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offensive","china-prepares-for-h2-spodumene-offensive","article/china-prepares-for-h2-spodumene-offensive",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":550,"content":560,"excerpt":662,"featured":50,"reporter":663,"_editable":667,"component":668,"seo_title":543,"categories":669,"visibility":676,"author_company":49,"featured_image":677,"seo_description":662,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":680,"formattedArticleDate":681},"8da10077-534d-40b2-b6f7-9931f315c1ce","2018-08-06 00:00",[],[551],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":554},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":555,"image":556,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":557},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":561,"content":562},"doc",[563,570,575,584,589,594,599,604,609,614,619,624,631,636,647,652,657],{"type":564,"attrs":565,"content":566},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[567],{"text":568,"type":569},"Three new spodumene operations were commissioned in Western Australia in Q2, with lithium converters in China eagerly anticipating the introduction of new feedstock supplies.","text",{"type":564,"attrs":571,"content":572},{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":569},"In addition to Australia’s three new producers —Tawana Resources, Altura Mining and Pilbara Resources — specialty mineral company, AMG NV also began spodumene production from tantalum tailings at its Mibra mine in Brazil.",{"type":564,"attrs":576,"content":577},{"textAlign":49},[578],{"type":579,"attrs":580},"image",{"id":49,"alt":581,"src":582,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":583},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/a740b6d1f6/bm-spodumene-australia.png",{},{"type":564,"attrs":585,"content":586},{"textAlign":49},[587],{"text":588,"type":569},"Spodumene ore in Western Australia – on one of Benchmark’s regular lithium site visits",{"type":564,"attrs":590,"content":591},{"textAlign":49},[592],{"text":593,"type":569},"With all of this material destined for the Chinese conversion market, and all of the initial production tied into offtake agreements, China is expected to see a flood of new feedstock material as the projects ramp-up approaching 2019.",{"type":564,"attrs":595,"content":596},{"textAlign":49},[597],{"text":598,"type":569},"Questions do, however, remain about the speed of the ramp-up of each operation and how much will make its way through to chemical production in the near-term. Tawana Resources was the first of the three Australian newcomers to enter production this year, making  the first shipment of spodumene concentrate from its Bald Hill mine in early-May.",{"type":564,"attrs":600,"content":601},{"textAlign":49},[602],{"text":603,"type":569},"The company has stated that it expects to reach a total output of 60,000-75,000 tonnes of spodumene in H2, adding to production of 18,800 tonnes in Q2. This could equate to as much as 12,000 tonnes of chemical production but the delay in construction of their offtake partner, Jiangte Motors’, new conversion facility in Yichun cast doubts over how much of this will",{"type":564,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607],{"text":608,"type":569},"find its way into the supply chain this year. Altura Mining and Pilbara Resources are following quickly in Tawana’s footsteps with Altura planning its first concentrate shipment by August and Pilbara sending its first DSO shipment in mid-June and its first concentrate shipment also expected by August.",{"type":564,"attrs":610,"content":611},{"textAlign":49},[612],{"text":613,"type":569},"While the combined capacity from the 1st stage of both operations is over 500,000 tpa, it will likely take some time for both companies to reach their respective capacity rates, particularly at the 6% Li purity required by many converters.",{"type":564,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":49},[617],{"text":618,"type":569},"Issues with the ramp-up and specifications produced at the two new operations to enter production last year — Mt Marion and Mt Cattlin — meant not all feedstock was converted into chemical and some stockpiles of this material still exist.",{"type":564,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622],{"text":623,"type":569},"These mining ramp-up challenges were compounded by slower than anticipated expansions in conversion capacity within China — another issue facing the market over the coming 12-18 months.",{"type":625,"attrs":626,"content":628},"heading",{"level":627,"textAlign":49},3,[629],{"text":630,"type":569}," China’s conversion conundrum",{"type":564,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":569},"With massive spodumene expansions aiming to fill the supply gap for lithium feedstocks in the near-term, Chinese converters are still struggling to install the necessary processing capacity to utilise this feedstock.",{"type":564,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639,641,643,645],{"text":640,"type":569},"A recent research note from ",{"text":642,"type":569},"Benchmark",{"text":644,"type":569}," sho",{"text":646,"type":569},"wed that although there are in excess of 40 companies targeting lithium production in China by 2019, with a combined target capacity of over 600,000 tpa, the maximum usable capacity in China will be little over 200,000 tpa by next year.",{"type":564,"attrs":648,"content":649},{"textAlign":49},[650],{"text":651,"type":569},"With an even smaller portion of this potential capacity meeting the specifications of battery consumers, China’s converters face a considerable challenge to integrate this new material and refine it to the specifications of the industry’s major growth market.",{"type":564,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":569},"In addition, 100% of the new spodumene supplies destined for China are already tied into offtake agreements meaning the market could remain tight for many of the small-medium sized converters that are looking to install major new expansions.",{"type":564,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":569},"As a result, Benchmark expects a maximum production of 160,000 tonnes lithium from China in 2018 and major challenges face the market as it seeks to maximize the potential of its access to new spodumene production in 2019.","Three new spodumene operations were commissioned in Western Australia in Q2, with lithium converters in China eagerly anticipating the introduction of new feedstock supplies. In addition to Australia’s three new producers —Tawana Resources, Altura Mining and Pilbara Resources — specialty mineral company, AMG NV also began spodumene production from tantalum tailings at its Mibra mine in Brazil. With all of this material destined for the Chinese conversion […]",[664],{"slug":552,"name":553,"content":665},{"job_title":555,"image":666,"bio":558,"linkedin":559},{"filename":557},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"8da10077-534d-40b2-b6f7-9931f315c1ce\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[670,673],{"slug":671,"name":672},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":674,"name":675},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":581,"name":581,"focus":581,"title":581,"source":581,"filename":582,"copyright":581,"fieldtype":678,"meta_data":679,"is_external_url":51},"asset",{"alt":581,"title":581,"source":581,"copyright":581},"Aug 06, 2018","6th August 2018",[],[],1781195736247]