"African lithium project boosts US drive to close EV gap on China"

" African lithium project boosts US drive to close EV gap on China \r\n\r\nAfrica\u2019s first major lithium project without Chinese funding is set to bolster US ambitions of developing its own battery-making industry.\r\n\r\nHalf of the output from Ghana\u2019s Ewoyaa mine, being built by Australia\u2019s Atlantic Lithium Ltd., is earmarked for a refinery that Piedmont Lithium Ltd. plans to construct in Tennessee. Piedmont is Atlantic Lithium\u2019s second-largest shareholder and has agreed to provide most of the funds for the project.\r\n\r\n\u201cOur investment in Ewoyaa will help alleviate potential future US supply constraints and provide crucial resources to help reduce America\u2019s dependence on foreign nations, like China,\u201d Piedmont Chief Executive Officer Keith Phillips said in an emailed response to questions.\r\n\r\nChina is pouring investment into lithium mines in Zimbabwe, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo to secure the battery metals for its dominant electric-vehicle industry. The supply of critical battery materials \u2014 including lithium, nickel and cobalt \u2014 is gaining greater urgency amid wild swings in prices and the US administration\u2019s push for companies to reduce their reliance on China.\r\n\r\nWhile lithium prices have fallen back from last year\u2019s peak, the race for the battery metal has lured mining heavyweights, automakers and even oil majors. A projected shortfall from 2025, as demand from EVs surges, is driving the search for new supplies.\r\n\r\nPiedmont was prepared to accept an equal share in the Ghanaian project, whereas potential Chinese backers wanted a controlling stake, Atlantic Lithium CEO Keith Muller told Bloomberg in an interview last week.\r\n\r\nThe US firm, which supplies Tesla Inc. and LG Chem, exercised an option in August to acquire an initial 22.5% stake in Ewoyaa and committed to fund the first $70 million required to develop the asset. It will also provide half of the additional costs thereafter.\r\n\r\nEwoyaa, Africa\u2019s third-biggest lithium project under development, will take advantage of President Joe Biden\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act, which offers tax credits to support the EV supply chain in the US.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat the IRA does for me is it gives me certainty that 50% of my offtake is going into a hydroxide facility that\u2019s destined for incentivized battery conversion,\u201d Muller said.\r\n\r\n African Supply \r\n\r\nMines across Africa are forecast to increase lithium output more than 70-fold by 2030, compared with last year\u2019s volume, according to BloombergNEF. That would increase Africa\u2019s share of global supply to 14% from 1%.\r\n\r\nAtlantic Lithium, which is still awaiting an environmental permit, aims to produce its first concentrate at Ewoyaa in the second quarter of 2025. Industrial scale output will only start in 2026 with a projected production of 36,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent \u2014 enough to power about 800,000 Tesla Model 3s.\r\n\r\nThe company is considering processing feldspar \u2014 a byproduct of mining that\u2019s used in ceramics and tiles \u2014 as well as producing higher-value lithium chemicals from the output not destined for Piedmont, Muller said."

"African lithium project boosts US drive to close EV gap on China"

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