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Cobalt
 
Unknown - October 5, 2021
Metals are all around us, from our phones and cars to our homes and office buildings.

Metals are all around us, from our phones and cars to our homes and office buildings…While we often overlook the presence of these raw materials, they are an essential part of the modern economy. But obtaining these materials can be a complex process that involves mining, refining, and then converting them into usable forms…So, how much metal gets mined in a year? Miners produced roughly three billion tonnes of iron ore in 2019, representing close to 94% of all mined metals. The primary use of all this iron is to make steel…Industrial and technology metals made up the other 6% of all mined metals in 2019…Cobalt: 123,000 tonnes mined in 2019…Although humans mine and use massive quantities of metals every year, it’s important to put these figures into perspective…According to Circle Economy, the world consumes 100.6 billion tonnes of materials annually. Of this total, 3.2 billion tonnes of metals produced in 2019 would account for just 3% of our overall material consumption. In fact, the world’s annual production of cement alone is around 4.1 billion tonnes, dwarfing total metal production…The world’s appetite for materials is growing with its population. As resource-intensive megatrends such as urbanization and electrification pick up the pace, our material pie will only get larger.

 
BNN Bloomberg - October 6, 2021
of lithium carbonate and hydroxide. Demand for the materials used in electric cars and renewable-energy storage has soared and, while miners

Lithium prices extended their yearlong rally as surging demand spurs a shortfall of the key battery material…Prices have more than doubled in the past year, according to a Benchmark Mineral Intelligence index of lithium carbonate and hydroxide. Demand for the materials used in electric cars and renewable-energy storage has soared and, while miners are seeking to boost supply, there’s not enough to meet consumption…“The financing for lithium projects is still too little, too late,” said Cameron Perks, a Melbourne-based analyst at BMI. “The market deficit is already occurring.” A lengthy slump since 2018’s peak meant investment in the sector slowed, while the pandemic has exacerbated supply constraints. On the demand side, the green energy transition has accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles and global lithium consumption is estimated to grow fivefold by end of this decade, according to BloombergNEF…That’s pressuring battery makers, who are also facing higher prices for other key inputs like cobalt and copper…After a decade of year-on-year battery price declines -- an important measure in gauging when EVs will cost the same or less than gas vehicles -- there’s now a chance that trend will stall as raw material costs climb, according to BNEF analyst James Frith. About 40% of the cost of a battery is tied to commodities that have rallied…Still, manufacturers may be able to offset some of the higher costs through improving production process, reducing scrap rates and switching to cheaper battery chemistries, Frith wrote in September.

 
 
EVs & Energy Storage
 
Reuters - October 4, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co's (F.N) battery joint venture partner, Korea's SK Innovation, expects the U.S. vehicle ...

Ford Motor Co's battery joint venture partner, Korea's SK Innovation, expects the U.S. vehicle industry to face a battery supply shortage until 2025 because of the long lead times to build production facilities, top SK executives told Reuters…SK Innovation's battery unit, SK On, is also considering developing lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP), which have an advantage in cost and thermal stability despite a lower driving range, Kim Jun, chief executive of SK Innovation and Jee Dong-seob, CEO of SK On, said…Tight supplies of batteries - key to electric vehicles - pose a challenge to the Biden administration, which aims to boost EV production and reduce the country's reliance on imports for battery cells, components and materials…"The current U.S. battery capacity is far short of meeting demand. Building a factory to meet demand requires a lead time of 30 months, and I see a battery shortage continuing at least until 2025," Kim said, referring to the time needed to supply battery cells domestically, including factory site selection, construction and product testing…In contrast, China is expected to have a battery oversupply, and Europe's supply will be in line with demand, he said. Ford and SK On plan to invest $4.45 billion each to build three new factories in the United States, with production slated to begin in 2025…SK is considering developing LFP batteries for specific applications such as low-priced vehicles, the two executives said…SK, which does not have a record of fire accidents, plans to produce high-nickel, pouch-type batteries at its joint venture with Ford.

 
Reuters - October 5, 2021
DETROIT, Oct 5 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) on Tuesday said it will open a battery cell development center in southeast Michigan to ...

General Motors Co on Tuesday said it will open a battery cell development center in southeast Michigan to help it drive down the cost and boost the driving range of electric vehicles with lithium ion and solid-state battery cells…The Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center, to be located on the No. 1 U.S. automaker's technical campus in Warren, Michigan, is expected to open in mid-2022 and begin building prototype cells in the fourth quarter, GM said…GM has said it will spend $35 billion through 2025 on EVs and autonomous vehicles, and is expected to outline targets beyond that period at its investor day on Wednesday…Part of that push is GM's partnership with LG Energy Solutions, a unit of South Korea's LG Chem , to develop its Ultium batteries. The companies have announced two joint-ventures battery plants and GM has said it intends to open two more…GM has targeted eliminating emissions from all light vehicles it sells by 2035…GM has said it wants to have at least 60% lower battery costs in the next generation of Ultium and officials said future products will allow electric driving ranges of 600 miles (965 km) on a single charge…The center, named for Bill Wallace, a former executive who played a key role in the development of GM's advanced battery technology before he died from cancer in 2018, will be capable of building large-format, prototype lithium-metal battery cells, as well as developing silicon and solid-state technologies…It will also develop new production methods to use in battery plants.

 
electrive.com - October 6, 2021
The Canadian start-up StromVolt Americas has announced its intention to build Canada’s first factory for the production of lithium-ion ...

The Canadian start-up StromVolt Americas has announced its intention to build Canada’s first factory for the production of lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles together with the Taiwanese company Delta Electronics. The factory will be located in the province of Quebec…According to StromVolt, the cooperation with Delta will give it access to Delta’s cell technology and production machinery – in Europe, Delta is known primarily in the field of charging technology…While the company points out in its statement that North America has all the critical materials to rely on electric cars, the lack of production leads to an “excessive dependence on foreign players”. However, StromVolt does not provide information on the extent of its own production…A report by Electric Autonomy Canada provides some background: According to the report, StromVolt was only founded at the end of August and bought cell production equipment worth 13.9 million US dollars (about 12 million euros) from Delta at the beginning of October. The project is said to have an investment volume of 200 to 300 million US dollars (173 to 260 million euros). The initial annual capacity is to be 250 MWh and will be expanded to 10 GWh by 2030…According to Electric Autonomy Canada, no details on financing or investors are known…StromVolt is not the first battery project of Vidricaire, who is just 31 years old: he founded Ontario-based Stromcore Energy in 2016, which says it develops and produces lithium-ion batteries for forklifts from 24 to 80 volts.

 
 
fortuneminerals
For further information about the NICO Project and its Mineral Reserves, please refer to the Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for NICO, entitled "Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the NICO-Gold-Cobalt-Bismuth-Copper Project, Northwest Territories, Canada", dated April 2, 2014 and prepared by Micon, which has been filed on SEDAR and is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

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The materials appearing in this email contain forward-looking information. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management’s expectations with respect to, among other things, the size and quality of the Company’s mineral resources, progress in permitting and development of mineral properties, timing and cost for placing the Company’s mineral projects into production, costs of production, amount and quality of metal products recoverable from the Company’s mineral resources, anticipated revenues, earnings and cash flows from the Company's mineral projects, demand and market outlook for metals and coal and future metal and coal prices. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required permits and regulatory approvals, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal and coal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, the possibility that production from the Company's mineral projects may be less than anticipated, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, uncertainties related to metal recoveries and other factors. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that mineral resources will be converted into mineral reserves. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because it is possible that predictions, forecasts, projections and other forms of forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update them or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.