Inside the only lithium producer in the U S which provides the critical mineral used in batteries by Tesla EV makers - Electric Vehicles HEAD TOPICS

Inside the only lithium producer in the U S which provides the critical mineral used in batteries by Tesla EV makers

10/21/2022 6:40:00 AM

@PippaStevens13 takes us inside the only lithium producer in the U S which provides the material used in Tesla' s EV batteries

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.PippaStevens13 takes us inside the only lithium producer in the U.S., which provides the material used in Tesla's EV batteries. Silver Peak has gained newfound attention in recent years as the energy and transportation sectors race to wean themselves off climate-warming fossil fuels. Pippa Stevens CNBC"From Albemarle's perspective, we think the United States can bring the full supply chain here."This is one of the first of 23 ponds that lithium-rich brine travels through over the course of 24 months at Albemarle's Silver Peak site. Brine is pumped from as much as 2,000 feet underground to the surface. What happens next depends on the lithium's end use. Lithium isn't used only in batteries; it's also found in pharmaceuticals and glass, among other things. Some of the carbonate from Silver Peak is sent to Albemarle's processing facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. There it can be further refined into lithium hydroxide, which is used for electric vehicle batteries. Albemarle counts major automakers, including Read more:
CNBC » Freddie Mercury’s 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow heads to auction Bright Eyes return to Southern California and are ‘at our peak’ Palladium has outperformed gold and silver this year, but may still have to room to climb Orionid Meteor Shower: How and When to Watch It Peak in Night Skies

