Demand for metals used in everything from wind-turbine blades to batteries will surge for decades to come, driven by efforts to decarbonize the global economy and shift away from fossil fuels, according to the World Bank… Even as consumption growth for other commodities like grain probably will trail off in the next 30 years, metals will remain in high demand, delivering “windfall gains for countries that export them,” the bank’s economists wrote in a report released on Thursday…The adoption of low-carbon power generation “implies a permanent increase in demand for copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium, and an eventual drop in the use of fossil fuels.”

Earth Day 2022 followed a report months earlier from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that warned global temperatures could rise more than 2°C during the 21st century. This together with the agreement signed at COP26 in November 2021, shows the magnitude of the climate challenge…Several trends in financial markets show a growing awareness of the need for environmentally sustainable solutions. Following are four areas worth a closer look…The Rise of EVs…With the help of advanced technology and electric vehicles (EVs) continuing to increase their share of the global automobile market, it seems clear that cobalt and lithium are critical to meet growing EV demand and satisfy large-scale efforts to move from the internal combustion engine to battery powered transportation…According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electric car sales more than doubled between 2020 and 2021. In total, 6.6 million EVs were sold this past year, amounting to nearly 10% of the global market. China is the largest market for EVs, with sales increasing 179% to 3.4 million new car registrations and thereby overtaking Europe at 2.3 million units (+64% year over year). While smaller than China or Europe, the American EV market also showed strong growth, increasing 123% year over year to 700,000 units…Seen in a wider context, higher EV penetration is part of the transition to a low carbon economy. This transition is gathering pace as world leaders are signing up to emission reductions and net-zero targets. As has been widely commented, the decarbonization of transport and energy generation will require a significant amount of metal, – aluminum, copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium should all be in high demand…The IEA estimates that demand for lithium may increase up to fortyfold in 20 years’ time, and demand for cobalt by a factor of 20-25. if governments across the globe are serious about reaching the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. There is a level of uncertainty around the exact growth rates - since these are influenced by evolving technology as well as governmental climate policies – but it is hard to imagine a scenario where cobalt and lithium markets do not grow to accommodate the energy transition.

In recent months, Canada’s critical minerals sector has advanced many new developments. For instance, there have been major industrial investments, multiple governmental policy and budget announcements, and technology is progressing at rapid rates. These have all had an impact on the full suite of critical material supply challenges…Minerals are considered ‘critical’ based on several criteria: their role in the modern economy, including in the manufacture of advanced technologies and energy transition; their supply, which is limited or concentrated in a few countries; and their importance to energy and national security…Canada is an important producer of such critical minerals as aluminium, cobalt, copper, graphite, nickel, and uranium…With Canada’s wealth of natural and human resources, an industrial platform, rich mining and metallurgical processing experiences, trade relations, well-established environmental, social, governance (ESG) reporting culture, and public/private partnership facilities – Canada has great critical mineral supply chain potential…European automaker Stellantis N.V. and South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution Ltd. recently announced that they will invest C$5bn in a joint venture to build Canada’s first electric vehicle (EV) battery cell manufacturing plant, located in Windsor, Ontario. It would stand out amongst the largest, if not the largest, investment in the Canadian automotive sector in history…GM will develop the first all-electric assembly plant in Canada at CAMI Assembly in Ingersoll, Ontario…In April 2022, the federal government released its Budget 2022, which clearly recognised the importance of critical material supply chains to its advanced manufacturing and climate aspirations. The budget includes up to C$3.8bn over eight years to implement a Canadian critical minerals strategy…Canada is the only nation in the Western hemisphere with all the minerals and metals needed to produce advanced batteries for EVs. These minerals include copper, cobalt, REEs, graphite, lithium, manganese, and nickel…Governments, both nationally and provincially, are now embracing that, in addition to developing their domestic capacity to produce critical minerals and its associated supply chains, they can and will transform critical minerals into value-added products, thus creating their own value chains. This work includes processing minerals through separating, refining, and transforming refined minerals into chemicals and inputs such as cathodes, anodes, and oxides used in cutting-edge technologies for batteries, rare earth permanent magnets, and other applications in EVs…Canada’s mining and metallurgical sectors have many advantages that could enable it to become a major supplier of critical minerals for advanced manufacturing and to assist transportation electrification. In addition to the advantages of the abundance of mineral resources and its potential for new discoveries, Canada enjoys recognised expertise and a skilled workforce, the availability of renewable energy, an effective and rigorous governance framework, and a stable and predictable geopolitical environment.

The metals’ scarcity means that the endlessly touted EV revolution will almost certainly be delayed, perhaps long delayed.

The New Zealand government said on Monday it would set up a NZ$4.5 billion ($2.83 billion) climate response fund, spending at least NZ$2.9 billion on cutting pollution over the next four years as it targets net zero emissions by 2050…The plan puts money towards a broad range of activities including making electric vehicles more accessible, reducing food going into landfill, improving public transport and truck emissions and helping industry to decarbonise…The budget will allocate NZ$1.3 billion to the transport sector for projects such as moving people into electric vehicles, decarbonising the freight and public transport sectors and reducing the need for short car trips. A further NZ$380 million is earmarked for agriculture and NZ$692 million for the energy sector…"We will directly recycle the costs of pollution back into projects that reduce emissions. This means the polluters are paying not the households," Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in a statement.

Calb Co., a Chinese battery supplier for electric vehicle makers, has added more banks to arrange its planned Hong Kong initial public offering, which could raise as much as $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter…The Jiangsu-based battery maker selected Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as joint global coordinators for the first-time share sale, the people said. They will join Huatai International Ltd., which is the sole sponsor on the deal, according to a preliminary prospectus filed to the stock exchange in March…Established in 2007, Calb makes lithium batteries for electric vehicles and other products. It operates major production bases in China, including Changzhou, Xiamen and Wuhan, according to its website.

LONDON, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to announce that it has engaged Haywood Securities Inc. (“Haywood”) to act as financial advisor to the Company to support its near-term financing objectives. Haywood will assist Fortune with seeking to raise the funds needed to execute on the Company's previously announced option to purchase the former steel fabrication plant site in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland northeast of Edmonton, where it plans to construct the hydrometallurgical refinery for the NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Project (“NICO Project”) (see the Company’s press release dated January 24, 2022). Haywood will also assist Fortune in its efforts to finance the other activities required to advance development of the NICO Project towards an eventual construction decision, including detailed engineering for an updated feasibility study to support project finance, and completion of the remaining environmental and permitting work, and for general corporate purposes including working capital and debt retirement. The 100%-owned NICO Project is a Canadian, vertically integrated, Critical Minerals development and one of the few cobalt assets in the world that can be developed in a timeframe needed to meet today’s cathode chemistries for rechargeable batteries used in the transition to electric vehicles.