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are seeing really strong interest from car manufacturers.” Q&A with Rio Tinto’s Sinead Kaufman","we-are-seeing-really-strong-interest-from-car-manufacturers-qa-with-rio-tintos-sinead-kaufman","article/we-are-seeing-really-strong-interest-from-car-manufacturers-qa-with-rio-tintos-sinead-kaufman",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":566,"content":576,"excerpt":817,"featured":51,"reporter":818,"_editable":822,"component":823,"seo_title":553,"categories":824,"visibility":830,"author_company":49,"featured_image":831,"seo_description":817,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":836,"formattedArticleDate":837},"822a815e-6daf-44ff-85d2-db5644ac851e","2023-04-12 00:00",[560,563],{"slug":561,"name":562},"qa","Q&A",{"slug":564,"name":565},"rio-tinto","Rio Tinto",[567],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":570},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":571,"image":572,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":573},"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":577,"content":578},"doc",[579,596,601,622,627,634,639,644,649,654,659,664,669,674,679,684,689,694,699,704,709,714,719,724,729,734,739,744,749,754,767,772,777,782,787,792,797,802,807,812],{"type":580,"attrs":581,"content":582},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[583,586,594],{"text":584,"type":585},"Rio Tinto is the only large western mining company with investments in the ","text",{"text":587,"type":585,"marks":588},"lithium sector",[589],{"type":590,"attrs":591},"link",{"href":592,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/rio-tinto-and-sk-on-outline-lithium-plans-as-shortage-fears-weigh-across-supply-chain","url",{"text":595,"type":585},". ",{"type":580,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":585},"The company began recovering lithium from its boron mine in California in 2019, and last March completed its acquisition of the Rincon lithium project in Argentina for $825 million. ",{"type":580,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604,606,612,614,620],{"text":605,"type":585},"It also wants to develop the ",{"text":607,"type":585,"marks":608},"Jadar lithium project",[609],{"type":590,"attrs":610},{"href":611,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/rio-tinto-commits-2-4bn-to-arrive-at-lithiums-main-stage",{"text":613,"type":585}," in Serbia, but faced a setback in January 2022 when the government ",{"text":615,"type":585,"marks":616},"revoked its licences",[617],{"type":590,"attrs":618},{"href":619,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/europes-lithium-supply-outlook-worsens-as-serbia-cancels-rio-tintos-plans",{"text":621,"type":585}," to the project following widespread protests in the country. ",{"type":580,"attrs":623,"content":624},{"textAlign":49},[625],{"text":626,"type":585},"Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of minerals at Rio Tinto, answered questions from Benchmark Source. ",{"type":628,"attrs":629,"content":631},"heading",{"level":630,"textAlign":49},4,[632],{"text":633,"type":585},"Could you give us an update on the Jadar lithium project in Serbia, what’s the latest on how to move forward with the project? ",{"type":580,"attrs":635,"content":636},{"textAlign":49},[637],{"text":638,"type":585},"We believe the Jadar Project has the potential to be a world-class asset that could support the development of other future industries in Serbia, acting as a catalyst for tens of thousands of jobs for current and future generations.",{"type":580,"attrs":640,"content":641},{"textAlign":49},[642],{"text":643,"type":585},"Rio Tinto has now been in Serbia for over 20 years and since the discovery of lithium near the town of Loznica in 2004, we are proud to have built a fantastic workforce of extremely talented Serbian people.",{"type":580,"attrs":645,"content":646},{"textAlign":49},[647],{"text":648,"type":585},"We have a great team who are listening to the community and addressing the concerns about the project while also working on an updated approach to lithium mining that would show how Serbia’s natural environment, land, air, water and soil quality, and the health and safety of local communities, would be protected. This is our focus right now.",{"type":580,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":585},"Lithium presents Serbia with an opportunity to place itself at the heart of a new green industrial movement. Serbia could become an international centre for electric vehicle, battery and green energy manufacturing and innovation.",{"type":580,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657],{"text":658,"type":585},"Should the Government of Serbia decide to reconsider its position on the project, we understand that we need to prove our commitment to delivering for all Serbians. We would work with Serbian and international partners to make Jadar the world’s best, most environmentally friendly, safe lithium project.",{"type":628,"attrs":660,"content":661},{"level":630,"textAlign":49},[662],{"text":663,"type":585},"You’ve said the Rincon project in Argentina will produce lithium in 2024. When will you expand production of battery-grade lithium carbonate at the site beyond the starter plant? ",{"type":580,"attrs":665,"content":666},{"textAlign":49},[667],{"text":668,"type":585},"Following completion of the $825 million Rincon acquisition, the Rio Tinto Board approved $194 million to develop a small starter battery-grade lithium carbonate plant with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes per year. The investment includes early works to support a full-scale operation.",{"type":580,"attrs":670,"content":671},{"textAlign":49},[672],{"text":673,"type":585},"The small starter plant is advancing . The first steps include a ramp up of camp facilities.  