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ROCK HEADACHE","hard-rock-headache","article/hard-rock-headache",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":739,"featured":50,"reporter":740,"_editable":744,"component":745,"seo_title":553,"categories":746,"visibility":753,"author_company":49,"featured_image":754,"seo_description":739,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":759,"formattedArticleDate":760},"d865f7ab-fe23-4314-bfcc-312c89f61bcc","2019-10-25 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":567},"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":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,585,594,599,604,612,619,624,631,638,643,648,655,660,665,670,675,680,685,690,695,704,709,714,719,724,729,734],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"Spodumene ramp ups through the third quarter of 2019 see ramp ups stall. Here we analyse the latest developments.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"Further spodumene price decreases through Q3 2019 led to a number of new suppliers revising their ramp up schedules, with Alita Resources forced to appoint administrators after the company’s offtakers pushed for reduced pricing.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588,590,592],{"text":589,"type":579},"Prices across the industry came under considerable pressures during the quarter, with ",{"text":591,"type":579},"Benchmark Minerals",{"text":593,"type":579},"’ Spodumene 6% (FOB Australia) price falling to new lows of between $560-$525/tonne with the slow consumption of new material and a slump in downstream lithium chemical prices.",{"type":574,"attrs":595,"content":596},{"textAlign":49},[597],{"text":598,"type":579},"These low costs could put pressures on new projects that are still operating above target production costs. Lower than anticipated chemical capacities also contributed to shipment delays during the quarter, with Galaxy Resources and Pilbara Minerals delaying shipments in early-Q3 to ease mounting stockpiles.",{"type":574,"attrs":600,"content":601},{"textAlign":49},[602],{"text":603,"type":579},"Pressures on new producers saw Alita Resources, which owns the Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia, appoint administrators at the end of August having halted trading in the middle of the month, the latest sign of the strain being felt by hard rock producers – particularly non-integrated operations.",{"type":574,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607,609,610],{"text":608,"type":579},"Alita’s Bald Hill mine – the first of 2018’s new generation of spodumene mines to enter production – accounted for 3,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent supply (LCE) last year, according to the ",{"text":591,"type":579},{"text":611,"type":579},"’ Lithium Forecast model.",{"type":574,"attrs":613,"content":614},{"textAlign":49},[615,617],{"text":616,"type":579},"News of the company’s financial difficulties means production is expected to cease until there",{"text":618,"type":579},"is a notable uptick in pricing.",{"type":574,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622],{"text":623,"type":579},"In August, Galaxy Resources announced that it had acquired the senior secured loan facility provided to Alita Resources, in which it holds equity. Galaxy’s Chief Executive Officer, Simon Hay, said of the deal, “acquisition of the facility provides Galaxy with the flexibility of being the secured lender to Alita as well as being the largest equity holder. As the senior, secured creditor Galaxy can work directly with all stakeholders to examine the best possible reorganization options.”",{"type":574,"attrs":625,"content":626},{"textAlign":49},[627,629],{"text":628,"type":579},"With fears of oversupply shared across Australia’s hard rock producers, Galaxy had announced in June 2019 that it would delay one of its shipments of 15,000 dmt to July. Galaxy reported 98,334 dmt production for H1 of its financial year, up 7% yoy, with sales volumes of only 44,630 dmt. As a result, revenue from operations were US$28 million for H1 2019, down from $88.4 million for the same period in 2018,",{"text":630,"type":579},"with their average selling prices down 36% from H2 2018.",{"type":632,"attrs":633,"content":635},"heading",{"level":634,"textAlign":49},4,[636],{"text":637,"type":579},"DOWNSTREAM INTEREST",{"type":574,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":579},"Despite the negative sentiment surrounding the market, the longer-term demand picture for spodumene showed positive signs during the quarter. For instance, Altura Mining – having begun production in H2 2018 – announced two new offtake agreements during the quarter, reflecting the continued long-term demand from downstream consumers.",{"type":574,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":579},"The first of these was the binding offtake agreement with lithium producer Shandong Ruifi. The 5-year deal will see Altura supply 35,000 tpa of spodumene concentrate. At the same time Altura announced that it had agreed to terminate an existing 50,000tpa offtake agreement with Shaanxi J&R Optimum Energy (JRO).",{"type":574,"attrs":649,"content":650},{"textAlign":49},[651,653],{"text":652,"type":579},"Following this, at the start of August Altura announced a 50,000 tpa offtake agreement with",{"text":654,"type":579},"Guangdong Weihua Corporation. Altura agreed a minimum price of US$585 dmt and a maximum price of US $695 (both CIF basis) for the first contract period with Weihua. The second and subsequent years are structured as a minimum price of $550 (FOB) and maximum of $950 based on 6% Li20.",{"type":574,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":579},"Altura also announced that another offtake partner Lionergy, would reduce the tonnage agreed in its offtake agreement from 100,000 to 65,000 