energy metal supplies

WoodMac urges automakers to ‘get out their chequebooks’, secure energy metal supplies

HENRY LAZENBY on MINING WEEKLY | 17 January 2018 “Auto manufacturers are ramping up strategies to cash in on the accelerating worldwide acceptance and demand for electric vehicles (EVs), prompting advice from research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie for automakers to ‘get out their chequebooks’ and take stakes in mines or new mine projects to […]

Read More

How Batteries Sparked a Cobalt Frenzy and What Could Happen Next

MARK BURTON on BLOOMBERG MARKETS | 17 December 2017 “Cobalt left other metals in the dust this year, driven by demand from electric carmakers like Tesla Inc. But with new supply coming online and high prices likely to spur substitution and recycling, the market for the key battery component could prove choppier next year.” Read […]

Read More
electric cars

‘Miner’s revenge’ is coming with electric cars, Friedland says

BLOOMBERG via MINING WEEKLY | 1 Dec 2017 “Surging demand for metals like copper, nickel and cobalt for use in electric vehicles promises to overturn the balance of power between mining companies and their customers, according to billionaire investor Robert Friedland. Automakers will have to change the way they approach procurement if they want to […]

Read More
energy metal supplies

Cobalt’s dramatic demand bump gives rise to novel investment vehicle

HENRY LAZENBY on MINING WEEKLY | 1 December 2017 “Cobalt supply constraints, coupled with a never-before-seen boom in the adoption rate of electric vehicles (EV) across the globe, have conspired to create an ideal market in which a pure-play cobalt investment and participation vehicle’s profits can outpace its peers. Cobalt, a critical ‘energy metal’ used […]

Read More
cobalt

Cobalt on the Rise

Interest in deep sea mining has been accelerating due to the rising price of cobalt. The metal is an important component of EV batteries, laptops and cell phones. In October 2017, cobalt prices reached a nine-year high, trading at around US$30 per pound, tripling its 2015 value of US$10.   The rise is not only seen […]

Read More
energy metal supplies

Volkswagen is said to step up bid for cobalt for electric cars

BLOOMBERG on MINING WEEKLY | 23 November 2017 “Volkswagen AG is stepping up its hunt for long-term supplies of battery metals it will need to help power electric cars across its entire range. The top automaker invited producers and traders of cobalt, one of this year’s best-performing metals, for talks at its German headquarters this […]

Read More
Tesla

Tesla truck supercharges hopes for boom in battery metals demand

BLOOMBERG via MINING WEEKLY | 19 November 2017 “Tesla’s plans to roll out an all-electric big rig have given a fresh jolt to the outlook for battery metals that will go into powering the truck founder Elon Musk is calling “The Beast.” Banks including Goldman Sachs Group, UBS Group and Bank of America are already […]

Read More
Pilbara

Pilbara eyeing downstream processing

ESMARIEN SWANEPOEl on MINING WEEKLY | 10 November 2017 “PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Pilbara Minerals has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to potentially develop a downstream lithium chemical conversion facility in South Korea. The ASX-listed company on Friday noted that the MoU with Polaris Shipping and LG Chem would see Pilbara supply […]

Read More
cobalt market

Electric cars yet to turn cobalt market into gold mine – Nornickel

POLINA DEVITT on REUTERS / MINING.COM | 30 October 2017 “Demand for cobalt used to make rechargeable batteries that power electric cars has not yet translated into a tighter market, according to Russia’s Norilsk Nickel, a major producer of the metal. “The price is higher but there is no tense situation with cobalt supply now,” […]

Read More