[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":709},["ShallowReactive",2],{"ticker-data":3,"story-article/oxfords-generation-game":550},[4,52,82,112,148,186,229,261,297,336,378,419,460,490,520],{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":8,"today":9,"last":10,"percentageChange":11,"yearToDate":12,"yearOnYear":13,"oneYearIndexTrend":14,"url":48,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-14","2wk","Updated every 2 weeks","Lithium",317.07,322.34,-1.64,35.66,90.62,[15,16,18,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45],{"date":5,"value":9},{"date":17,"value":10},"2026-09-30",{"date":19,"value":20},"2026-09-16",354.99,{"date":22,"value":23},"2026-09-02",385.07,{"date":25,"value":26},"2026-08-19",372.67,{"date":28,"value":29},"2026-08-05",367.54,{"date":31,"value":32},"2026-07-22",388.26,{"date":34,"value":35},"2026-07-08",399.4,{"date":37,"value":38},"2026-06-24",410.62,{"date":40,"value":41},"2026-06-10",427.77,{"date":43,"value":44},"2026-05-27",449.85,{"date":46,"value":47},"2026-05-13",451.12,"/lithium/prices",null,false,true,{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":53,"today":54,"last":55,"percentageChange":56,"yearToDate":57,"yearOnYear":58,"oneYearIndexTrend":59,"url":48,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Lithium Carbonate",256.83,278.71,-7.85,1.12,46.89,[60,61,62,64,66,68,70,72,74,76,78,80],{"date":5,"value":54},{"date":17,"value":55},{"date":19,"value":63},300.39,{"date":22,"value":65},306.07,{"date":25,"value":67},297.22,{"date":28,"value":69},296.63,{"date":31,"value":71},309.38,{"date":34,"value":73},317.2,{"date":37,"value":75},330.54,{"date":40,"value":77},346.5,{"date":43,"value":79},358.35,{"date":46,"value":81},350.28,{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":83,"today":84,"last":85,"percentageChange":86,"yearToDate":87,"yearOnYear":88,"oneYearIndexTrend":89,"url":48,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Lithium Hydroxide",292.05,311.1,-6.12,43.7,92,[90,91,92,94,96,98,100,102,104,106,108,110],{"date":5,"value":84},{"date":17,"value":85},{"date":19,"value":93},339.85,{"date":22,"value":95},352.45,{"date":25,"value":97},341.12,{"date":28,"value":99},337.87,{"date":31,"value":101},354.36,{"date":34,"value":103},364.06,{"date":37,"value":105},376.67,{"date":40,"value":107},393.29,{"date":43,"value":109},411.01,{"date":46,"value":111},408.51,{"publishedDate":5,"updateFrequency":113,"updateFrequencyText":114,"label":115,"today":116,"last":117,"percentageChange":118,"yearToDate":119,"yearOnYear":120,"oneYearIndexTrend":121,"url":147,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"1wk","Updated every week","Cobalt",171.41,173.83,-1.39,-27.13,-1.06,[122,123,125,126,129,131,133,136,138,141,142,145],{"date":5,"value":116},{"date":124,"value":117},"2026-10-07",{"date":17,"value":117},{"date":127,"value":128},"2026-09-23",175.44,{"date":19,"value":130},178.66,{"date":22,"value":132},189.92,{"date":134,"value":135},"2026-08-26",192.6,{"date":25,"value":137},199.83,{"date":139,"value":140},"2026-08-12",217.25,{"date":28,"value":140},{"date":143,"value":144},"2026-07-29",221.25,{"date":31,"value":146},224.44,"/cobalt/prices",{"publishedDate":149,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":150,"today":151,"last":152,"percentageChange":153,"yearToDate":154,"yearOnYear":155,"oneYearIndexTrend":156,"url":185,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-21","Nickel",107.13,114.04,-6.06,-11.27,-0.65,[157,158,159,161,164,166,168,170,173,176,179,182],{"date":149,"value":151},{"date":124,"value":152},{"date":127,"value":160},116.1,{"date":162,"value":163},"2026-09-09",119.13,{"date":134,"value":165},119.61,{"date":139,"value":167},121.04,{"date":143,"value":169},121.19,{"date":171,"value":172},"2026-07-15",122.66,{"date":174,"value":175},"2026-07-01",125.61,{"date":177,"value":178},"2026-06-17",131.5,{"date":180,"value":181},"2026-06-03",134.65,{"date":183,"value":184},"2026-05-20",135.83,"/nickel/prices",{"publishedDate":17,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":189,"today":190,"last":191,"percentageChange":192,"yearToDate":193,"yearOnYear":194,"oneYearIndexTrend":195,"url":228,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"1mo","Updated