Vanadium v lithium28 Sep 2024 11:38
I assume this makes Van more attractive?
Reporting from
Sydney, Australia
Published
26 September 2024
Often called “white gold” and the key component in rechargeable batteries, the metal lithium is so light that it floats on water, but its price has sunk like a stone over the past year.
Due to a combination of falling sales of electric vehicles, and a world oversupply, external of lithium ore, the cost of the main lithium compound has fallen, external by more than three quarters since June 2023.
This decline has had a particularly hard impact on Australia, because it is the world’s largest producer of lithium ore, accounting for 52% of the global total, external last year.
Australia also has the second-largest reserves, external of the mineral after Chile, with the vast majority in Western Australia, and a smaller amount in the Northern Territory.
The sharp decline in lithium prices has led to mine shutdowns. Adelaide-based Core Lithium announced back in January that due to "weak market conditions" it was suspending mining, external at its Finniss site near Darwin, with the loss of 150 jobs