Battery Metals

Chile’s state-owned copper giant Codelco signed a deal Friday with SQM to nearly double the private mining firm’s current extraction of lithium, a key mineral for the global switch to cleaner energy. Codelco is the world’s largest copper producer, and SQM is a leader in lithium, often called “white gold.” The agreement provides for the […]

After hitting an all-time intraday level of a smidgen under $5.20 a pound or $11,460 a tonne in Chicago a week ago, July copper has pulled back to exchange hands for $4.85 ($10,690) on Tuesday, paring some of last week’s steep losses.  Copper trading enjoyed blow-out volumes on the way up with the paper equivalent […]

Australia and the European Union have struck an agreement to boost cooperation and investment in critical minerals, part of a drive by Western nations to loosen China’s grip on supply chains of materials essential to high-tech and green manufacturing. Ministers in Canberra and Brussels signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday, which will be followed […]

Middle Eastern battery maker StoreDot has hit a performance milestone with a power pack that reached 2,000 consecutive cycles. It’s part of a development progression for electric vehicle range and charge performance that could be game-changing for the industry if the benchmarks are met within the next 10 years. In the latest news, the silicon-dominant battery was repeatedly charged […]

Anglo American was encouraged by key shareholders including BlackRock to continue engaging in talks with BHP Group over its proposed 38.6 billion pound ($49.18 billion) mining merger, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday. BHP, the world’s biggest listed mining group, now has until May 29 to make a firm bid for Anglo American or it will […]

The aluminum market is caught in a clash between some of the biggest traders and banks, with more than $1 billion of metal changing hands while lengthy queues form at London Metal Exchange warehouses. The big bear in the market is Trafigura Group: the commodities trading giant has delivered massive volumes of aluminum onto the […]

Environmental activists have once again turned to the Norwegian courts, this time suing the government over its plans for seabed mineral exploration, which they claim has failed to test the possible impacts of such activity. The case, led by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), argues the decision breaches national law, goes against the counsel of the government’s own advisers, […]

Anglo American (LON: AAL) rejected on Wednesday a third takeover bid by BHP (ASX: BHP) that valued the company at $49.2 billion (£38.6bn), but it has agreed to extend the deadline for the world’s largest miner to make a formal offer. BHP now has until May 29 at 5pm GMT time to table a binding […]

Global mining heavyweights including Lundin Mining Corp., Glencore Plc and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. are piling into Argentina as a new government intent on luring foreign investment propels the companies closer than ever to opening up vast copper deposits in the red-hued Andes. It’s part of a colossal wave of spending needed worldwide to prevent […]

Form Energy launched in 2017 to tackle one of the biggest problems hindering the clean energy transition: how to cheaply store renewable energy for days on end. In developing its iron-air battery, though, the company stumbled on a potential breakthrough for another notorious climate challenge: cleaning up the iron and steel industries. Form designed a […]