As part of its quest to gain access to minerals critical to the energy transition, the U.S. has recently considered a plan to drop sanctions against an Israeli mining magnate accused of corruption, according to people familiar with the matter…The plan involves the U.S. lifting sanctions on businessman Dan Gertler, whom it accused nearly six years ago of corruption, to allow him to take part in mining deals with Saudi Arabia, the people said…Those mines, in turn, would ultimately deliver metals to American companies, the people said. Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Gertler have held early-stage talks about potential deals that could benefit all three parties, they added…Under one multibillion-dollar proposal that was being discussed, the Saudis would buy stakes in cobalt and copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo that are currently paying royalties to Gertler. The U.S. would get some of the rights to production from those mines…Saudi Arabia is looking both at buying stakes in or the entire copper-cobalt projects, some of the people said, in deals that could be worth around $2 billion. Some of the projects in Congo that the Saudis are looking at include those owned by Swiss mining and trading giant Glencore and Eurasian Resources Group, a Kazakh-backed mining company, the people said. A spokesperson for ERG said it is often approached by various investors but that it doesn’t intend to sell its Congolese assets. A spokesperson for Glencore declined to comment…Cobalt and copper are key components of the so-called clean economy. Used for electric vehicles and wind farms, copper is in hot demand by governments and companies the world over…Chinese companies refine three-quarters of the world’s cobalt supply and produce about 70% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries, raising concerns in the West about reliance on Beijing. 

Luxembourg-Based Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) has signed a deal to sell cobalt for five-years from 2026 to electric vehicle battery materials producer EVelution Energy in the United States, ERG said in a statement on Wednesday…Investment in the electric vehicle battery supply chain in the U.S. has soared due to President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has provided billions of dollars in green energy tax credits for cutting the nation's carbon emissions…ERG said it would sell 3,000 metric tons of contained cobalt metal a year to EVelution, which plans to start building a low-carbon cobalt sulphate plant in Arizona in 2024…"Currently, there are no cobalt processing facilities, on a commercial scale, in the U.S., over 70% of the global production of cobalt sulphate is based in China," ERG said.

South Korea has taken part in a U.S.-led multilateral meeting on the global critical minerals supply chain and discussed ways of cooperation to promote "responsible investment," the foreign ministry said Wednesday…The participants at the meeting agreed that cooperation between the public and private sectors are essential for a stable and sustainable supply of critical minerals that are vital to technological advancement and green energy transition, the ministry said…The MSP was launched in 2022 by the United States to strengthen the global supply of critical minerals, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, and promote related investment. It consists of 13 members, including Japan, Canada, France and Australia, and the European Union…The alliance is largely seen as a partnership that also aims to reduce the risk of dependence on China for the sourcing of raw materials.

Hyundai Motor has decided to produce Beijing Automotive Group Co's EV brand ARCFOX cars at its plant in Beijing in a bid for a breakthrough in a major market where it has been struggling to make a foothold, a news report said on Wednesday…The production, if it materializes, would be the first instance of Hyundai's foray into manufacturing an outside brand on contract, the Korea Economic Daily reported citing automotive industry and local Chinese sources…Beijing Hyundai Motor will likely oversee the design, production and quality control and use its plant in Beijing, the report said…The report comes amid a push by the world's No. 3 automaker by sales together with its affiliate Kia to restructure its China business to focus on profitability.

Toyota Motor and LG Energy Solution signed a supply agreement for lithium-ion batteries for use in the Japanese automaker's U.S.-built electric vehicles starting in 2025, the companies said on Wednesday…The Toyota-LGES announcement caps a tidal wave of investments in new EV battery plants in North America, spurred by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA and other U.S. legislation provide incentives aimed at boosting domestic production of EVs, batteries and raw materials…LGES will invest $3 billion in its Holland, Michigan battery facility to supply Toyota's Kentucky plant from dedicated production lines…There are at least 37 battery plants operating or planned in the U.S. and Canada, representing 1.3 terawatt-hours of annual production capacity, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. That's enough to power more than 10 million electric vehicles a year…The North American projections compare with an estimated 291 existing or planned battery factories in China, representing 6.1 TWh of annual production capacity, according to Benchmark…Toyota has said it plans to build up to 3.5 million electric vehicles a year by 2030 and aims to offer 30 EV models globally from its Lexus and Toyota brands.

The all-new Fisker Ocean may not be as quick off the line as Tesla EVs, but it packs a different punch to delight potential buyers worried about range anxiety and charging…Fisker claims the base Ocean Sport with the Touring Range Battery delivers 273 miles (440 km) of range on the generous WLTP cycle, equating to about 250 miles of EPA-estimated range. However, higher trim variants equipped with the brand's Hyper Range battery could go even further than similarly-sized EVs already in the U.S. market…Fisker said its Hyper Range battery pack could go an EPA-estimated 340 to 360 miles before recharging, solid numbers in the face of long-range EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 6 (361 miles), GMC Hummer EV Pickup (329 miles), and Tesla Model S (405 miles). Fisker's Hyper Range Battery is a lithium nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) powerhouse, while the base Touring Range battery is a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) unit from China CATL.