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miners accelerate expansions as they eye sustained high prices","lithium-miners-accelerate-expansions-as-they-eye-sustained-high-prices","article/lithium-miners-accelerate-expansions-as-they-eye-sustained-high-prices",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":563,"content":573,"excerpt":698,"featured":51,"reporter":699,"_editable":703,"component":704,"seo_title":553,"categories":705,"visibility":709,"author_company":49,"featured_image":710,"seo_description":698,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":715,"formattedArticleDate":716},"6eb8f699-09e0-4e83-835c-51ae27299ebe","2022-04-06 00:00",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562},"australia","Australia",[564],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":567},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":568,"image":569,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":570},"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":574,"content":575},"doc",[576,593,598,611,616,621,626,631,638,643,648,653,658,663,668,673,678,683,688,693],{"type":577,"attrs":578,"content":579},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[580,583,591],{"text":581,"type":582},"Lithium miners are accelerating their expansion plans as they bet strong demand for electric vehicles will sustain high ","text",{"text":584,"type":582,"marks":585},"lithium prices",[586],{"type":587,"attrs":588},"link",{"href":589,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":590},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/lithium-prices/","url",{"text":592,"type":582}," this decade.",{"type":577,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":582},"Mineral Resources said this week it would increase production at its two spodumene mines in Western Australia in “response to unprecedented global customer demand for lithium products.” China’s Ganfeng Lithium, meanwhile, said it would “accelerate” its expansion by 100,000 tonnes of LCE to produce 300,000 tonnes of LCE globally by 2025.",{"type":577,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601,603,609],{"text":602,"type":582},"The supply increases come following a 500% surge in lithium chemical and feedstock prices over the past year, due to a shortage of ",{"text":604,"type":582,"marks":605},"supply",[606],{"type":587,"attrs":607},{"href":608,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":590},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/where-will-new-lithium-supply-come-from-in-2022",{"text":610,"type":582}," and sustained growth in sales of electric vehicles. Many automakers buy lithium on longer-term contracts that are also set to follow market prices higher this year as they are renegotiated.",{"type":577,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":582},"The price increase has created growing demand for lithium-rich spodumene rock in Australia, which is set to see the biggest increase in supply this year. Whilst battery-grade lithium chemicals from South America can lag behind Chinese spot market, Australian spodumene contracts are often tied more closely to these higher prices.",{"type":577,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619],{"text":620,"type":582},"“For some time now the world has seen extraordinary demand for lithium, driven by the strength of the electric vehicle market,” Chris Ellison, managing director of Mineral Resources, said. “This demand has resulted in a substantial increase in lithium prices, with pricing expected to remain strong for the rest of this decade.”",{"type":577,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":582},"Spodumene prices have risen by 500% over the past year and 97% this year to $3,263 a tonne as of March, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Price Assessment. Lithium producer Allkem said this week it was in “advanced discussions” for spodumene pricing of around $5,000 a tonne for its Mt Cattlin mine in Australia.",{"type":577,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":582},"“I suspect we have a window of another six months of good pricing or high prices predominantly because there’s going to be limited supply coming into the market,” Christian Cortez, chief sales and marketing officer at Allkem said on Tuesday.",{"type":632,"attrs":633,"content":635},"heading",{"level":634,"textAlign":49},4,[636],{"text":637,"type":582},"Turning on the taps",{"type":577,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":582},"Mineral Resources said it had agreed with its joint venture partners Albemarle and Ganfeng to increase spodumene production at its Wodgina and Mt Marion spodumene mines.",{"type":577,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":582},"Production at Wodgina mine, which was idled in 2019, would re-start in May rather than September, the company said. The mine would have capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of spodumene containing around 6% lithium with the addition of an additional production train in July, it said.",{"type":577,"attrs":649,"content":650},{"textAlign":49},[651],{"text":652,"type":582},"The company said all spodumene produced would be processed at conversion facilities “either built or acquired” by the JV, casting doubt on how much would be available for Chinese converters in the long-term, although these integrated facilities are yet to be announced. Any excess spodumene would be “either toll-converted or sold into the open market,” it said.",{"type":577,"attrs":654,"content":655},{"textAlign":49},[656],{"text":657,"type":582},"In addition, Mineral Resources said the Mt Marion mine would increase production “immediately” from 450,000 tonnes a year to 600,000 a year of “mixed grade product” by April 2022.",{"type":632,"attrs":659,"content":660},{"level":634,"textAlign":49},[661],{"text":662,"type":582},"Supply additions “unlikely to reign in deficit”",{"type":577,"attrs":664,"content":665},{"textAlign":49},[666],{"text":667,"type":582},"Equivalent to 75,000 tonnes of LCE, the increases by Mineral Resources and its partners are “unlikely to reign in the deficit,” according to Cameron Perks, an analyst at Benchmark.",{"type":577,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671],{"text":672,"type":582},"Spodumene supply this year was expected to be around 317,000 tonnes of LCE this year, he said.",{"type":577,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"textAlign":49},[676],{"text":677,"type":582},"However, by 2025 with the addition of other projects the expansions could help create a balanced market, he said, depending on demand for batteries and electric vehicles.",{"type":577,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":582},"“If you use an upside demand scenario, there is still a perpetual deficit, which means there is still a very strong demand pull, lots of upside potential,” he added.",{"type":577,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"textAlign":49},[686],{"text":687,"type":582},"Recycling of lithium is also set to provide a greater share of lithium supply over the next few years, with Ganfeng saying its 300,000 tonnes of LCE will include recycled lithium supply.",{"type":577,"attrs":689,"content":690},{"textAlign":49},[691],{"text":692,"type":582},"Ganfeng said it would invest in additional lithium resources to reach an eventual capacity of 600,000 tonnes LCE per year this decade.",{"type":577,"attrs":694,"content":695},{"textAlign":49},[696],{"text":697,"type":582},"“Given the current rapid growth in demand for lithium products, the company plans to accelerate the capacity expansion of its lithium compound and lithium resource projects,” Ganfeng said. “The company is optimistic about the long-term development of the global lithium market.”","Lithium miners are accelerating their expansion plans as they bet strong demand for electric vehicles will sustain high lithium prices this decade. Mineral Resources said this week it would increase production at its two spodumene mines in Western Australia in “response to unprecedented global customer demand for lithium products.” China’s Ganfeng Lithium, meanwhile, said it […]",[700],{"slug":565,"name":566,"content":701},{"job_title":568,"image":702,"bio":571,"linkedin":572},{"filename":570},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"6eb8f699-09e0-4e83-835c-51ae27299ebe\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[706],{"slug":707,"name":708},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":711,"name":711,"focus":711,"title":711,"source":711,"filename":712,"copyright":711,"fieldtype":713,"meta_data":714,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/e7ac21368c/bm-mt-marion-mineral-resources.jpg","asset",{"alt":711,"title":711,"source":711,"copyright":711},"Apr 06, 2022","6th April 2022",[],[],1792773928504]