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Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX: PUR) (“PUR”, “Pursuit” or the “Company”) Pursuit Minerals Limited (ASX:PUR) (Pursuit or the Company) is pleased to present its activities report for the quarterly period ended 31 March 2024.
HIGHLIGHTS
1. Commencement of Stage 1 Drilling Program at the Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project.
2. Completion of commissioning of Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant.
3. Discussions underway with provincial Government for evaporation pond environmental permitting.
4. $1.36 million in cash and equivalents available at quarter end.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
During the March 2024 quarter, Pursuit Minerals Ltd (“Pursuit” or “Company”) has continued to advance through numerous engineering and geological studies, permitting approval processes and stakeholder engagement activities at our flagship Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project.
Rio Grande Sur (RGS) Lithium Project Argentina
The Rio Grande Sur Project comprises of 5 tenements prospective for lithium on the Rio Grande Salar in the Salta province of Argentina, in addition to a Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant located in the city of Salta. The five tenements cover approximately 9,233 hectares (Table 1).
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This article includes content from Pursuit Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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Overview
Pursuit Minerals Ltd. (ASX:PUR) is a top-tier lithium exploration and development company. The company is focused on its flagship Rio Grande Sur lithium project in the Salta Province of Argentina. The project is strategically located in an area known as the Lithium Triangle which hosts 50 percent of the global lithium resources and 40 percent of the current global lithium production. Argentina is the world’s third largest producer of lithium, behind Australia and Chile.
The project spans an area of 9,260 hectares on the Rio Grande Salar and is adjacent to several operating lithium mines and development operations, including Acradium Lithium’s Fenix lithium mine and the Olaroz lithium mine. The Rio Grande Salar holds a historical Ni 43-101 resource declared by LSC Lithium, formerly listed on the TSX prior to being acquired by Plus Petrol of 2.1 million tons (Mt) of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) with an average grade of 370 milligrams per litre (mg/L). This resource was mostly obtained from shallow drilling to 100 metres.
Pursuit delivered a maiden JORC Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 251.3 kt LCE at 351 mg/L at the Rio Grande Sur project. The inferred resource relies on recent geophysical surveys and historical drilling, encompassing only a small portion of the known mineralization. Notably, excluding the highly promising Mito tenement from the current MRE highlights the unexplored potential for further resource expansion.
Pursuit has commenced its Stage 1 maiden drill program focused on upgrading the inferred resource. The drilling is anticipated to reach depths of 500 to 600 metres below surface, significantly deeper than the existing defined JORC mineral resource depth. Other companies in the region have obtained impressive results and grades of 900 mg/Li+ at depths of 500 metres, some of the highest known grades in Argentina. Pursuit expects a material resource upgrade in the second half of 2024 which will build on the inferred maiden resource.
Drill cores and packer lithium brine samples from Pursuit’s Stage 1 drilling program at the Rio Grande Sur Project.
In addition to having an attractive lithium resource, Pursuit is focused on the production of lithium carbonate to meet the supply side response to growing lithium demand. Recently, the company announced the first phase of operations of its 250 tons per annum (tpa) pilot plant to produce lithium carbonate. The plant will generate both technical and battery grade lithium carbonate at a purity of 99.95 percent, employing a conventional evaporation process.
Pursuit has submitted advanced environmental permits for the construction of the 250 tpa evaporation ponds and Stage 2 drill program at the northern tenement of the Rio Grande Sur project.
The establishment of the ponds is expected to take place in the latter part of 2024, pending environmental approvals. The ponds and the plant are planned to be situated on the Sal Rio 02 tenement enabling the possibility of initiating the first production of lithium carbonate on-site in 2025.
Pursuit is targeting continuous production at Rio Grande Salar and expects the current setup to be scalable to produce 15,000 to 20,000tpa of technical and battery grade lithium carbonate.
250-ton lithium carbonate pilot plant
The company’s focus on Argentina has several advantages. The new government, led by its president Javier Milei has signaled a market-friendly and pro-business policy shift. This should be a positive development for lithium miners given that Argentina has one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. Argentina holds 21 percent of the world’s 105 million tons of lithium resources, second only to Bolivia, according to the United States Geological Survey’s Lithium Statistics and Information 2024 report.
