The Rixon news feed is a great way to catch-up on what has been happening around WA. We regularly update our feed with a collection of market and property related articles from a variety of news sources.
Booming global demand for lithium-ion batteries gives Australia a “once in a generation” opportunity to become a major battery processing, manufacturing and trading hub – but it needs to get a move on.
A new Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) report adds to the growing stack of analysis which shows Australia has all the raw materials needed to produce batteries.
Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) has locked the booming European battery market in its sights, with the company saying its world-first breakthrough technology of producing lithium-ion batteries from mine waste would work on ore from its German-based Sadisdorf project.
Only last week, Lithium Australia’s wholly owned subsidiary VSPC used its proprietary SiLeach process to generate tri-lithium phosphate from mine waste, which was a lithium mica material recovered from waste in Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie region.
The tri-lithium phosphate was then converted to a lithium-iron-phosphate cathode material at VSPC’s lab in Queensland.
Albemarle Corporation has secured an exclusivity agreement with Mineral Resources (MinRes) to potentially acquire half of the Wodgina lithium project in Western Australia for $US1.15 billion ($1.58 billion).
The agreement, based on the project’s $US2.3 billion enterprise value, gives the United States lithium giant exclusive rights to purchase 50 per cent of Wodgina and would see it form a joint venture with MinRes at the Pilbara site if executed.
