Member Info for ChameleonMan

In my mind it is more relevant where the Aurora JV between Northvolt and GALP decide where to base their lithium refinement plant for commercial production in 2026. That’s where SAV’s spodumene is most likely to go. They may locate it in Porto (great) or somewhere else, maybe depending on with whom Northvolt can negotiate an offtake deal. We know Northvolt may be chummy with VW but all that VW has announced so far is an offtake deal with Vulcan (rather than SAV) for spodumene and now building their own Gigafactory in Spain ( rather than buying batteries from Northvolt).
Now I may well be missing something here but I’m still not convinced that VW has announced anything that should give us comfort. In fact they seem to be organising a supply chain of which we are not part?
This is not helped by slow decision making by Portugov. As Andy Brown said, if we can’t get on and do this, someone else will. From what I can see, VW is doing just that.

Maybe so but it’s difficult to judge. Waiting to see if DA tweets about it as a positive development. He’s been wearing the VW T-shirt for so long I’m not sure this location is what he was hoping for?

Not sure this is such great news for SAV as Valencia is the other side of Spain? News of the proposed local refinery would be more welcome.

The community newsletter is a useful source of info on what’s going on at MdB but the last issue was Nov/Dec. DA is clearly trying to influence government thinking with his latest paper but seems to be getting little traction at the moment ( all European lithium miners appear to be similarly stalled). A lot of the bandwidth in European energy policy making seems to be focused on gas and oil supply and I’ve read that Portugal are pitching to become a bigger importer of LNG from the US with the port of Sines being key. I expect this is currently their main focus so decisions on lithium mining may be delayed?

Report by Benchmark highlights need for lithium supply:
“ By end-2022, Europe is set to have 7 active lithium ion battery producers of which the top five by capacity (and gigafactory location) are:

LG Chem (Poland): 32GWh
Samsung SDI (Hungary): 20GWh
Northvolt (Sweden): 16GWh
SK Innovation (Hungary): 7.5GWh
Envision AESC (UK): 1.9GWh
In terms of quality, Europe has 4 of the world’s 7 tier one lithium ion battery makers and once Northvolt’s gigafactory in Sweden is active Benchmark anticipates this will also become a tier one producer.……

… The great raw material disconnect: battery-ready supply of lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and manganese to feed Europe’s supply chain …
https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/membership/europes-ev-gigafactory-capacity-pipeline-grows-6-fold-to-789-2gwh-to-2030-berlin-summit-to-dissect-battery-megatrend/?tw

……direct from miners. Desperate to secure supplies!
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/australias-core-lithium-enters-into-supply-deal-with-tesla-shares-jump-2022-03-01/

No gamble here. If the environmental pressures to drive electric weren’t enough, the rising price of hydrocarbons and the fragility of supply chains to political risk should be enough to convince our decision makers that they need to accelerate the transition to electric. With that, the need for local mining, refining and battery making is emphasised. We are now in a sweet spot for mining approval in Portugal. HODL!

Probably just fancied a bit of golf on the Algarve at half-term? Wouldn’t mind escaping the rain myself!

Lusorecursos still has ambition - wanting to build their own refinery and looking for funding in spite of the legal action to undermine their licence. https://www.reuters.com/article/portugal-lithium-lusorecursos-idUSL8N2872R2
We have something in common!

Hi IB. I read it as “don’t worry guys, nothing much will happen for the next 5 years, by which time it will be someone else’s problem” but of course it may either be my translator or cynical mindset!

Ouch! That’s some TV at Euro 35,000! Described as a street advertising panel and puts the mayor and colleagues under scrutiny. Wouldn’t like to be in his position. At least it wasn’t supplied by SAV!

Sounds like the Mayors had an epiphany? They seem happier with a timescale of 5 years of prospecting on the areas to be auctioned before any production. Reminds you of how far advanced MdB is. Wonder when the court will hear the petition from our local parish council?

Sure, but my comments address your question -“why complain now?” And I’m saying it’s a last ditch attempt to derail the process and is emboldened by the wider protest movement. These disruptive legal actions are par for the course in mining projects and just have to be challenged and hopefully thrown out.

What seems to be behind the legal action in the Barossa valley area is the approvals announced in the various areas earmarked for prospecting. 6 out of the eight have been approved, two areas have been ruled out. https://www.portugalresident.com/lithium-tenders-to-move-forwards-in-six-of-the-eight-areas-identified-majority-in-guarda-region/
The 6 regions are now mobilising to fight the decision. https://www.portugalresident.com/municipalities-mobilise-against-looming-lithium-auction/

This seems to have galvanised our local community activists. There is probably a lot more hot air to be blown off but it’s clear that decisions to proceed have already been made.

Oops, seems to have gone into auction now? Blue by 4pm?

Just had £30k’s worth on the cheap thanks to Dibley Parish Council!

Be careful what you wish for? News but no positivity! Clearly the antis in the local community and council will throw every brick bat they can. Protest marches, assaulting SAV staff, appealing to the Aarhus convention and now the Dibley parish council throwing bricks from the pram. It all just background noise. Filter or the noise and self-serving opportunistic posters and it’s clear that nothing has changed.

Maybe but I hope not. Don’t want to be bought out cheap like BCN. If you think SAV haven’t got the know-how to mine, take a look at the EIA submission and background documents and you will see a clear plan for production. Still believe a deal to mine and supply a new GALP lithium refinery with spodumene concentrate is our best route forward.

I think we all believe something big is happening. You don’t need inside information. Had a nice top-up myself today. Although well above my long term average, I still think I can double my money very quickly. I’m sure others will be doing the same.

No, but it should happen very soon. Most initiatives hatch in the first 90 days of a new administration. This environmental proposal is sliced, diced and oven-ready having been kept chilled over the election period. Just need to press the approval button and wait for the ping!