There's an article in the paper version of the Thin Review from Friday. I can't locate it on their website, so can't link it.
It's headed "Lithium can become a broader industry".
The Mines and Petroleum Minister, Johnston, outlines where this is heading, and why...
'Lithium & Energy Materials Strategy, which aims to create a world leading lithium and energy material industry in WA'
"The Lithium hydroxide stage is worth around 10 times the value of the Spodumene stage to this state and Australia'
'WA mining is a technology story, not a quarry story'
'...we'll have the biggest Nickel Sulphate plant in the world.'
'Lithium and Nickel...battery cathode stage....where the bulk of the value chain begins.'
'..materials and expertise already exist in WA...includes cobalt and graphite that also go into lithium-ion technology.'
Ellison doesn't want to mine Lithium, he wants to process it, and he wants to get further up that 'value chain' (ergo, the stakes in Hazer and Hexagon, one synthetic graphite, the other mined flake, which many battery technologies use in combination).
The Anglo Indian fella, Gupta, the bloke who bought up the Arrium assets, took a 51% stake in Ross Garnaut's renewable energy outfit (can't recall the name), is currently talking to the SA and Vic govts about where he might locate an EV manufacturing venture, designed to make 30K EV's a year, based on the production processes used to make F1 cars.
This is all moving at breakneck speed and, luckily for the folks in WA, their Mines and Petroleum Minister seems to have a clue.
As does Ellison.
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