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LITHIUM PIPELINE","europes-lithium-pipeline","article/europes-lithium-pipeline",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":1163,"featured":50,"reporter":1164,"_editable":1168,"component":1169,"seo_title":553,"categories":1170,"visibility":1179,"author_company":49,"featured_image":1180,"seo_description":1163,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":1184,"formattedArticleDate":1185},"41a79a31-2a14-46c3-be96-d1c643ffef8c","2018-06-25 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"europe","Europe",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":570},"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":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,586,601,606,611,616,621,626,631,636,641,646,653,658,663,668,673,678,683,688,693,698,703,712,717,722,727,732,737,742,747,752,757,762,767,772,781,786,791,796,801,808,813,820,827,833,837,842,848,853,858,863,868,873,882,887,892,897,902,907,912,917,924,929,934,941,946,953,958,965,970,975,980,985,992,1000,1005,1012,1017,1022,1027,1032,1037,1042,1049,1054,1059,1064,1069,1076,1083,1088,1093,1100,1105,1110,1115,1124,1129,1134,1141,1146,1153,1158],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580],{"text":581,"type":582,"marks":583},"Europe has risen to become one of the world’s most active regions for lithium exploration. Home to world-leading auto and chemical industries, its lithium production is non-existent. One mining major and a group of exploration entrepreneurs are seeking to change Europe’s lithium course and bring supply self-sufficiency to a continent that is pushing hard towards vehicle electrification.","text",[584],{"type":585},"italic",{"type":577,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589,593,597],{"text":590,"type":582,"marks":591},"Here, ",[592],{"type":585},{"text":594,"type":582,"marks":595},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence",[596],{"type":585},{"text":598,"type":582,"marks":599}," looks at some of Europe’s latest active developments in the lithium space.",[600],{"type":585},{"type":577,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":582},"Over the past five years, exploration geologists have uncovered a wide variety of lithium resources locked in several different mineralogies as Europe rose to prominence to become world’s fourth most active exploration hotspot after Chile, Argentina, and Australia.",{"type":577,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":582},"From former tin mines on the German-Czech border to lithium-mica deposits in Spain and Portugal to an entirely new mineral being discovered in Serbia, the question of whether Europe can have some long-term self-sufficient lithium supply is some way to being answered.",{"type":577,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":582},"SERBIA",{"type":577,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619],{"text":620,"type":582},"Rio Tinto’s Jadar project has been the most talked about lithium prospect in Europe for the last 10 years since its discovery hosting an entirely new mineral.",{"type":577,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":582},"The world’s third largest miner by revenue began a global exploration push in the mid-2000s to secure new borates resources but turned up a major global lithium deposit hosted in a new mineral, Jadarite, named after the Jadar River which runs past the project in Serbia.",{"type":577,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":582},"Rio Tinto was helped in the discovery by Dr Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London’s Natural History Museum.",{"type":577,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":582},"“Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral’s chemical formula – sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide – and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film Superman Returns,” Dr Stanley explained at the time.",{"type":577,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":582},"“The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"textAlign":49},[644],{"text":645,"type":582},"The project has made little commercial progress since its discovery in 2007 but that is something Rio Tinto is now looking to correct after investing in a new drilling program in Jadar.",{"type":577,"attrs":647,"content":648},{"textAlign":49},[649,651],{"text":650,"type":582},"“The project is currently in Prefeasibility stage. A team of international experts in various disciplines (from mining to processing to communities) is completing studies over as part of Prefeasibility stage to further