every month","Natural Graphite",78.45,80.18,-2.16,-3.84,-4.03,[196,197,199,202,205,208,211,214,217,220,223,226],{"date":17,"value":190},{"date":198,"value":191},"2026-08-28",{"date":200,"value":201},"2026-07-31",80.66,{"date":203,"value":204},"2026-06-30",82.87,{"date":206,"value":207},"2026-05-29",82.99,{"date":209,"value":210},"2026-04-30",82.93,{"date":212,"value":213},"2026-03-31",82.39,{"date":215,"value":216},"2026-02-27",81.92,{"date":218,"value":219},"2026-01-30",81.69,{"date":221,"value":222},"2025-12-31",81.58,{"date":224,"value":225},"2025-11-28",81.35,{"date":227,"value":225},"2025-10-31","/natural-graphite/prices",{"publishedDate":17,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":230,"today":231,"last":232,"percentageChange":233,"yearToDate":234,"yearOnYear":235,"oneYearIndexTrend":236,"url":260,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Anode Coke",86.15,81.86,5.24,15.73,19.78,[237,238,239,241,242,244,246,248,250,252,254,257],{"date":17,"value":231},{"date":200,"value":232},{"date":203,"value":240},80.54,{"date":206,"value":240},{"date":209,"value":243},84.01,{"date":212,"value":245},79.79,{"date":215,"value":247},75.72,{"date":218,"value":249},74.61,{"date":221,"value":251},74.44,{"date":227,"value":253},72.75,{"date":255,"value":256},"2025-09-30",71.92,{"date":258,"value":259},"2025-08-29",71.46,"/synthetic-graphite/prices",{"publishedDate":262,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":263,"today":264,"last":265,"percentageChange":266,"yearToDate":267,"yearOnYear":268,"oneYearIndexTrend":269,"url":296,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-15","Anode",80.45,80.24,0.27,1.81,3.2,[270,271,273,275,276,278,281,284,287,289,291,293],{"date":262,"value":264},{"date":272,"value":265},"2026-09-15",{"date":274,"value":265},"2026-08-17",{"date":171,"value":265},{"date":277,"value":265},"2026-06-15",{"date":279,"value":280},"2026-05-15",79.16,{"date":282,"value":283},"2026-04-15",81.98,{"date":285,"value":286},"2026-03-16",79.03,{"date":288,"value":286},"2026-02-16",{"date":290,"value":286},"2026-01-15",{"date":292,"value":286},"2025-12-15",{"date":294,"value":295},"2025-11-17",77.79,"/anode/prices",{"publishedDate":298,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":299,"today":300,"last":301,"percentageChange":302,"yearToDate":303,"yearOnYear":304,"oneYearIndexTrend":305,"url":335,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-08-01","Cathode",73.32,77.21,-5.04,14.41,55.07,[306,307,308,311,314,317,320,323,325,327,329,332],{"date":298,"value":300},{"date":174,"value":301},{"date":309,"value":310},"2026-06-01",80.32,{"date":312,"value":313},"2026-05-01",81.71,{"date":315,"value":316},"2026-04-01",77.27,{"date":318,"value":319},"2026-03-01",81.99,{"date":321,"value":322},"2026-02-01",80.5,{"date":290,"value":324},72.79,{"date":292,"value":326},64.08,{"date":294,"value":328},62.01,{"date":330,"value":331},"2025-10-15",53.51,{"date":333,"value":334},"2025-09-15",49.5,"/cathode/prices",{"publishedDate":337,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":338,"today":339,"last":340,"percentageChange":341,"yearToDate":342,"yearOnYear":343,"oneYearIndexTrend":344,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2025-03-31","Lithium ion Batteries",74.53,71.3,4.53,-1.6,-20.88,[345,346,348,351,354,357,360,363,366,368,371,374],{"date":337,"value":339},{"date":347,"value":340},"2025-02-28",{"date":349,"value":350},"2025-01-31",71.45,{"date":352,"value":353},"2024-12-31",75.74,{"date":355,"value":356},"2024-11-29",76.98,{"date":358,"value":359},"2024-10-31",77.34,{"date":361,"value":362},"2024-09-30",77.43,{"date":364,"value":365},"2024-08-30",80.56,{"date":367,"value":207},"2024-07-31",{"date":369,"value":370},"2024-06-28",87.2,{"date":372,"value":373},"2024-05-31",90.7,{"date":375,"value":376},"2024-04-30",93.2,"/battery-gigafactory/prices",{"publishedDate":379,"updateFrequency":6,"updateFrequencyText":7,"label":380,"today":381,"last":382,"percentageChange":383,"yearToDate":384,"yearOnYear":385,"oneYearIndexTrend":386,"url":418,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"2026-10-08","Black