Companies look to innovate and develop new lithium-ion battery technology.
The growth of the Li-Ion battery (LIB) market has led to a rise in demand for lithium. LIBs are a crucial component in the development of a future energy infrastructure. For example, the battery of a Tesla Model S has about 12 kilograms of Li in it, while grid storage solutions are currently being built to make renewable energy more affordable and reliable.
EVs are promoted as a sustainable transportation choice on account of life-cycle basis, as they emit fewer GHG than conventional vehicles. For instance, Tesla is planning for next-generation EV batteries that would focus on introducing Li-iron phosphate batteries to market.
This will cut the vehicle costs, extend the vehicle range up to 400 miles or more, and enable the batteries to last as long as 1 million miles. And, according to data provided by Fortune Business Insights, the global lithium market size was USD 3.64 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 6.62 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 8.1% during the 2021-2028 period.
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Infinity Stone Ventures Corp. (OTC: GEMSF) (CSE: GEMS), Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE SQM), Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ: PLL), SIGMA Lithium Corporation (NASDAQ: SGML), QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE: QS)
Manufacturing Li-Ion batteries is challenging as it requires cobalt, a vital component of the cathode in most lithium-ion batteries, traditionally mined primarily in Congo. The price of cobalt, which was $32,000 per ton at the end of 2017, spiked at $82,000 last spring. It has since dropped to $55,000.
Manufacturers have responded to the cost and volatility by seeking alternative chemistries.
Meghan Nutting, the executive vice president for government and regulatory affairs at Sunnova, a Houston-based residential solar developer, said:
A lot of manufacturers have started changing from lithium-ion batteries to lithium phosphate because phosphate’s easier to get.
Infinity Stone Ventures Corp. (OTCQB: GEMSF) (CSE: GEMS) provided last week, “an exploration update on its Camaro and Hellcat Lithium Project (the “Camaro – Hellcat Project”) adjacent to Patriot Battery Metals’ (“PMET” or “Patriot”) Corvette Lithium Discovery in the James Bay Lithium District of Quebec.
The fall exploration program, conducted by Axiom Exploration Group, Infinity Stone’s contracted technical team, (the “Fall Program”) was extremely successful in confirming historically mapped pegmatites and identified new showings.
87 samples were collected over 3,850 hectares of claims adjacent to the Patriot discovery. The samples have been shipped to the Saskatchewan Research Council (“SRC”) lab in Saskatoon, Sask., with assay results expected to be returned in the coming weeks.
One of the significant highlights of the Fall Program was the identification of a cluster of highly prospective pegmatitic dykes and cross cutting structures near the northern margin of the Hellcat claims extending to the north, which resulted in the Company expanding its claim area.
The white, coarse grained, pegmatite dykes in this area were mineralogically characterized by tourmaline, garnet, and muscovite which are common LCT (Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum) pegmatite indicator minerals in the district.
The Hellcat claims are underlain by 9 km of strike length of underexplored greenstone and metasediments of the Mesoarchean Rouget formation and Neoarchean Marbot formation, respectively.
The under-explored Rouget formation greenstone belt represents an attractive exploration target which is geologically similar and proximal to the Guyer Group greenstone, which hosts the PMET Corvette Pegmatites.
Infinity Stone is in the process of defining the next steps of its exploration program, including conducting a geophysical survey of the Project ahead of a planned drill program in early Q1 2023. With the increased infrastructure in the area, winter access and operability to the Corvette lithium trend has improved considerably, ultimately enabling winter drilling on the Camaro – Hellcat Project.
Zayn Kalyan, CEO of Infinity Stone, said:
We are excited to further our exploration efforts on the Hellcat – Camaro Project with the identification of pegmatites underlain by the Rouget greenstone, presenting parallels to the geology underlying Patriot’s Corvette discovery and warranting further exploration.
