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Savannah could request compulsory land acquisitions for Portuguese lithium project

Reuters | May 9, 2024

London-based Savannah Resources will if necessary ask Portugal’s government to authorize compulsory land acquisitions for its planned lithium mines in the country’s north, CEO Emanuel Proenca said, adding that it prefers “friendly deals”.


The company requires around 840 hectares for its four-mine project in the Barroso region, but according to data from September 2023, it had acquired or was in process of acquiring just 93 hectares.


Savannah has faced strong opposition to the project from local residents and environmentalists, via protests, legal challenges or simply by refusals to sell land. Private owners hold around 24% of the land needed, while 75% is traditional “baldios”, or common land.

Proenca told an investor presentation on Wednesday that Savannah has so far acquired over 100 plots, though it is not clear how many hectares that represents.

The CEO said Portuguese legislation allowed for other solutions in terms of “land access and compulsory land acquisition”.

“We are obviously aware of those solutions and there will eventually be a moment in which we will resort to them… that moment hasn’t come yet so we continue to privilege friendly acquisitions and friendly deals,” Proenca said, adding that the relationship with the local community was improving.

The company wants to start production in 2026, extracting enough lithium each year for around half a million batteries used in electric vehicles.

The government could authorize a compulsory purchase in the public interest.

With 60,000 metric tons of known reserves, Portugal is already Europe’s biggest producer of lithium for the ceramics industry. The region of Barroso – a Food and Agriculture Organization heritage site – contains one of its richest deposits of lithium.

Proenca said the land the company needed was mostly “industrial pine tree forest”, adding: “We are not affecting a single house, we do not have to relocate a single person.”

In February, prosecutors asked a judge to annul an environmental permit for the project, alleging legal infringements and citing risks that the mine could endanger the heritage site.

Savannah at the time cited advice from its lawyers “that the lawsuit is without foundation” and expected no impact on its activities.

Sigma Lithium boosts mineral reserves at Brazil’s Grota do Cirilo
The expansion equates to an additional 22.2 million tonnes (mt) and raises the consolidated reserve balance to 77mt.

May 9, 2024

Sigma Lithium has announced a 40% increase in proven and probable mineral reserves at its Grota do Cirilo lithium project in Vale do Jequitinhonha, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

This expansion equates to an additional 22.2mt, raising the consolidated reserve balance to 77mt at 1.40% lithium oxide (Li2O), up from 54.8mt at 1.44% Li2O.

The reserve increase is concentrated within the combined phases three and four mines, which will extend the lifespan of Sigma Lithium’s integrated mining and beneficiation operations to an estimated 25 years.

This includes two processing lines with a combined capacity of 520,000t per annum, of which the second line, currently under construction, will contribute 250,000t.

The company noted that the enhanced mineral reserve balance paves the way for sustained, low-cost lithium production growth at the Grota do Cirilo operations.

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Eramine Sudamerica to open lithium carbonate plant in Argentina

The plant is expected to produce 3,000 tonnes (t) of lithium carbonate this year, with plans to increase production to 24,000t by 2025.

May 7, 2024

Eramine Sudamerica is gearing up to inaugurate its first lithium carbonate plant in the northern Argentine province of Salta by July 2024.

This strategic move is set to establish the company as Argentina’s fourth producer of lithium, a critical component in battery technology, according to a Reuters report posted on the Economic Times.

The facility is located on the Centenario Ratones salt flat approximately 1,400km north-west of Buenos Aires at an altitude of 4,000m.

Eramine Sudamerica’s sustainability director Constanza Cintioni told the news agency that the plant is expected to produce around 3,000t of lithium carbonate this year, with plans to increase production to approximately 24,000t by 2025.

Cintioni explained that the output from the plant will be exported and have an expected useful lifespan of four decades.

She also disclosed an estimated total investment of $800m (704.57bn pesos) for the project, with intentions to establish a second similar facility in the same basin at a future date.

The Eramine Sudamerica plant will employ a direct extraction method for lithium, differing from other projects that typically use brine evaporation from pools.

This innovative approach comes at a time when lithium, essential for mobile phone and EV batteries, has experienced a price surge following a plunge in 2023, largely due to a slowdown in EV sales in China, according to the news agency.

