What’s big this week? (a relatively quiet past week)

Minerals/Mining: Chile’s public-private partnership deal with SQM; Potential repoen of a Papua New Guinea copper mine

Batteries/ EVs: Rollout of two sodium-ion batteries cars in China; Europe losing graphite deal to US’s IRA;

Minerals/ Mining

WSJ: SQM Strikes Lithium Deal With State-Run Miner Codelco

• Chilean lithium company SQM agreed with state-run miner Codelco to collaboratively develop lithium in the Salar de Atacama from 2025 to 2060.

• The proposed new entity aims to produce lithium carbonate and hydroxide on properties leased by SQM from the Chilean economic development agency Corfo. SQM will contribute production assets, both fixed and intangible, while Codelco will bring its Salar de Atacama leases from 2031 to 2060.

• Codelco will hold a 50% stake in the company, plus one share, with SQM owning the remaining half, minus one share.

• Extra read: Salar means salt flat in Spanish (aka the lithium brine). The Atacama Salar is one of the world’s largest and highest-grade lithium brine deposits, contributing around one-third of the global lithium output. It is currently operated by SQM and Rockwood Lithium (acquired by Albemarle in January 2015) through two production facilities.

  Here is a map of the lithium triangle which may give you a better idea (source) —

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FT: Bougainville looks to reopen mine that sparked Pacific island civil war

• The Panguna mine in Bougainville closed in 1989 due to pollution and local rebellion, causing a civil war with significant casualties. The Autonomous Bougainville Government sees reopening the mine as crucial for economic recovery and progress towards independence after the 2019 referendum.

• Bougainville Copper Limited, now majority-owned by the government, aims for a new exploration license in 2023.

• FYI: The Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB) as the only province of Papua New Guinea that has an autonomous government since 2005.

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WSJ: Low Battery Metal Prices Set to Persist in 2024, Adding Friction to Energy Transition

• A Fastmarkets analyst suggests that lithium prices may be approaching the bottom as producers are currently selling at or below their production cost. To balance the market and mitigate additional losses, producers may contemplate further production cuts. A 30% increase in lithium supply in 2024 was anticipated; however, expectations for lithium demand remain mixed.

• Benchmark Mineral Intelligence anticipates a 30,000 metric ton surplus in the global lithium market, a 20,000-ton surplus in cobalt supply over demand, and a substantial 200,000-ton surplus in nickel for the year 2024.

• As a result, battery pack prices are projected to decline to $133 per kilowatt-hour in 2024, following a decrease from $161 per kWh in 2022 to $139 per kWh this year, as reported by Bloomberg NEF.

Batteries/ EVs

FT: European plans for battery supply chain face delays as US lures components producers

• Amid Europe’s increased demand for local graphite production, particularly due to its heavy reliance on China, the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is drawing companies away.

• Novonix, a battery component graphite manufacturer, plans to focus on the US market, driven by subsidy incentives. It says that expanding into Europe presents a “financing challenge”.

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FT: Blue sky ideas: deep sea battery minerals attract growing sunk costs

• The Metals Company of Canada, a leading deep-sea miner, estimates 16 million tonnes of nickel resources. TMC adopts a capital-light approach, partnering with Allseas, an offshore energy group providing technology and capital investment. A recent test run collected 3,000 tonnes of nodules, with plans to scale up for commercial operation by 2025, pending regulatory and environmental approvals.

• Most international exploration licenses are concentrated in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, located in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. This region’s geography is abundant in polymetallic nodules resting on the seabed, containing valuable resources such as cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese.

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Caixin: Chinese Carmakers Begin Mass Rollout of Sodium-Ion Battery-Powered EVs

• Two Chinese state-owned carmakers have begun mass production of mini EVs powered by sodium-ion batteries, considered a potential alternative to the widely used lithium-ion batteries in EVs.

• The first model, a variant of the Yiwei 3, is a collaborative effort between Hina Battery and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp (JAC). The second model is the result of a partnership between Farasis Energy and JMEV, an EV brand owned by Jiangling Motors Group.

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