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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":707,"relatedVideos":708},112470787922068,"ec266c3c-d43c-4715-a8e3-7a62500b6ee0","US Department of Defense awards $110 million to boost lithium and nickel mining","us-department-of-defense-awards-110-million-to-boost-lithium-and-nickel-mining","article/us-department-of-defense-awards-110-million-to-boost-lithium-and-nickel-mining",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":559,"content":569,"excerpt":684,"featured":51,"reporter":685,"_editable":689,"component":690,"seo_title":543,"categories":691,"visibility":699,"author_company":49,"featured_image":700,"seo_description":684,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":705,"formattedArticleDate":706},"9a2ee611-7949-4e96-9188-1cc402e2feba","2023-09-15 00:00",[550,553,556],{"slug":551,"name":552},"albemarle","Albemarle",{"slug":554,"name":555},"talon-metals","Talon Metals",{"slug":557,"name":558},"usa","USA",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562,"content":563},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":564,"image":565,"bio":567,"linkedin":568},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":566},"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":570,"content":571},"doc",[572,579,584,589,594,599,604,609,614,619,624,629,644,649,654,659,664,669,674,679],{"type":573,"attrs":574,"content":575},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":578},"The US Department of Defense has approved $110 million in grants to increase domestic lithium and nickel supply, a move that supports the build out of its local lithium ion supply chain. ","text",{"type":573,"attrs":580,"content":581},{"textAlign":49},[582],{"text":583,"type":578},"Lithium miner Albemarle has received $90 million to continue developing its Kings Mountain mine in North Carolina while nickel-focused Talon Metals was awarded $20.6 million for its Tamarack project in Minnesota. ",{"type":573,"attrs":585,"content":586},{"textAlign":49},[587],{"text":588,"type":578},"Albemarle’s agreement with the US Department of Defense is under Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities and utilises Inflation Reduction Act funds. ",{"type":573,"attrs":590,"content":591},{"textAlign":49},[592],{"text":593,"type":578},"In 2022, US President Joe Biden invoked the DPA Title III authorities to strengthen the US industrial base for large-capacity batteries. With this move, he gave the Department of Defense the authority to increase domestic mining and processing of critical materials for the large-capacity battery supply chain.",{"type":573,"attrs":595,"content":596},{"textAlign":49},[597],{"text":598,"type":578},"When the DPA Title III was launched a year and a half ago, the idea was to provide initial level funding to projects to get them off the ground, said Manish Dua, principal consultant at Benchmark. ",{"type":573,"attrs":600,"content":601},{"textAlign":49},[602],{"text":603,"type":578},"“At the end of 2022 a lot of junior critical minerals mining companies in the US and also Canada applied for funding and now the results are slowly coming out,” he told Benchmark Source.",{"type":573,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607],{"text":608,"type":578},"Last year, the White House earmarked $250 million in DPA funding for US and Canadian companies to mine and process critical minerals for electric vehicle and stationary storage batteries as it pushes to de-risk its supply chains. ",{"type":573,"attrs":610,"content":611},{"textAlign":49},[612],{"text":613,"type":578},"The US currently accounts for only 1 percent of global lithium supply, which makes it heavily dependent on other countries to meet its own demand. As the country continues to provide grants and takes other measures, the US’ share of global lithium supply is expected to grow to about 5%, according to Benchmark’s Lithium Forecast.",{"type":573,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":49},[617],{"text":618,"type":578},"Top lithium producer Albemarle will use the funds from the Department of Defense to purchase mining equipment for its Kings Mountain mine. The company is aiming for the hard rock lithium asset to be operational in 2026.",{"type":573,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622],{"text":623,"type":578},"Kings Mountain is expected to feed sufficient material for 50,000 tonnes LCE of conversion capacity and support the manufacturing initially of approximately 1.2 million electric vehicles annually, the company said. ",{"type":573,"attrs":625,"content":626},{"textAlign":49},[627],{"text":628,"type":578},"Last year, Albemarle received $149.7 million from the Department of Energy to develop a lithium processing facility also in North Carolina. ",{"type":573,"attrs":630,"content":631},{"textAlign":49},[632,634,642],{"text":633,"type":578},"Aside from its operations in the US, Albemarle has lithium brine assets in the Salar de Atacama in Chile and hard rock lithium operations in Australia. The company has recently sweetened its takeover offer for ",{"text":635,"type":578,"marks":636},"Australia’s Liontown Resources",[637],{"type":638,"attrs":639},"link",{"href":640,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":641},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/albemarle-offers-premium-to-secure-australian-lithium-resources-with-liontown-deal","url",{"text":643,"type":578},", with its bid now standing at $4.3 billion. ",{"type":573,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":578},"Albemarle has supply agreements with automakers Tesla and Ford. ",{"type":573,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":578},"Nickel mining in the US has also received attention from the government, as the country currently has only one operational mine in Michigan, the Eagle mine. ",{"type":573,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":578},"The Department of Defense funds will help Talon Metals to continue exploration activities in Minnesota and Michigan, where the company has recently acquired mineral rights. ",{"type":573,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":578},"The company has already inked a deal with Tesla for nickel supply from Tamarack once it reaches commercial production. The asset is being developed in joint venture with major miner Rio Tinto.",{"type":573,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667],{"text":668,"type":578},"Talon had already received a $114 million award from the US Department of Energy for the development of its battery mineral processing facility in Mercer County last year. ",{"type":573,"attrs":670,"content":671},{"textAlign":49},[672],{"text":673,"type":578},"The US currently has an insignificant share of global nickel sulphate supply, a key feedstock used in EV batteries. Global nickel sulphate supply is currently sitting at 557,076 tonnes but it is expected to reach 1,011,950 in 2030, according to Benchmark’s Nickel Forecast. The US’ current output stands at 3,306 tonnes.",{"type":573,"attrs":675,"content":676},{"textAlign":49},[677],{"text":678,"type":578},"The US Department of Defense is not only focused on supporting the development of lithium and nickel mining in the country. Since the start of 2023, it has granted funding to other critical minerals mining companies including $15 million to cobalt developer Jervois and $37.5 million to graphite-focused Graphite One. ",{"type":573,"attrs":680,"content":681},{"textAlign":49},[682],{"text":683,"type":578},"Last year, rare earths mining and processing company MP Materials received $35 million, while Idaho-based Perpetua Resources, which is developing an antimony asset, was awarded $24.8 million.  ","The US Department of Defense has approved $110 million in grants to increase domestic lithium and nickel supply, a move that supports the build out of its local lithium ion supply chain. Lithium miner Albemarle has received $90 million to continue developing its Kings Mountain mine in North Carolina while nickel-focused Talon Metals was awarded […]",[686],{"slug":561,"name":562,"content":687},{"job_title":564,"image":688,"bio":567,"linkedin":568},{"filename":566},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"9a2ee611-7949-4e96-9188-1cc402e2feba\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[692,695,697],{"slug":693,"name":694},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":696,"name":8},"lithium",{"slug":698,"name":150},"nickel","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/287943243085208/835ca90aaf/bm-core-girls.jpg","asset",{"alt":701,"title":701,"source":701,"copyright":701},"Sep 15, 2023","15th September 2023",[],[],1783682678147]