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Read the RNS. Ara will fund them through to the final investment decision and probably beyond. The investment proposition rests on their ambition to become the largest lithium supplier in Europe. They have supply agreements with local lithium mines in the North East Weardale Lithium, who you can invest in on the market through MAC, and Northern Lithium. They have an agreement with an established lithium miner in Chile. They expect to be refining 100k tons of lithium a year. Enough to meet UK demand and a proportion of EU demand.

Developed countries are looking for stable supplies of critical minerals from other developed or developing and stable countries. There is already international commitment to progress this kind of trajectory I.e. to get away from despotic regimes who can disrupt supplies and spike core costs for energy and other essential products.

Rachel Reeves has announced a £29 million investment in a Cornish tin mine today. I think we'll see a slew of announcements about investment in critical minerals including the plan to become a net exporter of lithium and to be entirely self sufficient for our own needs. Every car maker in the UK has new lines of electric vehicles coming out. They will all be buying from Weardale and Tees Valley Lithium. News is due this week on funding for Alkemy's FID. That should reference Weardale too.

Stillwaiting, I agree. ALK have just negotiated a massive supply agreement with a mining firm in Chile. They agreed one with Weardale in March 2025 about 6 weeks after Weardale got planning permission for their plant. That could be an easy option to add to their supply. If Weardale want to sell. I got a strong impression that their CEO is very ambitious. He's achieved everything he's set out to do so far.

Weardale and Tees Valley have had a government grant too. They have spent 3 years substantiating the model for light touch mining. A six figure sum. An investment decision from Tees Valley/Alkemy is likely to follow as part of their project plan once the FID has been agreed. We should get news on progress next week. The deadline for Ara is July 31st. Could land any day next week.

I guess we'll find out this week whether Ara have sealed the deal with Alkemy. I'm in. Don't see why they'd have agreed the exclusive rights to sole funding if they didn't want to follow through. And I don't think the Chilean supplier would have signed up as a major supplier if they didn't see the agreement as very credible. Everyone will have done their due process. GLA.

Likely to start making some fast moves next week. Alkemy or Tees Valley Lithium will announce whether Ara private finance company- worth about £6 billion have followed through with their exclusive rights for sole funding of the Tees Valley Lithium project. If so, that will fund them through to the FID completion and then with a high probability to other phases of the project including building the refinery plant and commissioning. Weardale have agreed to supply Alkemy with lithium so of course they will be impacted.

For new electric vehicles from £3.75k to £1.75k. New charging points and related road modifications to extend charging points are also going to local authorities who will receive millions. Another £6 billion is going into renewables from the private sector.

Still waiting for the critical mineral strategy.

This report was prepared to support government plans with industry for critical minerals.

It recognises demand for lithium for mobile phones, EV batteries and other technologies. Both Weardale Lithium and Alkemy are identified as core players for mining supply and for processing. The relationship between the two has developed since the report was written however since Weardale is now signed up as a potential supplier for Alkemy/Tees Valley.

Meanwhile today, an international court has ruled that we have a human right to protection from climate change and countries are obliged to enact this. Also business news in the UK shows that sales of electric cars is up by 1/3 today.

And over the water Trump's crazy bill has been agreed offering tax breaks worth over £100k to Americans earning over 3 million dollars. The poorest 40% will all lose out. Their tax breaks are vastly outweighed by losses on reduced entitlement to healthcare coverag and reduced entitlement to help with food stamps. An extra 16 million Americans will lose healthcare coverage enentirely. Trump is sending out new tariff rates today to some countries and the icing on the cake? The US debt ceiling has been raised to 5 trillion dollars. Steve Bessant, (yes, on Trump's team) says that ceiling will be exceeded next month, triggering a financial crisis in the US.

Most European banks, including ours, are out of danger from contagion now. I can see quite a lot of US money coming this way to avoid a potential mini crash. What fun it is to vote for lying fascists?

Hey ho.

This is due soon. If it mentions lithium mining this share will start moving fast. If it mentions lithium mining in the North East it will move faster and if it mentions Alkemy/Tees Valley Lithium, whom we have a partnership agreement to supply, it will move faster. If it specifically mentions the Penines or Weardale we're cooking with gas and there will be a contract to follow in time. I am expecting investment in Weardale obvs.

Lithium is needed for 4 of the 8 core sectors for the new 'Modern Industrial Strategy 2025'. £113 billion from the government is going in over 10 years, £39 billion over the next 5 years. Additionally mayor's including Teesside's Ben Houchen have £30 million additional government funds to drive jobs and local economies. Houchen is right behind this project.

Lithium is needed for the following sectors of the industrial strategy: green energy transition including EV adoption for cars and vehicles of all kind; pharma and health technologies; defence (for some weapons) and digital technologies. The government and the EU have signed a trade agreement that commits to developing safe reliable supply chains for critical minerals. Weardale will sell everything they can mine. Looking at 100k tons a year. The price of lithium is projected to go up markedly as demand increases.

