Yeah! It's a bit of a whose who when it comes to suitors that require a massive amount of supply. BYD & Tesla would be the type that would say...(as Anthony put it
"So what's with this 25,000 tonnes per annum? Can you do 50,000 tonnes per annum?"
We also know that Panasonic had a cup of tea with Galaxy and the ASX stopped trading to find out if it was enjoyable.
But what about Samsung, and CATL? I don't think I've seen anyone talk about them as potential candidates. They would surely have to be a part of the Super 8?
In the annual shareholder meeting for Tesla, they mentioned a plan to move away from producing cathodes for Gigafactory 1 Nevada, USA alllllllll the way over in Asia and have the cathodes made in the Gigafactory.
We have also seen Mitsui pop up on an announcement with Kidman, so I am going to guess that they too will be in Galaxy's Super 8.
- Tesla/Panasonic
- BYD
- POSCO
- Samsung
- CATL
- Mitsui
That's 5/6.... Are we still talking Volkswagen/German automotive consortium?
Anthony did point out that he was more looking at potential partners for other projects and I don't think he wants us to be only a lithium producer
as he did indicate an interest to go downstream which would naturally involve cathodes and batteries which would increase the bottom line substantially. The company has also recently changed its domain to GXY.com it redirects to this site from GalaxyLithium.com which indicates to me that maybe we might get involved in something else?
I'm not sure if you have looked into Tesla's previous attempts to move into lithium production, but one that stands out to me when you mention DXP (Direct Extraction Process) is that of Simbol.
Joe told a bit of the story in one of his podcasts, and I remember him telling me about it when he was in Sydney earlier this year. Tesla are not new to the idea of wanting to take part in the process, and even Kidman securing an agreement with them for supply indicates that they are not allowing themselves to be absolutely reliant on Panasonic.
Tesla Tried To Buy A Lithium Startup for $325 Million
Click on the title to see the news article.
Here is the correspondence if anyone is interested in reading it.
Tesla walked away from the deal after Simbol wanted more than $1.6 billion. One point in the article talks about $2.5 billion.
Nothing appears to have happened with the Simbol technology since.
Does that make you wonder also?
I'll steal just a few paragraphs from the article.
"Tesla TSLA wanted the technology, expertise, and personnel at Simbol to help the electric car maker potentially tap into new alternative, and more environmentally-friendly sources of lithium. Lithium is a key ingredient in the batteries Tesla buys and plans to produce at its massive battery factory, called the Gigafactory, now under construction outside of Reno, Nev.
That Musk took a serious look at buying Simbol shows just how interested Tesla is in turning to new, unorthodox, sources of lithium, and potentially even vertically incorporating these technologies into its battery manufacturing process. In recent months Tesla has also announced early stage supply agreements with lithium extraction operations in Nevada (Pure Energy Minerals) and in Mexico (Bacanora Minerals and Rare Earth Minerals)"
What I do know
@Kaeho after discussing with Joe & Emily is that direct extraction/black box extraction is hugely energy intensive, and Rincon Lithium have been at it on the western part of that Salar for years, yet they have not made any headlines and we don't know how much energy they require per tonne for example.
Depending on the energy source that might be extremely expensive, however ever since I read the article about Tesla planning to build a solar plant in the region whilst looking for lithium I have often wondered if this could be it? A clean energy supply tied to a fast extraction from Salar del Hombre Muerto? After all it would be the best source of brine to put through such a process...
Meanwhile we have Livent (FMC) that is said to have a similar process that they won't even put a patent on to protect their secret.
It's all very interesting that's for sure, and I do try and learn as much as I can about fast brine but it's difficult with all these company's not wanting the details of their particular process known. Even POSCO took down their YouTube videos on PosLX which was a surprise, and that from what I could find was fed with lithium phosphate. (Phosphate vs Potash? Same?)
Another thing is that in Joe's recent podcast, around the 50 minute mark Anthony gives a brief explanation about why Galaxy invested in Lepidico.
@maxi1981 did find patents tied to Lepidico which were for producing lithium from brine.
Brine and Method for Producing Same
Apologies for waffling... Just when someone brings up fast brine I do get incredibly excited!
In other news...
We are getting some strong green signals there
@Gameplanon
Looks like the end of year run is finally upon us, and those that dropped their positions are scrambling to take their seat again.