Lithium is in great demand driven by the growth in electric vehicles (EVs). Bloomberg NEF estimates lithium demand to jump by 225 percent to 2.6 Mt of LCE by 2030, translating into a CAGR of 16 percent. In a net-zero scenario, Bloomberg pegs the demand at 3.6 Mt of LCE by 2030, a CAGR of 19 percent.
The company remains focused on project execution that will deliver long-term shareholder value, including the completion of stage 1 drilling, JORC resource upgrade, first production of lithium carbonate and increasing production capacity to 250 tpa, and receipt of environmental permits, all within the first half of 2024.
In addition, Pursuit has identified the following catalysts over the next 12 months:
- Q3/Q4 2024: start of evaporation pond construction at Rio Grande, off-take agreement, relocation of 250 tpa pilot plant to Rio Grande.
- Q4 2024/Q1 2025: Detailed mineral resource study for commercial scale lithium carbonate operation; stage 2 drilling and JORC resource upgrade; first production from 250 tpa plant could commence as early as Q4 of 2025.
Company Highlights
- Pursuit Minerals is an ASX-listed company focused on advancing a pre-production lithium brine operation in Argentina.
- The company’s flagship Rio Grande Sur project covers 9,233 hectares on the Rio Grande Salar, in the Salta Province of Argentina located in the Lithium Triangle. The region is home to 50 percent of global lithium resources and 40 percent of world production.
- The acreage owned by Pursuit is situated within an Ni 43-101 inferred resource of 2.1 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), with an average grade of 370 milligrams per litre (mg/L) extending to a depth of 100 metres.
- Pursuit delivered a maiden JORC Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 251.3 kt LCE at 351 mg/L at the Rio Grande Sur Project. With its current Stage 1 drilling program currently underway, Pursuit is targeting a material resource upgrade in the second quarter of 2024, which will build on the recent inferred maiden resource.
- The company has commenced the first phase of operations to produce lithium carbonate at its recently commissioned pilot plant, which is expected to achieve an operational capacity of 250 tons per annum (tpa). This is a significant milestone in the journey to advance toward the first production at Rio Grande Sur.
- Despite temporary fluctuations in lithium carbonate prices, the market continues to demonstrate resilience, with long-term projections indicating a significant 225 percent surge to reach 2.6 million tons of LCE worldwide by 2030.
Key Project
Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project
The Rio Grande Sur is the company’s flagship lithium project. The project comprises five tenements that span 9,233 hectares and are located in Rio Grande Salar in Salta province, Argentina. The region has benefited from historical exploration that yielded an NI 43-101 resource of 2.19 Mt LCE @ 374 mg/L, at inferred category.
During Q4 2023, Pursuit announced a maiden JORC inferred mineral resource estimate of 251.3 kt LCE at 351 mg/L at the Rio Grande Sur project. Following this, Pursuit is currently undertaking a maiden drill program to upgrade the inferred resource. Stage 1 of the drill program will comprise four diamond drill holes on the southern tenements. The first two holes will be drilled at the Sal Rio II and Maria Magdelena tenements.
The drilling is anticipated to reach depths of 500 to 600 metres below surface, significantly deeper than the existing defined JORC mineral resource depth. The drilling commenced in Q1 2024, and Pursuit is targeting a material resource upgrade in the second quarter of 2024. Further drilling is expected following the completion of the Stage 1 program. The Stage 2 drilling program is anticipated to occur in the second half of 2024, after which Pursuit is targeting a feasibility study.
Management Team
Aaron Revelle – Chief Executive Officer
Aaron Revelle is a seasoned mining executive with experience in founding and developing natural resources companies. He has over 15 years of experience across a wide range of commodities and bringing them from deposits into production. He was the founder of Trilogy Minerals, which was acquired by Pursuit, and Centaur Resources, which focused on its flagship Pastos Grandes lithium project and was sold to Arena Minerals, and subsequently sold to Lithium Americas for over AU$300 million.