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The Avs’ “reverse retro” sweater’s design elements are meant to pay homage to the Colorado state flag and the Rocky Mountains, as well as hockey teams of decades past. Read more >> PippaStevens13 Not enough and not remotely green Freddie Mercury’s 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow heads to auctionQueen frontman's Roller might fetch only a modest price when it goes up for sale next month. Bright Eyes return to Southern California and are ‘at our peak’Nate Walcott talks about how Bright Eyes got back together, and why it took this long to get back on the road. Palladium has outperformed gold and silver this year, but may still have to room to climbPalladium has outperformed gold and silver, as well as sister metal platinum, so far this year, and the market is showing some signs of further gains to come. Orionid Meteor Shower: How and When to Watch It Peak in Night SkiesThursday night into Friday morning will be one of the dates scattered throughout each year when skywatchers can catch a meteor shower. Miracleman: The Silver Age #1, The Twin Towers & 9/11, TodayToday sees the publication of Miracleman: The Silver Age 1, revisiting Miracleman 23 by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham published thirty years ago in Kourtney Kardashian's Sheer Tattoo Shirt Is Peak Mall GothShe's embracing the season, hard. Lithium's unique properties make it the common denominator across battery technologies.RM Sotheby's on November 5, with proceeds from the sale going to the Superhumans Center, a charity providing aid to Ukraine., in addition to composing soundtracks, some with Mogis, such as the score to the film adaptation of the John Green novel “The Fault In Our Stars.Palladium has outperformed other precious metals by a “healthy margin” in 2022, with the metal’s fortunes changing dramatically as events in Ukraine escalated, says Steven Dunn, head of exchange-traded funds at investment management firm abrdn. Forecasts for just how much will be needed in the decades to come vary. Under the International Energy Agency's most ambitious climate scenario, lithium supply will have to grow fortyfold by 2040 from today's levels., the listing says. The U. “Things were winding down in several areas of our lives at the same time, so it seemed like the roads were converging at this spot of us getting back together.S. 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow owned by Freddie Mercury (photo via RM Sotheby's) The car is accompanied by documents supporting its connection to Mercury, including workshop invoices in the singer's name, other documents in the name of his former partner Mary Austin, and a letter from longtime Queen manager Jim Beach confirming Mercury's ownership. used to be a leader in lithium production, but it's since ceded that position to foreign nations, including China. Financial sanctions on Russia could have “worsened an already tight supply challenge, which is why you saw such a violent rally in the price,” says Dunn, adding that 45% of global palladium reserves are in Russia. Now the Biden administration has said that bringing battery supply chains back to U. The Shadow (and related Bentley T-Series ) had unibody construction rather than the body-on-frame construction of previous models, along with a hydraulic self-leveling suspension system licensed from Citroën. “So I didn’t really feel like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to get to know each other again.S. shores is a matter of national importance, and the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act — the largest climate package in U.3 liters when the Silver Shadow launched, but was later enlarged to 6.S. “Mike mixed at least one of his solo records, and they have shared backyards. history — underscores this new push toward domestic production of vital materials. Iterations of this engine—with electronic fuel injection and turbocharging— . 18, palladium futures PA00 PAZ22 settled at $2,013. Part of the trouble with bringing new supply online, however, is the sheer amount of land required. The scale of Silver Peak is hard to grasp from pictures. It was then auctioned off in 2013 , when it was bought by the current owner.A. It spans 13,000 acres, and seems to appear out of nowhere, tucked between mountain ranges in the Nevada desert. Evaporation ponds at Albemarle's lithium operation in Silver Peak, NV. RM Sotheby's expects the Silver Shadow to sell for between 20,000 and 30,000 British pounds, equivalent to $22,539 to $33,808 at current exchange rates. Pippa Stevens CNBC The sun bears down and it hardly rains — ideal conditions for this type of lithium extraction, which depends on solar evaporation. “But like an eight-minute drive at the right time of day, which in L. The Russia-Ukraine war added a “highly unpredictable variable to the mix,” he says. There's also salt, a byproduct of production, everywhere. The Silver Shadow's long production run makes it relatively common for a Rolls-Royce, so values have never been particularly high. The huge site is not bustling with activity, which makes it seem even larger than it is. The sun provides much of the labor, and fewer than 80 people total work at the facility.” The making of “Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was” took place in a different fashion than most past albums, Walcott says. But it's sites like these — vast, sweeping operations — that will power the future. "The U.” Based on technical analysis, the metal could have room to climb further, as prices may be headed toward a so-called “golden cross,” which is what happens when a short-term moving price average crosses above a longer-term moving average. S. “I brought in some sketches of some musical ideas that we could turn into songs and we went about it in a different way. is at the start of really expanding and developing its supply chain domestically for this critical mineral lithium, as well as the broader supply chain for electric vehicles and electrification," said Karen Narwold, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Albemarle. "From Albemarle's perspective, we think the United States can bring the full supply chain here." From hundreds of feet underground to your car Lithium can be produced from brine, hard rock or clay, and each method requires its own set of conditions and extraction processes. “It’s been great. Silver Peak produces lithium from brine tapped from the Clayton Valley basin. On Oct. Salty brine that contains lithium is pumped from between 300 and 2,000 feet underground to the surface. Then, over the course of 18 to 24 months, solar evaporation concentrates the lithium. So I’m looking forward to these last couple of U. This is one of the first of 23 ponds that lithium-rich brine travels through over the course of 24 months at Albemarle's Silver Peak site. Brine is pumped from as much as 2,000 feet underground to the surface. Pippa Stevens CNBC The brine flows through a series of 23 ponds at the site as it becomes more concentrated, taking on an increasingly vivid turquoise color. The band has just continued to get better and better. Currently, the market is “evaluating the large negative effects of central bank policy and the potential for those policies to be reversed or moderated, which would help drive the affordability of autos, a key demand driver for palladium,” says Minter. The ponds range in size, and the largest is bigger than 700 football fields. As more brine is evaporated, the ponds get smaller and smaller. About halfway through the process, lime is pumped through the brine, which separates out magnesium that's found alongside the lithium. “I think I’m just gonna leave that one alone, if that’s OK,” Walcott says when asked about that night. Once the brine has moved through all 23 ponds, the remaining lithium is chemically processed into a white powder form known as lithium carbonate. What happens next depends on the lithium's end use.”