From the article: "Whilst demand for battery materials is...

From the article: "Whilst demand for battery materials is accelerating, so is competition from alternative technologies and other manufacturers. Consequently this is rapidly turning into a high volume, commoditised market."

My take is that these small mid-stream R&D operations are getting knocked out by the demands of mass production. Developing a new tech that has incrementally better performance than current tech is great and all but can it be mass produced on the current production lines with cheap raw materials? If not, you're NGMI as a mass market battery.

To the extent it matters to Talga, it calls into question the viability of Talnode-E. If Johnson Matthey believed Talnode-E was a revolutionary product, they probably wouldn't be exiting. No doubt in part because Talnode-E probably won't be compatible with current mass production lines. We already know Talnode-Si is in testing with major autos (including at least one in Japan). So, I wouldn't read anything in on that front.

Personally speaking, Talnode-E has not factored into my investment analysis to this point. I consider it a "blue sky" product. Great if it works, but the core of the business is Talnode-C and Talnode-Si. On that front, the fact that the market is turning more "commoditised" is a good thing. Vittangi means Talga can produce at scale and at rock bottom prices. If Talga ever needs to play Bertrand (unlikely in this decade given forecasted shortages), they will win.