Peter Wall - Chairman
Peter Wall is a partner with Steinepreis Paganin, a leading law firm, and has rich experience in M&A, takeovers, recapitalizations, and reconstructions. He has significant expertise in various domains such as energy, resources, capital markets, and strategy. He is also the chairman of Minbos Resources.
Tom Eadie – Non-Executive Director
Tom Eadie is a director on the company board. He has over four decades of rich experience in the resource industry. Currently, he is the chairman of Alderan Resources and Southern Cross Gold. He was also the founding chairman of Syrah Resources.
Vito Interlandi – Company Secretary
Vito Interlandi is the managing partner at Nexia Melbourne and is responsible for corporate advisory. He has two decades of experience in finance, accounting, and capital markets and has served on the boards of several public and private companies.
This profile was written in collaboration with Couloir Capital.
Yalgoo Fieldwork Commences Over Main Target Areas
HIGHLIGHTS
- Fieldwork commenced at the Yalgoo lithium projects
- Large scale soil and rock chip sampling program underway
- First phase to test main ML targets with almost 1000 soil samples to be collected
- Proximate to known lithium occurrences
The two projects are located within the northern part of the Yalgoo-Singleton greenstone belt (YSGB) in the Murchison province. Both sequences are typical greenstones consisting of submarine tholeiitic and high-Mg basalt lava flows, large intrusive gabbro bodies overlain by BIF and volcanic rocks with minor ultramafic and felsic rocks. The greenstone belt is intruded and bounded by granitoids, predominantly granodiorite and monzogranite to tonalite with minor syenogranite. Pegmatites associated with the granites are recognised throughout the project area and especially along the granite greenstone contacts.
Tectonically the greenstone is bounded by major faults and shear zones, with the major Mulloo and Wagga Wagga Shear Zones on the eastern contact covered by the Yalgoo project and the major Salt River Shear Zone covered by the Yalgoo West project. Premier1 (utilising SensOre ML technology) identified a large, predicted lithium target within a region not previously highlighted for its lithium exploration potential. During target analysis lithium mineralised LCT pegmatites were identified by a number of adjoining companies, including Firetail Resources and Zenith Minerals, validating the emerging potential of the area for LCT pegmatites.
At Yalgoo, the predicted target forms a large cluster of Li prospectivity that was previously unidentified and untested representing lithium potential over the northern portion of the greenstone belt. Additionally, the eastern portion of the project is prospective for VMS copper and zinc. At Yalgoo West another cluster of Li prospectivity predicted unidentified and untested lithium potential over the western portion of the greenstone belt.
The greater Yalgoo project area encompasses two joint ventures. In the eastern portion of the project area (Yalgoo), Premier1 has the rights to earn up to 70% of all commodities except Rare Earth Elements in a farm-in announced on 12 May 2023 with Venture Minerals (ASX:VMS). In the western portion of the project area (Yalgoo West), the Company is in a farm in with Firetail Resources (ASX:FTL) where Premier1 may earn 80% of lithium rights by spending announced 7 November 2023..
The next steps on the broader Yalgoo project involve extensive target delineation activities to generate drilling targets for the second half of 2024.
Figure 1: Regional geological map of the greater Yalgoo project area including identified ML targets.
Figure 2: Planned first phase soil samples over greater Yalgoo project area.
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This article includes content from Premier1 Lithium, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Fully-Permitted Drilling Program to Test Priority Gold, Silver and Lithium Targets at Corvette River in Quebec
Metals Australia has received all required permitting approvals for a major new drilling and trenching program. This fully-funded program will test new high-grade gold and silver targets and priority lithium bearing (LCT) pegmatite targets at the Company’s Corvette River Project.
The Project is along strike and on a parallel belt to Patriot Battery Metals’ world-class Corvette Lithium Project1 on the prolific Lac Guyer greenstone belt in the tier-one global mining jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada (see Figure 1).