The new camp, needed to house the incoming workers, has made swift progress with accommodation, recreation and office areas completed. When all related services are in place, the camp will ultimately house around 500 workers.",{"type":580,"attrs":675,"content":676},{"textAlign":49},[677],{"text":678,"type":585},"The existing pilot plant has been working throughout producing battery grade lithium carbonate to enable us to test different alternatives. The pilot plant is vital to allow us to move along the learning curve providing the tools for training, testing the market variables and understanding the technology, the cornerstone of the lithium production process.",{"type":580,"attrs":680,"content":681},{"textAlign":49},[682],{"text":683,"type":585},"Another milestone in the project is the construction of an airstrip for which permits have been received and contractors mobilised, with early works in place. We are hoping to turn this improvement into a real breakthrough for the project:  whereas travelling to the remote Rincon site from Salta by car might take around five or six hours, a plane will shorten that travel time to around 40 minutes.",{"type":580,"attrs":685,"content":686},{"textAlign":49},[687],{"text":688,"type":585},"Significant progress is also being made in other areas of the project. Exploration is continuing the drilling campaign to acquire the necessary information to improve the existing knowledge of the salt flat, its brine and water resources. This is crucial to get a better picture of the whole area and resource availability.",{"type":580,"attrs":690,"content":691},{"textAlign":49},[692],{"text":693,"type":585},"There is still a lot of work ahead to optimise the development strategy, including the recovery rates and final production. We will continue to engage with local communities, the Province of Salta and the Government of Argentina to ensure open and transparent dialogue on the work plans.",{"type":628,"attrs":695,"content":696},{"level":630,"textAlign":49},[697],{"text":698,"type":585},"How does Rio Tinto become a meaningful player in the lithium market – will you make more acquisitions? ",{"type":580,"attrs":700,"content":701},{"textAlign":49},[702],{"text":703,"type":585},"The market fundamentals for battery grade lithium are strong with long term electric vehicle and lithium demand forecasts projecting double digit growth with a significant supply deficit from the second half of this decade.",{"type":580,"attrs":705,"content":706},{"textAlign":49},[707],{"text":708,"type":585},"We are seeing really strong interest from car manufacturers – as that awareness of supply chains and shortages comes in – wanting to talk to us about lithium.",{"type":580,"attrs":710,"content":711},{"textAlign":49},[712],{"text":713,"type":585},"Diversity, security and sustainability of supply are important criteria in terms of meeting the supply gap for lithium.  ",{"type":580,"attrs":715,"content":716},{"textAlign":49},[717],{"text":718,"type":585}," Any investment we make will have to add value to the battery materials portfolio. We have clear parameters and as with any growth project around the world, no matter where it is located, Rio Tinto will assess it on its own merits and will need to demonstrate it is the best use of cash delivering the highest risk adjusted returns.",{"type":580,"attrs":720,"content":721},{"textAlign":49},[722],{"text":723,"type":585},"Finally, many of the techniques for creating a sustainable supply of lithium still need to be invented. ",{"type":580,"attrs":725,"content":726},{"textAlign":49},[727],{"text":728,"type":585},"So the big opportunity for the mining industry is to invest in technology and in doing so create new tools for: exploration, production and recovery including direct extraction technologies;  treating the leftover material from mining as a resource instead of waste; and engineering effective recycling procedures.",{"type":628,"attrs":730,"content":731},{"level":630,"textAlign":49},[732],{"text":733,"type":585},"How is inflation impacting costs for building Rincon and other projects?",{"type":580,"attrs":735,"content":736},{"textAlign":49},[737],{"text":738,"type":585},"Inflation is an industry-wide phenomenon and we are feeling it across the whole business.",{"type":580,"attrs":740,"content":741},{"textAlign":49},[742],{"text":743,"type":585},"Labour market pressure is acute, placing strain on skilled labour availability and retention. Labour market pressures in key Rio Tinto regions are more pronounced than what the official data releases reveal given high levels of competition for similar roles from other mining companies, geographic locations and similarly