| Click on blue article title to read full story. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Lexology - April 9, 2018 Battery materials and electric vehicles offer something unique to today's commodity producers and investors: a sustainable growth story... to track the material from the Congo, where much of supply comes from artisanal minersthat sometimes use child labour. The trend is rapidly Battery materials and electric vehicles offer something unique to today's commodity producers and investors: a sustainable growth story that is not just China-dependent. The exponential growth in demand is creating a scramble for resources not seen since the last great commodity super cycle…Effective battery capacity must expand by more than 12 times today's levels to meet the expected demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy storage by 2025…With EVs forecast to make up more than half of car sales within two decades, the electrification revolution is going to be built around six key commodities: copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, manganese and graphite…Cobalt, mined as a by-product with 60 per cent of supply coming from the Congo, will be the most challenging material on the supply front. Prices have tripled since the start of 2016 in anticipation of future demand. Apple, Samsung and BMW are among companies that have already sought to tie down long-term supply arrangements, but have met significant resistance from miners reluctant to agree to deals at a time of sharply rising prices. | | Metal Bulletin - April 9, 2018 Cobalt prices consolidated their recent gains last week, underpinned by strong underlying demand, but they rose at a slower pace than was... Metal Bulletin assessed low-grade cobaltprices at $43.25-44.25 per lb, in-warehouse, on Friday April 6. This was up from the midweek Cobalt prices consolidated their recent gains last week, underpinned by strong underlying demand, but they rose at a slower pace than was seen in March…. High-grade cobalt metal prices were up to $43.25-44.50 per lb at the end of the week, compared with $42.85-44.50 per lb previously, and $42.50-44.50 per lb on March 30 | | Business Wire - April 9, 2018 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES world leader in the mining and refining of nickel and cobalt from lateritic ores, today published the Applicable Reference CobaltPrice and …Sherritt will calculate and publish the Applicable Reference Cobalt Price based on the simple average of the midpoint of the Metal Bulletin High Price and the Metal Bulletin Low Price1, expressed in US dollars per pound, for the three consecutive full calendar months immediately preceding each monthly...Reference date: March 31, 2018. Applicable Reference Cobalt Price: US$39.01 | | Unknown - April 10, 2018 Where is the potential cobalt supply? With rising global awareness and measures taken against pollution generated by gasoline-powered vehicles, a mega ramp-up of electric vehicle (EV) production is expected in the next few decades. Bullish sentiment surrounding EV development and adoption is therefore driving mounting demand for battery raw materials, with cobalt one of them in the spotlight…Cobalt is key in the production of lithium-ion batteries, but mined a byproduct of copper and nickel and frequently found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is no quick or easy task to bring substantial new volumes on stream. And while new production is expected to arrive from ERG’s Roan Tailings Reclamation project and Glencore’s Katanga, market players have concerns over whether cobalt production will keep pace with the EV boom…EV manufacturers, as a result, have expressed significant interests or approached cobalt suppliers directly or indirectly to secure cobalt unit for the next few years, with the supply-demand picture expected to keep cobalt price elevated in the coming years. ..“Our view is that the cobalt boom is guaranteed for the next seven to 10 years,” Tony Southgate, head of strategic cobalt marketing at ERG, told Metal Bulletin on the sidelines of Mining Indaba in Cape Town earlier this year….Cobalt prices have stormed past $40/lb - where next?...Material availability below $43 is thin on the ground, and traders report increasing difficulty replacing their sold units. Meanwhile, inquiries for fixed-price, fixed-term contracts multiple years ahead refuse to go away, while tightness for briquettes and broken cathode, the preferred choice of battery manufacturers, is particularly acute…Consequently, market participants were eyeing $45 per lb within the next few weeks, and $50 this year, almost as soon as the $40 level was smashed. Such prices would put cobalt prices into territories last seen in early 2008, with underlying fundamentals generally considered much stronger than they were 10 years ago. | | | | | EVs & Energy Storage | | | | Reuters UK - April 10, 2018 BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government is ready to offer support to the makers of batteries for electric vehicles, Economy Minister Peter... . He added that decisions must be made soon on electric vehicles and future technology in cars. Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by The German government is ready to offer support to the makers of batteries for electric vehicles, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Tuesday…Speaking at an industry event, he said the production of batteries for electric cars was not necessarily a matter for carmakers, but the future manufacture of battery cells must be guaranteed. The German government would support that. | | Cetusnews.com - April 10, 2018 An Australian company has been recognised globally for transforming old electric car batteries into household power. Business The economy... co-founder Valentin Muenzel said the company’s technology repurposes electricvehicle batteries allowing households to use them in a similar An Australian energy tech company has been recognised globally for transforming old car batteries into household power…While these batteries could not be reused in vehicles, they could be installed in homes and connected to solar panels to provide continued power during the night or to feed energy back into the grid during times of high electricity demand…"Our technology allows batteries to use all their segments to their maximum life, giving an extra 2000 recharge cycles. So if this were to be used in a house this could provide another 6 to 8 years in battery life," Mr Muenzel said. | | Bangkok Post - April 10, 2018 TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp is set to establish a production base for batteries for hybrid vehicles in Thailand, aiming to start operations at... said Tuesday. Toyota is rushing to enhance production capacity for batteries for electriccars as it aims to sell a total of 4.5 million TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp is set to establish a production base for batteries for hybrid vehicles in Thailand, aiming to start operations at the beginning of 2020, sources close to the matter said Tuesday…Toyota is rushing to enhance production capacity for batteries for electric cars as it aims to sell a total of 4.5 million units of its hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2030. | | Aaenergy Terminal - April 10, 2018 - Hybrid facility - known as the Bulgana Green Energy Hub - will incorporate battery energy storage system - Anadolu Agency farm as well as a 20 MW / 34 megawatt-hours lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery. Under the terms of the contract with renewable energy independent According to the announcement, the wind farm will combine the installation of the wind farm with a battery energy storage system with 56 of the firm's turbines for a total capacity of 194 megawatts (MW)…Located in the Australian town of Stawell, in the state of Victoria, this hybrid facility - known as the Bulgana Green Energy Hub - will comprise a 194 MW wind farm as well as a 20 MW / 34 megawatt-hours lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery. | | | | | Congo | | | | Human Rights Watch - April 9, 2018 Presentation at the round table: “Political, Electoral and Human Rights Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Learning from... – just to name a few. Congo is Africa’s biggest copper producer and the world’s largest source of cobalt– a metal that has tripled in value The Democratic Republic of Congo faces a worsening humanitarian, human rights, and security crisis…Congo is Africa’s biggest copper producer and the world’s largest source of cobalt– a metal that has tripled in value in the past 18 months, given the surge in demand for electric cars…Yet despite these riches, Congo is one of the world’s poorest countries in the world…Much of the violence that plagues Congo today is linked to the country’s broader political crisis, as President Joseph Kabila has stayed in power beyond his constitutionally mandated two-term limit by delaying elections and quashing dissent…To make matters worse, well-placed security and intelligence sources have described to Human Rights Watch official efforts to sow violence and instability across much of the country in an apparently deliberate “strategy of chaos” to justify further election delays…Many survivors referred to a “hidden hand” when describing those who might be behind the attacks: Seemingly professional killers came into their villages and hacked people to death with notable efficiency and brutality, in what appeared to be pre-meditated and well-planned attacks. Some alleged that government officials may be involved…As the security forces are themselves fomenting much of the violence in Congo, this has in turn been used as an excuse for election delays. Last July, the CENI president, Corneille Nangaa, said that violence in the Kasais was one of the main reasons why elections would not be held in 2017. This February, he said the renewed violence in Ituri could have a “negative impact” on the electoral calendar…The key question now is: What can be done today to convince Kabila to stop making excuses, agree to abide by the constitution and step down, and allow for the organization of credible elections – before more Congolese are killed, injured and imprisoned as they seek to exercise their basic human rights to peacefully demonstrate, speak out, and freely associate, and before a new outbreak of large-scale violence leads to new refugee flows across Congo’s borders?...Stronger political leadership from the region is needed to break the political and electoral deadlock that risks igniting a new war in Congo and plunging the entire region into severe instability. | | | | | | |