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http://www.czechtradeoffices.com/en/th/news/construction-of-he3da-lithium-battery-factory-begins I mean this

http://www.czechtradeoffices.com/en/th/news/construction-of-he3da-lithium-battery-factory-begins Uhhhh - is this real? Apparent Czech Trade government article A new HE3DA lithium-battery factory which will be built in the north-eastern part of Moravia at a cost of 5.5 billion CZK (�200m?) will consume all lithium from newly discovered reserves in western Bohemia. A Magna Energy Storage factory for the production of HE3DA batteries will be created in Horn� Such� near Hav�řov. With an annual production capacity of 1.2 GWh, it will be the largest domestic supplier of HE3DA lithium accumulators thanks to an investment of CZK 1bn from Czech investors from the Battery Unite private fund. The total costs of building the factory will reach 5.5 billion CZK over the period of next two years. The construction works started on October 16, 2017 and should be completed within 18 months. It is expected that the new production plant will consume all of the lithium production from the Cinovec deposits in western Bohemia. The battery which was patented by HE3DA can serve as an energy bank to store a large amount of energy.

It seems that the Skoda plant in Kvasiny (Czech) is due to go online in mid 2019 building hybrid EV cars, so that'll be two VW factories in the country.

I hadn't even realised that Skoda had plans for an EV battery building plant in Czech, it makes sense considering VW own them. https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/press-releases/skoda-auto-lays-foundation-new-paint-shop-main-plant-mlada-boleslav/ � [paint shop] Operations will commence in June 2019 � Overall, paint shop capacity increases by 600 units to 2,700 cars per day � The manufacturer is investing 214.5 million euros and creating up to 650 new jobs Just a few days ago, �KODA AUTO announced it would be building purely battery-powered models at its main plant in Mlad� Boleslav from 2020. So - taking a figure of 2700 cars per day x ~250 days = 650,000 cars per year Assume 10% are electric = 65,000 electric cars 50kg lithium per car = 65000 x 50 = 3,250,000kg ~ 4ktpa Ramp up from there? Could Cinovec be producing 4ktpa by 2020?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-13/vw-secures-25-billion-battery-supplies-in-electric-car-surge OK well there's some serious lithium ion battery content here The world�s largest carmaker will equip 16 factories to produce electric vehicles by the end of 2022, compared with three currently, Volkswagen said Tuesday in Berlin. The German manufacturer�s plans to produce as many as 3 million electric cars a year by 2025 is backstopped by deals with suppliers including Samsung SDI Co., LG Chem Ltd. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. for batteries in Europe and China. With the powerpack deliveries secured for its two biggest markets, a deal for North America will follow shortly, Volkswagen said. In total, the Wolfsburg-based automaker has said it plans to purchase about 50 billion euros in batteries as part of its electric-car push, which includes three new models in 2018 with dozens more following. As of next year, the 12-brand group will roll out a new battery-powered model �virtually every month,� Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller said at the company�s annual press conference. �This is how we intend to offer the largest fleet of electric vehicles in the world.�

When they say $84bn, I assume they mean R&D on the whole powertrain and electric car components? I mean, it's not like they're going to give panasonic a cheque for $84bn for just batteries is it? Although I suppose 20m cars x �4000 batteries is about �80bn.

https://www.siemens.com/press/en/feature/2015/corporate/2015-05-e-ferry.php After "Ampere", the world's first electrical ferry in Norway, and a follow-up order of the Finnish shipping company FinFerries, Siemens has now received an order from Norwegian ferry operator Fjord1. Ampere was put into operation in Norway in May 2015, and has traveled a distance equivalent to more than 1.5 times around the equator. With the change from diesel propulsion to battery, Norwegian ship owner Norled has reduced the cost of fuel by 60 percent. Now Siemens has tailor-made a suitable technical solution for Fjord1. With this contract, the first four battery-driven ferries in the world will run on technology developed and manufactured by Siemens. "Elektra" - the newest member of the electric ferry fleet: In June 2017, the Elektra began regular operation between Nauvo and Parainen in the Turku archipelago. Battery packs, which are charged via the land-based charging stations in the harbor for use by the ferry, serve as the primary source of energy, with Diesel engines used as emergency power units. The Elektra is also Europe's largest car ferry. At nearly 98 meters long and 16 meters wide, the Elektra can transport up to 90 cars per trip. The ferry purchased by FinFerries will now be traveling this route every 15 minutes. The batteries will be charged in roughly five minutes while cars move off and onto the ferry. The two lithium-ion batteries each have a capacity of 530 kWh.

