battery

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is pushing miners to produce more nickel as an ingredient of lithium-ion batteries used in its electronic vehicles (EVs) with the incentive of a “giant” contract.

Western Australia could soon become a lithium-ion battery cathode manufacturer, according to a Department of Industry, Innovation and Science report.

As Australia establishes itself as a hub for critical minerals, its relationships with nations such as China, India, Korea and Japan are also developing. Australian Mining investigates how international relationships in the critical minerals space will be unique.

Northern Minerals plans to use renewable energy to power the Browns Range rare earth operation in Western Australia.

Potash mines may soon target the battery market after Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) researchers created a potassium metal battery that closely mimics the performance of their lithium-ion counterparts.

GR Engineering Services and EcoGraf could form an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the development of a 20,000 tonnes a year battery graphite facility in Western Australia.

Veolia Water Technologies engineered and designed the production process that recovers lithium carbonate and sulfate of potash from clay deposits using HPD evaporation and crystallisation systems.

Syrah Resources has delivered first production of purified spherical graphite from its battery anode material (BAM) plant in Louisiana in the United States.

Independent Group has identified value-maximising streams for its Nova operation in Western Australia, causing it to progress a feasibility study on its downstream nickel sulphate facility.

The Western Australian Government is set to introduce a royalty arrangement for lithium producers to encourage downstream processing and manufacturing in the state.

Graphite producer Magnis Energy Technologies non-executive director Michael Stanley Whittingham has been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Syrah Resources plans to take “immediate action” in response to the sudden decrease in graphite prices, which may plummet further later this year.

Rapid technological change is affecting what we mine, especially as many developing economies can now skip some of the stages of modernisation that advanced economies have been through.

Lithium Australia managing director Adrian Griffin has downplayed expert opinion that China is facing an oversupply of spodumene concentrates, claiming that it “may actually be short-lived.”

Altura Mining has signed an offtake agreement with Chinese lithium materials producer Shandong Ruifu from its Altura lithium mine in Pilgangoora, Western Australia.

Metso and Outotec are merging to create a “leading company in process technology, equipment and services” for the minerals, metals and aggregates industries.

Private exploration company Strategic Metals Australia (SMA) claims to have discovered a new lithium province in Georgetown, North Queensland. 

Pilbara Minerals has achieved record production at its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project in Western Australia during May with its stage one plant capacity reaching 85 per cent.

Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM), a subsidiary of Pure Minerals, has appointed Lycopodium to undertake a pre-feasibility study (PFS) for its battery materials refinery in Townsville.

Rio Tinto is strengthening a commitment to become a key supplier of materials for battery and electric technologies at the Jadar lithium project in Serbia and at its copper ventures around the world.