Interesting Article., page-3

Another interesting article: EVs Will Drive A Lithium Supply Crunch - IEEE Spectrum

Fully support Lynas getting HREE refining online ASAP. Not at all happy with their present schedule.

I do NOT think the posted article is a fair analysis, however.

The article as a whole effectively counters the concerns of the article posted to start this thread.

FWIW, I think the chip shortage has taught industrials a valuable lesson: The Green Revolution on the Blue Planet is alive and kicking and "getting ahead" of the market is going to be tough but worth it. The coming demand will require upscaling of multiple "critical" materials, so why wait for shortages? We all read the long list long ago, but it bears keeping in mind that the list is not the Bible; the list is subject to change.

For example: The lithium iron phosphate battery addressed the once-very-concerning NCM supply crunch. EVs will not need NCM batteries; though a few elites may continue using them. Personally, I have rotated exclusively into lithium with the exception Glencore and IGO for my battery material play. This one advancement has rendered moot the objections of many Little Luddites to the EV Revolution.

As the article states, Lithium can ramp easily but EVENTUALLY miners and refiners must drive extraction improvement to bring today's "marginal" resources into production. As they have done with the resources of every other metal. Grades are dropping? No big deal. Prices will rise to support the market; I am unconcerned. The logic and math that has supported such advancements and continuous metal extraction over history will continue to do so for whatever we need. What are the cut-off grades for copper and gold these days?

BIG PLUS: Rare Earths are not rare; that's the #1 reason we can be confident in their continued ascendancy. As Amanda et al says every so often (wakey wakey, ausheds; stop banging on your keyboard; "just listen" and "just watch"): Rare Earths are not rare, but deposits that are economic to mine are. That's the same as every other metal - grades will drop and miners will adjust.

IMO, almost every motor will eventually employ PM (ferrites, NdPr, Sm, etc) efficiently to improve motor efficiency, though it may well take 50 years. That was my original investment thesis and I remain committed to the logic: Less Nd in more motor.

As a result, I fully expect Mt Weld to become one of the largest open pit mines in the world, though that may take 50 years as well.

We now have a small platoon of LYC downrampers since ausheds started selling LYC and down-ramping himself.
Just keep making them back up their claims.