https://electrek.co/2018/03/05/all-electric-ferries-battery-packs/ Jesus - That's a big battery The Havyard shipyard announced that it received a contract to build seven battery-powered ferries for Fjord1, Norwegian transport conglomerate. ... They will convert the Stena Jutlandica to electric propulsion. They will install a massive 1 MWh battery pack to power the 185-meter long ship

Sid, are those the plants with a slightly unknown motor production future? I had heard they lost some contracts and were looking at what to do when they end, I think they are building the new ecosport/dragon engine, but hey electric cars will be needed at some point.

The SQM new supply agreement is a classic case of supply and demand, new supply will inevitably impact prices. In the bigger picture, SQM increasing from 63kt to 163kt per year by 2024 is enough for ~2m EVs. The total market is about 80m cars + grid storage + home storage + 2bn smartphone batteries + electric bikes + trains + lorries (I am not entirely sure about trains, but apparently they are investigating train batteries allowing 200-500metres of movement, because it's expensive demolishing rail bridges to add 30cm of space for overhead power lines). 2018 is on target for around 2m EVs and there is expected to be a steep ramp up in Asia as India/China clamp down on polluting vehicles. I was recently in New Delhi reading the local newspapers and they were suggesting all vehicles older than 15 years would be automatically scrapped, controversially they were applying for a new law allowing them to tow any vehicle parked in the street over 15 years old, scrap it and send the owner a charge for doing so.

I don't personally like stop losses unless they are strategic and I'm actively daytrading. Too many muppets on aim who will quite happily invent a flood of sells to trigger stop losses, create a fake order for an artificially low price between sockpuppet broker accounts, take the cheap stock, then ramp it up high again. I'd rather cut this disease off at the knees and not use a stop loss. I'll admit there are occasions I'll use them while following certain trends. Trying to decide if I want to get back in on IQE recently and I can't honestly tell which direction their heading, the large shorts clearly know something but if the patents work and 5G kicks off it could easily triple

If there is a �European Battery Alliance� on a �airbus for batteries� basis, has anyone considered how such a company would be setup? I believe Airbus was set up from a number of smaller companies that had % ownership, eventually listing on numerous stock exchanges in Europe (Germany, France, UK, Spain etc.). Do you think EMH could be merged/bought out into such an agreement? Or if it would remain a supplier of raw materials, possibly with an upfront payment to support mine development and a negotiated price. Airbus has a mcap of crazy size, �60+bn (?), so imagine if EMH shares were converted into a 5-10% ownership of a new EU supergiant. BP are the closest similar co valued again at �80bn+ mcap. Early days and it could all go dramatically wrong. But the sheer level of EU political/business involvement does not typically happen with the average AIM miner.

Am I correct that the main charges against Babis is that he wouldn't have been eligible for an EU grant, so he changed ownership of the company briefly to claim ~ 2m euro for his farm, then when he had the money he immediately switched ownership back to himself? I know there were intermediaries and some reports indicate there was no sensible reason why the ownership changed except for the EU grant

The fact the Czech govt are paying such avid attention to EMH is testamount to the value of the project. Remember that when the fear is eating you....the Czech's wouldn't be playing brinksmanship with a project with no value.

