Demand for lithium batteries surged and the U. S. is hungry for local supplies

As demand for lithium batteries by electric vehicles surges, more U. S. autommakers demand indigenous lithium mines.

The advisory benchmark mineral lithium price index (Benchmark Minerals) has been up about 240% since the beginning of the year.Chilean lithium chemical maker Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) reported in November that lithium profits more than tripled in the same period in the first nine months of 2021.The company expects higher lithium prices in the fourth quarter.

SQM CEO Ricardo Ramos (Ricardo Ramos) said on a conference call that the results were attributed to sharply higher sales and prices, with lithium demand exceeding its original expectations.

The bulk of lithium in the United States comes from South America, producing it cheaply by natural evaporation by pumping lithium-rich brine into large evaporation pools.

Some American automakers hope to have the resources in China to ensure a supply chain of lithium for batteries.In July, General Motors invested in California's (California's Salton Sea, California), and Tesla bought a lithium clay mine (lithium clay deposits) in Nevada.Weak supply and high prices have also spurred other lithium developments in the United States.

Currently, Yabao Corporation (Albemarle) is the only company producing alkaline lithium chemicals in the United States.The specialty chemicals maker plans to triple the extraction capacity of its plant in Yinfeng (Silver Peak, Nevada) by 2025.

Standard Lithium (Standard Lithium) raised $100 million this month from the Koch Strategic Platform (Koch Strategic Platforms) to continue to develop a direct lithium extraction project in southwest Arkansas.Direct lithium extraction technology (direct lithium extraction) does not use evaporation pools, but chemically separates lithium from saline and draws the remaining water back to the aquifer.

Separately, Anson Resources (Anson Resources) decided last month to conduct a feasibility study of a lithium plant in Utah (Utah).The company said its motivation is due to rising lithium prices and higher lithium production technology.

Last month, Energy Resources and Minerals (EnergySource Minerals) received approval from the local planning committee to extract lithium from the brine at a geothermal plant in the Salton Sea.Construction will begin in 2022 and begin in 2024.

Edward Anderson, CEO of Transunion (TRU), which provides consulting services for lithium projects, said he is not optimistic about the prospect of direct lithium extraction, saying that the technology has not been proven in practice and has not yet seen the technology that meets the commercialization requirements in the market.

Cameron Perks (Cameron Perks), an analyst at Benchmark Minerals (Benchmark Minerals), says domestic mining companies can gain a place in the international market if domestic mining companies can increase lithium production.He said electric car makers designed to reduce their carbon footprint may consider American lithium more environmentally friendly.

Perks noted that, in the short term, lithium consumers will be hungry in recent years and will indiscriminately buy lithium.But, looking ahead, they may have greener options.