BATTERY METALS NEWS
U.S signs MoU with DRC and Zambia to strengthen EV battery value chain
The Department of State released the signed MoU on electric vehicle battery value chains signed by the United States during the Africa Leaders Summit.
Through this MOU, the United States will support the commitment between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to develop jointly a supply chain for electric vehicle batteries.
READ THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING DOCUMENT HERE
The MoU supports the DRC and Zambia’s goal of building a productive supply chain, from the mine to the assembly line, while also committing to respect international standards to prevent, detect, and take legal action to fight corruption throughout this process.
The DRC produces more than 70% of the world’s cobalt. Zambia is the world’s sixth-largest copper producer, and the second largest cobalt producer in Africa. These resources, and this commitment to cooperation, are crucial components of the urgently needed global energy transition.
The plan to develop an electric battery supply chain opens the door for open and transparent investment to build value-added and sustainable industry in Africa and creating a just energy transition for workers and local communities.
The U.S. private sector is a tremendous resource, both for technical knowledge and financing, for commercial development at every step in the process. The U.S. government will work with the DRC and Zambia to ensure the private sector has a level playing field to participate in these projects.
source: Mining Review Africa
Rising new energy vehicle sales bode well for cobalt demand
According to trade association the Cobalt Institute’s quarterly market update for the fourth quarter of 2022, global new energy vehicle (NEV) sales rose by 56% year-on-year to 3.5-million units, with NEV penetration reaching nearly 20% by December.
The report, which was prepared with the help of Wood Mackenzie, notes that the share of cobalt-free chemistries in electric vehicle (EV) battery formulations has increased, with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) now representing more than 30% of the total market. Despite this, cobalt consumption in EVs jumped by more than 60% year-on-year in 2022.
Meanwhile, the commercial aviation sector faced several headwinds during the quarter, including high inflation, increased jet fuel costs and the resurgence of Covid-19.
Despite these challenges, the aerospace sector remained resilient, with air travel up 18% year-on-year in 2022. This increased demand supported alloy cobalt demand and drove strong financial performance from major superalloy manufacturers.
Cobalt metal prices tumbled by 20% over the quarter owing to elevated energy prices and rising inflation, which hurt demand. The feedstock market also remained relatively quiet during the quarter, with high stocks and improved logistics dragging hydroxide payables down to the high 50s. Prices for both cobalt sulphate and tetroxide also plunged during the quarter.
The report also highlights numerous risks to the cobalt outlook, both in the short and long term.
In the short term, there is a medium probability that the positive economic impact of easing Covid-19 restrictions in China happens faster than currently forecast. There is also a high probability that the dispute over the Tenke Fungurume mine, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remains unresolved, affecting hydroxide shipments and production, which, in turn tightens spot availability in the global market.
Additionally, there is a medium probability that global EV growth slows owing to further Covid-19 outbreaks in China and the end of subsidies, while a high probability exists that the deepening Ukraine crisis worsens the macroeconomic outlook, leading to a plunge in demand for computers and smartphones.
Also, a high probability exists in the short term that major Congolese producers or Indonesian high-pressure acid leaching plant operators or both, expand and ramp up quicker than expected, pushing stocks higher.
In the long term, there is a high probability of greater and faster EV adoption globally, putting increased strain on cobalt sulphate availability, and a high probability that stricter environmental policies in China and Europe delay the procedure to build up processing capacity, pushing up production costs.
There is also a high likelihood that, in the long term, accelerated energy transition will require more cobalt for power generation and energy storage. Meanwhile, a medium probability exists for environment, social and governance (ESG) concerns around artisanal mining, emissions and waste disposal to slow copper and nickel developments in the DRC and Indonesia, therefore tightening mine supply.
Finally, there is a strong likelihood that that ESG and cost concerns or disruptive battery technologies trigger faster cobalt substitution across battery applications. It is possible but not likely that battery recycling exceeds the base case, thereby suppressing demand for virgin materials.
Source: Creamer Media's Mining Weekly
Bloomberg
Global Battery Alliance launches Battery Passport Proof of Concept
The Global Battery Alliance (GBA), the world’s largest multi-stakeholder organisation to establish a sustainable battery value chain by 2030, has launched the proof of concept for its Battery Passport at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.
The Battery Passport is key to facilitating the rapid scaling of sustainable, circular, and responsible battery value chains to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement through electrification of the transport and power sectors.
