Australia is already the largest exporter of lithium in the world and has the largest lithium mine in the world. Each quarter, the Australian government produces a report from the Department of Industry Science and Resources which discusses Lithium and most of the other minerals needed to support the EV revolution.
The report is 175 pages long and this article focusses on the sections dealing with copper, nickel, zinc, and lithium.
The worldwide EV battery supply chain relies heavily on China, which makes 75% of all lithium-ion batteries, and holds about 70% of cathode production capacity and 85% of anode output. And, over half of lithium, cobalt and graphite processing/refining capacity is located in China. As countries look to cut their dependency on Chinese imports and develop their own lithium and battery production, export opportunities will rise for Australian producers.
Source: CleanTechnica. Read The Article
PSR Analysis: There is a lot of detail in this article, and even more in the Australian Government’s report, but is does suggest that Australia can, and is ramping up mineral production to meet this demand. It also suggests that there is, as a result, a bright future for Australian mining. PSR
Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research
