Mining Weekly reported that lithium project developer Canada Lithium (TSX:CLQ) has signed an off-take agreement with Marubeni, a Japanese commodity trader. The agreement will involve 25% of the company’s lithium production, and will give Marubeni the exclusive rights to distribute Canada Lithium’s lithium carbonate in Japan for three years.
Lithium supply security is front and center in the minds of the world’s leading technology firms. New research at Missouri S&T aims to study the impact of technical, geopolitical and economic factors on lithium supply.
A report from Pike Research indicates China will be firmly positioned as the leading market for electric vehicles in the Asia Pacific region within the next 4 years. For lithium industry stakeholders and observers the bullish report suggests that the growing Chinese market will contribute to almost 50 percent of the territory’s aggregate sales.
In a recent global consumer survey, global consumer segmentation for electric vehicles indicates “potential first mover” or “willing to consider” interest to be over 85 percent in the emergent markets of Brazil, India and China.
Senior government officials and ministers have announced an agreement to commit to increasing the energy efficiency of transportation, including the promotion for electric vehicles, lithium batteries, biofuels and natural gas vehicles minimizing oil demand for transport.
Advanced lithium battery manufacturing has historically been dominated by China, Japan and South Korea, together accounting for as much as 98 percent of the market. According to the Institute of Information Technology, this year South Korea will replace Japan as the leading producer mid-sized to small lithium-ion batteries.
In an exclusive with Lithium Investing News, Jonathan Lee, Battery Materials and Technologies Analyst believes that the risk of a prolonged impact of the Japan Crisis on the lithium industry is not likely.
Newly listed on the TSE, Western Lithium USA has leased a portion of claims on the Kings Valley Project located in north-western Nevada with lithium rich hectorite clay deposits. The company has conducted a scoping study and has a resource estimate for the initial stage of development hosting a historically estimated 11 million tones of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).
The government aims to boost supplies of the two resources from Korean-owned mines up to 10 percent of annual requirements next year from 5.5 percent this year. Korea plans to increase stockpiles of about 30 minor metals including lithium and rare earths, to the equivalent of 13.5 days of consumption next year from 8.1 days this year.
Foxnews.com reports that Japan and Bolivia agreed to cooperate on the development of large-scale lithium reserves in the Andean nation.
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