Going to take us to Moon, page-118

• Benchmark boss says EV makers should invest in lithium mines to secure supply
• Latin Resources’ biggest shareholder exercises ~100m in options worth just over $1.2m.
• White Cliff picks up the ~250sqkm ‘Abraxis’ lithium project in the Pilbara

All your ASX lithium news for Friday, April 1.

Future electric vehicle (EV) demand is surging beyond the ability of the lithium-ion battery supply chain to respond in full.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence boss Simon Moores says EV makers need to actually get involved with mining if they want to make EVs at scale.

“Offtakes with no active mines are not enough,” he said in a recent tweet.

“Another way in? Acquire the guys that own the mines and especially the guys that own the mines and the refining/chemical conversion capacity.

“If OEMs don’t get a grip on this soon … raw materials prices will continue to go up.”

Check out the full thread below:

Because EV demand is surging beyond the ability of the lithium-ion battery supply chain to respond, the traditional ways of funding the mines of tomorrow need to change, Moores said.

Especially considering each lithium mine can take between 7-10 years to come online.

He flagged that EV makers can provide the money to fund new projects – whether that’s 25%, 50%, 100% of the total investment.

Moores also pointed to the recent example of Chinese EV maker BYD taking a stake in a major lithium miner, Chengxin Lithium, “in a move that secures supplies of the battery raw material following a surge in prices.”