Lithium Race Ludicrous Mode: Chile’s SQM To Acquire 50% Stake In Mt Holland Lithium Project In Western Australia.

The heat wave of Lithium M&A this summer has officially arrived. Lithium race now enters the ludicrous mode and SQM moves into the JV in Western Australia in the hard rock mining! SQM is the world's top lithium brine producer, but recent changes in Chile have brought some new challenges for the company. This move is diversifying SQM geographically and will allow finally increase the share of revenues in its fertilisers and chemicals stream towards lithium products. SQM is already engaged in JV with Lithium Americas and Ganfeng Lithium in the lithium brine project in Argentina.

SQM is itself a target of constant dating from Chinese companies including Ganfeng Lithium and Tianqi. We have just recently discussed the advance from GSR, another Chinese company. Now we can better understand the announcement by Ganfeng Lithium in June when SQM stopped to ship concentrated brine from Chile to China. Please note the announcement that SQM and Kidman have agreed to develop a proposed downstream lithium refinery operation to produce lithium carbonate and hydroxide in WA. All lithium majors are entering into the direct competition now and building their own vertically integrated lithium businesses when the security of lithium supply is everything. This process will drive M&A and consolidation in our industry in this Lithium 2.0 stage.

Bloomberg: The Electric Car Revolution Is Accelerating - Production Of Lithium Will Increase More Than 100-fold.

And now Bloomberg is joining our discussion about critical secure lithium supply to feed this Energy rEVolution and the coming tide of electric cars. The total disconnect between the exponential growth of sales of electric cars and available secure lithium supply is making its way into the mainstream investment media.

For us here, it will not be a secret that BNEF is totally right to point out the main driving force of this coming Electric rEVolution - cheap lithium batteries change everything. The surprise is coming with the news from Audi - they are claiming to be able to purchase lithium batteries for the upcoming electric cars at $114 per KWh from China already! And I will not be surprised by it at all. With all that build up in lithium batteries capacity, the new coming players will bid for business now betting on mass volume production to bring the cost of lithium batteries fast down. We are entering the Solar Panels stage of total industry cost structure disruption for Lithium Batteries with China investing billions to corner this market as well.

Security of lithium supply is at the very base of this state-level investment game by China. In the end, you cannot participate in billions of dollars in available government funding if you cannot secure the supply of lithium raw materials to feed all this pyramid. Disruption of $12 Trillion dollars industries ($4 Trillion Transportation and $8 Trillion Energy and Utilities) is based on the $2 Billion dollars market by sales of lithium raw materials. And the price of that critical commodity is just under 2% of total cost of a lithium battery. We will have the very fast increase in lithium prices and the wave of M&A in our very small sector will be one of the most impressive ones, when billions will be chasing all available secure lithium supply trying to buy the time they have lost already. Read more.

Mining-Technology.com:

Chile’s SQM to acquire 50% stake in Mt Holland lithium project in WA

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile has signed a $110m joint venture (JV) agreement to acquire a 50% interest in Kidman Resources’ Mt Holland lithium project in Western Australia (WA). 

Following completion of the deal, Mt Holland project will be shared by the companies, having previously been wholly owned by Kidman Resources. 

Under the agreement, SQM will make an initial cash payment of $30m to Kidman and contribute $80m to fund the development costs of the project in exchange for the 50% stake.

Furthermore, the companies have agreed to develop a proposed downstream lithium refinery operation to produce lithium carbonate / hydroxide in WA.

"It contains a mineral resource of 128 million tonnes at 1.44% Li2O for 1.84 million tonnes of lithium oxide."

The refinery is expected to be underpinned by the Earl Grey lithium deposit at Mt Holland. It contains a mineral resource of 128 million tonnes at 1.44% Li2O for 1.84 million tonnes of lithium oxide.

Funding from SQM will be used for the completion of feasibility studies relating to Mt Holland lithium project, alongside the mine development phase and processing plant on-site. 

Funds will also be directed towards the mine's construction phase, processing plant and associated infrastructure, as well as funding the refinery plant's design and study phase.  

The agreement will give exclusive rights to the JV to explore and mine for lithium in the project area, while Kidman will retain the exclusive right to exploit gold. 

InvestorIntel: Lithium Producers Believe That The Automotive Market Has Reached The Tipping Point.

International Energy Agency: In Order To Limit Temperature Increase Below 2º C The Number Of Electric Cars Needs To Reach 600 Million By 2040.

