BIG THINGS FOR MANITOBA AND LITHIUMhttps://www.manitobapost.com/manitoba-news/opinion-unleashing-the-power-of-manitoba-113890
Lithium and Gigafactories
In addition to hydro electrical power, our mid-north is home to several lithium deposits including the active lithium-caesium-tantalum Tanco mine at Cat Lake on the Winnipeg River where we produce 100% of Canada’s caesium, which is used in some batteries. There are several other known lithium deposits around Red Sucker Lake, Red Cross Lake, Gods Lake, Cross Lake and McLaughlin Lake, and deposits have been identified at Wekusko Lake. Of course we already know about our resources of nickel, cobalt, copper, silver, even graphite, all used in some way or another in the production of energy.
Due to the demand for lithium for battery production right now, there is renewed interest in Manitoba’s lithium.
If we developed those resources, could our north someday be the site of one of Elon Musk’s Gigafactories producing lithium-ion batteries? The Gigafactory in Nevada is powered by a 70 megawatt solar farm. When Keeyask is completed, it will add 4,400 gigawatt hours to our current supply. We could easily provide the power to run a battery factory with the advantage of a nearby supply of lithium and other needed minerals. Musk expects the demand for batteries to grow not just to power cars, but to power homes and small businesses using his solar-charged battery packs. As these technologies prove themselves, look for demand to explode just as it did for mobile phones.