. Lithium isn't used only in batteries; it's also found in pharmaceuticals and glass, among other things. “But I would say, we’re at our peak,” he says. Some of the carbonate from Silver Peak is sent to Albemarle's processing facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. There it can be further refined into lithium hydroxide, which is used for electric vehicle batteries. Albemarle counts major automakers, including , as customers. And I just, I feel like this is one of, if not the, best touring bands, we’ve had, at least in my 20 years in the band. Lithium prices skyrocket Lithium has garnered significant attention in recent months due to a sharp spike in prices, surging more than 700% since January 2021, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. In some places, including the Chinese spot market, prices are up even more. In a boom-and-bust cycle of sorts that mirrors other commodity markets, prices rose over the course of 2017 and into 2018 before cratering halfway through the year and falling throughout 2019. Mostly it’s been really fun. At that point the market was oversupplied, which led to a lack of investment in new production. The effects of that slowdown are still being felt. Today, supply is racing to catch up with demand, and some are warning that it simply won't. According to forecasts from Benchmark, 600,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, or LCE, will be mined this year — that's 10,000 tons less than needed. By the end of the decade, the firm envisions annual supply reaching 2.15 million tons of LCE, which will lag demand by a whopping 150,000 tons. One of the intermediate-stage ponds at Albemarle's lithium facility. As the brine becomes more concentrated with lithium the pools take on more of a turquoise color. Pippa Stevens CNBC The surge in lithium demand comes from countries and companies doubling down on climate goals in the past few years. That includes automakers, which are announcing ambitious all-electric fleets. Lithium isn't the only mineral in these batteries — they also require cobalt, graphite and nickel. Each has its own limitations, and scientists are experimenting with different battery chemistries. But while it's possible to swap out some materials, at this point there's no viable alternative to lithium. Although lithium is not a scarce resource, getting a new mine up and running can take about seven years. These projects are capital intensive and require many permits, all of which means the industry is slow-moving. Lithium Americas has been trying for more than a decade to get production going at its Thacker Pass clay mine in Nevada, against opposition from environmentalists and Native American tribes. Piedmont Lithium is in the process of developing a spodumene mine in North Carolina, which it hopes will begin producing by 2026. Albemarle is working on its own North Carolina mine at Kings Mountain, near its processing facility. It's a brownfield mine — meaning it was previously producing — which the company hopes will help it speed past the hurdles that delay new projects. Extractive industries are resource-intensive by their very nature and can be highly disruptive to local ecosystems. But it's hard to see how the world can move away from fossil fuels without new lithium production. An electric vehicle requires more than six times as many mineral inputs relative to internal combustion vehicles, according to the IEA. Under the Paris-based agency's most ambitious climate scenario, it forecasts 230 million electric cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks on the road by 2030. This is the last of the 23 evaporation ponds at Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium site. From here, the lithium is sent for on-site processing where it's turned into lithium carbonate. Pippa Stevens CNBC Still, some believe these forecasts are far too ambitious, and the world should instead focus on existing resources rather than developing new sites. Recycling could also become an option — Albemarle is one of the companies working on this — but the market hasn't yet reached critical mass. Technologies are also being developed to make operations more efficient so that mines yield as much as possible. Albemarle sets its sights on expansion Silver Peak is Albemarle's largest U.S. lithium production site at present, but it constitutes only a small portion of the company's overall lithium production. Silver Peak produces about 5,000 metric tons per year of LCE, while Albemarle's Chile operation — in the Salar de Atacama region — has the capacity to produce 85,000 metric tons per year. The operation there uses the same brine production process that was first developed in Nevada. The company also co-owns two mines in Australia, and operates a number of processing facilities, including in China. Albemarle is also increasing its footprint at Silver Peak. In January 2021 the company announced plans to double capacity to 10,000 metric tons a year, which the company said is enough to power around 160,000 electric vehicles. Bags of lithium carbonate at Albemarle's Silver Peak facility. Some of it is sent to the company's processing plant in North Carolina, where it can be turned into lithium hydroxide, which is used for EV batteries. Pippa Stevens CNBC Albemarle's Narwold said the expansion, initially slated for completion in 2025, is ahead of schedule. The company spent the last year and a half constructing 22 new brine-pumping wells, completing the first stage of the expansion. By the end of this year Albemarle will be pumping at 20,000 acre feet annually, which is equivalent to roughly 18.5 million gallons of water per day. That represents the full extent of Albemarle's water rights, which is also the entirety of the rights available in the Clayton Valley. Albemarle is not just a lithium company; it also has bromine and chemicals divisions. But the lithium segment has grown in importance following the price spike and Albemarle's expansion plans. Lithium now accounts for about two-thirds of the company's revenue, according to Meredith Bandy, vice president of investor relations and sustainability at Albemarle. That's up from a few years ago, when each division was about one-third of overall revenue. "We've been investing in the lithium market for the last couple of years, and that's starting to pay off in terms of volumetric growth as well as price performance," she said. Traditionally Albemarle had long-term, fixed contracts with customers. But this year the company restructured some of those contracts in an effort to capture upside from rising prices. It seems to be paying off. One of the bright blue ponds at Albemarle's lithium plant in Silver Peak, Nevada. Pippa Stevens CNBC During the second quarter, Albemarle said, net sales from its lithium division jumped 178% year over year. The company raised its full-year guidance three times between May and August, when Albemarle posted second-quarter results. The company will report third-quarter earnings on Nov. 2. For the full year, Albemarle now expects adjusted EBITDA for its lithium division to grow between 500% and 550% on a year-over-year basis. That's up from prior expectations of a 300% jump. "There's a tremendous amount of demand. The industry really is having to work hard — Albemarle is having to work hard — to keep up with that demand," said Bandy. Investors have rewarded the company's performance. The stock climbed to an all-time high on Sept. 14, during a rocky period in the broader market. Shares have since fallen 18%, but the stock is still up about 8% for the year, with a company valuation around $30 billion. By comparison the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are down 25% and 33%, respectively, for 2022. Climate bill: A game changer? While the vast majority of battery production takes place outside the U.S. — China is a key player, currently refining 56. 5% of global lithium, according to Benchmark — the Biden administration is trying to change that. In February, the White House announced funding for domestic production of materials and minerals critical to the energy transition. Then, in March, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act for these materials. Albemarle's Silver Peak lithium plant spans 13,000 acres. Pippa Stevens CNBC "To promote the national defense, the United States must secure a reliable and sustainable supply of such strategic and critical materials," a March statement from the White House read, citing lithium as among the "critical materials. " But the most meaningful initiative, by far, is the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act. The bill, which is the largest climate funding package in U.S. history, focuses on incentives and credits aimed at accelerating the U.S. ' shift towards renewable energy while also jump-starting domestic manufacturing. The bill includes measures that will help battery companies on both the supply and demand side. Over time, a greater portion of an electric vehicle's battery materials must be sourced from the U.S. or one of its free-trade allies in order for consumers to qualify for the tax rebates. Producers can also take advantage of the manufacturing tax credits. Narwold called the Inflation Reduction Act a "great step forward." "It really does give the impetus to start focusing domestically on building that supply chain," she said. "No reason why the United States can't be a significant contributor to that supply chain with the right support, both from the government — state and federal — as well as from the industry." Bags of lithium carbonate. This is the end product after the lithium-rich brine has spent about 24 months travelling through evaporation ponds at Albemarle's Silver Peak plant. Pippa Stevens CNBC .