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Convenient timing! The US Lithium Bridge Industry Report was released today. Reference to supporting the European Battery Alliance and foreign supply chain. Full report in link is worth a read.
"Objective 3: Help U.S. companies secure access to critical minerals, energy material supplies (virgin and recycled,
domestic-and foreign-sourced) and low-carbon infrastructure"
https://www.anl.gov/access/reference/libridge-industry-report
Northvolt have got plans for the EU it's just a matter of timing. The LiRef project is coming to a close and their aim to have a producing mine is coming to fruition with Keliber. As a reminder the members are;
Northvolt (Lead partner)
FLSmidth and Metso Outotec (Tech/Equipment)
Aurora, Keliber, Nemaska (Refining)
Keliber, Savannah Resources, European Lithium, United Lithium and Nemaska Lithium (Spodumene)
Assuming the 5 spodumene plays come on line that's a lot of material neatly packaged between an existing cohort.
Recall that Northvolt and VW have a shared stake in Aurora who have a joint funding application with SAV for PRR funding. Also a tenuous link but Northvolt was founded by ex-tesla execs I believe.
If anyone can explain how we came to have Mary jo Jacobi on the board, ex aide to a US President Raegan, I'd be very interested. I can only assume the US have an interest in SAV success, whether it's at a private company or government level is the question. Apparently the US is Portugal's largest trading partner outside of the EU so we may have someone in the Portuguese US embassy rooting for us??
A few words from Keith on slow permitting
https://www.afr.com/world/europe/the-asx-companies-hoping-to-win-from-the-eu-green-plan-to-cut-red-tape-20230211-p5cjp4?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nc&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1676248896
From an event on Wednesday;
Prime Minister António Costa stated that "Portugal and Spain have a great opportunity for cross-border cooperation, because the two countries together have the largest reserves of a fundamental natural resource for electric mobility in the coming years: lithium"
https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc23/comunicacao/noticia?i=portugal-e-espanha-devem-juntar-esforcos-na-producao-e-transformacao-do-litio
Keliber environmental permit has been received for mine and refinery.
Equipment will be supplied by Metso Outotec and both Metso and Keliber are working with SAV and Aurora as part of the LiRef project.
Too soon to assume SAV/Aurora will be partnering with Metso to implement the same tech used at Keliber?
https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/08022023/sibanye-stillwater-receives-environmental-permit-for-keliber-lithium-project/
https://www.mogroup.com/corporate/media/news/2022/12/metso-outotec-to-deliver-technology-for-the-keliber-lithium-project-in-finland/
Elon did suggest last year that Portugal could power Europe
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1511095486953967620?t=8iZRxcmUEO0wSrbkvZ9W6g&s=19
And Portugal are due to build Europes largest solar farm
https://thenextweb.com/news/portugal-set-to-house-europes-biggest-solar-farm
Which will be supported by Tesla batteries
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-battery-1gw-solar-project-portugal/
Clarification from APA, Luso are following the same Article 16 process as SAV.
https://apambiente.pt/destaque2/esclarecimento-da-apa-mina-do-romano
Jim, DFS before EIA is risky. As an example, this week Lusorecursos had their refinery plan rejected due to potential presence of Iberian wolves, back to the drawing board and 6 month delay minimum per news reports.
One of the comments back from Cinovec preliminary EIA was concern over protected bird species. Would be sensible to de risk the project with appropriate studies but we see no mention of this in quarterly reports.
From Bondalti/Neometals quarterly report,
"Further metallurgical test-work outside the Eli Cooperation (including ongoing flowsheet development
works for spodumene processing);
The primary focus of Bondalti/Neometals was brine so interesting to see Spodumene in there. Adds to the Galp/Northvolt Spodumene refinery plans and offers 2 logical suitors for offtake.
https://twitter.com/neometalsltd/status/1620609785988284419?t=OIV0vpbCwdjFB8qGtEdX6w&s=19
As part of the APA process the evaluation committee review public comments for consideration in their assessment. They may then give conditional approval based on this e.g. subject to completion of a 3rd party social impact assessment etc etc.
SAV are now working with APA to proactively mitigate risks which indicates a good working relationship between the two parties.
Also be reminded that SAV set up a non profit organisation, about 9 months ago I think, with a provisional 250k fund for social projects. The SIA is a continuation of that work and should pull together all of these elements into a concise document for review by APA making it simpler to assess.
Sensible, logical and positive approach imo.
The 'Dam' situation was dealt with some time ago, there's a pdf on SAV site on the topic
https://www.savannahresources.com/project/environmental-impact-assessment/
Cash is certainly starting to flow in to the wider Iberian Battery value Chain, Spainish Gov are progressing with the roll out of PERTE funding. VW (SEAT) take the lions share with 397m euros then they're dishing out to Mercedes 170.5m, Opel 52m, Renault 40m, Citroen 15m.