The establishment of the lithium carbonate plant in Salta is a key development under the administration of President Javier Milei, who is focused on enhancing foreign reserves through exports in mining, energy and grains to combat the nation’s severe economic crisis and high inflation rates.

This new plant is the first lithium carbonate facility in Salta and adds to the three existing lithium production facilities in Argentina.

Industry sources have estimated that the country’s lithium exports saw a 20% increase last year.

Standard Lithium enters $160m lithium partnership with Equinor

By NS Energy Staff Writer 09 May 2024

Under the terms of the agreement, Equinor will invest up to $160m in exchange for a 45% stake in Standard Lithium’s two lithium projects in southwest Arkansas and east Texas


Aerial footage of the Southwest Arkansas project. (Credit: Standard Lithium)

Canadian mining company Standard Lithium has teamed up with Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor to advance the development of its sustainable lithium projects in the US.

Under the terms of the agreement, Equinor will invest up to $160m in exchange for a 45% stake in Standard Lithium’s two lithium projects in southwest Arkansas and east Texas.

The investment includes a $30m cash payment in compensation for the previous costs.

Equinor will fund a $60m work program at the acquired assets, comprising $33m Standard Lithium’s share and $27m its share.

The Norwegian company will also make milestone payments of up to $70m to Standard Lithium upon both parties reaching a final investment decision (FID).

Standard Lithium will own the remaining 55% of the two lithium projects and retain the operatorship, and Equinor will support the operator with core competencies.
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Le projet EMILI comprend quatre composantes :

# Une mine souterraine, sous la carrière des Kaolins de Beauvoir sur le massif de la Bosse (site déjà exploité en surface) ;

# Une usine de concentration assurant la séparation des minéraux contenus dans le granite qui est la roche minéralisée en lithium. Cette usine, située également sur le site de Beauvoir, aurait une capacité annuelle de traitement d’environ 2 millions de tonnes de minerais ;

# Une plateforme de chargement ferroviaire qui serait située à «La Fontchambert», à proximité de Saint-Bonnet-de-Rochefort. Le concentré du minéral qu’on appelle mica y serait alors apporté par canalisations et filtré avant d’être chargé dans des trains ;

# Une usine de conversion, à «La Loue» (commune de Saint-Victor, dans l’agglomération de Montluçon), accessible par voie ferroviaire et ayant une capacité annuelle de traitement d’environ 330 000 tonnes de mica lithinifère (permettant de produire environ 34 000 tonnes d’hydroxyde de lithium par an).

Allant de l’extraction à la conversion sur un même périmètre géographique, ce choix de gestion en circuit court participe ainsi à une réduction de l’impact carbone du projet tout en soutenant le développement du territoire.

Par ailleurs, le groupe vise à destiner sa production à la filière européenne de production de batteries.

American Battery updates assessment of Tonopah Flats lithium project

Staff Writer | April 24, 2024

American Battery Technology (NASDAQ: ABAT) has updated the initial assessment for its Tonopah Flats lithium project near the town of Tonopah, Nevada, midway between Las Vegas and Reno. The company has been exploring the property since 2021.


The initial assessment was done in December 2023, and the current study is an update.

However, American Battery does not say the studies conform to National Instrument 43-101 definitions. Rather, the figures comply with the US S-K 1300, which the company says is “similar to a preliminary economic assessment”.

The Tonopah Flats claystone is one of the largest lithium resources in the US.

The measured and indicated resource is 3.16 million tonnes averaging 596 ppm lithium and containing 11.4 million tonnes of lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM). The inferred resource is 2.93 billion tonnes averaging 550 ppm lithium, containing 21.2 million tonnes LHM.

American Battery believes that over the 50-year mining period, about 540,000 tonnes of claystone will be treated annually.

The company plans to use its own dilute acid leaching lithium extraction process that has demonstrated recoveries lithium over 90%. It has also validated in-house lithium hydroxide manufacturing techniques.

Annual LHM production will be 30,000 tonnes of LHM.

India seeks overseas help for lithium processing to avoid relying on China

Reuters | April 25, 2024

India is in talks with several countries seeking partnerships for technical help on lithium processing, said four sources familiar with the matter, to bolster its nascent lithium mining and electric vehicle industries and avoid relying on China.