dmt.",{"type":574,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":579},"Altura now has four offtake agreements in place totaling 220,000 dmt per annum, equaling its production capacity. See table 1 for a list of Altura’s current offtake agreements.",{"type":574,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668],{"text":669,"type":579},"Evidently, downstream interest in terms of securing supply through long-term offtake agreements continues. The quarter also saw notable downstream investments in the Australian hard-rock scene.",{"type":574,"attrs":671,"content":672},{"textAlign":49},[673],{"text":674,"type":579},"Ningbo Shanshan increased its equity interest in Altura to 19.4% with a AUS $22million placement as a further vote of confidence from downstream consumers.",{"type":574,"attrs":676,"content":677},{"textAlign":49},[678],{"text":679,"type":579},"Battery giant CATL’s investment in Pilbara Minerals was amongst the biggest moves of the quarter. CATL took an 8.5% position in Pilbara, raising AUS$ 55 million for the Australian miner, as the Chinese lithium ion producer looks to make more inroads into the supply chain as it attempts to move into the battery industry’s top tier.",{"type":632,"attrs":681,"content":682},{"level":634,"textAlign":49},[683],{"text":684,"type":579},"ALBEMARLE DOWNGRADES ITS EXPANSIONS",{"type":574,"attrs":686,"content":687},{"textAlign":49},[688],{"text":689,"type":579},"In August, Albemarle downgraded its expansion plans for the coming 5 years, confirming it would reduce its planned capital expenditure by $1.5bn over the next five years and downgrade its capacity expansion by 125,000 tpa to 225,000 tpa.",{"type":574,"attrs":691,"content":692},{"textAlign":49},[693],{"text":694,"type":579},"Albemarle’s Kemerton project – which will use spodumene ore from the Talison Greenbushes mine – was targeting 40-50,000 tpa LCE for its wave one and two capacity plans in previously disclosed plans, however, with their latest amendments it is now targeting 30,000 tpa LCE.",{"type":574,"attrs":696,"content":697},{"textAlign":49},[698,700,702],{"text":699,"type":579},"The hard-rock Greenbushes Mine operated by Talison through a joint venture between Albemarle (49%) and China’s Tianqi (51%) is estimated by ",{"text":701,"type":579},"Benchmark Minerals ",{"text":703,"type":579},"to have produced 85,000 tonnes of LCE in 2018, which equates to approximately a quarter of global lithium supply.",{"type":574,"attrs":705,"content":706},{"textAlign":49},[707],{"text":708,"type":579},"Albemarle has also decided not to follow through with its Kemerton wave three to five plans which would have extended capacity by a further 75,000 tonnes LCE.",{"type":574,"attrs":710,"content":711},{"textAlign":49},[712],{"text":713,"type":579},"These announcements follow the adjustment of the company’s joint venture with Mineral Resources, which increases Albemarle’s interest in the Wodgina Lithium Project to 60% and will see the companies form a 60:40 joint venture to operate the mine and associated lithium hydroxide facilities.",{"type":574,"attrs":715,"content":716},{"textAlign":49},[717],{"text":718,"type":579},"Albemarle’s continued interest in the Wodgina project may suggest the company is not confident that the Talison mine expansion will be enough in the long-term.",{"type":574,"attrs":720,"content":721},{"textAlign":49},[722],{"text":723,"type":579},"Elsewhere, Tianqi made progress developing its processing facilities for its Australian feedstock over the quarter as it began production at its Kwinana project. The lithium hydroxide facility is targeting 24,000 tpa in stage one, gradually ramping up as we move in to 2020.",{"type":574,"attrs":725,"content":726},{"textAlign":49},[727],{"text":728,"type":579},"However, Tianqi’s stage two expansion plans were put on hold. Stage two plans would have increased output to 48,000 tonnes per year at a cost of AUS $300 million. The Chinese producer is feeling the impact of falling lithium prices as it reported its H1 2019 net profit was down 85.2% compared with the same period last year.",{"type":574,"attrs":730,"content":731},{"textAlign":49},[732],{"text":733,"type":579},"Despite these challenges Tianqi secured two new long-term supply deals during the quarter having agreed supply deals with LG Chem and Northvolt.",{"type":574,"attrs":735,"content":736},{"textAlign":49},[737],{"text":738,"type":579},"Australia’s hard rock lithium scene is clearly facing a number of headwinds, but there are positive signs as supply deals continue to be sought and companies to continue to invest. It’s been notable that investment from outside the sector has been lacking, however, Wesfarmers’ acquisition of Kidman Resources has now been confirmed, which could be a sign this is changing.","Spodumene ramp ups through the third quarter of 2019 see ramp ups stall. Here we analyse the latest developments. Further spodumene price decreases through Q3 2019 led to a number of new suppliers revising their ramp up schedules, with Alita Resources forced to appoint administrators after the company’s offtakers pushed for reduced pricing. Prices across […]",[741],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":742},{"job_title":565,"image":743,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"d865f7ab-fe23-4314-bfcc-312c89f61bcc\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[747,750],{"slug":748,"name":749},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":751,"name":752},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":755,"name":755,"focus":755,"title":755,"source":755,"filename":756,"copyright":755,"fieldtype":757,"meta_data":758,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/3b332fd9e8/bm-western-australia-credit-stefan-jrgensen-e1571742171288.jpg","asset",{"alt":755,"title":755,"source":755,"copyright":755},"Oct 25, 2019","25th October 2019",[],[],1792773942340]