assess",{"text":652,"type":582},"the technical and economic viability of the project” Rio Tinto explained.",{"type":577,"attrs":654,"content":655},{"textAlign":49},[656],{"text":657,"type":582},"A new drilling program began at Jadar in Q1 2017 at eight locations, to learn more about the central ore body, with the company spending $90m on the project to date.",{"type":577,"attrs":659,"content":660},{"textAlign":49},[661],{"text":662,"type":582},"Interest has been reignited in the Jadar deposit as Europe seeks supply security of lithium for a number of reasons, including the rapidly developing battery and EV industry within the continent and, interestingly, from a concern that Australian spodumene mines and resources are increasingly controlled by China.",{"type":577,"attrs":664,"content":665},{"textAlign":49},[666],{"text":667,"type":582},"It is a view that is causing some concern within the European battery supply chain that is building out its long-term cell and EV capacities.",{"type":577,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671],{"text":672,"type":582},"When considering that two of Australia’s three operating spodumene mines have exclusive offtake agreements with Chinese producers of lithium chemicals, it leaves Galaxy Resources’ Mt Cattlin mine as the only hard rock source of free market lithium.",{"type":577,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"textAlign":49},[676],{"text":677,"type":582},"Talison Lithium’s famous Greenbushes operation is majority owned by Sichuan Tianqi with Albemarle, a 49% shareholder, entitled to 50% of output which is processed in China. Meanwhile, Mineral Resources and Neometals’ Mt Marion operation as an exclusive offtake deal with Ganfeng Lithium and Pilbara Minerals, widely tipped to be the next in line to production. There are also deals between Ganfeng Lithium and General Lithium Corp, both China-based lithium chemical producers.",{"type":577,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":582},"As a result, a number of lithium hotspots have cropped up in Europe, particularly in central Europe and Portugal, all developing a variety of lithium bearing minerals.",{"type":577,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"textAlign":49},[686],{"text":687,"type":582},"PORTUGAL & SPAIN",{"type":577,"attrs":689,"content":690},{"textAlign":49},[691],{"text":692,"type":582},"When the global lithium exploration boom was reborn in 2015, it was logical that the first countries to garner the most interest were Portugal and Spain.",{"type":577,"attrs":694,"content":695},{"textAlign":49},[696],{"text":697,"type":582},"Northern Portugal in particular has always been a small but active area of lithium interest for the ceramics and glass industry for the regional markets.",{"type":577,"attrs":699,"content":700},{"textAlign":49},[701],{"text":702,"type":582},"“The line-up in Europe is a suite of projects covering a broad range of lithium minerals including zinnwaldite, petalite, lepidolite, jadarite and spodumene deposits,” David",{"type":577,"attrs":704,"content":705},{"textAlign":49},[706,708,710],{"text":707,"type":582},"Archer, CEO of Savannah Resources told ",{"text":709,"type":582},"Benchmark ",{"text":711,"type":582},"in an interview.",{"type":577,"attrs":713,"content":714},{"textAlign":49},[715],{"text":716,"type":582},"“Historically the lithium deposits in Portugal and Spain have been focused on ceramics applications and products… Projects like Keliber in Finland, European Metals in Czech Republic, European Lithium in Austria and Rio Tinto in Serbia continue to move forward,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":718,"content":719},{"textAlign":49},[720],{"text":721,"type":582},"Savannah is developing one such project in Portugal, a spodumene resource known as the Mina do Barroso project which is on the",{"type":577,"attrs":723,"content":724},{"textAlign":49},[725],{"text":726,"type":582},"verge of completing its scoping study with Hatch.",{"type":577,"attrs":728,"content":729},{"textAlign":49},[730],{"text":731,"type":582},"Novo Lítio has been developing the Sepeda project in Portugal, its primary focus, but also has a spodumene asset in Sweden called Spodumenberget or Spodumene Mountain.",{"type":577,"attrs":733,"content":734},{"textAlign":49},[735],{"text":736,"type":582},"The company has been focused on the Sepeda spodumene resource located in central-northern Portugal on the border with Spain. The Sepeda project is one of a number of resources located in the Barroso- Alvão/Carvalhais pegmatite field – a wide area of spodumene mineralisation.",{"type":577,"attrs":738,"content":739},{"textAlign":49},[740],{"text":741,"type":582},"In