BATTERY MINERAL
New mine to exploit scramble for lithium
Lithium is considered one of the ‘hot minerals’ given the global push for electric vehicles
A new lithium mine is on the cusp of supplying the battery minerals market as Tawana Resources and its joint venture partner, Alliance Mineral Assets, bring the fully funded A$42m Bald Hill into production in the coming months. Tawana, which is listed in Johannesburg and Sydney, said in an update to investors the market was on track to start supplying lithium concentrate before the end of March from Bald Hill in Western Australia, a mine that will generate 155,000 tonnes a year of spodumene concentrate and 260,000lb of tantalum pentoxide. Spodumene, a crystal, is the source of high-purity lithium, with other sources coming from brine operations. Tantalum pentoxide is used to make electronic devices. Lithium is considered one of the "hot minerals" given the global push for electric vehicles, with millions of dollars flooding into battery research. Joint research by Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Argonne National Laboratory has, for example, found a way ...
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