India’s Ministry of Mines began discussions with Australia and the United States last year, said the four sources, two from India’s government and two industry participants. The Indian government and some private companies have also sought help from Bolivia, Britain, Japan and South Korea, said the sources, who did not wish to be identified as the discussions were not public.

Executives from Russia’s TENEX, part of state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, approached the Indian government and have held at least two meetings with Indian officials this year, offering lithium processing technology and the possibility of collaborating with Indian companies, said one of the sources, a senior government official with direct knowledge of the plans.

The discussions illustrate efforts by India, the world’s third-largest carbon emitter and oil importer, to develop a lithium mining industry that could provide the chemical feedstocks for batteries for its domestic electric vehicle (EV) industry which could help cut its greenhouse gas emissions and oil dependence.

“India needs technology to process lithium and we are looking to collaborate with other countries which have some experience,” said the senior government official. “We are aiming to be self-reliant and one of the ways is through partnerships.”

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The government’s top policy think-tank NITI Aayog has recommended incentives for setting up lithium processing plants. India’s battery industry will require an annual 56,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate by 2030, according to NITI Aayog.

Argosy secures EIA approval for expansion of Rincon lithium project

By NS Energy Staff Writer 25 Apr 2024

The government of Salta Province officially approved the company’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the development of a 10,000tpa battery quality lithium carbonate production operation expansion at the Rincon lithium project


Australia-based Argosy Minerals has secured official approval for the development of the 10,000tpa lithium carbonate expansion operation at the Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina.

The Government of Salta Province in Argentina and the Secretary of Mining and Energy granted the permit to develop and produce up to 12,000tpa of lithium carbonate from the Rincon project.

It enables the company to expand the Rincon lithium project based on its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submission.

With the formal approval in place, the company now has all the necessary approvals required to develop the 10,000tpa expansion operation at the Rincon project site.

Argosy managing director Jerko Zuvela said: “We are grateful to the Salta Province regulatory authorities, especially the Secretary of Mining and Energy and her team.

“The company has conducted extensive work on this EIA process to prove the long-term sustainability of our project.

“This is a significant milestone and I thank our team for such an achievement and we look forward to completing our upcoming milestones.”

Argosy is an Australian company that currently owns a 77.5% interest in the Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina and a 100% interest in the Tonopah Lithium Project in Nevada, USA.

The company aims to further focus on advancing its pre-development engineering works currently being conducted for the expansion, in preparation for an FID.

It is also looking for a strategic partner to secure investment linked to long-term off-take arrangements from a tier-1 counterparty in the EV supply chain.

Zuvela added: “The company can confidently advance its strategic partner process, with the EIA approval providing significant de-risking for a potential strategic group to become involved in realising the development of the next 10,000tpa stage of our Rincon Project.

“This significant milestone further confirms Argosy’s ambitions and the near-term growth phase to fully develop the Rincon Lithium Project.”

In 2020, Argosy received approvals from the Government of Salta Province in Argentina along with its regulatory bodies to build a 2,000tpa lithium processing plant, and related works at the Rincon lithium project.

PATRIOT ACHIEVES KEY PERMITTING MILESTONE FOR CORVETTE WITH RECEIPT OF GUIDELINES FROM THE MINISTRY

April 17, 2024

Tesla co-founder JB Straubel has built an EV battery colossus

Bloomberg News | April 18, 2024

Earlier that day, his battery-recycling company, Redwood Materials, flipped the switch on its first commercial-scale line producing a fine black powder essential to electric vehicle batteries. Known as cathode active material, it’s responsible for a third of the cost of a battery. Redwood plans to manufacture enough of the stuff to build more than 1.3 million EVs a year by 2028, in addition to other battery components that have never been made in the US before.
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Codelco to select Maricunga lithium project partner by 2024
The selected partner is expected to receive a 49% stake in the lithium project.

April 16, 2024

Chile’s national mining company, Codelco, is looking to select a partner for its lithium project in the Maricunga salt flat by the first quarter of 2024, reported Reuters, citing the company’s chairman Maximo Pacheco.

The move forms part of the company’s efforts to expand its lithium mining operations, a critical component of the green energy transition.

