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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":649,"relatedVideos":650},112473361858513,"60a02c52-0847-4335-8268-fc81c9cd0b47","What does Australia’s labour shortage mean for lithium expansions?","what-does-australias-labour-shortage-mean-for-lithium-expansions","article/what-does-australias-labour-shortage-mean-for-lithium-expansions",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":553,"content":563,"excerpt":628,"featured":50,"reporter":629,"_editable":633,"component":634,"seo_title":543,"categories":635,"visibility":641,"author_company":49,"featured_image":642,"seo_description":628,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":647,"formattedArticleDate":648},"03467cea-25f6-46d9-9680-7a4e3ff2eb0a","2021-06-21 00:00",[550],{"slug":551,"name":552},"australia","Australia",[554],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":557},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":558,"image":559,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":560},"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":564,"content":565},"doc",[566,573,578,583,588,593,598,603,608,613,618,623],{"type":567,"attrs":568,"content":569},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[570],{"text":571,"type":572},"A labour shortage in Australia’s mining sector could hinder efforts to bring expanding or dormant battery raw material mining projects online to meet rising demand from the EV and energy storage supply chain.","text",{"type":567,"attrs":574,"content":575},{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":572},"The ongoing commodities price rally suggests demand for Australia’s natural resources – and raw materials for lithium ion batteries – is only set to grow.",{"type":567,"attrs":579,"content":580},{"textAlign":49},[581],{"text":582,"type":572},"However, Covid-19 border closures and limits on fly-in-fly-out employment (FIFO) due to interstate pandemic measures has left the Australian mining industry increasingly short of the skilled labour required to keep mines operating at full run rate. The shortages range from truck drivers to experienced mineral exploration geologists, with Rio Tinto already reporting a 2% decrease in their iron ore output for Q1 2021 in part attributed to limited work force availability disrupting maintenance alongside poor weather.",{"type":567,"attrs":584,"content":585},{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":572},"According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian mining sector employs 250,000 people as of February 2021, however the rising prices and growing demand broadly across the commodity sector post-pandemic means more and more workers are required for mines to operate at their capacity.",{"type":567,"attrs":589,"content":590},{"textAlign":49},[591],{"text":592,"type":572},"While this labour shortage is impacting all of Australia’s raw materials, the stress placed on battery raw materials by the situation only serves to pressure an already increasingly deficit facing industry.",{"type":567,"attrs":594,"content":595},{"textAlign":49},[596],{"text":597,"type":572},"Benchmark forecasts that 47% of mined lithium supply will come from Australian spodumene ore in 2021, so any small disruption to Australia’s production capacity, and planned expansions, could have a huge impact on worldwide lithium availability.",{"type":567,"attrs":599,"content":600},{"textAlign":49},[601],{"text":602,"type":572},"Additionally, there are also three Australian lithium mines currently in care and maintenance after struggling to operate economically during the low-price environment from 2018 through to the start of 2021, which could potentially be brought online if the bullish market momentum continues.",{"type":567,"attrs":604,"content":605},{"textAlign":49},[606],{"text":607,"type":572},"These operations are Pilbara’s Ngungaju plant (previously Altura’s Pilgangoora asset), Austroid’s Bald Hill site and the Wodgina mine operated as a joint venture by Albemarle and Mineral Resources, with Benchmark expecting all of them to recommence production in 2022.",{"type":567,"attrs":609,"content":610},{"textAlign":49},[611],{"text":612,"type":572},"Benchmark forecasts that these mines’ production output will make up 12% of total Australian spodumene production in 2022 if operations are resumed, rising to 27% by 2025 as production gains momentum. However, this ramp up in supply could be hindered by a lack of available workforce.",{"type":567,"attrs":614,"content":615},{"textAlign":49},[616],{"text":617,"type":572},"Prices have already begun to rise in the sector according to Benchmark’s most recent May Lithium Price Assessment, where spodumene prices FOB Australia have risen 47.4% year-to-date as demand from lithium chemicals surges due to the rapid expansion of EV production.",{"type":567,"attrs":619,"content":620},{"textAlign":49},[621],{"text":622,"type":572},"With this backdrop of rapidly increasing demand requirements from the downstream supply chain and therefore the need for further supply expansions, market participants have reported to Benchmark that the industry is struggling with the labour shortage.",{"type":567,"attrs":624,"content":625},{"textAlign":49},[626],{"text":627,"type":572},"Should the shortage continue, in the near term it could delay bringing capacity back to the market from dormant and expanding assets if there are simply not enough skilled workers to build, operate, and maintain the mines.","A labour shortage in Australia’s mining sector could hinder efforts to bring expanding or dormant battery raw material mining projects online to meet rising demand from the EV and energy storage supply chain. The ongoing commodities price rally suggests demand for Australia’s natural resources – and raw materials for lithium ion batteries – is only […]",[630],{"slug":555,"name":556,"content":631},{"job_title":558,"image":632,"bio":561,"linkedin":562},{"filename":560},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"03467cea-25f6-46d9-9680-7a4e3ff2eb0a\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[636,639],{"slug":637,"name":638},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":640,"name":8},"lithium","private",{"id":49,"alt":643,"name":643,"focus":643,"title":643,"source":643,"filename":644,"copyright":643,"fieldtype":645,"meta_data":646,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7138c7c0b7/bm-kwinana-tianqi.jpg","asset",{"alt":643,"title":643,"source":643,"copyright":643},"Jun 21, 2021","21st June 2021",[],[],1782746848307]