynical here, but you can get the drift. In my very personal opinion, there is NO Lithium underneath the Tesla Gigafactory floor. The Lithium Launch 2.0 will separate hype and daydreams from people with dreams and solid lithium projects advanced with strong major lithium end-users as strategic partners. Just always make your very own DD and otherwise the story is right: all cars will be electric very soon and powered by Lithium Technology. 
  I was very impressed during Benchmark Minerals Intelligence Battery Supply Conference hosted by UBS this June in London when UBS basically killed any hydrogen dreams left and pronounce that battery powered electric cars are the future for transportation. According to UBS just in a few years time, we will reach the cost ownership parity between electric cars and ICE ones powered by diesel and gasoline. It will be the major tipping point  and China is leading the way. Lithium X gained my respect after its presentation when they have stated that very substantial claims in Nevada are on hold and no investment is planned to advance them before the new lithium extraction technology for that region can be developed. There are enough known lithium resources to make all our transportation electric, lithium is even in the sea water - the trick is to extract it economically and in time to meet the rising demand. My very personal estimations are for 100% increase in the next 5 years and Goldman Sachs is talking now about lithium demand tripling by 2025. Now add here all the rumors about Electric Cars from Apple, Foxconn; and Jaguar Land Rover, BMW and  Ford being in talks about building their own lithium batteries "Gigafactory" to compete with Tesla.
  International Lithium goes with its strategic partners to the places where Lithium is and not just Tesla and its Gigafactory. Ganfeng Lithium is $4.5 Billion market cap giant from China with 19 patents and the only company able to produce lithium from both hard rock and brine sources. Ganfeng invests heavily in International Lithium and finances our two J/V s in Ireland and Argentina.  And the real lithium race is happening in China already where 25 companies are making 51 models of electric cars.  Read more."






Lithium Race Tesla Master Plan 2.0: Stunning Solar Seamlessly Powering Houses, Electric Trucks, Busses And Killing Uber.





  The wait is over: Elon Musk goes BYD or the world domination. Warren Buffett is the unlikely person to participate in Energy rEVolution, but BYD has already the full scale of what Elon Musk is going to do now in style. This is a major difference: Elon Musk has style and the best EVs technology ahead of everybody, but BYD has the largest market for electric cars in the world in China and has become the number one EV manufacturer already. They have electric cars, busses, trucks, and energy storage.





  "Welcome to the 21st-century competition, when prices for the best electric cars are going down and fast.  So far the Tesla Master Plan 2.0 is addressing what Tesla will do in the future and not how. It lacks major details of how this literally grand vision will be achieved. There is no real groundbreaking announcement about Electric Car and Solar Systems from Tesla with  "Pay As You Go" payment plan or strategic alliance with Apple or BYD yet. We have to see how this vision of millions of electric cars, buses and trucks seamlessly powered by Solar Energy will be implemented in the future, but Lithium Technology is here already to make it happen. There are 25 companies in China already making 51 models of electric cars anxious to make it happen in the largest auto market in the world.
  Tesla Gigafactory and other Lithium Batteries Megafactories will be the key to this success. $4.5 billion giant from China Ganfeng Lithium supplies lithium to BYD and Panasonic among very many other clients. Panasonic supplies Tesla with lithium cells. International Lithium is building a vertically integrated lithium business with Ganfeng.  Ganfeng Lithium finances two of our J/V projects in Ireland and Argentina. Welcome to the fast lane of Energy rEVolution! Read more."







Ganfeng Lithium And International Lithium Approve USD 12 Million Budget To Accelerate The Mariana Lithium Brine Project In Argentina.





“Our combined perseverance over the last five years has culminated in this momentous milestone. We look forward with our strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium to the advancement of the Mariana Lithium brine project towards operational permitting” states Mr. Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium Corp. “This is a clear indication that our careful approach in identifying high quality projects at an early stage of development, whether they are brines or pegmatites, and sourcing strategic partners to assist in the development of these assets is proven successful. ILC intends to apply this approach and rapidly advance the Company’s portfolio of high quality lithium projects in this increasingly vital market segment.” Read more.





Will Elon Musk's Secret Master Plan 2.0 "Save" Tesla And All Of Us From Cancer Hazard Diesel And Petrol Emissions?