"The cost of lithium batteries is going down very fast and I believe that fully electric cars will rule the world very soon. Tesla Model 3 with 65 kWh lithium battery provides over 200 miles of range and will become the standard in the industry with its mass volume production from this July. There is around 60 kg of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) in one Tesla Model 3 battery. We will need 36 Million Tonnes of LCE to be produced by 2040 to put this IEA plan into life. 

To put it into perspective, the total lithium production last year was around 200,000 T of LCE. Now you can better understand why there is the real cut throat competition for the security of lithium supply which is still hidden from the most of the people by the clouds of toxic cancer hazard fumes emitted by all DIEsel cars on our roads. ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) are on the way out, all cars will be electric very soon and we are facing the total disconnect between the coming demand for lithium and the available supply. Read more."

Bloomberg: In just eight years, electric cars will be as cheap as gasoline vehicles, pushing the global fleet to 530 million vehicles by 2040 

InvestorIntel:

Lithium producers believe that the automotive market has reached the tipping point

DR. LUC DUCHESNE | JULY 09, 2017 | 

International Lithium Corp. (TSXV: ILC) is capitalizing on lithium demand turning into lithium anxiety both for investors and lithium battery manufacturers looking to lock in supply chain verticals.

Recently, International Lithium released data from its main project in Argentina, the Mariana lithium brine project, with its indicated resource containing an estimated 1,248,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), previously reported with at a 60% recovery rate to be 747,000 tonnes LCE which is now calculated as 749,000 tonnes of LCE. Inferred resource contains an estimated 618,000 tonnes of LCE.

Lithium producers believe that the automotive market has reached the tipping point, that will lead to the mass electrification of transportation. Electric Cars still represent only 0.2% of all cars in the world. Worldwide sales of electric cars have reached 1.1% of total auto sales in 2016. 

The drive for electric cars is pushing demand for lithium salts as the mainstay of lithium ion batteries. When electric vehicles first appeared in the marketplace, range anxiety was a main factor affecting market uptake. But Tesla’s Model 3 with 65 kWh lithium battery provides over 200 miles of range and will become the standard in the industry with its mass volume production from this July.

Are we waiving our goodbyes to range anxiety and are we getting into the unchartered territory of lithium supply anxiety?

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) “Global EV Outlook 2017” past data suggests significant growth in sales of electric cars.

Recent sector performance is indicative. The global electric car stock surpassed 2 million vehicles in 2016 after crossing the 1 million threshold in 2015, prompting new analyses on the lithium supply chain.

According to the IEA, in order to limit the increase of temperature below 2º C the number of electric cars needs to reach 600 million by 2040.

Kirill Klip, Executive Chairman, President and CEO of International Lithium Corp., “There is around 60 kg of LCE in one Tesla Model 3 battery. We will need 36 Million Tonnes of LCE to be produced by 2040 to support 600 million electric vehicles on the road by 2040.”

But this is about more than lithium mining and purification. I expect that this may cause a dramatic shift in the global economy. In the hallways of academia, scholars claim that the automotive industry has been central to the emergence of the current economic paradigm. The mass production of the Model T by Henry Ford, opened up the world’s economy. Even nowadays, new car sales are an indicator of economic growth because of the importance of the automotive industry to the gross domestic product (GDP).

There is a direct correlation between the size of a country’s GDP, and its automotive industry. GDP accounts for the consumption, investments, net exports, and government spending during a given time period. In economics terms, it is possible that lithium will be a central tenet to a shifting paradigm in favor the electrification of transportation the same way gasoline supported the emergence of the automotive industry in the early 1990s."

Bloomberg: The Electric Car Revolution Is Accelerating - Production Of Lithium Will Increase More Than 100-fold.

And now Bloomberg is joining our discussion about critical secure lithium supply to feed this Energy rEVolution and the coming tide of electric cars. The total disconnect between the exponential growth of sales of electric cars and available secure lithium supply is making its way into the mainstream investment media.

For us here, it will not be a secret that BNEF is totally right to point out the main driving force of this coming Electric rEVolution - cheap lithium batteries change everything. The surprise is coming with the news from Audi - they are claiming to be able to purchase lithium batteries for the upcoming electric cars at $114 per KWh from China already! And I will not be surprised by it at all. With all that build up in lithium batteries capacity, the new coming players will bid for business now betting on mass volume production to bring the cost of lithium batteries fast down. We are entering the Solar Panels stage of total industry cost structure disruption for Lithium Batteries with China investing billions to corner this market as well.