Mass",37.11,38.95,-4.72,-14,18.31,[387,388,390,393,396,399,402,405,408,411,414,416],{"date":379,"value":381},{"date":389,"value":382},"2026-09-24",{"date":391,"value":392},"2026-09-10",42.03,{"date":394,"value":395},"2026-08-27",43.88,{"date":397,"value":398},"2026-08-13",42.33,{"date":400,"value":401},"2026-07-30",43.42,{"date":403,"value":404},"2026-07-16",46.74,{"date":406,"value":407},"2026-07-02",46.01,{"date":409,"value":410},"2026-06-18",49.57,{"date":412,"value":413},"2026-02-12",47.34,{"date":415,"value":410},"2026-01-29",{"date":290,"value":417},43.15,"/recycling/black-mass-prices",{"publishedDate":262,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":420,"today":421,"last":422,"percentageChange":423,"yearToDate":424,"yearOnYear":425,"oneYearIndexTrend":426,"url":459,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"Rare Earths",172.08,171.72,0.21,20.59,30.21,[427,428,430,433,436,439,442,445,448,451,454,457],{"date":262,"value":421},{"date":429,"value":422},"2026-10-01",{"date":431,"value":432},"2026-09-03",170.83,{"date":434,"value":435},"2026-08-20",169.63,{"date":437,"value":438},"2026-08-06",172.28,{"date":440,"value":441},"2026-07-23",173.94,{"date":443,"value":444},"2026-07-09",171.69,{"date":446,"value":447},"2026-06-25",168.55,{"date":449,"value":450},"2026-06-11",165,{"date":452,"value":453},"2026-05-28",163.89,{"date":455,"value":456},"2026-05-14",172.63,{"date":209,"value":458},175.6,"/rare-earths/prices",{"publishedDate":198,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":461,"today":462,"last":463,"percentageChange":464,"yearToDate":465,"yearOnYear":466,"oneYearIndexTrend":467,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"NCM Mid-Nickel",152.7,162.48,-6.02,17.38,53.11,[468,469,470,472,474,476,478,480,482,484,486,488],{"date":198,"value":462},{"date":200,"value":463},{"date":203,"value":471},171.08,{"date":206,"value":473},173.65,{"date":209,"value":475},164.53,{"date":212,"value":477},157.28,{"date":215,"value":479},151.44,{"date":218,"value":481},144.5,{"date":221,"value":483},130.09,{"date":224,"value":485},124.6,{"date":227,"value":487},122.35,{"date":255,"value":489},103.5,{"publishedDate":198,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":491,"today":492,"last":493,"percentageChange":494,"yearToDate":495,"yearOnYear":496,"oneYearIndexTrend":497,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"NCM High-Nickel",144.45,149.67,-3.49,26.69,49.06,[498,499,500,502,504,506,508,510,512,514,516,518],{"date":198,"value":492},{"date":200,"value":493},{"date":203,"value":501},157.37,{"date":206,"value":503},160,{"date":209,"value":505},149.53,{"date":212,"value":507},141.97,{"date":215,"value":509},136.99,{"date":218,"value":511},129.81,{"date":221,"value":513},114.02,{"date":224,"value":515},109.17,{"date":227,"value":517},109.02,{"date":255,"value":519},99.44,{"publishedDate":198,"updateFrequency":187,"updateFrequencyText":188,"label":521,"today":522,"last":523,"percentageChange":524,"yearToDate":525,"yearOnYear":526,"oneYearIndexTrend":527,"url":377,"subscription":49,"isProtected":50,"hasAccess":51},"LFP",229.17,218.34,4.96,49.35,83.44,[528,529,530,532,534,536,538,540,542,544,546,548],{"date":198,"value":522},{"date":200,"value":523},{"date":203,"value":531},239.1,{"date":206,"value":533},258.32,{"date":209,"value":535},239.37,{"date":212,"value":537},213.01,{"date":215,"value":539},204.49,{"date":218,"value":541},218.06,{"date":221,"value":543},153.45,{"date":224,"value":545},134.02,{"date":227,"value":547},118.22,{"date":255,"value":549},111.93,{"id":551,"uuid":552,"name":553,"slug":554,"full_slug":555,"content":556,"relatedArticles":707,"relatedVideos":708},112474740549743,"849a0717-8a29-44c2-9522-ac3f9f171527","Oxford’s generation