High-Grade Gold with Silver and Copper Targets (see Figure 1 for locations):
- East Eade Gold Target on the Corvette South Trend, where previous rockchip sampling2 across a 300m wide complex fold-closure, never before drill-tested, included assays of up to 29.7 g/t gold (Au) and 12 g/t Au2 (see Figure 2).
- West Eade Gold Target on the Corvette South Trend (see Figure 3), which produced historical assays of up to 11.45g/t Au2 and more recent rockchip sampling results including 3.37 g/t Au over 3m2.
- Felicie Gold-Silver-Copper Target on the Corvette Trend (see Figure 1), where previous rockchip sampling produced grades of up to 4.16 g/t Au, 44.1 g/t silver (Ag) and 0.23% copper (Cu)2 from a zone of 180m strike-length open in all directions, and never before drill-tested.
Priority Lithium Pegmatite Targets (see Figure 1 for locations):
- CR1 Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum (LCT) Pegmatite3 which has been mapped over a 1.6km strike- length and across a 100m thick zone within the Company’s Felicie tenements. CR1 is located on the Corvette (CV) Lithium Trend, 2.5km west of the Patriot Battery Metals’ (ASX: PMT) CV9 pegmatite, which includes a 100m drill-intersection of spodumene-bearing pegmatite4 (Figure 1).
- CS1 LCT Pegmatite5 which produced high lithium results of 370ppm Li and 290ppm Li from the only two first-pass samples collected from the outcropping coarse-grained LCT pegmatite, located on the western side of the West Eade property (Figure 1). The two samples are located 44m apart on a north-south section, which indicates a more than 40m thick pegmatite zone, which remains open to both the east and west.
Figure 1: MLS’s Corvette River Project - key gold & lithium targets with proposed drilling on geology and magnetics
Metals Australia CEO Paul Ferguson commented:
“We are delighted to have received all necessary approvals to advance this priority drilling and trenching program at our Corvette River Project, which is located within one of Canada’s most prospective lithium, gold, and base metals regions.
In addition to the highly-prospective lithium pegmatite targets we have identified analogous to Patriot Battery Metals’ world-class Corvette Trend lithium deposits, we have also identified multiple new high- grade gold and silver target zones based on our geological team’s extensive re-interpretation of previous rockchip sampling results and magnetics. Significantly, these high-grade targets are located along Quebec’s highly-endowed Lac Guyer greenstone belt which, apart from the Corvette lithium discovery, also hosts many significant gold and silver deposits including Newmont Corp’s ~215,000 ounce per annum Eleonore gold mine6.
With the permitting now in place, Metals Australia is in the final stages of operational planning, budgeting, and contracting with our full-service exploration contractor, Magnor Exploration, to commence the drilling and trenching program as soon as possible.
I’d like to acknowledge the great work of the team at Magnor for working diligently with all required stakeholders, including members of the Cree First Nations community and the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MRNF) to apply, consult and achieve permit approvals as quickly as they have. This has all occurred in a positive and collaborative manner and we are now looking forward to demonstrating our credentials as a responsible explorer.
Supported by the Company’s extensive cash reserves, the initiation of the Corvette River drilling and trenching program is a further demonstration of the board’s strategy to accelerate exploration and development across its suite of assets in Canada and Australia in the wake of the recent strategic workshops to identify our next development project after the Lac Rainy graphite project. In addition to Corvette River and Lac Rainy, we expect to provide further announcements over the Quarter regarding plans we are finalising to unlock value from our other exploration assets, which we believe will provide catalysts for a valuation re-rating of Metals Australia shares, which are trading well below cash backing.”
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This article includes content from Metals Australia Ltd, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Where Does Tesla Get its Lithium? (Updated 2024)
In a mid-2023 Tesla earnings call, Musk seemed relieved to see prices for the battery metal had declined. “Lithium prices went absolutely insane there for a while,” he said. Lower battery prices will bring EVs closer to cost parity with internal combustion engines vehicles, leading to wider adoption and increased demand.
Most lithium mining happens in Australia from hard-rock sources and in Chile from brines. But lithium refining is dominated by China, which currently accounts for more than 75 percent of global lithium processing capacity.