its portfolio, Novo Lítio also has two additional pegmatite fields: Serra de Arga, in the north west corner of Portugal close to the coast, and Barca de Alva, a smaller land package to the east yet still in the same northern region.",{"type":577,"attrs":743,"content":744},{"textAlign":49},[745],{"text":746,"type":582},"One exploration licence has so far been granted with the remaining under review.",{"type":577,"attrs":748,"content":749},{"textAlign":49},[750],{"text":751,"type":582},"Infinity Lithium is developing one of the largest lithium resources in Europe: a lithium-tin project in central Spain, 290km from the capital Madrid.",{"type":577,"attrs":753,"content":754},{"textAlign":49},[755],{"text":756,"type":582},"Located in the Extremadura region, Infinity Lithium has completed the scoping study on the San Jose project and has described its feasibility study as “imminent”.",{"type":577,"attrs":758,"content":759},{"textAlign":49},[760],{"text":761,"type":582},"The project was previously explored by Tolsa SA, the Spanish specialist mineral producer, between 1987 and 1991. The company, which today employs over 750 people worldwide, was focused not only on lithium but also its tin potential.",{"type":577,"attrs":763,"content":764},{"textAlign":49},[765],{"text":766,"type":582},"The San Jose deposit is hosted within sedimentary rocks intruded by quartz and quartz pegmatite veins; lithium mineralisation occurs in both sections.",{"type":577,"attrs":768,"content":769},{"textAlign":49},[770],{"text":771,"type":582},"“Two years ago there were no advanced major lithium projects in Europe. Now there are a number of advanced projects of different mineralogies, from mica hosted",{"type":577,"attrs":773,"content":774},{"textAlign":49},[775,777,779],{"text":776,"type":582},"deposits to lithium boron deposits,” Humphry Hale, Director at Infinity, explained to ",{"text":778,"type":582},"Benchmark",{"text":780,"type":582},".",{"type":577,"attrs":782,"content":783},{"textAlign":49},[784],{"text":785,"type":582},"“There is no doubt more prospects will be uncovered. The interesting part of the European story is that most of the mica projects are intending to create a final battery grade product onsite.",{"type":577,"attrs":787,"content":788},{"textAlign":49},[789],{"text":790,"type":582},"“There is interest in adding value and providing rock sourced battery grade lithium outside of China as producers address their geographical and political exposure. Infinity’s San Jose project is [Europe’s] third [largest lithium deposit] on resource size,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":792,"content":793},{"textAlign":49},[794],{"text":795,"type":582},"AUSTRIA",{"type":577,"attrs":797,"content":798},{"textAlign":49},[799],{"text":800,"type":582},"European Lithium has been one of the most active developers in the space as it progresses the Wolfsberg Lithium Project located in Carinthia, 270km south of the nation’s capital, Vienna.",{"type":577,"attrs":802,"content":803},{"textAlign":49},[804,806],{"text":805,"type":582},"The resource has been on Austria’s radar since the early 1980s when a previous shortage of lithium sparked exploration activities by the government via a company called Minerex. After a number of drilling programs and the prevailing winds of the global lithium market changing direction, the Austrian government dropped its interest in the project and it fell under the ownership of",{"text":807,"type":582},"private zinc miner, Bleiberger Bergwerksunion (BBU).",{"type":577,"attrs":809,"content":810},{"textAlign":49},[811],{"text":812,"type":582},"The wheels only started turning on Austria’s lithium prospects two decades later in 2011 when Global Strategic Metals and Exchange Minerals (through jointly owned subsidiary ECM Lithium AT GmbH), acquired the Wolsberg Project for €9.7m plus 20% VAT.",{"type":577,"attrs":814,"content":815},{"textAlign":49},[816,818],{"text":817,"type":582},"Today, it is European Lithium that is responsible for developing the lithium resource which is at PFS stage, of which is 6.3m tonnes at 1.17% Li2O (zone 1, measured",{"text":819,"type":582},"and indicated), and 5.68m tonnes at 0.78% Li2O.",{"type":577,"attrs":821,"content":822},{"textAlign":49},[823,825,826],{"text":824,"type":582},"“The infrastructure in Austria is excellent for easy transport of lithium products to the coming lithium battery plants whilst Austria has high technical skills and a long mining tradition,” Steve Kessler, CEO of European Lithium explained to ",{"text":778,"type":582},{"text":780,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":828,"content":829},{"textAlign":49},[830,832],{"text":831,"type":582},"“The