Copper climbed above $10,000 a ton as predictions for tighter global supplies and rising consumption in electric vehicles and power grids countered signs of demand destruction in top user China. Prices of copper have risen 17% this year on fears of shortages, with aging mines forecast to struggle to keep pace with demand. Supply growth […]
Battery Metals
BHP-Anglo American deal raises alarm in Japan’s steel industry
Japanese steelmakers have raised concerns with Australian authorities that BHP Group could become too dominant in the global supply of coking coal if it goes ahead with a takeover of Anglo American. Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coking coal and top supplier to Japan, making up around 60% of its imports, with most […]
Platinum set for biggest deficit in a decade in 2024, says Johnson Matthey
The platinum market faces its largest supply shortfall in 10 years in 2024 as shipments from Russia return to normal from last year’s highs and industrial demand stays firm, Johnson Matthey said in a report on Thursday. The autocatalyst maker added that it expected all platinum group metals (PGM) – platinum, palladium, and rhodium – […]
Copper price touches $10,000 again as Goldman sees ‘stockout’ risk
Copper briefly traded through $10,000 a ton as investors raised bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts, and Goldman Sachs Groups Inc. warned of intensifying supply stress. Metals joined a wider rally in risk assets after soft US jobs data triggered renewed speculation that the Fed will move to lower rates this year. Copper initially rose […]
Grid Metals increases resource by a third at copper-nickel project in Manitoba
Grid Metals (TSXV: GRDM) has raised the indicated tonnage by more than a third at its MM copper-nickel project in southeast Manitoba. The combined indicated open pit resources increased by 12.4 million tonnes or 37% to 46.2 million tonnes compared with an estimate of 33.8 million tonnes from 2014, the company said on Monday. The […]
Charging future EVs could take seconds with new sodium-ion battery tech
Researchers have developed a new coin-type sodium-based battery that can charge rapidly “in seconds” and could potentially power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles (EVs) in the future. By combining anode materials used in conventional batteries with cathodes from supercapacitors — batteries that can store and deliver energy at very high rates –– the scientists […]
Ever heard of strange metals? This is how to make them
MIT physicists and colleagues have unexpectedly discovered a new way to make a state of matter known as a strange metal. Strange metals are of interest for their unusual physics and because they have been found in the high-temperature superconductors key to several applications. The work introduces a unique mechanism to create and study strange […]
Boliden to restart Europe’s largest zinc mine
Swedish miner Boliden (STO: BOL) will resume production at its Tara zinc mine in Ireland after reaching an agreement with unions to lower costs, which will result a reduction of a third of the operation’s workforce. Boliden halted Tara, Europe’s largest zinc mine, last year after prices of the metal hit a three-year low and […]
Three takeaways about the current state of batteries
Batteries are on my mind this week. (Aren’t they always?) But I’ve got two extra reasons to be thinking about them today. First, there’s a new special report from the International Energy Agency all about how crucial batteries are for our future energy systems. The report calls batteries a “master key,” meaning they can unlock the potential […]
Battery prices are plummeting. That’s good news for the planet.
Climate scientists, for years, have urged governments around the world to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Wind and solar plants have increased in popularity in recent years but they both have a fundamental problem. Lapses in sunlight and wind caused by weather events can make it difficult to reliably capture and store […]