  


  "I honestly do not know why so many people are thinking that something is wrong with Tesla and why it must be saved now. All other autos on another hand need a very serious shake up, just to survive what is coming now. Tesla Model 3 will unleash the true mass market for electric cars. Tesla has outsold Audi 8, BMW 7 and Mercedes S-Class last year in the Western Europe already, now Elon Musk is going for the BMW 3 admirers.  
  While a general public is still sleeping at the wheels of cancer hazard polluting diesel and petrol cars, "Electric Billionaire Club" is busy adding billions to their fortunes.   Elon Musk is working now on his "Secret Master Plan" promised to be released shortly - I guess to add to the excitement and publicity around Tesla Gigafactory Grand Opening on July 29th.  What this one will be about? "Creating a seamlessly integrated Tesla battery & solar power product that looks beautiful", as Elon Musk twitted about the reason for Tesla buying out Solar City. Will Tesla announce the "Mobile Phone" style payment plan for its Electric Cars and Solar systems, when customers can choose an electric car from Tesla or add to it Tesla's Solar System including Energy Storage and pay a simple monthly fee for it? Or can we expect something even more groundbreaking? For example, like how to make millions of electric cars Tesla Model 3 really super fast? I will throw the wild one: major strategic alliance announcement with Apple to build dozens of Gigafactories all around the world and license Tesla Model 3 powertrains.
  Or will it be another member of "Electric Billionaire club involved? Warren Buffett has a stake in BYD. This New Energy conglomerate from China is the largest EVs manufacturer in the world, conveniently located in the largest market for electric cars in China. Any combination of technology, skills, capital and market access in China between Tesla and BYD will throw all other automakers back in the ICE age overnight. Then Sir Branson will be definitely right on the spot with his prediction. Read more."



Elon Musk Moves To Tesla Solar Cities: The Goal - Exit The Fossil Fuels Era As Soon As Possible.


  
  There are very heated debates on the CNBC, Bloomberg and in social media about Elon Musk's bold move to buy out SolarCity by Tesla. Number crunchers will point out to the SolarCity problems, family connections, conflicts of interests and "how many people would be better by buying Tesla Electric Car than Tesla's stock during the recent underwriting". Smarter short sellers can point out to the  "disarray of the solar industry in general" after the collapse of the Sun Edison.  Everything will work now - just to cover the Big Short. They all have a very little time left ... Elon Musk will spell it all out one more time at the Tesla Gigafactory "opening" in July. Read more."





International Lithium Corp. And Pioneer Resources Plan $1 Million Exploration Budget At the Mavis And Raleigh Lithium Pegmatite Projects, Ontario, Canada.



“This brings the total amount budgeted for exploration to CAD$17 million across the Company’s projects in CanadaArgentina and Ireland, making International Lithium Corp. one of the most active exploration companies in the lithium sector.  This speaks volumes for the quality as well as the potential of the Company’s projects,” states Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium Corp.”








International Lithium Corp. Options Raleigh Lithium Pegmatite Project, Ontario To Strategic Partner Pioneer Resources Limited.






Race For Renewable Energy Technologies Charges Lithium Market. Chinese Lithium Leader Secures Supply Sources.


Our vision is to establish multiple deposits located in the same area with a central processing plant,” states ILC President Kirill Klip in an exclusive interview. “It will allow us to minimise the CAPEX and reduce operating expenses.”
“The future is electric,” confirms Klip. “The Tesla Model 3 booked 325,000 reservations in one week. ILC intends to seize this opportunity to advance the Upper Canada lithium project to meet the rising demand from electric cars and communication devices.


International Lithium Corp. and Pioneer Resources Execute Option Agreement On Mavis Lake Project, Ontario, Canada.



Our objective is to become a leading global developer of Lithium projects,” stated Gary Schellenberg, CEO of ILC, in an exclusive interview. “Our projects in Argentina and Ireland have attracted investment from big players, which has set the stage for our new Upper Canada project partnership with Pioneer Resources Limited of Australia.” ILC’s Mavis, Forgan and Raleigh projects in the Upper Canada Lithium Pool have fulfilled the company’s objective to acquire a multinational project portfolio, thereby decreasing geo-political risk for shareholders. 






International Lithium Corp. President’s Message.



"ILC is unique in that we not only have a very strong financial partner providing capital for our joint venture projects, but Ganfeng is also the end user. They have 19 processing patents and are the only lithium materials producer capable of working with both brine and spodumene sources of lithium raw materials. We are developing projects that will potentially produce the lithium source material they require for processing.  We are also applying the strategic partner model to our North American projects and are using the exploration knowledge gained at Avalonia in Ireland to build up our Upper Canada Lithium Pool projects."





International Lithium: New Discoveries With Ganfeng Lithium In Ireland and Argentina.


