| Click on blue article title to read full story. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Unknown - April 13, 2018 Metal Bulletin’s battery raw materials team answers some of the key questions raised during our recent web seminar, discussing electric vehicle subsidies, battery chemistries and raw material supplies. What is the likelihood of cobalt being substituted by cheaper materials? Currently, there is no risk of cobalt substitution because the most frequently used Li-ion battery technologies - such as NCA, NMC111, NMC532, NMC622, and NMC811 (which is expected to gain more acceptance in 2018) - all use cobalt…A reduction in the use of cobalt per battery cathode is likely, though. NMC622, NMC811 and NCA are considered preferable for use in new energy vehicles, but contain less cobalt compared with NMC111, NMC 532, or any other Li-ion battery cathode such as LCO…Efforts to reduce the cobalt content in battery cathodes were started at least 10 years ago amid concerns about cobalt sourcing…The cathode batteries currently used in cars (NCA and NMC) took 30 years to develop, showing how long it can take for battery cathode technologies to move from a laboratory stage onto the roads…According to market participants, NMC532 has about 12.6% cobalt content, NMC622 has about 10-12% and NMC811 has about 6% at the moment. | | Carbon Brief - April 12, 2018 The deployment of renewables and electric vehicles is expected to skyrocket as the world strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These... political instability, around a fifth of the DRC’s cobalt is drawn out by artisanal minersworking with their hands, with documented cases The deployment of renewables and electric vehicles is expected to skyrocket as the world strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions…These low-carbon technologies currently rely on a handful of key metals, some of which have been little-used to date. This raises questions over whether enough of these materials can be mined to ensure a large-scale rollout…Two metals in particular, lithium and cobalt, have seen supply chain fears in recent years, although many other metals are used…In his 2016 book The Elements of Power, David S Abraham argued that what he calls “rare metals” – those, such as cobalt and REEs, produced in hundreds or thousands of tonnes per year rather than millions of tonnes, such as copper – are now the base of the world’s modern industries, including the clean-energy industry. The world is fast becoming as dependent on these metals as it is on oil, he says. He writes: “Today companies are using elements that scientists dismissed as mere impurities decades ago… We are now witnessing a fundamental shift in our resource demands. At no point in human history have we used more elements, in more combinations, and in increasingly refined amounts. Our ingenuity will soon outpace our materials supplies.”…As cobalt is mainly mined as a byproduct of copper and nickel, higher prices will not always stimulate new supply as they might in other commodity markets. Only around1% of cobalt was mined from primary cobalt mines in 2016…As well as China’s near-monopoly on rare earth production detailed above, for example, it also currently dominates the refining process of cobalt material, producing more than 80% of the cobalt salts needed for batteries. In 2016, seven of the 10 largest producers in the DRC were Chinese-owned…Companies are increasingly making deals to ensure sufficient raw material supplies for their batteries…Other firms, such as Apple, Tesla and Volkswagen, are also seeking to buy cobalt directly from producers. In a recent tender for five years’ worth of Cobalt, Volkswagen said a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials for the lithium-ion battery will be “the key factor to become e-mobility market leader”. | | | | | EVs | | | | Asia Pacific Equipment News - April 12, 2018 Fukushima, Japan: Lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs) will be given a new life at Japanese automaker Nissan’s Namie factory,... and nickel. As resources such as lithium and cobalt—fundamental materials in lithium-ion batteries powering EVs—become more critical in the “By reusing spent EV batteries, we wanted to raise the (residual) value of EVs and make them more accessible.”…Currently, the process is customised predominantly for the electric-powered first generation Nissan Leaf…However, batteries that have fallen below 80 percent of their energy capacity are not used for the Leaf recycling programme but are reassembled for lower-energy vehicles like golf carts, forklifts or for low-intensity functions in street lamps…As resources such as lithium and cobalt—fundamental materials in lithium-ion batteries powering EVs—become more critical in the near future, this sustainable treatment of worn batteries can potentially serve its environmental purpose in decreasing the pressure on scarce resources. | | | | | Congo | | | | Human Rights Watch - April 13, 2018 The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is putting its own short-term interests over the well-being of the Congolese people. It... of increased regional instability. Congo is Africa’s biggest copper producer and the world’s largest source of cobalt–which has tripled in The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is putting its own short-term interests over the well-being of the Congolese people. It is refusing to attend and encouraging others to stay home from today’s international conference in Geneva, a United Nations-led initiative to raise $1.7 billion for emergency assistance to over 13 million people in Congo affected by recent violence…Government officials deny that there’s a humanitarian crisis. This appears related to a sinister attempt to attract foreign investment and further enrich those in power, while avoiding outside scrutiny…Much of the recent violence is linked to the country’s worsening political crisis. President Joseph Kabila has delayed elections and used violence, repression, and corruption to entrench his hold on power beyond the end of his constitutionally mandated two-term limit on December 19, 2016…Kabila has presided over a system of entrenched impunity in which those most responsible for abuses are routinely rewarded with positions, wealth, and power. Congolese security forces have carried out or orchestrated much of the violence, in some cases by creating or backing local armed groups. Well-placed security and intelligence sources have told us that efforts to sow violence and instability are an apparently deliberate “strategy of chaos” to justify further election delays. | | Yahoo! News - April 13, 2018 1 / 2 A Congolese woman and her child, seen at a makeshift camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP's) and returnees in Kabutunga, are... have died in anti-Kabila protests. - Crisis-ridden - A country four times the size of France, the DRC has been chronically unstable since Donors meet in Geneva on Friday in a bid to stump up nearly $1.7 billion (1.38 billion euros) for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), facing a crisis that experts say could become a tragedy…But -- in a position that has deepened the country's political divisions -- the DRC is boycotting the talks…Dark clouds hang over the DRC's political future…A country four times the size of France, the DRC has been chronically unstable since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. Two wars took place from 1996-97 and 1998-2003, sucking in other African countries and causing millions of deaths in violence, disease and starvation. | | | | |