Click on blue article title to read full story.
Attending PDAC 2018 in Toronto? Visit Fortune Minerals at booth #2837. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Mining Weekly - March 1, 2018 With electric vehicle (EV) market growth to drive demand for lithium-ion batteries, as well as the materials used in their anodes and... to the mining code in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – which accounts for 70% of global cobalt production – have been proposed. With electric vehicle (EV) market growth to drive demand for lithium-ion batteries, as well as the materials used in their anodes and cathodes, soaring demand for numerous raw materials can be expected in the next ten years, says international metals and minerals researcher Roskill steel alloys manager Jack Bedder…Roskill’s baseline forecast suggests that cobalt demand from the battery sector could reach 240 000 t in 2027, up from the current volumes of about 56 000 t. “That is a huge increase that will put huge strain on supply – especially mine supply – after 2021,” Bedder points out…Meanwhile, cobalt’s high cost is prompting changes to cathode chemistries – a move towards nickel-manganese-cobalt cathodes that use a higher proportion of nickel than cobalt is under way. “However, research and development will take time. Cobalt will, therefore, still be used in lithium-ion batteries for the foreseeable future,” Bedder suggests...However, as the DRC accounts for such a large percentage of global mine supply, it is easy to see that any instability in the DRC could hugely impact on the global market,” Bedder comments. | | Nikkei Asian Review - March 1, 2018 Dash for supplies has tripled the battery material's price in two years China's cobalt mining stocks are soaring as companies like Apple, BMW and Volkswagen rush to secure supplies of the metal used in lithium-ion batteries for smartphones and electric cars. China's cobalt mining stocks are soaring as companies like Apple, BMW and Volkswagen rush to secure supplies of the metal used in lithium-ion batteries for smartphones and electric cars…Annual global demand for cobalt currently totals about 100,000 tons, compared with a supply of around 97,000 tons. Inventory stands at roughly 30,000 tons. U.K. research company Darton Commodities says more than half of the world's cobalt supplies go toward lithium-ion and other types of rechargeable batteries. Japanese research company Fuji Keizai estimates that cobalt demand for lithium-ion batteries will soar from 45,900 tons in 2016 to 75,000 tons in 2021…It will come as no surprise if cobalt prices rise to around $50," said Yuji Tanamachi, president of Japanese metal research firm IR universe…BMW and Volkswagen are among the automakers thought to be seeking long-term cobalt suppliers, as more companies anticipate scarcity and higher prices. The decisions by the French and British governments last year to ban sales of fossil-fuel cars by 2040 only poured more gasoline on the already heated market. | | Resource Recycling - March 1, 2018 A lithium-ion battery expert says smartphone reuse trends will hamper the ability to use mobile device batteries as a major source of... price of the metal and pressure to move away from sourcing conflict minerals from the Congo. Currently, used smartphones that are recovered Hans Eric Melin, managing director of consultancy Creation Inn, recently authored a report on lithium-ion battery recovery. He also wrote an article about factors hampering battery recovery from smartphones…Samsung recently announced its intention to recover cobalt from smartphone lithium-ion batteries, given the skyrocketing price of the metal and pressure to move away from sourcing conflict minerals from the Congo…“Broken phones will be used for spare parts in phones in better condition or to be sold on the local component markets,” Melin wrote. “Phones with heavy wear and tear will go to the domestic market or to markets like Africa and … Southeast Asian countries.” That means a great deal of used smartphones are not available for commodity recovery, according to the report | | | | | EVs | | | | Toshiba - March 2, 2018 March 01-- Harley-Davidson has made an equity investment in Alta Motors, a move that accelerates its ambition to bring an electric... electric motorcycles have not been adopted as readily as battery electric cars, models offering high performance, excellent design and Harley-Davidson has made an equity investment in Alta Motors, a move that accelerates its ambition to bring an electric motorcycle to market before 2020. The Milwaukee motorcycle giant announced Thursday that its investment in Alta is part of its effort "to build the next generation of Harley-Davidson riders,"..Alta, based in Brisbane, Calif., is a respected manufacturer of high-performance electric street bikes and dirt bikes…Harley has given then name LiveWire to its future electric motorcycle, unveiling a prototype of the fast-accelerating machine in 2014…The bikes that will result from the Harley-Alta partnership will be "urban electric motorcycles," Alta said. It did not specify size, power or range…The LiveWire will enter an increasingly competitive field. Although battery electric motorcycles have not been adopted as readily as battery electric cars, models offering high performance, excellent design and engineering, and practical range are already being produced by California's Zero Motorcycles, Germany's BMW and Italy's Energica…Alta, too, is looking ahead. "Riders are just beginning to understand the combined benefits of EV today, and our technology continues to progress," Marc Fenigstein, Alta's chief product officer and co-founder, said in a statement Thursday. "We believe electric motorcycles are the future, and that American companies have an opportunity to lead that future." | | Electrek - March 1, 2018 Jaguar has officially unveiled its production version of its first all-electric vehicle: the I-Pace. After already releasing many of the... Vehicle Line Director. ELECTRIC With a 432 pouch cell, 90kWh, lithium-ion battery pack, the I-PACE delivers an estimated range of 240 Jaguar has officially unveiled its production version of its first all-electric vehicle: the I-Pace…As for the powertrain, the company now says that the 90 kWh battery will enable “an estimated range of 240 miles”, but they say that it is not the EPA estimate…“Owners will be able to achieve a 0-80 percent battery charge in around 40 minutes using publicly available 100kW DC rapid charging facilities. Home charging with a 230V/32A AC wall box (7kW) will achieve the same state of charge (0-80 percent) in just over ten hours – ideal for overnight charging.” | | | | | Congo | | | | Reuters US News - March 1, 2018 LONDON (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo will launch this month new monitoring and tracing mechanisms to tackle child labor in... The Democratic Republic of Congo will launch this month new monitoring and tracing mechanisms to tackle child labor in cobalt and copper production, a mines ministry official said on Thursday The Democratic Republic of Congo will launch this month new monitoring and tracing mechanisms to tackle child labor in cobalt and copper production, a mines ministry official said on Thursday…Sourcing of the metals has come into focus as manufacturers scramble to secure supplies of cobalt, a key component in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, as production of electric cars surges…Congo is by far the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, accounting for more than half of global supply. But rights groups say child labor is used to produce some of that cobalt. | | Yahoo! News - March 1, 2018 1 / 3 Subsistence miners on the road between Kolwezi and Lubumbashi sift chunks of cobalt from soil (AFP Photo/SAMIR TOUNSI) Kolwezi (DR...... quite the same again. Demand for cobalt -- vital for batteries powering products from iPhones to Tesla electric cars -- is soaring, with In early 2014, according to local folklore, a man digging a septic tank or a well in his garden in Kasulo came across rocks with a distinctive grey-green sheen: cobalt. From then on -- rather like the find at Sutter's Mill in 1848 that sparked the California Gold Rush -- life for local people was never quite the same again…In April 2017, the governor of Lualaba province, former interior minister Richard Muyej, banned artisanal extraction in Kasulo, saying he want to "clean up the process of small-scale production." At the same time, plans were moving ahead for Kasulo's cobalt treasure to be exploited by an industrial giant.In August, a "provincial committee for relocation" was set up. Its task was to oversee the signing of "irrevocable acts of compensation" by around 600 people, whose homes would be knocked down to make way for a Chinese company, Congo Dongfang International Mining (CDM). | | | | | | |