Diversified mining company Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is pursuing the development of a refinery to process cobalt hydroxide into cobalt sulphates, the primary form of supply for cobalt-bearing electric vehicle (EV) batteries…The move to vertically integrate the company’s cobalt business is aimed at strengthening its position as a strategic supplier to the chemicals sector, particularly for batteries for EVs…ERG has identified Saudi Arabia as a potential host jurisdiction for the refinery and is partnering with investment platform Thara to jointly investigate and pursue the investment in the country…Thara is focused on unlocking the country's Vision 2030 opportunities, particularly in sectors where Saudi Arabia holds a distinct advantage. It aims to capitalise on the country’s mineral wealth, and leverage value chains in sectors such as chemicals, waste management and future materials…“ERG expects sustained market penetration of EVs to drive a quadrupling of demand for nickel/cobalt/manganese and nickel/cobalt/aluminium cobalt-bearing batteries through 2030,” ERG CEO Benedikt Sobotka says, claiming that the company is leading industry efforts to ensure the sustainable, traceable cobalt sourcing into battery supply chains across the globe…The refinery will be supplied with cobalt hydroxide from ERG’s Metalkol facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a historic tailings reclamation and environmental restoration operation producing high-quality copper cathode and cobalt in hydroxide.

Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals, which is reeling from the forced closure of its giant copper mine in Panama, will halt mining at its Ravensthorpe nickel operation in Western Australia for two years…The company said it would continue to sell nickel from its stockpiles, but the decision would mean a reduction of 30% of the operation’s workforce or roughly 125 people…The stockpiles are estimated to last between 18 months and two years, after which mining will resume at the Hale Bopp and Halleys ore bodies at Ravensthorpe, it said in a statement published by the Australian Financial Review…The Ravensthorpe nickel mine has always been viewed as relatively high cost operation, and was previously suspended in 2017-19…Last year, it produced about 30,000 tonnes of nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate, and close to 1,000 tonnes of cobalt…Prices for nickel, traditionally used in steelmaking and increasingly in the manufacturing of batteries, have been hovering around two-year lows, closing Friday at $16,240 per tonne…The metal was the worst performer among the base metal complex on the London exchange and the Shanghai Futures in 2023, losing more than 40% of its value on both markets.

India and the United States have agreed to bolster trade ties and deepen cooperation in areas such as critical minerals, the United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Saturday…The two nations are pushing to improve bilateral trade prospects, overcoming diplomatic tensions after Washington late last year alleged that an Indian official was linked to a foiled plot to murder a Sikh separatist leader on U.S. soil…During talks between Tai and Goyal, India said it was interested in a bilateral critical mineral partnership…Washington and New Delhi would exchange information to deepen their partnership in this area, said an Indian official, who didn’t wish to be named as discussions are not public…"In terms of the roadmap (for critical minerals), we are going to begin with fact-finding, exploring and establishing a common vocabulary and then develop our tools and ideas from there," Tai told a news briefing in New Delhi.

BMW AG says demand for its luxury cars powered by gasoline reached its highest point last year and expects all-electric models to lead future growth…The German premium-car maker has well-filled order books for battery cars with a target of half a million vehicle sales this year, roughly a fifth of total deliveries, Chief Financial Officer Walter Mertl said. BMW group EV sales jumped 75% last year, driven by models like the i4 sedan and as overall sales growth has slowed in the US and some European countries…“The tipping point for combustion engines was last year,” Mertl, 49, said on a call with journalists, with regulation to cut carbon dioxide emissions capping any expansion. “Future volume growth will primarily come from battery electric vehicles.”…After years of surging year-on-year deliveries, the pace of demand acceleration for EVs has become less clear. While the market is still getting bigger, carmakers have had to cave to Tesla Inc.’s price war and many consumers are still on the fence due a lack of charging infrastructure and high price tags…By the end of the decade, BMW’s EVs will have higher returns than its combustion-engine cars, Mertl said. 

Panasonic Holdings Corp. plans to roll out the newest iteration of its electric vehicle battery cells with improved capacity as early as this calendar year, the chief technology officer for EV batteries said. A revamped version of its 2170 cells will begin production at its manufacturing plant in Nevada sometime during 2024 or 2025, CTO Shoichiro Watanabe said in an interview…The Osaka-based electronics maker can deliver on its promise to quadruple production capacity by the 2030 fiscal year, according to Watanabe, and it doesn’t need to rely completely on building a new factory or heavy investments to do so…Panasonic set its sights on North America, with plans to improve and expand production there as part of its goal to one day provide 200 gigawatt hours of energy in electric vehicle batteries. Panasonic is also developing another battery that’s thicker and more voluminous, called the 4680 cell…Panasonic has invested heavily in the development of EV batteries to ensure it doesn’t fall behind in the global push to phase out fossil fuels and shift to clean, carbon neutral energy sources…It’s currently building a battery plant in Kansas — its second in North America — and will reveal the location of a third by the end of this fiscal year ending March. The company has pledged to raise its battery production capacity to 200 GWh by the 2030 fiscal year from its current limit of 50 GWh…Though Panasonic doesn’t make cars, it’s the country’s top battery maker and major supplier for Subaru Corp., Mazda Motor Corp. and Telsa.