Photo: Livent.com
New U.S. legislation will require 50% of electric vehicle content to be source in North America or allied countries beginning next year. That percentages escalates to 80% in 2026, and a full 100% in North America by 2029; leaving lithium mining companies scrambling.
The law somewhat stunned the industry and led to some calling out the U.S for stunting the growth of the electric vehicle market.
Since August companies have been scouring the globe to find ample recoverable lithium reserves. Some of the biggest automakers in the world have been forced to enter joint ventures with mineral companies as battery production to date, has not been in their area of expertise.
One company would seem to have a leg up on the exploration of new lithium reserves. Livent has been a world leader in lithium technology dating back to the 40s. The company continues to look for new sources of the metal used to make batteries for electric vehicles and has its eyes on The Great White North, Canada to be more specific.
"We see Canada as a core part of our expansion capacity," Paul Graves, Livent's CEO, said in a Thursday interview. "We have to get bigger. We can't just sit still.", according to Reuters.
To help in those efforts Livent was able to lure away Tesla's Sarah Maryssael, who was in charge of sourcing litihium, cobalt and nickel for the company.
A joint venture of its own in 2020 with Quebec's Nemaska, has a lithium project in the works that is planned to be in production by 2025 with an expected capacity to produce 34,000 tonnes (34 million kg) of lithium, enough for approximately 4 million electric vehicles.
While Canada's governement is in favor of lithium mining on its soil, on Wednesday citing national security concerns, they ordered three Chineses companies to divest from critical mining projects in the country, which may open the door for Livent to step in.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the U.S. stance on battery components if and when, the is a significant change in the U.S. political climate.
Since August companies have been scouring the globe to find ample recoverable lithium reserves. Some of the biggest automakers in the world have been forced to enter joint ventures with mineral companies as battery production to date, has not been in their area of expertise.
One company would seem to have a leg up on the exploration of new lithium reserves. Livent has been a world leader in lithium technology dating back to the 40s. The company continues to look for new sources of the metal used to make batteries for electric vehicles and has its eyes on The Great White North, Canada to be more specific.
"We see Canada as a core part of our expansion capacity," Paul Graves, Livent's CEO, said in a Thursday interview. "We have to get bigger. We can't just sit still.", according to Reuters.
To help in those efforts Livent was able to lure away Tesla's Sarah Maryssael, who was in charge of sourcing litihium, cobalt and nickel for the company.
A joint venture of its own in 2020 with Quebec's Nemaska, has a lithium project in the works that is planned to be in production by 2025 with an expected capacity to produce 34,000 tonnes (34 million kg) of lithium, enough for approximately 4 million electric vehicles.
While Canada's governement is in favor of lithium mining on its soil, on Wednesday citing national security concerns, they ordered three Chineses companies to divest from critical mining projects in the country, which may open the door for Livent to step in.
It will be interesting to see what happens to the U.S. stance on battery components if and when, the is a significant change in the U.S. political climate.
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