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2030","australia-on-course-to-remain-number-one-lithium-producer-to-2030","article/australia-on-course-to-remain-number-one-lithium-producer-to-2030",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":728,"featured":51,"reporter":729,"_editable":733,"component":734,"seo_title":543,"categories":735,"visibility":741,"author_company":49,"featured_image":742,"seo_description":728,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":747,"formattedArticleDate":748},"7cef09e1-a337-4c0a-b732-6d358b1cfeba","2022-07-12 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"australia","Australia",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":560},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,583,588,593,598,603,608,613,618,623,630,635,642,647,652,657,662,667,672,677,682,693,699,704,716],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570,573,581],{"text":571,"type":572},"Australia is set to maintain its dominance in mined lithium production this decade, as supply is set to double by 2030, data from ","text",{"text":574,"type":572,"marks":575},"Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast",[576],{"type":577,"attrs":578},"link",{"href":579,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/forecasts/#lithium","url",{"text":582,"type":572}," shows. ",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"The country is set to mine nearly half of the world’s lithium this year as growing demand for electric vehicles in China, Europe and the US pushed prices to record highs, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast. ",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":572},"Australia accounted for around 59% of the total supply from the Indo-Pacific region. ",{"type":567,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":572},"The country is set to remain the world’s leading producer due to expansion from large mines such as Greenbushes as well as new hard rock projects that have been supported by automakers including Ford and Tesla. ",{"type":567,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":572},"It is also expected to enter the lithium chemicals production industry despite delays experienced with its first ever lithium hydroxide plants from Tianqi and Albemarle. ",{"type":567,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":572},"Supply from Australia is expected to double to 600,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by 2030, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast. ",{"type":567,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":572},"In real terms this translates to 13 lithium mines from spodumene hard rock sources, over 75% of which will be refined in China. ",{"type":567,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":572},"A lithium exploration rush since 2016 has resulted in at least 30 other exploration projects in Australia all vying for funding. ",{"type":567,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":572},"Australia is on course to account for 25% of the world’s lithium supply by the end of the decade, making it the number one producer, according to Benchmark, compared to 15% for Chile in second place. ",{"type":567,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626,628],{"text":627,"type":572},"“Australia looks to be dominant in the region for the foreseeable future,” Cameron Perks, ",{"text":629,"type":572},"analyst at Benchmark, said.",{"type":567,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633],{"text":634,"type":572},"“Western Australia and Northern Territory are so far the main hot spots for exploration, whereas the rest of the country is relatively quiet. I think there’s a lot of potential to increase supply from where we are forecasting.” ",{"type":636,"attrs":637,"content":639},"heading",{"level":638,"textAlign":49},4,[640],{"text":641,"type":572},"Australia Speeds Ahead",{"type":567,"attrs":643,"content":644},{"textAlign":49},[645],{"text":646,"type":572},"Most of Australia’s spodumene is processed in China, but the country has made moves to reduce that reliance. ",{"type":567,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":572},"In March Tianqi Lithium said it had produced its first battery-grade lithium hydroxide from its processing plant in Kwinana, Western Australia, four years after its initial start up target. ",{"type":567,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":572},"Albemarle has also constructed a processing plant in Kemerton along with Mineral Resources, with production starting this year following delays to its original timeline. ",{"type":567,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":572},"Still, Benchmark expects Australia’s downstream processing is likely to be “limited” due to the cost of importing reagents and the problems of waste disposal. That could make it more costly than converters in China. ",{"type":567,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":572},"The Greenbushes mine in Western Australia is the biggest operating lithium mine in the world and will produce half of the country’s spodumene concentrate this year, according to Benchmark. ",{"type":567,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":572},"Located about 155 miles south of Perth Greenbushes is a large-scale, long life, low cost, and the highest ore reserve grade of any hard rock lithium mine globally.",{"type":567,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":572},"Core Lithium’s Finniss project will be the only other new greenfield addition in 2022 that Benchmark anticipated. ",{"type":567,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":572},"This is expected to be followed by SQM and Wesfarmers’ joint venture, Mt Holland, and Liontown’s Kathleen Valley mine in 2024. ",{"type":567,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685,687,691],{"text":686,"type":572},"Global battery demand for lithium is estimated to grow to over 2 million tonnes of LCE in 2030, from 540,000 tonnes this year, according to ",{"text":574,"type":572,"marks":688},[689],{"type":577,"attrs":690},{"href":579,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},{"text":692,"type":572},". ",{"type":636,"attrs":694,"content":696},{"level":695,"textAlign":49},3,[697],{"text":698,"type":572},"BENCHMARK’S GIGA-ASIA PACIFIC 2022 COMES TO PERTH, AUSTRALIA, 27-29 SEPTEMBER 2022",{"type":567,"attrs":700,"content":701},{"textAlign":49},[702],{"text":703,"type":572},"Join Benchmark’s inaugural Battery Gigafactories Asia Pacific 2022 event which aligns government with industry to build lithium ion battery supply chains in the region.",{"type":567,"attrs":705,"content":706},{"textAlign":49},[707,709,711],{"text":708,"type":572},"Sign up as a delegate here",{"text":710,"type":572},": ",{"text":712,"type":572,"marks":713},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/events/battery-gigafactories-asia-pacific-2022/register/",[714],{"type":577,"attrs":715},{"href":712,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},{"type":567,"attrs":717,"content":718},{"textAlign":49},[719,721,722],{"text":720,"type":572},"Inquire about being a sponsor",{"text":710,"type":572},{"text":723,"type":572,"marks":724},"sponsor@benchmarkminerals.com",[725],{"type":577,"attrs":726},{"href":727,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":580},"mailto:sponsor@benchmarkminerals.com","Australia is set to maintain its dominance in mined lithium production this decade, as supply is set to double by 2030, data from Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast shows. The country is set to mine nearly half of the world’s lithium this year as growing demand for electric vehicles in China, Europe and the US pushed prices […]",[730],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":731},{"job_title":558,"image":732,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"7cef09e1-a337-4c0a-b732-6d358b1cfeba\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[736,739],{"slug":737,"name":738},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":740,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":743,"name":743,"focus":743,"title":743,"source":743,"filename":744,"copyright":743,"fieldtype":745,"meta_data":746,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/f4f3453a01/bm-lithium-australia.jpg","asset",{"alt":743,"title":743,"source":743,"copyright":743},"Jul 12, 2022","12th July 2022",[],[],1780670082212]