game","oxfords-generation-game","article/oxfords-generation-game",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":685,"featured":50,"reporter":686,"_editable":690,"component":691,"seo_title":553,"categories":692,"visibility":699,"author_company":49,"featured_image":700,"seo_description":685,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":705,"formattedArticleDate":706},"da1c372f-4f42-4054-99bd-f31275dc0a5c","2017-07-26 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",[573,580,585,590,595,600,605,610,615,620,625,630,635,640,645,650,655,660,665,670,675,680],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"It is a building in the heart of Oxford, a small city in the south east of the UK – that the Benchmark team is directed to for a private tour of the historic university grounds. The building itself, whilst being hundreds of years old, is common place for the City of Dreaming Spires, yet its significance for the mining and technology industries is far greater.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"“Here it is, where the rechargeable lithium ion battery cathode was invented,” the University of Oxford’s Dr Ryan Bayliss declared to us.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":579},"The Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Oxford is not perhaps the first thing the world leading educational institution is known for.",{"type":574,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":579},"When thinking of Oxford one may think of authors like Oscar Wilde, TS Eliot, CS Lewis, and JRR Tolkein; former head of states such as David Cameron (UK), Tony Blair (UK), Bill Clinton (US), and Tony Abbott (Australia); or perhaps the most famous of all, Albert Einstein.",{"type":574,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":579},"But the chemists at Oxford have had a profound impact on the world we live in today and non-more relevant than the creation of the cathode that made today’s lithium ion battery possible.",{"type":574,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":579},"On the building we were being presented to was an unassuming blue plaque which read:",{"type":574,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":579},"“Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory where in 1980 John B Goodenough with Kochi Mizushima, Philip C Jones and Philip J Wiseman identified the cathode material that enabled development of the rechargeable lithium ion battery. The breakthrough ushered in the age of portable electronics.”",{"type":574,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":579},"The cathode in question is still the most common chemistry that is used in all of our portable devices today. In fact, if you are reading this article on a smartphone, tablet or laptop, it would only be possible due to Professor Goodenough and his team creating the lithium cobalt oxide or LCO cathode powder over 30 years ago.",{"type":574,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618],{"text":619,"type":579},"Sony of Japan was the corporation that took Professor Goodenough’s LCO creation from concept to commercialisation, allowing for the Walkman to take off in the early 1990s followed by Apple’s iPhone and all other subsequent smartphones and tablets in 2007.",{"type":574,"attrs":621,"content":622},{"textAlign":49},[623],{"text":624,"type":579},"The cathode which uses a lot of lithium and even more cobalt is being phased out now after a generation of service and being replaced by more nickel rich formulations and the addition of other elements such as manganese and aluminium, better known as the NMC and the NCA chemistries, respectively.",{"type":574,"attrs":626,"content":627},{"textAlign":49},[628],{"text":629,"type":579},"That was why it was with such pleasure that Benchmark Mineral Intelligence was invited to give a guest lecture to Oxford’s next generation of leaders.",{"type":574,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633],{"text":634,"type":579},"The lecture entitled “The lithium ion battery supply chain in an energy storage revolution” encompassed the challenges and opportunities in the supply chain, from mine to market and then opened this up for