Codelco, traditionally a copper mining giant, has shifted its focus to lithium under the new directive from Chile President Gabriel Boric’s administration, which aims to enhance the state’s involvement in the lucrative lithium sector.

The project in Maricunga comes after Codelco recently increased its stake in the Maricunga salt flat to around 65% by acquiring Australian company Lithium Power International.

In an interview, Pacheco disclosed that Codelco has engaged Rothschild to identify potential partners until the end of the year.

The selected partner will receive a 49% stake in the project.

Furthermore, Codelco is exploring a JV with SQM in the Atacama salt flat, which is known for its high lithium concentration.

The negotiations for the Atacama venture have faced challenges due to thorough due diligence and community concerns about water resources. Despite these issues, Pacheco is confident that the 31 May deadline will be met.

Piedmont Lithium secures mining permit for Carolina lithium project

By NS Energy Staff Writer 16 Apr 2024

Issued by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s DEMLR following a comprehensive review, the permit is subject to conditions both customary and specific to the project

Piedmont Lithium has received mining permit approval for the construction, operation, and reclamation of the proposed Carolina lithium project in North Carolina, US.

The permit has been issued by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ)’s Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) after a thorough review. It is subject to customary conditions as well as those tailored to the project’s specifics.

The application for the mining permit was submitted by Piedmont Lithium on 30 August 2021.

Located in Gaston County, the Carolina project is to become a fully-integrated lithium project, encompassing mining, spodumene concentrate production, and lithium hydroxide conversion, all within a single site.

Currently, the American lithium project is in the development stage.

The Carolina lithium project is being designed to have an annual output of 30,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide.

According to Piedmont Lithium, the projected capacity would more than double the present US production capacity of about 20,000 metric tons annually.

Besides, the Carolina lithium project is expected to greatly contribute to the energy security of the US.

The construction of the American lithium project is expected to begin after obtaining the remaining necessary permits, rezoning approvals as well as project financing activities.

Piedmont Lithium president and CEO Keith Phillips said: “The North Carolina mining permit approval is the precursor for the county rezoning process, and we look forward to continued engagement with the local community and the Gaston County Board of Commissioners.

“Construction would commence following receipt of all required permits, rezoning approvals, and project financing activities.

“We have had extensive and ongoing dialogue with possible funding sources for Carolina Lithium, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office and strategic parties who could provide some combination of capital, offtake, and technical support.”

In February 2024, Piedmont Lithium completed a 27% reduction in its workforce as part of the company’s cost-cutting measures amid a decline in lithium prices.

Gina Rinehart-backed lithium hopeful surges after demo batch

Bloomberg News | April 11, 2024

Australia-listed lithium developer Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd. has gained nearly 40% this week after announcing its first viable output using direct-extraction technology, an emerging technique for producing the battery material.


The firm’s demonstration plant in Landau, Germany, delivered a batch of lithium chloride in line with the quality it eventually plans to make commercially, Vulcan said in a statement on Thursday. The firm backed by Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart has agreements to supply European carmakers including Stellantis, Renault SA, and Volkswagen AG.

The firm’s shares jumped about 13% on Wednesday and closed 24% higher on Thursday.

Direct lithium extraction, or DLE, is seen as a promising production technique because it radically reduces the time needed to convert lithium brine into a form suitable for battery manufacturing. But it has faced widespread skepticism, and is still relatively untested at commercial scale.

“We see this as a major step forward for the company, a validation of Vulcan’s extensive work to date and of our view that DLE has a role to play in the lithium supply chain,” analysts from Cannacord Genuity Ltd. said in an emailed note.

Vulcan is planning to start market-ready production in 2026, executive chairman Francis Wedin said in an email interview. The company is still seeking to secure funding for that first phase, which will make 24,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually — enough to supply batteries for half a million electric vehicles.

“Construction will take just over two years, and the clock starts ticking once financing is complete,” Wedin said. The company is in talks with potential strategic investors, including oil and gas and automotive companies, to buy equity, Vulcan said..

Vulcan said the demo production in Germany was the first lithium chloride sourced and produced within Europe. The project will use geothermal energy to power its plant, reducing carbon emissions, it said.