skilled competitor industries.",{"type":580,"attrs":745,"content":746},{"textAlign":49},[747],{"text":748,"type":585},"We are also proactively incurring new costs as we build up teams to successfully deliver on our strategy, to protect heritage, drive value-added growth and de-risk the business as we decarbonise in the years to come.",{"type":580,"attrs":750,"content":751},{"textAlign":49},[752],{"text":753,"type":585},"We recognise that higher costs are not going away overnight. We will remain vigilant, focussing on what we can control and the resilience of our operations .",{"type":628,"attrs":755,"content":756},{"level":630,"textAlign":49},[757,759,765],{"text":758,"type":585},"The EU has set a ",{"text":760,"type":585,"marks":761},"target",[762],{"type":590,"attrs":763},{"href":764,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":593},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/how-achievable-are-the-eu-critical-raw-materials-targets",{"text":766,"type":585}," of meeting 10% of its critical mineral demand from within its borders – is this ambitious enough?",{"type":580,"attrs":768,"content":769},{"textAlign":49},[770],{"text":771,"type":585},"We welcome the publication of the target, but there is a long way to go. This is only the start of an essential journey.",{"type":580,"attrs":773,"content":774},{"textAlign":49},[775],{"text":776,"type":585},"Anticipated growth in demand for critical raw materials far exceeds existing supply and in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Critical minerals are fundamental to the energy transition and governments around the world are focusing efforts on securing steady and consistent critical mineral supplies, in order to achieve their economic and climate-change related goals.",{"type":580,"attrs":778,"content":779},{"textAlign":49},[780],{"text":781,"type":585},"Europe will need to recycle more, import more as well as extract more of its own resources. It is not one or the other.",{"type":580,"attrs":783,"content":784},{"textAlign":49},[785],{"text":786,"type":585},"Serbia could be one of the first European countries to mine lithium at scale and Serbian lithium can set the global benchmark for how a lithium industry can deliver country-wide benefits, without damaging the country’s natural environment and heritage.",{"type":628,"attrs":788,"content":789},{"level":630,"textAlign":49},[790],{"text":791,"type":585},"Can you talk about the role of nature-based solutions and carbon credits for Rio Tinto? You’ve said it forms an “integral part” of Rio Tinto’s decarbonization journey. How does this help you reach your net zero targets? ",{"type":580,"attrs":793,"content":794},{"textAlign":49},[795],{"text":796,"type":585},"Offsets will also play a role in our decarbonisation strategy and we are developing nature-based solutions at and near our sites.",{"type":580,"attrs":798,"content":799},{"textAlign":49},[800],{"text":801,"type":585},"We currently have access to more than four million hectares of land globally – that’s roughly the size of France, Germany and Turkey combined – and with natural climate solutions we can use it for not only carbon offsets, but significant biodiversity and local social and economic benefits as well.",{"type":580,"attrs":803,"content":804},{"textAlign":49},[805],{"text":806,"type":585},"There are two parts to our approach – the first relates to developing nature-based solutions at or near our assets and the second is to secure high quality carbon credits in the regions we operate in.",{"type":580,"attrs":808,"content":809},{"textAlign":49},[810],{"text":811,"type":585},"Last year, we completed studies at five high-potential landholdings within our portfolio, focused on Australia, Madagascar, South Africa, and Guinea.",{"type":580,"attrs":813,"content":814},{"textAlign":49},[815],{"text":816,"type":585}," The scale of these projects is significant, with the potential for about 500,000 hectares of land under conservation, restoration, or sustainable management – with this first round of projects generating up to 1mt CO2 offsets per year by 2030, with further reductions available in future projects.","Rio Tinto is the only large western mining company with investments in the lithium sector. The company began recovering lithium from its boron mine in California in 2019, and last March completed its acquisition of the Rincon lithium project in Argentina for $825 million. It also wants to develop the Jadar lithium project in Serbia, […]",[819],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":820},{"job_title":571,"image":821,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},{"filename":573},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"822a815e-6daf-44ff-85d2-db5644ac851e\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[825,828],{"slug":826,"name":827},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":829,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":832,"name":832,"focus":832,"title":832,"source":832,"filename":833,"copyright":832,"fieldtype":834,"meta_data":835,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/5f1e7fdb4d/bm-sinead-kaufman.jpg","asset",{"alt":832,"title":832,"source":832,"copyright":832},"Apr 12, 2023","12th April 2023",[],[],1789982586218]