"We are very pleased to celebrate our 5th IPO anniversary with our strategic partner $4.5 Billion giant from China Ganfeng Lithium. These new discoveries at Mariana Lithium Brine J/V project in Argentina and at Avalonia Lithium Hard Rock J/V project in Ireland show International Lithium's very deep technical Team at its best, delivering the results  based on the advanced exploration technologies developed by ILC both for lithium brine and lithium hard rock projects. On behalf of all shareholders, I would like to thank all ILC Team and particularly Gary Schellenberg, Anthony Covacs, John Harrop, Bruno Kasper and Mike Sieb for these outstanding exploration results bringing Mariana and Avalonia projects to the new level of development."




Please carefully read my legal disclaimer, nothing on this blog represents investment and/or tax advice. Please always consult your qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions. 





Electric Cars rEVolution: Lithium Is The New Gasoline - Goldman Sachs' Bob Koort.



"When UBS talks about coming parity for the cost of ownership of Electric Cars and ICE vehicles, people are listening.  When Goldman Sachs talks about Lithium investors will listen carefully as well. Here we have been talking about both subjects for years and, hopefully, you are ready for what is coming now."






International Lithium:

International Lithium Corp. and Pioneer Resources Plan $1 Million Exploration Budget at the Mavis and Raleigh Lithium Pegmatite Projects, Ontario, Canada

Vancouver, B.C. July 28, 2016, International Lithium Corp. (the “Company” or “ILC”) (TSX Venture:ILC.V) is pleased to announce that strategic partner Pioneer Resources Limited (“Pioneer”) (ASX:PIO) is planning $1 million in exploration expenditures in 2016 on the Mavis and Raleigh lithium pegmatite projects east of Dryden, Ontario, Canada.
“This brings the total amount budgeted for exploration to CAD$17 million across the Company’s projects in Canada, Argentina and Ireland, making International Lithium Corp. one of the most active exploration companies in the lithium sector.  This speaks volumes for the quality as well as the potential of the Company’s projects,” states Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium Corp.”


Mavis and Raleigh Exploration Programs
The $1 million budget will be allocated fairly evenly across the Mavis and Raleigh lithium pegmatite projects (“Projects”).  The exploration programs will include litho-geochemical sampling, ground and airborne geophysics and 3,000m of diamond drilling with 1,500m planned at each of the Projects in autumn 2016.
To date a continuous-reading ground magnetic survey has been completed over much of the Mavis Lake Lithium Project and data processing is underway.  In addition, mapping and litho-geochemical rock sampling (170 samples submitted for assay) have been completed to refine targets ahead of drilling.
Field crews will undertake similar exploration programs of geophysics, mapping and litho-geochemistry at Raleigh later this month.  Magnetic survey options are being investigated to best suit the local terrain with consideration being given to the use of a low-altitude high-resolution aeromagnetic system.



The Mavis and Raleigh Lithium Projects are situated 19 and 80 kilometres east respectively from the town of Dryden, Ontario.  Both Projects are in close vicinity to the Trans-Canada highway and railway major transportation arteries linking larger cities such as Thunder Bay, Ontario, to the southeast and Winnipeg, Manitoba, to the west.
When rare-metal pegmatites are emplaced, the host rocks adjacent to the pegmatite are enriched by the associated fluids forming a rare-metals’ dispersion halo around the pegmatite body.  Normally the extent of the rare-metal alteration halo is within meters of the pegmatite, but the pegmatite belts at Mavis and Raleigh exhibit some of the broadest and strongest host-rock lithium anomalies observed around the world denoting an intense mineralizing system.
Previous exploration campaigns on the Projects successfully discovered spodumene bearing high-grade lithium pegmatites within these anomalous bands (see Company news releases March 14, March 23, July 13 and July 25, 2016 for further details).
The close proximity of the Projects presents clear strategic and operational advantages.  ILC is pursuing lithium prospects with reported high grades in this region and seeking to consolidate them with the aim to identify sufficient resources in multiple prospects to potentially feed a common processing facility.  The Upper Canada Lithium Pool is the anticipated geographical consolidation of projects and partnered companies hosting amenable grade, volume, access and infrastructure in order to mitigate the financial burden on any one company when advancing specific projects to reach this goal.
John Harrop, P.Geo, FGS, is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 who has supervised preparation of the technical information contained in this news release.


International Lithium Corp. is an exploration company with an outstanding portfolio of projects, strong management ownership, 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 Mariana lithium-potash brine project, 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 160 square kilometre Mariana project strategically encompasses an entire mineral rich evaporate basin 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 one project in Ireland (Avalonia project) that 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 (PIO:ASX).  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 development partners and acquiring high quality grass roots 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.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Kirill Klip
President, International Lithium Corp.

Neither the 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. Statements in this press release other than purely historical information, historical estimates should not be relied upon, including statements relating to the Company’s future plans and objectives or expected results, are forward-looking statements. News release contains certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company’s business, including risks inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.