Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/685011
26 www.resourceworld.com J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 6 Lithium staking rush under way by Ellsworth Dickson E very few years, an intriguing story comes out that prompts many junior explorers to enter a particular sector of the mining industry and a major staking rush ensues. Sometimes this follows a major discovery such as the diamonds in the Northwest Territories or the Voisey's Bay nickel discovery in Labrador. This time, it's a perceived demand for lithium that has over 50 junior companies acquiring both hard rock (spodumene) and lithium brine prospects in several jurisdictions. In an interview, Dr. Waldo Perez, President and CEO of Neo Lithium, told Resource World that it is not just the incredible interest in the Tesla 3 electric car, but also the fact that other factories or mega-factories are being built around the world to manufacture lithium-ion batteries. For example, Japanese company TDK plans to spend over US $841 million by 2017 to ramp up production of lithium-ion batteries at its plant in Fujian Province, China. TDK expects demand for thin-film battery products to grow for use in notebook PCs, robots and smartphones. The battery subsidiary of German auto- maker Daimler plans to build a US $544 million lithium-ion battery plant Q3 this year. The factory will produce batteries for electric and hybrid Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars, along with stationary energy storage products for commercial and resi- dential customers. As well, Samsung SDI's newly com- pleted electric vehicle battery production facility in Shaanxi Province, China, was recently opened by the Korean company. This is the first "top" battery manufacturer to develop an electric vehicle (EV) bat- tery production plant in China. Demand is stronger in Asia than in the rest of the world. Perez said that Tesla has stoked a lot of excitement in the lithium space with its gigafactory plans. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates the Nevada factory could need up to 25,000 tonnes of lithium liThium Checking out lithium ore at Talison Lithium's Greenbushes lithium operations located directly south and immediately adjacent to the town of Greenbushes in Western Australia, approximately 250 km south of Perth. Photo courtesy Talison Lithium Pty Ltd.