Lithium prices continue to rise exponentially in China on the back of heavy demand for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, the first ever mid-month assessment by battery supply chain research and price reporting agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence shows. Benchmark’s battery-grade lithium carbonate midpoint price (EXW China, ≥99.0% Li2CO3) for mid-March shows the raw material up 88% just since the start of the year to over $12,600 a tonne, the highest level since March 2019.

Volkswagen has decided to take control of its own battery destiny by constructing six European gigafactories with collective annual capacity of 240 gigawatt hours (GWh) over the next decade. The announcement sent its shares into a Tesla-style frenzy. Batteries are, quite literally, the driver of the e-mobility revolution and Volkswagen has clear ideas about what it wants and at what price as it prepares to transition from the internal combustion engine (ICE).

Germany will provide 5.5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) of funding for electric-car charging infrastructure, a significant show of support for one of the country’s core industries. The funds will be available until 2024, Steffen Seibert, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said in an emailed statement late Tuesday following a video conference with the heads of Germany’s carmakers.

The U.S. government is working to help American miners and battery makers expand into Canada, part of a strategy to boost regional production of minerals used to make electric vehicles and counter Chinese competitors. A source who attended the meeting said there was no indication that the Commerce Department would offer financial incentives for new mines or other supply chain components in Canada. But department officials did stress the need to act now to build a U.S.-Canada EV supply chain, much like Europe has been doing and Asia has already done, according to a second source who attended the meeting.

Chinese demand for lithium has rebounded to the point where Australian miner Galaxy Resources can lower the grade of its product to maximise volumes and possibly find a buyer for the waste generated by its Mt Cattlin mine. Galaxy was expected to sell a spodumene concentrate with 6 per cent lithium this year, but the company said strong demand had prompted it to revise mine plans to produce a concentrate with between 5.6 per cent and 5.8 per cent lithium.

from the ASX...

E25: $35.5M Capital Raising to Fund Stage 2 Expansion and Battery Grade Manganese Sulphate PFS

$35.5M placement with strong support from a leading Swiss ESG fund.

Proceeds of the offering will fully fund the expected capital outlay to expand production at the Butcherbird Project to over 1 million tpa of manganese concentrate.

The raising also underpins funding to accelerate work on completing theflowsheet and plant design to produce High Purity Battery Grade ManganeseSulphate (HPMSM) for New Energy Vehicles (NEV).

Wet commissioning underway at site with a progressive ramp-up scheduled forthe next three months to nameplate production.

Renascor Resources (ASX: RNU) (“Renascor”) executes non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with leading Japanese-based global trading company, Hanwa Co., Ltd. (“Hanwa”).

Hanwa is amongst the largest traders of battery chemicals in the Asian region, with a market capitalization of ¥ 140 billion (A$1.7 billion) and reported net sales of more than ¥ 1,700 billion (A$21 billion) in 2020. Hanwa has a long history of trading with some of the world’s largest metal and chemical producers and operates a dedicated Battery Team focussed on supplying graphite and other metals across the global battery value chain.

The MOU with Hanwa covers the purchase of up to 10,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of Purified Spherical Graphite (“PSG”) over a term of up to ten years. This represents approximately one-third of the projected initial PSG production capacity of Renascor’s planned Battery Anode Material operation in South Australia.

Renascor has now achieved potential commitments covering in excess of 100% of Siviour Stage 1 PSG production, after previously executing MOUs and achieving initial product qualification with anode companies Shanxi Minguang New Material Technology Co. Ltd (“Minguang New Material”) and Jiangxi Zhengtuo New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (“Zeto”).

Renascor is concurrently progressing additional potential PSG offtake agreements and undertaking PSG validation with other anode and battery companies, with a view to securing additional offtake commitments that may allow for an expanded Stage 1 production capacity and / or enable a further expansion of the project with additional Stage 2 PSG production capacity.

1 for 6 Renounceable Rights Issue to raise up to A$20.4 million; priced at 3.2 cents per share, with rights to start trading from 6 April 2021.

Offer fully underwritten; 10.5% discount to the 30-day VWAP of 3.6 cents, 18% discount to the last sale of 3.9 cents.

Major shareholder, Piedmont Lithium Limited (ASX:PLL) taking up full entitlement under offer.

Funds to support Company’s bid for North American Lithium (NAL) and progress key projects in Québec, Canada, amid rising lithium demand in North American market from battery and EV makers.

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