Carinthian and Federal Governments are very supportive to the development of a lithium industry and their investment agencies are keen to lead application for EC",{"text":807,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":834,"content":835},{"textAlign":49},[836],{"text":812,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":838,"content":839},{"textAlign":49},[840],{"text":841,"type":582},"Today, it is European Lithium that is responsible for developing the lithium resource which is at PFS stage, of which is 6.3m tonnes at 1.17% Li2O (zone 1, measured and indicated), and 5.68m tonnes at 0.78% Li2O.",{"type":577,"attrs":843,"content":844},{"textAlign":49},[845,846,847],{"text":824,"type":582},{"text":778,"type":582},{"text":780,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":849,"content":850},{"textAlign":49},[851],{"text":852,"type":582},"“The Carinthian and Federal Governments are very supportive to the development of a lithium industry and their investment agencies are keen to lead application for EC support funding for the Wolfsberg lithium project,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":854,"content":855},{"textAlign":49},[856],{"text":857,"type":582},"CZECH REPUBLIC",{"type":577,"attrs":859,"content":860},{"textAlign":49},[861],{"text":862,"type":582},"European Metals has been one of the highest profile lithium developers in Europe over the last three years for the work it has conducted on the Cinovec Lithium Project on the border with Germany and Czech Republic.",{"type":577,"attrs":864,"content":865},{"textAlign":49},[866],{"text":867,"type":582},"The development activities of European Metals have uncovered Europe’s largest lithium deposit. It is a former underground mine with a lithium-tin mineralisation that was operating from the 1940s to produce Tungsten for the Second World War. It closed as recently as 1993 after the fall of the Iron Curtain and with it the need for captive supply of tin in the Soviet Union.",{"type":577,"attrs":869,"content":870},{"textAlign":49},[871],{"text":872,"type":582},"The JORC measured resource is presently indicated at 348m tonnes of 0.45% Li2O and 0.04% Sn and an inferred at 309m tonnes of 0.39% Li2O and 0.04% Sn containing a combined 7m tonnes LCE and 263,000 tonnes of tin.",{"type":577,"attrs":874,"content":875},{"textAlign":49},[876,878,880],{"text":877,"type":582},"The project has caught the attention of major auto and battery manufacturers on the continent and was the location of ",{"text":879,"type":582},"Benchmark’s World Tour 2016 Field Trip ",{"text":881,"type":582},"which followed on from the Dresden seminar.",{"type":577,"attrs":883,"content":884},{"textAlign":49},[885],{"text":886,"type":582},"GERMANY",{"type":577,"attrs":888,"content":889},{"textAlign":49},[890],{"text":891,"type":582},"When Germany enters Europe’s lithium discussion it is usually in the role of an ultimate end user – an electric vehicle producer or, at best, a small-scale lithium ion battery maker.",{"type":577,"attrs":893,"content":894},{"textAlign":49},[895],{"text":896,"type":582},"Yet Europe’s industrial powerhouse does have lithium projects within its borders.",{"type":577,"attrs":898,"content":899},{"textAlign":49},[900],{"text":901,"type":582},"SolarWorld Industries AG is a manufacturer of photovoltaic cells for the solar energy industry. The company is fully integrated from polysilicon feedstock creation to solar cells through to the construction of modules.",{"type":577,"attrs":903,"content":904},{"textAlign":49},[905],{"text":906,"type":582},"The full integration approach is quite unique for Europe and forced the company to look into mineral supply security, especially for high purity quartz.",{"type":577,"attrs":908,"content":909},{"textAlign":49},[910],{"text":911,"type":582},"Within its portfolio is a spodumene resource that is held by the Zinnwald Lithium Project, located 35km south east of Dresden.",{"type":577,"attrs":913,"content":914},{"textAlign":49},[915],{"text":916,"type":582},"The driver behind development of the project is London-based Bacanora Minerals which is better known for its Sonora Lithium clay project in Mexico.",{"type":577,"attrs":918,"content":919},{"textAlign":49},[920,922],{"text":921,"type":582},"Bacanora stated that Zinnwald contains 36.4m tonnes of indicated and inferred resources at a grade of 3,600ppm under PERC regulations – the Pan European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee. This would need to be upgraded to fall in line with the",{"text":923,"type":582},"progresses throughout H1 2018.",{"type":577,"attrs":925,"content":926},{"textAlign":49},[927],{"text":928,"type":582},"Tin