Capacity? Manufacturing cars is a complex process where supply chains can be critical. That’s true for electric vehicles, maybe even more so than for the long-established auto legacy companies. EVs have a particular vulnerability at a crucial point – batteries that make the cars go.
The element lithium for the lithium-ion batteries is a key element is the EV supply chain that has made the electric cars competitive. Reuters reported last week (June 22) that the supply of lithium for the EV market many predict for coming years may not be adequate. “Lithium producers are growing anxious that delays in mine permitting, staffing shortages and inflation may hinder their ability to supply enough of the battery metal to meet the world’s aggressive electrification timelines,” the news service reported.
Australian lithium company Lake Resources announced last week that it is putting a three-year hold on its Kachi project in Argentina, due to logistics difficulties. At an industry meeting in Las Vegas, which Reuters covered, Lake Resources Chairman Stu Crow said, “You could end up in a crisis situation where the battery companies don’t have the security of (lithium) feedstock. There’s a disconnect between the panic that we’re seeing here, and the frenetic activity of trying to secure supply within the industry.”
U.S.-based Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, told the meeting it “expects global lithium demand to exceed supply by 500,000 metric tons in 2030.”
Lithium State Nevada leads the U.S. in lithium production. The Silver State is also a large consumer of the electric vehicles that depend on lithium-based batteries. Does Nevada merit the label “Lithium State”? The online state news service Sierra Nevada Ally says there’s a hole in the middle of the lithium cycle from the ore to the highway: “the ‘missing middle,’ or the processing and recycling of critical minerals into batteries.”
Bob Potts, deputy director of the Nevada Office of Economic Development said, “The biggest challenge that we’ve had is the processing side of things, where you take these elements and you process and put them together into batteries. We had everything from the extractive side on mining, all the way to the final demand of auto manufacturing. It was the ‘missing middle’ and it’s not [just] taking the raw materials to be extracted but it’s on the recycling side, which brings in a whole other side of opportunity for us.”
Filling the hole in the middle will take federal money. “In 2022 alone,” according to the news service, “billions of dollars made available through passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are making their way to Nevada companies to help fill the ‘missing middle’ in two parallel ways: critical mineral processing and battery recycling. The Department of Energy (DOE) has provided $2 billion to Redwood Materials, a Carson City-based company developing a process of recycling used batteries and refining their components to make new ones. Another $700 million came from the DOE to support development of Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium and boron mining and processing facility in Esmeralda County.
“Additional investments were made in startups as well. The DOE provided a $115 million grant to Reno-based American Battery Technology Company to build a battery manufacturing plant. Lilac Solutions was selected by the DOE to negotiate a $50 million grant to develop a lithium manufacturing plant in Fernley, NV.”
Direct Extraction A new technology to wrest lithium from the earth could turn out to be the equivalent to hydraulic fracking, which has revolutionized the U.S. oil and gas industry. OilPrice.Com reports that “a new lithium extraction technology could change the lithium industry forever and significantly increase the supply of lithium from brine projects, much like shale technology did for oil.
“A fleet of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies is ready to tap salty brine deposits across North America, Europe, Asia and elsewhere, with the U.S. Geological Survey estimating the technology could unlock 70% of global reserves of the metal,” the report said.
Much of the world’s lithium results from extracting the mineral from brines. Most lithium brine extraction sites are in the ‘Lithium Triangle’, salt flats in southwestern South America, including Chile’s Atacama Desert. The conventional technology for removing the lithium from the brine involves large shallow ponds so the water can evaporate. Then various chemical processes are used to concentrate the lithium and remove unwanted compounds, with the end product lithium carbonate for use in batteries.
OilPrice.com adds, “Whereas DLE technologies vary, they are generally comparable to common household water softeners, and aim to extract ~90% of lithium in brine water vs. 50% using conventional ponds.
Their biggest draw: they can supply lithium for EV batteries literally in a matter of hours or days, way faster than 12-18 months needed to be filtered through in order to be able to extract lithium carbonate from water-intensive evaporation ponds and open-pit mines.” Commercial DLE projects are expected to come online in 2025.
No Fly NASA has ruled out a large portion of a federally-owned barren lakebed in Nevada, rich in minerals deposits including lithium, the Railroad Valley Playa, because it is it “the best location in the United States (and one of the best in the world) for satellite calibration,” according to a NASA factsheet about the region. At the space agency’s request, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management has withdrawn some 35 square miles of the playa from mining for at least 20 years (Public Land Order No. 7291).
The BLM move has angered Nevada mining and political interests, Gizmodo reports. Mining firm 3 Proton Lithium Inc. complains it will lose out on one-third of its claimed land in the playa. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) introduced a bill to reverse the BLM action, claiming in a news release that “mineral withdrawal goes directly against America’s economic and national security needs.” The legislation is unlikely to pass.
–Kennedy Maize