Security of lithium supply is at the very base of this sate-level investment game by China. In the end, you cannot participate in billions of dollars in available government funding if you cannot secure the supply of lithium raw materials to feed all this pyramid. Disruption of $12 Trillion dollars industries ($4 Trillion Transportation and $8 Trillion Energy and Utilities) is based on the $2 Billion dollars market by sales of lithium raw materials. And the price of that critical commodity is just under 2% of total cost of a lithium battery. We will have the very fast increase in lithium prices and the wave of M&A in our very small sector will be one of the most impressive ones, when billions will be chasing all available secure lithium supply trying to buy the time they have lost already.

"The forecast is BNEF’s most bullish to date and is more aggressive than projections made by the International Energy Agency. Surging investment in lithium-ion batteries, higher manufacturing capacity at companies including Tesla Inc. and Nissan Motor Co., as well as emerging consumer demand from China to Europe support BNEF’s projections, which also include: ·       In just eight years, electric cars will be as cheap as gasoline vehicles, pushing the global fleet to 530 million vehicles by 2040

 ·       Electricity consumption from EVs will grow to 1,800 terawatt-hours in 2040, or 5 percent of global power demand, from 6 terawatt-hours in 2016

 ·       There's around 90 gigawatt hours of EV lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity online now, and this is set to rise to 270 gigawatt hours by 2021.

 ·       Charging infrastructure will continue to be an issue with bottlenecks capping growth in key Chinese, U.S. and European markets emerging in the mid-2030s" Bloomberg.

"While traditional car suppliers may be hurt by EV growth, some commodities will get a lift, according to BNEF:

 

·       Graphite demand will soar to 852,000 tons a year in 2030 from just 13,000 tons in 2015

 

 

·       Nickel and aluminum demand will both see demand from EVs rise to about 327,000 tons a year from just 5,000 tons in 2015

 

 

·       Production of lithium, cobalt and manganese will each increase more than 100-fold" Bloomberg.

International Energy Agency: In Order To Limit Temperature Increase Below 2º C The Number Of Electric Cars Needs To Reach 600 Million By 2040.

"The cost of lithium batteries is going down very fast and I believe that fully electric cars will rule the world very soon. Tesla Model 3 with 65 kWh lithium battery provides over 200 miles of range and will become the standard in the industry with its mass volume production from this July. There is around 60 kg of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) in one Tesla Model 3 battery. We will need 36 Million Tonnes of LCE to be produced by 2040 to put this IEA plan into life. 

To put it into perspective, the total lithium production last year was around 200,000 T of LCE. Now you can better understand why there is the real cut throat competition for the security of lithium supply which is still hidden from the most of the people by the clouds of toxic cancer hazard fumes emitted by all DIEsel cars on our roads. ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) are on the way out, all cars will be electric very soon and we are facing the total disconnect between the coming demand for lithium and the available supply. Read more."

Bloomberg:

The Electric Car Revolution Is Accelerating

Lithium Race: First Tesla Model 3 Rolled Off The Assembly Line.

"Today Tesla Model 3 is going into production officially and it will be the most important product launch in all our electric cars' history. We are entering the mass market stage for electric cars and ESS exponential growth is next."

Lithium Race: First Production Tesla Model 3 Expected Friday - 20,000 Per Month By December.

International Energy Agency: In Order To Limit Temperature Increase Below 2º C The Number Of Electric Cars Needs To Reach 600 Million By 2040.

"The cost of lithium batteries is going down very fast and I believe that fully electric cars will rule the world very soon. Tesla Model 3 with 65 kWh lithium battery provides over 200 miles of range and will become the standard in the industry with its mass volume production from this July. There is around 60 kg of LCE (Lithium Carbonate Equivalent) in one Tesla Model 3 battery. We will need 36 Million Tonnes of LCE to be produced by 2040 to put this IEA plan into life. 

To put it into perspective, the total lithium production last year was around 200,000 T of LCE. Now you can better understand why there is the real cut throat competition for the security of lithium supply which is still hidden from the most of the people by the clouds of toxic cancer hazard fumes emitted by all DIEsel cars on our roads. ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) are on the way out, all cars will be electric very soon and we are facing the total disconnect between the coming demand for lithium and the available supply. Read more."

YourCentralValley.com:

First Tesla Model 3 rolled off the assembly line.