Read on to learn more about where Tesla gets its lithium, how much lithium is in a Tesla battery and what the EV maker is doing to better secure its lithium supply chain.
Which lithium companies supply Tesla?
Tesla has deals with multiple lithium suppliers, some of which are already producing and some that are juniors developing lithium projects.
At the end of 2021, Tesla inked a lithium supply deal with top lithium producer Ganfeng Lithium (OTC Pink:GNENF,SZSE:002460). Under the agreement, the Chinese company began providing products to Tesla for three years starting in 2022. Major miner Arcadium Lithium (NYSE:ALTM) also has supply contracts in place with the EV maker, and China’s Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group (SZSE:002497) agreed to supply battery-grade lithium hydroxide to Tesla through 2030.
The company also holds deals with junior miners for production that is yet to come on stream. Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR,OTC Pink:LINRF) is set to supply Tesla with lithium spodumene concentrate from its AU$473 million Kathleen Valley project. The deal is for an initial five year period set to begin this year, and production is currently expected to begin in mid-2024.
In January 2023, Tesla amended its agreement with Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL,NASDAQ:PLL), which is now set to supply the US automaker with spodumene concentrate from the past-producing North American Lithium operation — a project Piedmont is developing with Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA,OTCQB:SYAXF).
Even though Tesla has secured lithium from all these companies, the EV supply chain is a bit more complex than buying lithium directly from miners. Tesla also works with battery makers, such as Panasonic and CATL (SZSE:300750), which themselves work with other chemical companies that secure their own lithium deals.
What are Tesla batteries made of?
Tesla vehicles use several different battery cathodes, including nickel-cobalt-aluminum (NCA) cathodes and lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cathodes.
Tesla is known for using NCA cathodes developed by Japanese company Panasonic (OTC Pink:PCRFF,TSE:6752). This type of cathode has higher energy density and is a low-cobalt option, but has been less adopted by the industry compared to the widely used nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathodes. Aside from that, South Korea's LG Energy Solutions (KRX:373220) supplies Tesla with batteries using nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum (NCMA) cathodes.
As mentioned, it wasn’t just lithium that saw prices climb in 2021 — cobalt doubled in price that same year, and although it has declined since then, the battery metal remains essential for many EV batteries. Most cobalt mining takes place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is often associated with child labor and human rights abuses, fueling concerns over long-term supply.
That said, not all Tesla’s batteries contain cobalt. In 2021, Tesla said that for its standard-range vehicles it would be changing to lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cathodes, which are cobalt- and nickel-free. At the time, the company was already making vehicles with LFP chemistry at its factory in Shanghai, which supplies markets in China, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.
In April 2023, Tesla announced that it planned to use this type of cathode chemistry for its short-range heavy electric trucks, which it calls "semi light." The company is also looking to use LFP batteries in its mid-sized vehicles.
At the top of this year, Tesla made moves to produce LFP batteries at its Sparks, Nevada battery facility in reaction to the Biden Administration's new regulations on battery materials sourcing, especially on those sourced from China. Reuters reports Tesla battery supplier CATL will sell idle equipment to the car maker for use at the plant, which will have an initial capacity of about 10 gigawatt hours.
What company makes Tesla’s batteries?
Tesla works with multiple battery suppliers, including Panasonic, its longtime partner, as well as LG Energy Solutions, the second largest battery supplier in the world. They supply the EV maker with cells containing nickel and cobalt.
China's CATL has been supplying LFP batteries to Tesla for cars made at its Shanghai plant since 2020. It’s also been reported that BYD Company (OTC Pink:BYDDF,SZSE:002594) is supplying Tesla with the Blade battery — a less bulky LFP battery — which the car manufacturer has used in some of its models in Europe.
How much lithium is in a Tesla battery?
How much lithium do Tesla batteries actually contain? That question is tricky because many factors are at play. Typically, it depends on battery chemistry, as demonstrated by the chart below, as well as battery size.
For example, the standard Tesla Model S contains about 138 pounds, or 62.6 kilograms, of lithium; it is powered by a NCA battery which has a weight of 1,200 pounds or 544 kilograms.
