RE:Some new articles to readgood reads, another must read is the Aussie Lithium miners tapped out, who else is there on same site. Some great paragraphs in that one, like :
The average EV uses about four kilograms (nine pounds) of lithium. Where is all the lithium for these batteries going to come from? As we have just proven, almost 100% of Australia’s lithium production is reserved, locked up in offtake agreements. The next three on the list - China, Chile and Argentina - are all facing supply problems, as we shall see below. The company we at Ahead of the Herd are most bullish on, is Cypress Development Corp (TSX-V:CYP). Last year Cypress came out with an eye-popping Indicated Resource of 3.835 million tonnes LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent) and an Inferred Resource of 5.126 million tonnes LCE - more than enough to supply America’s current lithium needs, and then some.
Its claystone lithium operation is pegged at around 24,000 LCE tonnes a year, according to the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released last fall.
Cypress’ mine has no issues with water, is lower-cost than brine or hard-rock lithium operations, and has rare earths and other by-product credits to boot.
Just as important, Cypress has not currently signed any offtake agreements or financial commitments; all the other lithium development companies with prospective mines in North America have.
China used to have ample reserves of battery-grade lithium, but has either depleted them or they are expensive to develop. Benchmark Intelligence states that in 2017, China mostly supplied technical-grade lithium (unsuitable for batteries) and that Chinese feedstock has a higher cost base than South American lithium. This is why China is pushing hard to get offtake agreements in Chile and Argentina.