Auto Giants Sign New Mining Deals to Secure Battery Metal Supply Chains

In a push to secure critical materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries amid surging demand, top carmakers like General Motors, Ford and Tesla are continuing to ink deals with mining companies in North America to lock in long-term domestic supply. Some companies are heading south of the border, including Tesla, which just announced plans to open a $5 billion plant in Mexico. BMW also recently announced a $866 million investment in EV and battery production in San Luis Potosi, while General Motors plans to invest over $1 billion in the Latin American region to produce EVs. Meanwhile, Canada has also emerged as a key contender in the EV battery supply chain after announcing over $15 billion in investments over the past 10 months for critical mineral mining and processing, battery component manufacturing, EV production and the nation’s first gigafactory. Rising battery metal demand stands to benefit mining companies like E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF), Lithium Americas (TSX:LAC) (NYSE:LAC), Sayona Mining Limited (OTCMKTS:SYAXF), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE:SQM).

E3 Lithium’s (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF) goal is to make high-purity lithium products that can be used in batteries by developing its globally significant 24.3 million tonnes of inferred lithium resources. E3 has several advantages in the global race to supply critical battery minerals – it operates from a secure and stable jurisdiction in Alberta, Canada, has a process designed to adhere to the highest ESG standards, including anticipating using less than 3% of the land of traditional lithium mining operations – all factors that make it highly attractive to battery and auto manufacturers.

On March 7, E3 Lithium announced it has been awarded C$3.545 million from Natural Resources Canada’s Critical Minerals Research Development and Demonstration (CMRDD) program. The funding comes from the Government of Canada’s 2021 Federal Budget to support the development of Canadian critical minerals and will be used towards the design, construction and operation of E3’s field pilot plant, which is on track to begin operations in Q3 2023.

This isn’t the first funding E3 Lithium has received to support its development. Previously announced funding includes a $1.8 million grant from Alberta Innovates and a $27 million conditionally repayable investment from the Strategic Innovation Fund

“We are ecstatic to receive funding from Natural Resources Canada to support the work we are doing to produce battery-grade lithium,” said Chris Doornbos, President and CEO of E3 Lithium. “Receiving support from all levels of government to develop our lithium resource speaks volumes to the importance placed on commercializing critical minerals from Alberta and the progress E3 has made in developing this industry.”

“Canadian innovators are leading the way towards a cleaner future. Today’s investment of more than $3.5 million in E3 Lithium will help to advance the development of a dynamic and competitive critical minerals sector through the development and demonstration of innovative processing technologies,” said the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. “This means good jobs for workers, more investment in Canadian innovation, and lower emissions across the country – all part of our plan to build a cleaner Canada and a prosperous, sustainable economy that works for everyone.”

Last month, E3 Lithium announced it has received $4.9 million since Q3 2022 from the exercise of warrants from equity financings completed on December 17, 2020 and February 8, 2021. The remaining 3.4 million warrants outstanding belong to Imperial Oil, which were prepaid for a total of $6.35 million and expire in June 2024. E3 currently has 64.4 million issued and outstanding shares.

To learn more about E3 Lithium Ltd (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF), please visit this link.

Lithium Miners Are Expanding Production

Lithium Americas (TSX:LAC) (NYSE:LAC) announced on March 2 that development at its Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada had begun. The statement comes on the heels of a February federal court ruling that rejected concerns that the project would cause unnecessary harm to the environment or wildlife and permitted work to begin. The proposed mine has the potential to become North America’s largest supply of lithium for electric car batteries, assisting US President Joe Biden’s efforts to reduce the country’s reliance on Chinese supplies for the metal. In January, General Motors Co announced a $650 million investment in Lithium Americas to help develop the project.

Sayona Mining Limited (OTCMKTS:SYAXF) has successfully restarted process operations at its flagship North American Lithium (NAL) facility in Quebec, Canada, marking another milestone in the resumption of spodumene (lithium) production. Following the conclusion of commissioning activities, the processing start-up included the circulation of ore through the entire system, from crushing to sorting, grinding, and separation. The restart is proceeding on schedule and within budget, with the first saleable lithium concentrate planned for late March 2023. This would be a significant achievement for Sayona and Quebec as the leading hard rock lithium producer in North America. 

