Week of October 16, 2024
Automaker to invest $625 million for 38% JV interest in Lithium America's Thacker Pass. To help ensure that it has a reliable and Inflation Reduction Act-compliant source of the lithium needed for its growing line of electric vehicles, General Motors has agreed to invest an additional $625 million to acquire a 38% joint venture interest in Lithium Americas Corp.'s Thacker Pass mine and processing plant in northern Nevada. "We're pleased with the significant progress Lithium...
The proposed $6.7 billion purchase indicates that the global mining giant foresees a lithium market rebound. On Oct. 9, Rio Tinto announced plans to acquire lithium producer Arcadium, boosting Arcadium's value and enhancing Rio Tinto's lithium market exposure, crucial for electric vehicle growth. What does this investment say about the future outlook for the lithium market? Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm has maintained an attitude of "cautious optimism" in interviews,...
Funding supports deconversion essential for nuclear fuel supply chain. Amid growing efforts to secure a reliable domestic nuclear fuel supply, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded contracts to six companies as part of an $800 million initiative to bolster the deconversion of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), a critical component of the supply chain for advanced nuclear reactors. Over the past few years, the U.S. has been actively working to elevate nuclear energy...
World's first manufacturing plant for rare-earth-free magnets opening in Minneapolis. Approximately 90% of the world's industrial permanent magnets are produced in China, leaving the supply chain open to significant disruption with environmental, economic, or national security risks. Permanent magnets containing neodymium and other rare earth elements are essential components in a wide variety of technologies and industries, including MRI machines, electric vehicles, wind...
Founders Factory unveils first cohort of companies developing innovative solutions for more productive and sustainable mining. Founders Factory has unveiled the first cohort of startups under its Mining Tech Accelerator, a program being advanced in partnership with Rio Tinto to discover and foster breakthrough technologies with the potential to transform the way mining companies deliver the minerals and metals the world needs. To build upon its legacy of innovation and...
Pilot tests demonstrate that a mine site hydrometallurgical refinery at Baptiste could produce high-quality, low-carbon nickel sulfate. A recently completed pilot-scale program has confirmed the idea that a hydrometallurgical refinery built alongside a mine at FPX Nickel Corp.'s Baptiste project in British Columbia could offer a significant supply of low-carbon battery-grade nickel sulfate for North America's energy transition. "Baptiste would represent an almost 50%...
Satellite connectivity, quality 3D multiphysics data, and AI offer faster decision-making at every stage of the exploration journey. Technological innovation is the cornerstone of human progress. At their best, the foundational technologies of the modern world – such as the global internet, digital technologies, space travel, clean energy, and AI – fill me with the belief that hard problems are not permanent fixtures in time and space. They are mutable barriers humanity...