International AG is 61.5% owned by Deutsche Rohstoff AG, an exploration company with oil and gas, rare earths, tungsten, zinc and lead, and copper-gold assets in North America, Europe and Australia.",{"type":577,"attrs":930,"content":931},{"textAlign":49},[932],{"text":933,"type":582},"UK",{"type":577,"attrs":935,"content":936},{"textAlign":49},[937,939],{"text":938,"type":582},"Cornish Lithium has been the highest profile lithium exploration and development company in the UK as it seeks to summon",{"text":940,"type":582},"a new era of production for Cornwall, a county in the south-west of England that is historically famous for tin mining.",{"type":577,"attrs":942,"content":943},{"textAlign":49},[944],{"text":945,"type":582},"Cornish tin and copper mines were the among the most active in the world during the first industrial revolution between the 18th and 19th centuries, especially the famed South Crofty mine which remarkably ceased operations in 1998.",{"type":577,"attrs":947,"content":948},{"textAlign":49},[949,951],{"text":950,"type":582},"In an interesting twist, however, it is not the hard-rock tin mines that are of commercial lithium interest but rather the region’s hot",{"text":952,"type":582},"springs that are the target.",{"type":577,"attrs":954,"content":955},{"textAlign":49},[956],{"text":957,"type":582},"In short, Cornish Lithium is seeking to begin Europe’s first ever lithium brine operation into production. The target area is known as the Tregothnan Estates, around 12km from the famous Cornish town of Truro. It is private land which has a history of tin, copper and kaolin mining operations.",{"type":577,"attrs":959,"content":960},{"textAlign":49},[961,963],{"text":962,"type":582},"The company is also working with Satellite Applications Catapult, a government funded research group, to use satellite data in",{"text":964,"type":582},"identifying a lithium “fingerprint” from space. This project is underway as of Q2 2018.",{"type":577,"attrs":966,"content":967},{"textAlign":49},[968],{"text":969,"type":582},"“I was told by a friend of mine about six years ago that he was trying to restart the South Crofty tin mine,” Cornish Lithium’s managing director, Jeremy Wrathall explained.",{"type":577,"attrs":971,"content":972},{"textAlign":49},[973],{"text":974,"type":582},"“He said that they’ve got everything in that mine, tin, copper, zinc and lithium coming in at depth. I promptly forgot about it, and only remembered in 2016 when electric cars started to really gear up,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":976,"content":977},{"textAlign":49},[978],{"text":979,"type":582},"Mining, let alone brine extraction, is something that the UK left in its past two generations ago. Yet Wrathall is optimistic new methods to extract a host minerals from brines is closer than the general population thinks.",{"type":577,"attrs":981,"content":982},{"textAlign":49},[983],{"text":984,"type":582},"“Historically, lithium has been extracted in Chile using solar evaporation, which is a really old technology,” Wrathall said to Mining Technology.",{"type":577,"attrs":986,"content":987},{"textAlign":49},[988,990],{"text":989,"type":582},"“Now there are new technologies using membranes, reverse osmosis, ion exchange and solvent extraction. All of these processes",{"text":991,"type":582},"are being used to extract lithium directly from brine without an evaporation step.",{"type":577,"attrs":993,"content":994},{"textAlign":49},[995,997,998],{"text":996,"type":582},"Speaking to ",{"text":709,"type":582},{"text":999,"type":582},"Wrathall explained that Cornish Lithium has now identified over 50 separate incidences of lithium bearing brines in Cornwall, some of which have levels up to 200ppm.",{"type":577,"attrs":1001,"content":1002},{"textAlign":49},[1003],{"text":1004,"type":582},"“[The key thing is the] chemistry of these brines [which] appears very favourable to treatment using modern processing techniques which do not utilise solar evaporation.",{"type":577,"attrs":1006,"content":1007},{"textAlign":49},[1008,1010],{"text":1009,"type":582},"“We believe that modern drilling",{"text":1011,"type":582},"technology in combination with newly developed processing technology gives our project a high chance of success,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":1013,"content":1014},{"textAlign":49},[1015],{"text":1016,"type":582},"In terms of the UK and Europe’s lithium activity compared with the rest of the world, Wrathall explained more must be done.",{"type":577,"attrs":1018,"content":1019},{"textAlign":49},[1020],{"text":1021,"type":582},"“In our view