“The progress made on our James Bay Property, alongside the ongoing exploration on our other assets, is timely given the rapid growth of the lithium and battery metal market over the past months. Nearly every day there is another announcement regarding expansion in the North American battery metals supply chain.”
“Every major car manufacturer and battery manufacturer is in the process of building out infrastructure in Canada and the US, all in the context of considerable government support, including the recent announcement by the Biden administration of $2.8 billion in support for manufacturing and processing companies in the battery metals space’ furthered Mr. Kalyan.”
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE SQM) announced last year that it reached a long-term agreement to supply lithium hydroxide to Johnson Matthey (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies and a fellow Global Battery Alliance member.
Ricardo Ramos, SOM’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:
We are very pleased to announce the signing of this contract as it is just one result of the effort we have made to increase lithium production in a sustainable way.
“We have a strong commitment to the important transition to zero carbon transport. Last year, we announced our ambitious goal to produce carbon neutral lithium products by 2030. We are the first lithium producer to join IRMA as a pending member and we believe this along with our own internal efforts will help ensure the most comprehensive implementation of strict standards for sustainable lithium production in the Salar de Atacama in Chile.”
“We are working on a major lithium expansion plan to reach 180,000 and 30,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, respectively. These expansions will be done simultaneously with our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint by cutting our brine extraction and freshwater consumption in half by 2030. Additionally, we continue the work in Australia to develop our lithium hydroxide project with Wesfarmers”.
Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ: PLL) announced on October 24th, that Atlantic Lithium has completed infill and exploration drilling for their flagship Ewoyaa project in Ghana. The assay results confirm high-grade mineralization, providing further confidence in resource conversion and possible mine life extension.
Keith Phillips, Piedmont President and Chief Executive Officer commented:
The drill results at Ewoyaa continue to be very impressive with high lithium grades over broad widths and near surface.
“We are working closely with our partners at Atlantic Lithium to publish a definitive feasibility study for the Ewoyaa project in the first half of 2023, and these final drill results are expected to lead to an extended mine life and even stronger economics for this world-class project.”
“When fully operational, the Ewoyaa project will be a primary supplier of spodumene concentrate for lithium hydroxide conversion in Tennessee, and it is promising to see both projects progressing so favorably.”
SIGMA Lithium Corporation (NASDAQ: SGML) has provided a corporate update on August 19th, from a transformative second quarter of 2022. Sigma Lithium ended the quarter with C$123.3 million in cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2022, providing sufficient liquidity to advance the Grota do Cirilo Project (the “Project”) into production.
Phase 1 construction at the Project remains on track with commissioning expected to begin December 2022.
Ana Cabral-Gardner, Co-CEO of Sigma Lithium, said:
We are delighted to have further strengthened our operational team by adding industry-leading executives, rounding out a world-class management team at Sigma Lithium.
“Having achieved all of our execution milestones to date, delivering a transformational quarter demonstrates the ability of this team to drive us in our successful trajectory to become a global protagonist in lithium minerals for electric vehicle batteries”
QuantumScape Corporation (NYSE: QS) and Fluence Energy Inc. announced on January 13th, a multi-year agreement to introduce solid-state lithium-metal battery technology to stationary energy storage applications.
The strategic relationship brings together two companies leading in technology innovation focused on accelerating clean energy adoption and reducing global carbon emissions.
The companies will collaborate on what they believe to be a first-of-its-kind solution to incorporate QuantumScape’s battery technology into Fluence stationary energy storage products as specific technical and commercial milestones are met.
Jagdeep Singh, co-founder and CEO of QuantumScape, said:
Fluence and QuantumScape share the same mission to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions through innovation and adoption of energy storage technologies, so our collaboration is a natural fit.
“While we have historically focused on automotive applications, we believe our battery technology is broadly applicable and can play a role in other sectors contributing to a lower-carbon future.”
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Companies Look to Innovate and Develop New Lithium-Ion Battery Technology, NEW YORK, October 31, 2022
