(The Separation Rapids lithium deposit. Image via Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.) Critical minerals are the Raw Materials for Defence, Renewable Energy & Electric Vehicles ….
Nearly 300,000 people tuned in to Tesla’s Battery Day livestream on September 22nd, 2020 to hear Elon Musk’s overall strategy to improve both battery cell design and battery manufacturing and integration.
The electric car manufacturer had been vocal about its predicted global shortages of nickel, copper, and other electric vehicle battery materials (notably lithium) down the road due to underinvestment in the mining sector.
“Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way,” – Elon Musk. Lithium and the rare earths are dubbed “critical” minerals, as they are elements crucial to high-tech manufacturing in industries such as renewable energy, aerospace, electric vehicles, defense, and agri-tech.
The need for some of these applications is urgent, as the federal US government signed an executive order at the end of September around critical mining in Minnesota. This move highlighted the need for other applications may still be years away, but to advance all this technology, we still must start from the ground.
Enter:
Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL, OTC: AVLNF, Forum).
This Canadian mineral development Company boasts a portfolio of four advanced stage projects, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin, and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, cesium and zirconium.
Avalon is currently focusing on developing its Separation Rapids Lithium Project near Kenora, Ontario while looking at several new project opportunities, including re-activating its 100%-owned Lilypad Tantalum-Cesium Project in northwestern Ontario.
To bring its Separation Rapids Project into production, Avalon intends to partner to construct a centralized processing facility that can accept lithium mineral concentrates from multiple supply sources, designed to be both expandable and flexible in output products and input feed materials.
Proposed for the Thunder Bay area, this eight-hectare (minimum) facility would be designed with initial capacity for at least 20,000 tonnes / annum of lithium hydroxide equivalent but designed for expansion with additional circuits as market demand grows.
There are more than 100 known pegmatite (lithium mineral-bearing rock) occurrences in northern Ontario. The region has the potential to become a major producer of lithium-ion battery materials and could also become a key economic hub for the entire country.
By establishing a centralized processing facility in Thunder Bay, transportation costs can be reduced by being situated close to shipping, rail, and freight. There is also the potential for a very important new economic development opportunity: Ontario’s looming lithium-ion battery manufacturing business. Projects such as Separation Rapids can be the catalyst for this business. This could also ultimately attract an electric vehicle manufacturer to Ontario, with significant additional economic and environmental benefits, as well as providing a secure supply source for Canada’s European and International allies.
It is not only a smart business move; it is also an environmentally sound decision. Major companies in this space, like Tesla, have announced they are seeking out environmentally and socially responsible supply sources for the materials used in their clean technology products, such as electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle manufacturing capacity is expected to increase 10-fold over the next decade as the automotive market transitions and roughly 71% of total vehicle sales predicted to be electric by 2040.
Since the beginning of the summer, metallurgical test work at the Separation Rapids Lithium Project had been progressing on several fronts to reduce costs, improve recoveries, and optimize lithium product quality. Looking ahead, AVL intends to further assess opportunities in the market that would both serve the glass-ceramics market with its lithium mineral (petalite) product and the lithium battery materials market with its high purity lithium hydroxide product.
A major corporate cornerstone for Avalon has long been social responsibility and environmental stewardship including creating new economic development opportunities for First Nations. Avalon specializes in sustainably produced materials for clean technology.
Unlike mining for gold or copper, the opportunity in critical minerals production is more closely related to a technology business where you are participating in the supply chain for producing products, especially those designed for high-tech applications. Critical minerals such as lithium and rare earths meet a need for products with their own forecasts for demand and one of the most efficient ways to grow business is to increase what you have to offer and aim for more and bigger markets that can be served with such products.
Avalon Advanced Materials might be a long-term investment, but one out to meet an impending demand.
To find out more about Avalon Advanced Materials and the role the Company plays in critical mineral development, visit their website at
avalonadvancedmaterials.com.