The amount of lithium in a Tesla battery can also vary based on model and year as the battery chemistries and weights are often changing with each new iteration. For example, the newer Tesla Model S Long Range reportedly contains as much as 771 pounds, or 350 kilograms, of lithium.
Back in 2016, Musk said batteries don't require as much lithium as they do nickel or graphite — he described lithium as "the salt in your salad." As the chart below shows, the metal only makes up about a 10th of the materials in each battery.
Metal content of battery chemistries by weight.
Chart via BloombergNEF.
But a key factor to remember is volume — given the amount of batteries Tesla needs to meet its ambitious goals, it could hit a bottleneck if it can’t secure a steady supply of raw materials. Of course, this is true not just for Tesla, but for every carmaker producing EVs today and setting targets for decades to come.
For that reason, demand for lithium-ion batteries is expected to soar in the coming years. By 2030, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecasts that demand will grow by 400 percent to reach 3.9 terawatt-hours. Over the same forecast period, the firm sees the current surplus in the lithium supply coming to end.
Where is Tesla's lithium refinery?
Tesla broke ground on its in-house Texas lithium refinery in the greater Corpos Christi area of the state last year. Tesla's lithium refinery capacity is expected to produce 50 GWh of battery-grade lithium per year. Musk said in late 2023 that construction of the lithium refinery would be completed in 2024, followed by full production in 2025.
Will Tesla buy a lithium mine?
For carmakers, securing lithium supply to meet their electrification goals is becoming a challenge, which is why the question of whether they will become miners in the future continues to come up.
But mining lithium is not easy, and despite speculation, it's hard to imagine an automaker being involved in it, SQM’s (NYSE:SQM) Felipe Smith said. “You have to build a learning curve — the resources are all different, there are many challenges in terms of technology — to reach a consistent quality at a reasonable cost,” he noted. “So it's difficult to see that an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), which has a completely different focus, will really engage into these challenges of producing.”
Even so, OEMs are coming to the realization that they might need to build up EV supply chains from scratch after the capital markets' failure to step up, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s Simon Moores believes. Furthermore, automotive OEMs that are making EVs will in effect have to become miners.
“I don't mean actual miners, but they are going to have to start buying 25 percent of these mines if they want to guarantee supply — paper contracts won't be enough,” he said.
However, last year Musk made it clear to investors that Tesla is more focused on developing its lithium refining capabilities, rather than getting into the mining game.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2022.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
Top 9 Lithium-producing Countries (Updated 2024)
Manufacturers commonly use lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide in these batteries rather than lithium metal. Lithium-ion batteries also include other important battery metals, such as cobalt, graphite and nickel.
As demand for lithium continues to rise, which countries will provide the lithium the world requires? The latest data from the US Geological Survey shows that the world’s top lithium-producing countries are doing their best to meet rising demand from energy storage and EVs — in fact, worldwide lithium production rose sharply from 2022 to 2023, coming in at 180,000 metric tons (MT) of lithium content last year (not including US production), compared to 146,000 MT in 2022.
What are the top lithium-producing countries?
Australia, Chile and China were the top three lithium countries in 2023, and Brazil and Zimbabwe rose significantly in the ranks. Read on for an overview of global lithium production by country. As the EV lithium-ion battery market continues to grow, it’s likely these countries will vie for larger roles in supplying the metal in the years to come.
1. Australia
Mine production: 86,000 MT
Kicking off this lithium production by country list is Australia, which produced 86,000 MT of lithium last year, up from 74,700 MT the year before. Following that increase, it's likely the country's lithium production will see a decline in 2024 as demand for EVs has stalled in the current slowing economic climate, leading to much lower lithium prices. In fact, Australia's lithium miners have already begun to curb production rates.