VW Gigafactory in Valencia was due to start construction Q1 23 so that could be a short term catalyst. Also the conclusion of the LiRef programme (SAV GALP Northvolt Metso etc) really interested to see what comes out of this personally as there's some heavy hitters involved.
Portuguese PM on Twitter today saying the first €5 billion of EU RR funds have been approved for transfer.
Plenty of news reporting on it today. Any signs of GALP/SAV consortium getting their share funding would be a welcomed sight.
https://www.portugalresident.com/pm-costa-kicks-off-prr-roadmap-checking-projects-on-the-ground/
Regurgitating an unreferenced YouTube opinion piece then not providing a link to said 'source' is very poor effort.
Assuming you mean the below it's just wasted 13:47 of my attention
https://youtu.be/acLuxnUzq58
A glimmer of hope before the Christmas break!
Haven't checked in on Aurora for some time as we were expecting a decision on their PDA (EIA Scope Definition) Q1 23. Very pleased to report that APA returned their decision in October! a mere 2 months after the public consultation ended. In short, APA have confirmed the broad structure of the EIA is compliant and proposed other items to be added to mitigate delays. Also some positive comments from locals who participated in the public consultation;
"I agree with the project. It is a significant added value for the decarbonization of the country." Alberto Matias
"Will there be domestic raw material to feed this unit? what is being done so that there is at least some raw material explored in Portugal?" Julio Santos
"I understand that it is essential to seek to obtain base materials for energy conversion from fossil to renewable and this will not be done without Lithium." Francisco Faria
"the production of lithium hydroxide, used in electric battery cells, will contribute to the global energy transition and to the development of the European value chain of batteries, being essential for the development of the National and European GDP" APA report
In terms of timescales SAV and Aurora are now broadly aligned with Aurora looking to submit their EIA H1 23, complete the EIA process by Q4 23, then 24 months construction and start operations 25/26.
Will we see an offtake pre-payment from Aurora post EIA decision? Here's hoping!
Priority Actions 1 - 18 as defined by the European Battery Alliance.
Ex-EU supply has always been the first priority so it's not surprising to see EU trade deals with Chile, Canada etc. The why could be a number of things but I'm sure forecast tax revenues will be a significant factor.
13. Create a competitive advantage with constant incremental (e.g. lithium-ion) and disruptive (e.g. solid state) R&I linked to the industrial ecosystem. This applies to all the steps of the value chain (advanced materials, new chemistries, advanced manufacturing process, BMS, recycling, business model innovations).
14. Conduct advanced research in battery chemistry, battery systems, manufacturing and recycling. Increase universities’ output in these areas through the involvement of industrial stakeholders.
15. Attract worldwide talent with lighthouse projects for cell manufacturing. This is necessary because sufficient and key human capital skills are missing in Europe, especially in the field of applied process design.
16. Make Europe attractive for world-class experts and create a competent workforce.
17. At the end of the supply chain there is always a B2C transaction. Public-sector efforts (education in schools, role modelling and so on) should be invested in the general population’s awareness and understanding of the entire value chain so that there is relevant societal appropriation from the start. Fighting to keep the supply chain in Europe will definitely help bridge the gap between the EU citizens and the politicians.
18. Standardise storage-related installations and safety rules, including charging infrastructure, active load compensation and the enabling of vehicle-to-grid solutions.
1. Secure access to raw materials from resource-rich countries outside the EU.
2. Facilitate the expansion/creation of European sources of raw materials.
3. Secure access to secondary raw materials through recycling in a circular economy of batteries.
4. Support the growth of a cell manufacturing industry, with the smallest environmental footprint possible. This will provide a key competitive and commercial edge against competitors.
5. Create and sustain a cross-value chain ecosystem for batteries. This includes mining, processing, materials design, 2nd life, and recycling within the EU, encouraging cross-sectoral initiatives between academia, research, industry, policy, and the financial community.
6. Ensure the availability of high-quality and high-performance cells for European industries for the purpose of maintaining the competitiveness of several European industries.
7. Front-loading financially, e.g. IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) and/or other financial instruments such as tax incentives, the necessary investments are a must in order to be prepared for demand uptake.
8. Accelerate the process and cut time to market to meet market demand and surpass international competitors.
9. Increase the demand for e-mobility solutions including “yellow machines”.
10. The function of batteries and battery systems must be seen as plurifunctional, in the context of both power and transportation sectors. For ESS, regulation (or absence of regulation) enabling the right business models is crucial.
11. Use incentives to make storage an alternative to conventional grid reinforcement.
12. Enable integration of ESS at all levels of the power system including behind the meter.