Growing interest in green energy is the chief catalyst for lithium. Look at electric vehicles, for example. Governments all over the world are pushing for a greener future. The U.S. just promised to cut emissions by up to 52%. Europe says it’ll cut emission by up to 55%. China will stop releasing CO2 in the next 40 years. To achieve those goals, governments want millions of EVs on the road, as of yesterday. After all, “As the market for battery-operated electric vehicles grows, so does the demand for lithium, the main ingredient in rechargeable batteries and energy storage devices, and EVs will account for 79% of lithium demand,” according to Morningstar. That’s just one of the key catalysts that could drive lithium prices and related stocks even higher, including E3 Metals Corp. (TSXV: ETMC) (OTC: EEMMF), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC) (TSX: LAC), American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI) (OTC: LIACF), and Piedmont Lithium (NASDAQ: PLL).
Look at E3 Metals Corp. (TSXV: ETMC) (OTC: EEMMF), for example.
E3 Metals Corp., an emerging lithium developer and leading direct lithium extraction (“DLE”) technology innovator, is pleased to announce the receipt of $0.5 million from Alberta Innovates as result of completion of the company’s lab pilot prototype development.
The Company announced the successful progressive scale-up of its DLE technology earlier in October 2021 and the results of the first round of tests in January 2022. To receive this funding, Alberta Innovates reviews the development and progress report on Milestone 1; the successful construction and operation of a lab-based pilot prototype.
Including this tranche, E3 Metals has received $1.1 million to date of the $1.8 million grant. The final milestone payment for the Company is to design, construct, commission and operate a field pilot plant and is subject to approval by Alberta Innovates. The field pilot will operate continuously within the Clearwater resource area designed to extract lithium directly from the brine produced from the Leduc Aquifer. By demonstrating the process in the field at a near commercial scale over an extended period, the Company plans to significantly de-risk its ion-exchange technology and Clearwater project prior to scaling up to the anticipated commercial scale of 20,000 tonnes/year lithium hydroxide monohydrate. A commercial operation has the potential to employ many highly skilled workers and generate royalty and tax revenue for Alberta and Canada.
“We are very excited about this development.” commented Chris Doornbos, CEO of E3 Metals Corp. “The support from Alberta Innovates has been fundamental in moving this new, Alberta based technology, towards commercialization. The team at E3 Metals has been working diligently to advance this technology towards a field pilot and we look forward to further developments this year on that path.”
Other related developments from around the markets include:
Albemarle Corporation announced that it has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.395 per share. The dividend, which has an annualized rate of $1.58, is payable April 1, 2022, to shareholders of record at the close of business as of March 18, 2022. This year marks Albemarle’s 28th consecutive year raising its dividend.
Lithium Americas announced the Company has submitted a draft application to the US Department of Energy for funding to be used at its 100%-owned Thacker Pass lithium project in Humboldt County, Nevada through the Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. The Loan Program is designed to provide funding to US companies engaged in the manufacturing of advanced technology vehicles and components used in those vehicles. “Thacker Pass is a unique, large-scale and advanced-stage lithium project representing one of the most significant opportunities to create a truly domestic lithium supply chain to support the production of electric vehicles in the US,” said Jonathan Evans, President and CEO. “We are pleased to submit our draft application and look forward to engaging with the DOE to accelerate the growth of the domestic lithium industry in response to increased demand and interest from US-based consumers.”
American Lithium Corp. announced it is launching the final phase towards completion of its maiden preliminary economic assessment on the Company’s TLC Lithium project with the appointment of DRA Global as lead engineer. Stantec Consulting Ltd. will act as contributing consultants, in particular in relation to mineral resources and mine design, and as reported previously, acid leach and roast water leach studies and precipitation test work is on-going at ANSTO Minerals in Australia. These results will be incorporated into the PEA with all previous TLC process studies completed at laboratories in the US, Canada and Peru. The first draft of the maiden TLC PEA as well as preliminary economic modeling is anticipated to be completed by end of Q2, 2022.
Piedmont Lithium reported the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment for a proposed merchant lithium hydroxide plant to expand Piedmont’s planned U.S. manufacturing capacity to 60,000 t/y of lithium hydroxide. The LHP-2 PEA results demonstrate the potential for Piedmont Lithium to expand its lithium hydroxide manufacturing business using spodumene concentrate from market sources, including under existing offtake agreements with Sayona Quebec and Atlantic Lithium. “2021 was a transformative year for electrification in the United States,” said Piedmont President and CEO Keith Phillips. “Current and forecasted battery manufacturing capacity now exceeds 500 gigawatt-hours with public announcements of over $25 billion in capital investments to occur by 2025. The potential lithium volume these battery plants will require reinforces the importance of developing a domestic lithium supply chain and solidifies our decision to aggressively evaluate and pursue expansion opportunities for a second lithium hydroxide plant. The planned 2023 restart of North American Lithium in conjunction with our partner, Sayona Mining, and potential for spodumene production at Ewoyaa in partnership with Atlantic Lithium as early as 2024 ensures that our LHP-2 operations will have dedicated material supply from day one. With prevailing spot lithium prices at approximately triple the fixed pricing assumptions used in the PEA, Piedmont has substantial leverage relative to higher lithium prices across our entire portfolio of projects,” commented Phillips.
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