Resource World Magazine

12 www.resourceworld.com J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 THE US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY has com- piled a list of 23 mineral commodities and commodity groups viewed as critical to a broad range of existing and emerg - ing technologies, renewable energy, and national security. They include antimony, barite, beryllium, cobalt, fluorine, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, manganese, niobium, platinum- group elements, rare-earth elements, rhenium, selenium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, vanadium, and zirconium. Resource World has covered some of these elements in past issues. This article will highlight presentations held at the recent Argus Specialty Metals Conference in Henderson, Nevada. Recognizing the need to have secure supplies of metals and minerals, the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), which is supported by the US Department of Energy, has numerous projects underway with a five-year budget of US $120 million. Led by the Ames Laboratory, the projects involve four national labs, seven univer - sity partners, 11 industrial partners and approximately 350 researchers. Alexander King, Director of CMI, explained to the Argus attendees that CMI will develop at least one technol - ogy adopted by US companies in each of these three areas: diversifying produc- tion, developing substitutes and reducing waste. To date, some of CMI's new tech- nologies adopted by US industries pertain to membrane solvent extraction, recycling rare earth magnets, Ce-modified aluminum alloys, 3D printed magnets and recovering mercury from used fluorescent lamps. CMI has 50 patent applications with five patents awarded. Some of CMI's new efforts are targeting advances using cobalt, manganese, gallium, indium, tellurium, platinum group metals, vanadium and graphite with a view to develop co-prod - uct and by-product strategies. With lithium, cobalt and nickel used in electric vehicles (EV) batteries, it is no wonder that mineral explorers are sourc- ing out good projects around the world. Currently, ~100,000 tonnes of cobalt is produced in the world annually. The mar- ket for cobalt is projected to grow over 11% over the next 10 years primarily due to growing demand for EVs. Countries like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and China have vowed to ban Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) over the next 10 to 20 years. Lithium exploration projects are well underway in Argentina, Chile and, more recently, in Bolivia. See Resource World fea - ture on South America's Lithium Triangle April/May 2018. The Clayton Valley, Nevada is also one of the world's prime exploration regions where there are approximately 136 lithium exploration companies! While the Democratic Republic of Congo is still the world's main supplier of cobalt, dozens of explorers are fanning out around the world seeking good projects, particularly in the historic Cobalt, Ontario region. See Resource World feature on Cobalt, Ontario April/May 2018. As far as end users are concerned, many auto makers are jumping into the EV sector big time, including GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Volvo, Renault-Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and BMW to name a few, plus Chinese EV makers such as BYD. While most of the world's car buyers have been slow to purchase EVs of some kind – mainly due to high prices and range anxiety – that is changing with the Chevy Bolt being the first long-range, sub- $40,000 EV. Nickel is also getting more attention these days. Nickel demand for EVs is small compared to steelmaking but is getting a positive sentiment despite a decline from a February high above US $14,000 a tonne. Nickel is still up 9% in 2018 after its 25% jump in 2017. Class 1 nickel, the purest form of nickel, is a key metal also used in the production of electric vehicle batteries. This supply deficit will only grow since battery makers have already started to explore ways to reduce their reliance on cobalt given its limited supply and higher prices in the offing. Class 1 nickel is viewed as a viable alternative due to its superior energy density. A number of exploration and mining companies as well as mining analysts have prepared forecasts for EV battery minerals demand; however, they are talking about what will happen in the future – not an easy thing to do considering all the variables. On the supply side, with dozens of active lithium and cobalt exploration companies out there, plus producers that may be able to ramp up production, just how much sup - ply will be available in the next few years? Another possible factor waiting in the wings is that when the price of a commod - ity rises too high, efforts get underway to find substitutes, a topic the Critical Materials Institute is looking into, as noted above. Meanwhile, LME cobalt prices recently retreated from a nine-year peak to finish below US $80,000 a tonne for the first time since mid-January but are still up 64% compared to March 2017. Lithium carbonate prices have also peaked but remain above US $20,000 a tonne, up from US $6,450 per tonne in January 2015. Specialty Metals Report The impending massive worldwide switch to electric vehicles will have a major impact on the battery minerals sector of the mining industry. by Ellsworth Dickson SPECIALTY METALS

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