Sounds like playing hardball https://ekonomika.idnes.cz/lithiums-tezba-cinovec-kovy-memorandum-vlada-babis-huner-pzm-/ekonomika.aspx?c=A180302_124222_ekonomika_rts [translated]: One of the largest Czech shareholders of EMH is the investment group Arca Capital, co-owned by Slovak businessman Pavol Kr�p. "Termination of the memorandum by the state has no factual influence on the running of the project, but we perceive it as a geopolitically negative step. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, should support the project because the economic benefits of lithium extraction and processing for the Czech state should reach more than 20 billion crowns, "said Arca Capital spokesman Barbora Han�kov�. H�ner said on Thursday he wanted to behave correctly and find a two-way solution that would close the whole lithium case case. "Unfortunately, EMH did not, despite the promised promise, take adequate steps to resolve the situation," he said. "My patience is not infinite. EMH did not react within the prescribed period. So I decided to proceed to the only possible step, declaring the memorandum to be invalid, " Zdroj: https://ekonomika.idnes.cz/lithiums-tezba-cinovec-kovy-memorandum-vlada-babis-huner-pzm-/ekonomika.aspx?c=A180302_124222_ekonomika_rts

I'm not entirely clear what the MoU was in the first place. It basically just said they would mutually work to advance the investment and project and try to produce the majority of lithium in Czech. Were there any concrete requirements on either party? The Ozzy-Czech agreement is quite explicit: http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/Download/TreatyFile/149 (1) Each Contracting Party shall encourage and promote investments in its territory by investors of the other Contracting Party and shall, in accordance with its law and investment policies, admit investments. (2) A Contracting Party shall ensure fair and equitable treatment in its own territory to investments. (3) A Contracting Party shall, subject to its laws, accord within its territory protection and security to investments and shall not impair the management, maintenance, use, enjoyment or disposal of investments. Article 6 Expropriation and nationalisation (1) Neither Contracting Party shall nationalise, expropriate or subject to measures having effect equivalent to nationalisation or expropriation (hereinafter referred to as "expropriation") the investments of investors of the other Contracting Party unless the following conditions are complied with: [blahblahblah] (c) the expropriation is accompanied by the payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation. So, in the worst case scenario nationalisation, EMH get a payout based on the 20kt mine over 20 years? ~ �1bn?

PS does anyone else notice that the ASX Australian junior market is remarkably controlled and regulated, especially when compared to the nonsense that goes on AIM?

For context, the largest planned mine in development (I'm aware of, anyway) is about 50ktpa, so splitting Cinovec in half and still having the potential for a 100ktpa mine for 50 years is not a terrible situation. Keith is currently proposing a 20-30ktpa mine anyway, at that rate it would last 300+ years.

Not entirely unexpected, always better to have the government on side (I suspect, to some extent, they may be open to negotiations), but without the commitment to process everything in Czech that may be easier to setup operationally. Make no mistake, the EU are keen to secure supply and the German auto industry will have dropped a few concerned e-mails to Merkel this morning. In the grand scheme of things, we cannot take this as a positive step. But in practical terms there are plenty of solutions that would be equally appealing to both EMH and the Czechs. From recollection, the Cinovec resource is about 10-12MT of contained lithium. Let's say it's 10MT just for headroom. Split the mining area in half and let Babis setup Diamo in the other in a gentlemans agreement. Realistically, EMH could have a 100ktpa mine that can operate for 50 years (5MT), the Czechs have the same, Babis saves the world (cough), the EU secures a major source of key raw materials, most people are happy, nobody bothers with pricey lawyers, Babis doesn't wake up in a gulag. I'm probably simplifying things, but that would result in 3 major mines (BCM, EMH, Diamo) in the area, which would look good from a healthy market/competition perspective.

Interesting, there's a pro investment manager in that seekingalpha article, at the end he declares his investments (guess who pops up!): https://seekingalpha.com/article/4150610-lithium-miners-news-month-february-2018?page=10 Disclosure: I am/we are long NYSE:ALB, NYSE:SQM, ASX:ORE, ASX:GXY, ASX:PLS, TSX:LAC, ASX:AJM, ASX:EMH, TSXV:ILC, ASX:AVZ, ASX:LPI, ASX:PLL, ASX:SYA., TSXV:AIS, TSXV:WML.