it is vital that lithium deposits are identified and commercialised in Europe, and as part of that process we believe the UK needs to evaluate domestic potential.",{"type":577,"attrs":1023,"content":1024},{"textAlign":49},[1025],{"text":1026,"type":582},"“The European car industry could potentially be under threat should domestic sources not be quickly developed, given that China has already locked up large quantities of vital battery materials, such as lithium and cobalt,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":1028,"content":1029},{"textAlign":49},[1030],{"text":1031,"type":582},"“The importance of Europe is because of the proximity to the end-use markets, especially the car manufacturing industry and the evolving battery cell manufacturing industry,” Archer explained.",{"type":577,"attrs":1033,"content":1034},{"textAlign":49},[1035],{"text":1036,"type":582},"“It is becoming more obvious that it makes economic and strategic sense to establish the complete value chain within Europe and not having complete dependency on foreign raw materials. This is true for battery cells, but also for battery raw materials… there are no doubts that the transformation towards electric mobility is irreversible,” he said.",{"type":577,"attrs":1038,"content":1039},{"textAlign":49},[1040],{"text":1041,"type":582},"It is a sentiment that Dr Francis Wedin, CEO of Novo Lítio, a developer of the Sepeda project in also in northern Portugal, agrees with.",{"type":577,"attrs":1043,"content":1044},{"textAlign":49},[1045,1047,1048],{"text":1046,"type":582},"“There is extensive interest across all sectors [in Europe] from car and battery manufacturers to government levels,” he explained to ",{"text":778,"type":582},{"text":780,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":1050,"content":1051},{"textAlign":49},[1052],{"text":1053,"type":582},"“The profile [of European lithium deposits] has been raised considerably, as there has been an increasingly public discussion about the need to secure domestic lithium supply for the battery market in Europe,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":1055,"content":1056},{"textAlign":49},[1057],{"text":1058,"type":582},"“There is also a considerable push from manufacturers and governments in Europe to not be caught in the same trap as the fossil fuel sector and allow supply to be controlled by a handful of producers.”",{"type":577,"attrs":1060,"content":1061},{"textAlign":49},[1062],{"text":1063,"type":582},"Breaking the big four",{"type":577,"attrs":1065,"content":1066},{"textAlign":49},[1067],{"text":1068,"type":582},"Yet it is not just the battery market that is having issues securing supply on the continent.",{"type":577,"attrs":1070,"content":1071},{"textAlign":49},[1072,1074],{"text":1073,"type":582},"“The big 4 dominate the lithium supply market and it is hard for consumers to find",{"text":1075,"type":582},"new sources of lithium carbonate including the ceramic industry,” said Ryan Parkin, General Manager Corporate Development at Infinity Lithium.",{"type":577,"attrs":1077,"content":1078},{"textAlign":49},[1079,1081,1082],{"text":1080,"type":582},"“European supplies can break this quadropoly,” he explained to ",{"text":778,"type":582},{"text":780,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":1084,"content":1085},{"textAlign":49},[1086],{"text":1087,"type":582},"As European explorers continue their exploration and drilling, the continent’s defined resources are set to significantly increase over the coming years. However, the management teams appear realistic with their views of Europe in a global lithium context.",{"type":577,"attrs":1089,"content":1090},{"textAlign":49},[1091],{"text":1092,"type":582},"“It should be a priority for the European Community to encourage an integrated lithium industry for Europe,” said Steve Kessler, CEO of European Lithium which is developing the Wolfsberg Lithium project in Germany.",{"type":577,"attrs":1094,"content":1095},{"textAlign":49},[1096,1098,1099],{"text":1097,"type":582},"“European lithium mines to European conversion plants feeding lithium hydroxide or carbonate to European battery plants to supply European EV’s and ESS,” he declared to ",{"text":778,"type":582},{"text":780,"type":582},{"type":577,"attrs":1101,"content":1102},{"textAlign":49},[1103],{"text":1104,"type":582},"It reminds one of the point that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, made on the officially opening of the world’s first and only fully integrated lithium ion battery to EV plant, Gigafactory 1.",{"type":577,"attrs":1106,"content":1107},{"textAlign":49},[1108],{"text":1109,"type":582},"Musk explained that