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB), a global leader in transforming lithium and bromine into essential ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity, and health, announced on February 22 that it has signed definitive agreements with Mineral Resources Limited to restructure the parties’ MARBL lithium joint venture in Australia and for MinRes to invest in Albemarle conversion assets in China. The completion of these agreements follows the announcement in February 2022 of the signing of a non-binding letter of intent.

Chile’s Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE:SQM), the world’s second-largest lithium producer, plans to invest $3.4 billion in new capital by 2025 to increase production capacity to 210,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent per year, up from 180,000 tpa now. The large projected investment comes after the Santiago-based company announced record earnings last year due to higher metal prices spurred by increased demand from the electric vehicle (EV) market. SQM earned $3.9 billion in net income in 2022, nearly tripling its earnings of $585.5 million in 2021. Overall revenue for the year was $10.7 billion, up from about $2.9 billion reported for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. SQM announced this year that it would invest $1.4 billion of the total budgeted for the 2023-2025 period as it expands its capacity in Chile. 

E3 Lithium has outlined its 2023 goals on March 2, which will provide the company with the necessary catalysts to move towards producing battery-grade lithium from its significant resources in Alberta.

Featured Image @ Depositphotos

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1) The author of the Article, or members of the author’s immediate household or family, do not own any securities of the companies set forth in this Article. The author determined which companies would be included in this article based on research and understanding of the sector.

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6) This document contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, (collectively, “forward-looking statements”), which reflect management’s expectations regarding E3 Lithium Ltd.’s future growth, future business plans and opportunities, expected activities, and other statements about future events, results or performance. Wherever possible, words such as “predicts”, “projects”, “targets”, “plans”, “expects”, “does not expect”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “anticipate” or “does not anticipate”, “believe”, “intend” and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative or grammatical variation thereof or other variations thereof, or comparable terminology have been used to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements relating to: (a) revenue generating potential with respect to E3 Lithium Ltd.’s industry; (b) market opportunity; (c) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s business plans and strategies; (d) services that E3 Lithium Ltd. intends to offer; (e) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s milestone projections and targets; (f) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s expectations regarding receipt of approval for regulatory applications; (g) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s intentions to expand into other jurisdictions including the timeline expectations relating to those expansion plans; and (h) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s expectations with regarding its ability to deliver shareholder value. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management in light of management’s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, as of the date of this document including, without limitation, assumptions about: (a) the ability to raise any necessary additional capital on reasonable terms to execute E3 Lithium Ltd.’s business plan; (b) that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; (c) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; (d) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s ability to enter into contractual arrangements with additional Pharmacies; (e) the accuracy of budgeted costs and expenditures; (f) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; (g) political and regulatory stability; (h) the receipt of governmental, regulatory and third-party approvals, licenses and permits on favorable terms; (i) changes in applicable legislation; (j) stability in financial and capital markets; and (k) expectations regarding the level of disruption to as a result of CV-19. Such forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of E3 Lithium Ltd. to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, without limitation: (a) E3 Lithium Ltd.’s operations could be adversely affected by possible future government legislation, policies and controls or by changes in applicable laws and regulations; (b) public health crises such as CV-19 may adversely impact E3 Lithium Ltd.’s business; (c) the volatility of global capital markets; (d) political instability and changes to the regulations governing E3 Lithium Ltd.’s business operations (e) E3 Lithium Ltd. may be unable to implement its growth strategy; and (f) increased competition.

Except as required by law, E3 Lithium Ltd. undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future event or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Neither does E3 Lithium Ltd. nor any of its representatives make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, sufficiency or completeness of the information in this document. Neither E3 Lithium Ltd. nor any of its representatives shall have any liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise, to you or any person resulting from the use of the information in this document by you or any of your representatives or for omissions from the information in this document.

7) Any graphs, tables or other information demonstrating the historical performance or current or historical attributes of E3 Lithium Ltd. or any other entity contained in this document are intended only to illustrate historical performance or current or historical attributes of E3 Lithium Ltd. or such entities and are not necessarily indicative of future performance of E3 Lithium Ltd. or such entities.

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