discussion.",{"type":574,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":579},"As with talks of this nature to such a varied audience, the most interesting part was the Q&A and discussions that followed in Oxford’s oldest pub (dating back to 1298) and a famed student haunt, The Kings Arms. This establishment, owned by Wadham College, is where the real thinking takes place!",{"type":574,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":579},"Among the general hubbub of midweek student drinks, a real insight was gained into the thinking of the university’s finest minds interested in batteries and energy storage.",{"type":574,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":579},"While the Benchmark team explained what is happening commercially around the world, students from various disciplines such as chemistry and engineering to economics and even politics were keen to engage on one of the most critical subjects of the next 100 years: energy storage.",{"type":574,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653],{"text":654,"type":579},"There were a few big takeaways from our experience.",{"type":574,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":579},"The first is Oxford’s love for the sodium ion battery. The university has been developing this technology with UK-based Faradion Ltd which claims it can be up to 30% cheaper than lithium ion based primary and that salt (Na) is cheaper to source and produce than lithium.",{"type":574,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":579},"While sodium occupies the upper left portion of the Periodic Table – among the world’s lightest of elements – it is still nearly four times heavier than lithium. Having said that, only helium is lighter than lithium so it is a tough one to beat for a battery maker looking for lithium independence.",{"type":574,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668],{"text":669,"type":579},"The second notable discussion was on the interest in new recycling methods for lithium ion batteries.",{"type":574,"attrs":671,"content":672},{"textAlign":49},[673],{"text":674,"type":579},"While the industry is yet to emulate the huge successes of its lead acid counterpart, money making opportunities are on the horizon as a glut of larger format, end life lithium ion cells are expected hit the market by 2021. Benchmark explained that the focus for students should be on isolating and extracting the high value raw materials of: lithium, cobalt and nickel.",{"type":574,"attrs":676,"content":677},{"textAlign":49},[678],{"text":679,"type":579},"Finally, perhaps the most memorable point of all was the group of intelligent and engaged students that we met, the average age of which was no more than 26.",{"type":574,"attrs":681,"content":682},{"textAlign":49},[683],{"text":684,"type":579},"While Millennials get some criticism for spending their time on Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat, it is the same demographic that will be responsible for inventing or enabling your technologies of tomorrow.","It is a building in the heart of Oxford, a small city in the south east of the UK – that the Benchmark team is directed to for a private tour of the historic university grounds. The building itself, whilst being hundreds of years old, is common place for the City of Dreaming Spires, yet […]",[687],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":688},{"job_title":565,"image":689,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"da1c372f-4f42-4054-99bd-f31275dc0a5c\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[693,696],{"slug":694,"name":695},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":697,"name":698},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":701,"name":701,"focus":701,"title":701,"source":701,"filename":702,"copyright":701,"fieldtype":703,"meta_data":704,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7c382e6e3c/bm-screen-shot-2017-07-26-at-120415.png","asset",{"alt":701,"title":701,"source":701,"copyright":701},"Jul 26, 2017","26th July 2017",[],[],1792773945375]