you cannot take battery raw materials on a “round-the-world-trip” and “expect them to be cheap”. A tighter supply chain for lithium ion batteries is not only a hope but it is now a formality as Asian battery makers establish megafactories around the world.",{"type":577,"attrs":1111,"content":1112},{"textAlign":49},[1113],{"text":1114,"type":582},"LG Chem, SK Innovation and CATL are all planning large scale battery plants in Europe with Poland and Hungary becoming hubs. Northvolt, a newcomer to industry, is in the planning stages of a new megafactory in Sweden, and Tesla has also expressed an interest in building a future battery plant in Europe, albeit this will be mid-2020s after it establishes a presence in China.",{"type":577,"attrs":1116,"content":1117},{"textAlign":49},[1118],{"type":1119,"attrs":1120},"image",{"id":49,"alt":1121,"src":1122,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":1123},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7c6f479388/bm-1-5x7-high-resolution6171.jpg",{},{"type":577,"attrs":1125,"content":1126},{"textAlign":49},[1127],{"text":1128,"type":582},"“The potential for European lithium projects to supply most of the lithium required for the announced battery plant is there” Dr Steve Kessler, CEO, European Lithium.",{"type":577,"attrs":1130,"content":1131},{"textAlign":49},[1132],{"text":1133,"type":582},"“There are now four advanced projects in Europe in the PFS and DFS stages,” explained Kessler. “Certainly, there is potential for European lithium projects to supply most of the lithium required for the announced battery projects in Europe which will require about 100,000tpa LCE by 2025,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":1135,"content":1136},{"textAlign":49},[1137,1139],{"text":1138,"type":582},"“The importance of Europe is because of the proximity to the end-use markets, especially the car manufacturing industry and the evolving battery cell manufacturing industry. In terms of competitiveness, European lithium",{"text":1140,"type":582},"deposits are fully competitive to raw materials coming from other regions in the world,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":1142,"content":1143},{"textAlign":49},[1144],{"text":1145,"type":582},"Europe’s distance from existing sources of lithium appears to be a recurring point of concern between the continent’s lithium CEOs.",{"type":577,"attrs":1147,"content":1148},{"textAlign":49},[1149,1151],{"text":1150,"type":582},"“South American brines and Australian hard-rock deposits have a considerable head start,” explained Dr Wedin of Novo Lítio, “however, since lithium is a semi-bulk commodity [traded in the hundreds of thousands of tonnes a year], distance to market is a factor [especially when the end",{"text":1152,"type":582},"goal is to] reduce the carbon footprint of the EV batteries.”",{"type":577,"attrs":1154,"content":1155},{"textAlign":49},[1156],{"text":1157,"type":582},"At present, lithium derived from Chile’s Atacama and bound for Europe must travel the best part of 20,000km before reaching its end market. With the volume of the lithium industry set to increase at least four-fold over as we approach 2025, Europe’s lithium miners of tomorrow are clearly targeting the advantages of supply chain consolidation.",{"type":577,"attrs":1159,"content":1160},{"textAlign":49},[1161],{"text":1162,"type":582},"And it will gain significant support from Europe’s most influential auto makers and chemical manufacturers.","Europe has risen to become one of the world’s most active regions for lithium exploration. Home to world-leading auto and chemical industries, its lithium production is non-existent. One mining major and a group of exploration entrepreneurs are seeking to change Europe’s lithium course and bring supply self-sufficiency to a continent that is pushing hard towards […]",[1165],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":1166},{"job_title":568,"image":1167,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"41a79a31-2a14-46c3-be96-d1c643ffef8c\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[1171,1174,1177],{"slug":1172,"name":1173},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":1175,"name":1176},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":1178,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":1121,"name":1121,"focus":1121,"title":1121,"source":1121,"filename":1181,"copyright":1121,"fieldtype":1182,"meta_data":1183,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7b5afd1c66/bm-screen-shot-2018-06-25-at-115918.png","asset",{"alt":1121,"title":1121,"source":1121,"copyright":1121},"Jun 25, 2018","25th June 2018",[],[],1789982602388]