objective capital rare earth and minor metals investment summit: where will future lithium supplies...
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Objective Capital Rare Earths, Speciality and Minor Metals Investment Summit Where will future lithium supplies come from? 18 March 2010 by Gerry Clarke, International Lithium AllianceTRANSCRIPT
RARE EARTHS, SPECIALITY & MINOR METALS INVESTMENT SUMMIT
THE LONDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY ● THURSDAY, 18 MARCH 2010www.ObjectiveCapitalConferences.com
Investment Conferences
1.40 – 2.05 Where will future lithium supplies come from?Gerry Clarke – Chairman, International Lithium Alliance
Where will future lithium supplies come from?
Gerry Clarke
International Lithium Alliance
Lithium Resources BasicsThe lightest, smallest, highly reactive metallic element
150 mineral species & 4 brine types
Hard Rock Minerals: Spodumene 8.0% Li2OPetalite 4.9% Li2O
Soft Rock Minerals: Hectorite 1.2% Li2OJadarite 7.3% Li2O
Brines: Continental 200-1600 ppm Li Geothermal up to 400 ppm LiOilfield up to 700 ppm LiSeawater 0.1-0.2 ppm Li
Major Lithium Suppliers TodayAustralia Talison Minerals RockArgentina FMC Corp BrineChile SQM, Chemetall Foote BrineChina Numerous growing Brine/RockUSA Chemetall Foote BrineZimbabwe Bikita Minerals Rock
15 companies produce Li mineral concentrates in 7 countries (+Brazil, Canada, Portugal, Spain)7 companies harvest Li chemicals from brines in 4 countriesFMC, SQM, Chemetall account for 7.8m tonnes Li Reserves
Global Lithium Demand Outlook
Prospective high demand growth
Steady industrial use & mobility technology shift Internal combustion to electric propulsion
Lightweight strategic alloysFEVER
FMC estimates double demand over next 6 yearsLi2CO3 low 65k in 2009 to 135k in 2016
Met by incremental global capacity increasesAnd after that…………
What’s in the lithium pipeline?7.2m tonnes Li reserves
Sentient: Salar de Rincon, Argentina
Sales de Jujuy (Orocobre) Salar de Olaroz, Argentina
Canada Lithium: Quebec, Canada
Nordic Mining: Finland
Galaxy Resources: Australia/China
Western Lithium: Nevada
Rio Tinto: Serbia
Simbol Mining: California
Lithium prospect ANorth America
USA: Clayton Valley, Nevada: 9 Brines ProjectsElsewhere: 5 Brines/Pegmatite Projects
Canada: Alberta: 9 Brines ProjectsElsewhere: 29 Pegmatite Projects
Mexico: 2 Brines Projects
Lithium prospect B?South America
Argentina: 5 Brines Projects
Bolivia: Salar de Uyuni
Salar de Pastos Grandes
Other salars
Chile: 4 Brines Projects
Lithium prospect CAfrica, Australia, Europe
Namibia: 2 Projects (HR)
Mozambique: 1 Project (HR)
Mali: 1 Project
Australia: 5 Projects (WA/Queensland) (B&HR)
Ireland: 1 Project (HR)
Lithium prospect DAsia
China16 Projects (B&HR)
Critical Factors for Lithium
Low lithium content in Li-ion battery: “1m tonnes Li will suffice for 395m Chevrolet Volts”“1m tonnes Li will suffice for 250m Nissan Leafs”
Other essential Li-ion battery content: RE, C, CoSupply security – national & corporate Corporate activity – oligopoly/alliances/structural change Geopolitical matters: e.g. Europe
China remotenessBolivian culture (Eramet)
Resource diversity including Recycling Niche or mass vehicle market attainment………demand!
RECENT STUFF – THE FEVER CONTINUES
POSCO, S Korea• Invested $4.8m in Pan American Lithium, January
2010
• PAL has a property, Region 111, Chile and a geothermal property in Mexico with a plan to produce 10,000 tpa Li2CO3 from each.
• POSCO also spending $12.9m in a j.v. to extract lithium from seawater! Panic?
RECENT STUFF – THE FEVER CONTINUES
ERAMET, France
• Signed exploration contract with Bollore with a call option on a property in Argentina owned by Minera Santa Rita.
• Both appear to have lost patience with Bolivia which is viewed officially as long term.
RECENT STUFF – THE FEVER CONTINUES
AMERILITHIUM CORP, USA• 9 March 2010: Changed name from Kodiak
International Inc.
• 15 March 2010: Announced acquisition of Paymaster Project, Paymaster Canyon, Esmerelda Co, Nevada. About 80 claims worth with Li brine content in 100-300 ppm range with 1,000 ppm recorded in the vicinity.
• 17 March 2010: Announced acquisition of 650 acre Americana Property lithium asset in Alberta.
RECENT STUFF – THE FEVER CONTINUES
TOYOTA, Japan
• Investing $5m. in Sales de Jujuy (Orocobre) taking 25% when feasibility complete.
GRAPHITE ALERT
Projections for lithium indicate double present world production of natural flake graphite will be required and most of world’s production today is from, guess where, China!
Graphite is second largest material used in Li-ion batteries, e.g. each car battery will need 3-7 kg graphite.
Likely gap bridged by synthetic graphite from petroleum coke by companies such as ConocoPhillips or Hitachi Chemical.
There are trade-offs between synthetic and natural graphite in terms of quality and cost. Synthetic is undesirably porous and preferred natural spherical graphite refined from flake graphite is expensive and wasteful of up to 70% of the starting material – costs around $3,000-4,000 per tonne ($1.4-1.8/lb) compared with $4,850 per tonne Li2CO3 ($2.2/lb).
The Future Will be Different
Thank You