https://www.miningreview.com/news/lithium-supply-shortfall-caused...

https://www.miningreview.com/news/lithium-supply-shortfall-caused-electric-vehicle-boom/

Securing materials in order to manufacture batteries in the age of the electric vehicles (EVs) and smart grid storage is going to require all hands on deck.

In particular, the demand for lithium is pushing miners to the limit, and even drawing recyclers to the fold.

Electric vehicle sales are expected to surpass 14 million per year by 2025, from less than a million currently, and the ramp up is going to be massive.

According to data specialists, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the lithium industry will need to produce an additional 81 000 tons of lithium a year just to meet demand by 2021.

The gap is already proving to be an incentive for lithium mining companies including NRG Metals, Albemarle, FMC Lithium, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, and Lithium Power International.
And while there is a drive from recyclers to try and aid the cause, the reality they're being faced with is a drastic shortage of spent batteries with which to recycle materials from, and make their technology cost-effective.

But the pressure to get lithium into its most valuable battery-ready form is proving to be too much for the price to stay settled.

The price of lithium has now jumped over 30%, to a record of $12 000 per ton.
Keeping up with soaring demand growth has been difficult, to say the least.
According to the US Geological Survey, global production increased only 12% last year, with the lithium-ion battery market now consuming approximately 39% of it.

https://www.miningreview.com/news/lithium-supply-shortfall-caused-electric-vehicle-boom/

Eye opener.....

GLTA

cheers

T10