Who owns Australia's largest lithium mines? The Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia is operated by Talison Lithium, a subsidiary that is jointly owned by miners Albemarle (NYSE:ALB), Tianqi Lithium (OTC Pink:TQLCF,SZSE:002466) and IGO (ASX:IGO,OTC Pink:IPDGF). Greenbushes has been in operation for over a quarter of a century, making it the longest continuously running mining area in the state. Mount Marion, a joint venture between Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN,OTC Pink:MALRF) and Ganfeng Lithium (OTC Pink:GNENF,SZSE:002460,HKEX:1772), is another key lithium mine in Australia. The mine is located in the Yilgarn Craton, southwest of Kalgoorlie.
Australia also holds over 4.8 million MT of identified JORC-compliant lithium reserves, which puts it behind Chile. It is worth noting that most of the country’s lithium supply is exported to China as spodumene.
2. Chile
Mine production: 44,000 MT
Lithium miners in Chile increased the nation's output from 38,000 MT of lithium in 2022 to 44,000 MT last year, making it the second top lithium producer in the world. Unlike Australia, where lithium is extracted from hard-rock mines, Chile’s lithium is found in lithium brine deposits.
The Salar de Atacama salt flat in Chile generates roughly half the revenue for SQM (NYSE:SQM), a top lithium producer. The Salar de Atacama is also the home of another top lithium brine producer — US-based Albemarle.
In April 2023, market participants and lithium miners were surprised by the Chilean government's plans to nationalize the lithium industry. While ultimately it wasn't a true nationalization, the country is moving to gain controlling stakes in lithium assets in the Salar de Atacama and Maricunga through its state-owned mining company Codelco.
SQM has signed an arrangement with Codelco that will allow it to continue operations in the Salar de Atacama until 2060. The two companies will create a new entity for the operations, with Codelco owning 50 percent plus one share of the company. Albemarle recently agreed to a deal that will give it the option to raise its production quota by meeting certain conditions. In March 2024, Chile also opened over two dozen other salt flats for private investment.
3. China
Mine production: 33,000 MT
China came third for lithium production in 2023, beating fourth place Argentina significantly. The Asian country saw its lithium supply grow to 33,000 MT last year from 22,600 MT the year prior.
China is the largest consumer of lithium due to its electronics manufacturing and EV industries. It also produces more than two-thirds of the world’s lithium-ion batteries and controls most of the world’s lithium-processing facilities. China currently gets the majority of its lithium from Australia, but it is looking to expand its capacity.
In January of this year, China announced the discovery of a massive million-metric-ton lithium deposit in the country's Sichuan Province. However, China's lithium production capacity is unlikely to increase much in 2024 as slowing EV demand in the country has in turn dampened demand for lithium.
4. Argentina
Mine production: 9,600 MT
Lithium producer Argentina’s output ticked up by 3,010 MT from 2022, with the nation putting out 9,600 MT in 2023.
It’s well known that Bolivia, Argentina and Chile make up the Lithium Triangle. Argentina’s Salar del Hombre Muerto district hosts significant lithium brines, and its reserves are enough for at least 75 years.
At present, lithium mining in the country consists of two major brine operations currently in production and 10 projects that are in development. Analysts at consultancy firm Eurasia Group project that Argentina’s lithium production has the potential to grow approximately tenfold by 2027, as per CNBC.
One of the largest lithium miners in Argentina is Arcadium Lithium (ASX:LTM,NYSE:ALTM), the result of the January 2024 merger of Livent and Allkem. The new entity is the third largest lithium producer in the world.
5. Brazil
Mine production: 4,900 MT
Lithium production in Brazil has taken off in the last several years, catapulting it onto the list of the top lithium-producing countries. After achieving output of 400 MT or less from 2011 to 2018, the country’s production hit 2,400 MT in 2019. Brazil saw another significant jump last year, when its lithium output rose by 2,270 MT over 2022's 2,630 MT.
Brazil's government plans to invest more than US$2.1 billion by 2030 into expanding the nation's lithium production capacity. At the state level, in 2023 the Minas Gerais government launched the Lithium Valley Brazil initiative, which is aimed at promoting investment in lithium mining. The program includes four publicly listed lithium companies with assets in the state's Jequitinhonha Valley: Sigma Lithium (TSXV:SGML,NASDAQ:SGML), Lithium Ionic (TSXV:LTH,OTCQX:LTHCF), Atlas Lithium (NASDAQ:ATLX) and Latin Resources (ASX:LRS,OTC Pink:LRSRF).
