Rio Tinto says 60 Jadar mines wouldn’t fill looming lithium gap22 Oct 2021 11:01
A quick snip from an article on mining.com which looks good for those holding Lithium prospects.Lets hope the assays come up trumps!
The world’s second-largest miner, which greenlighted in July the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project in Serbia, believes the supply gap needs to be addressed “within the next ten years.”
In a presentation to investors, Rio Tinto’s head of economics Vivek Tulpule said EV sales are on track to hit up to 55% of the world’s total light vehicles sales as early as 2030, reaching about 65 million units.
This means manufacturers would need about three million tonnes of lithium, compared with the roughly 350,000 tonnes they consume today, Tulpule noted.
Existing operations and projects combined, however, are slated to contribute one million tonnes of lithium, he said.
Rio Tinto estimates that committed supply and capacity expansions will contribute about 15% to demand growth over the 2020-2050 period. The remaining 85% would need to come from new projects.