The US are bucking the trend for the green transition. More fool them. They are now getting disease ridden ticks infested in their cattle as a direct result of climate change. No-one will want to buy anything from them soon enough.

Copied the url. Best I can do on my phone- busy atm. Have you shared any of your research?

From the Department for Business, Energy and Industry. A map indicating the locations of our critical minerals. There we are in Penines, in the North East, recognised as the site of future lithium mining and battery production for EVs and other battery usage.

They're perfectly capable of doing everything themselves. They can extract and process lithium onsite with the support of their technology partners. They have now become a strategic partner of NOF, working with supply chains across the North East.

The ambition is to become self sufficient in lithium in the UK alongside Cornwall and to become a net exporter, displacing reliance on China entirely.

They expect to be digging this year. It's also likely they will be featured in the business planning for Alkemy Capital and Tees Valley Lithium and Tees Valley Development.

Lithium could be coming straight out of the ground, processed on site and delivered to Nissan in very tight, short and precise supply chains to start with.

Minerals-en.pdf https://share.google/weTnMIYFAZ5Nzqs1g

Google this or copy and paste.

The G7 have reaffirmed commitments for onshoring critical minerals wherever possible; ensuring free trade for critical minerals essential for multiple industries and essential products including defence, AI, green energy...

They recognise dangers of bad actors trying to manipulate markets and commit to reduce or eliminate the risk of this.

Https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0eqr15dwy5o

These will define investment from the billions set out for green energy in the Spending Review announced last week. The papers and relevant government sites says they will be published 'at the end if June'. Weardale Lithium are already partnered as a supplier with Tees Valley Lithium. Nothing to stop them getting some direct investment too. They will be able to extract and process on site according to their web site. They have contracted with US miners who have decades if experience and the most contemporary technologies.

We should find out more about the government plans for lithium mining within the next 2 weeks. Not unusual for investment opportunities to be leaked or purposefully trailed in advance of the actual investment decision.

Article stolen from the Alkemy site. Very relevant.

This is very good news for investors here. Net zero energy is one of the main drivers for the growth industries that the government is committed to. So is advanced manufacturing, new technologies, transport and housing. The government sees green energy as a catalyst for all industry growth because it will reduce the cost of energy- since transport of goods and services is endemic to most industries.

The Great British Energy fund has a further £4.7 billion yet to be allocated. It will be discussed and allocated in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy and critical mineral strategy.

Actually lithium underpins ev batteries for cars and other vehicles- specifically committed to in the Spending review; and batteries for phones and computers- the new technologies industry strand, and some medicines and medical technologies. So the big underlying theme in the Spending Review is 'secureconomics'. Rachel Reeves term for doing more for ourselves and becoming much more self sufficient. This is why Ben Houchen, Mayor of Teesside has put such an emphasis on the Tees Valley developments including the lithium mines in the North East. He wants the UK to become a net exporter of lithium not just self sufficient.

Silly to sell now. Wait 2 weeks for the industrial strategy. You'll hear about another £30 million for the North East. It's already been partially committed to the Tees Valley development. That money is for regional growth projects- supporting long term employment, new industry fit for the future. Think plenty will go to Weardale Lithium.

Tees Valley are part of a development hub. The mayor Ben Houchen has been active in promoting it. Tees Valley own Alkemy. They have a supply agreement with Weardale- who Marchale has a decent stake in. They are talking to Nissan of course. Interesting that Nissan have made some cuts to production but increased plans for the Sunderland plant for electric vehicles. Tees Valley want to be a major UK and European supplier. Our new trade agreement with the EU is very timely.

Hogbog, to answer your question, it's the Spending Review tomorrow. Transport, green energy and housing will be the big ticket items. Before the end of June it's the industrial strategy which will include a revised critical minerals strategy. Lithium is a critical mineral. The Penines are going to get a lot of attention. Very light touch mining technologies. The lithium is in underground geothermal water and brine. Weardale has an estimated 10k tons a year for decades. We need reliable energy sources. The big thinking is about safe trading partners. We are a safe trading partner because we don't have mad leadership. Sensible. Will honour agreements.

This week. Either Wednesday or Thursday. £113billion new funds for transport, green energy and housing. The details for each sector will be briefed every day for the following week looking at what it means for different parts of the country.

The industrial strategy including the new critical mineral strategy will follow the week after. Weardale Lithium will probably be implicated heavily with investment and co-ordinated backing as part of a future industry supply chain.

Tees Valley Lithium and Weardale Lithium are almost certain to see some of that investment. The FEED study is well underway involving both of these firms. Alkemy who are wholly owned by Tees Valley say they are close to agreement on tens of millions of funding. Their sp has doubled in recent months. Our's has barely moved yet.