6. Zimbabwe
Mine production: 3,400 MT
Zimbabwe's lithium output has grown exponentially in a short space of time. Just a few years ago, in 2021, the African nation's output came in at only 710 MT. As of 2023, that figure has grown by 378 percent to reach 3,400 MT of the battery metal. Total reserves in Zimbabwe stand at 310,000 MT, as per the US Geological Survey.
In December 2022, Zimbabwe banned the export of raw lithium in an effort to build out the nation's capacity to process battery-grade lithium domestically. The ban excludes companies that are already developing mines or processing plants in Zimbabwe. Lithium concentrate is now on track to become Zimbabwe's third biggest mineral export, behind gold and platinum-group metals, reported Reuters in November 2023.
Lithium-producing countries in Africa have attracted much attention from Chinese firms in recent years, especially Zimbabwe. Sinomine Resource Group (SZSE:002738), for example, bought a stake in Zimbabwe's emerging lithium industry with the purchase of the Bikita mine, the African nation's oldest lithium mine.
Zimbabwe's other key lithium mines include Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt's (SHA:603799) Arcadia mine and state miner Kuvimba Mining House’s Sandawana mine. A few other advanced lithium projects reached the pilot plant production stage in 2022 and 2023: Premier African Minerals' (LSE:PREM) Zulu lithium-tantalum project; Chengxin Lithium's (SZSE:002240) Sabi Star lithium-tantalum mine; and Lonosphere Investment's open-pit mine in Mataga Mberengwa. Pilot plant stage production is not typically included in total global lithium supply estimates.
6. Canada
Mine production: 3,400 MT
Canada's lithium production for 2023 was on par with Zimbabwe's 3,400 MT. The North American nation substantially increased its production of the battery metal with a rise of more than 553 percent from the previous year.
While Canada is home to a wealth of hard-rock spodumene deposits and lithium brine resources, much of it remains underdeveloped. In an effort to grow a strong North American lithium supply chain for the battery industry, the government has invested in a number of lithium projects, including C$27 million for E3 Lithium (TSXV:ETL,OTCWX:EEMMF), a lithium resource and technology company, and C$1.07 million to Prairie Lithium.
Taking it further, in November 2023, the Canadian government launched the C$1.5 billion Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund. The fund seeks to address gaps in the infrastructure required for the sustainable development of the nation’s critical minerals production, including battery metals like lithium.
Canada's efforts were rewarded in early 2024, when BloombergNEF gave the nation the top spot in the fourth edition of its Global Lithium-ion Battery Supply Chain Ranking.
8. Portugal
Mine production: 380 MT
Portugal's lithium production dropped by two-thirds in 2022, coming in at 380 MT compared to 900 MT in the previous year. For 2023, the European nation's lithium output remained at 380 MT. The dramatic decline is attributed to public backlash against the environmental impact of lithium mining.
Most of Portugal's lithium comes from the Gonçalo aplite-pegmatite field. Despite this lithium-producing country’s comparatively low output, Portugal’s lithium reserves stand at 60,000 MT.
9. United States
Mine production: withheld
In the final place on this top lithium-producing countries list is the US, which has withheld production numbers to avoid disclosing proprietary company data. Its only output last year came from two operations: a Nevada-based brine operation, most likely in the Clayton Valley, which hosts Albemarle’s Silver Peak mine, and the brine-sourced waste tailings of Utah-based US Magnesium, the largest primary magnesium producer in North America.
There are a handful of major lithium projects underway in the US, including Lithium Americas’ (TSX:LAC,NYSE:LAC) Thacker Pass lithium claystone project, Piedmont Lithium’s (ASX:PLL,NASDAQ:PLL) hard-rock lithium project and Standard Lithium’s (TSXV:SLI,OTCQX:STLHF) Arkansas Smackover lithium brine project.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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