It has been developed over three years by the GBA’s members, who span the global battery value chain from the mine to recycling, including Audi, BASF, CATL, Eurasian Resources Group, Glencore, LG Energy Solution, Umicore, Tesla, Volkswagen AG, and IT solution providers as well as leading non-governmental and international organisations including IndustriALL Global Union, Pact, Transport & Environment, UNEP, UNICEF and many others, with the support of government institutions like the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and Natural Resources Canada.
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Partnership will improve battery recycling in South Africa
Batteries are the key to unlocking the energy transition. At the same time, batteries are material- and resource-intensive with inevitable social and environmental impacts throughout the value chain.
This includes greenhouse gas emissions during material sourcing, processing, and manufacturing of batteries and issues of child labour and human rights violations. Bringing transparency to battery value chains through the introduction of the battery passport is a critical step towards establishing sustainable battery value chains in a rapidly growing industry.
The Battery Passport is the GBA’s flagship initiative, establishing a digital twin of a physical battery that conveys information about all applicable sustainability and lifecycle requirements based on a comprehensive definition of a sustainable battery. It will bring new levels of transparency to the global battery value chain by collecting, exchanging, collating, and reporting trusted data among all lifecycle stakeholders on the material provenance, the battery’s chemical make-up and manufacturing history and its sustainability performance.
The GBA’s Battery Passport is unique as it is a key instrument to implement a global vision of sustainable, responsible, and circular battery value chains, based on data that is standardized, comparable and auditable.
Its goal is to provide end-users with a quality seal based on the battery’s sustainability performance, according to reporting rules agreed by stakeholders from industry, academia, non-governmental organisations, and government.
For the first time, the GBA has unveiled the illustrative results of its Battery Passport proof of concept at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. Publicly available on the Global Battery Alliance’s website, the prototype battery passports include example data from Audi and Tesla and their value chains partners relating to the battery’s technical specifications, material provenance, and reporting against key sustainability performance indicators.
This includes partial reporting of the battery’s carbon footprint, and child labour and human rights performance, according to rulebooks developed by members of the Global Battery Alliance for select materials, as well as information on the data collection across different steps of the value chains.
By establishing this proof of concept, the Global Battery Alliance and its members are demonstrating how, by putting this data in the hands of end users, the Passport will enable customers to make more informed purchasing decisions and drive sustainable sourcing, processing, and manufacturing practices in the industry in the future.
Building on the ground-breaking efforts of the Global Battery Alliance, the concept of a Battery Passport has already been endorsed at the 2021 G7 Leaders’ Meeting, in the EU Battery Regulation and by the Canadian and U.S. administrations. A Battery Passport will become a mandatory requirement in the EU by 2026 with other regions likely to follow, which makes the launch of the GBA’s Battery Passport more important than ever to provide a globally harmonized framework for sustainability performance in the future.
Following the successful launch of the proof of concept, the GBA will continue evolving the battery passport architecture, including the development of a comprehensive and streamlined indicator framework. The members of the GBA will work jointly on developing rules and mechanisms for performance scoring, data governance, assurance, and verification, including of IT instruments.
Once completed, this will allow for batteries to be benchmarked against the GBA’s verifiable definition of a sustainable and responsible battery in the future, identifying those that are best and worst in class and tracking progress in the industry through the issuance of a GBA quality seal for batteries.
Dr. Robert Habeck, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, said:
“The Battery Passport proof of concept presented today is a very impressive first tangible result of the GBA, which my ministry has been supporting since 2019. The Battery Passport is a pivotal embodiment of the digital and green “twin transition” – it utilises the digital world to facilitate the decarbonisation of the real world and to promote circularity.
“We believe that global progress in green technologies is most efficient when we rely on globally compatible standards and a level playing field to minimize frictions between different markets in the industries we need to transform. Therefore, GBA’s work as an international actor is so important.”
Benedikt Sobotka, Co-Chair of the Global Battery Alliance, and CEO of Eurasian Resources Group, founding member of the GBA, said:
“The launch of the Battery Passport proof of concept is a major milestone on the road to creating a truly verifiable digital twin of a battery. The GBA’s Battery Passport is the first and only passport to be developed by stakeholders spanning the entire battery value chain, making it the standard bearer for battery transparency.
“Our attention will now turn to benchmarking Battery Passport data and issuing quality seals based on sustainability performance to provide a trusted source of data to end consumers, guiding purchasing decisions and triggering improvement actions across the value chain.”
Ferdinand Maubrey, Head of Responsible Sourcing, Battery Supply Chain & Battery Minerals, Tesla says:
“Tesla piloted the Battery Passport and collected the relevant environmental and social data points on our cobalt supply chain. While a lot more work needs to be done to cover all relevant areas across battery mineral supply chains, standard reporting across a level playing field certainly has a role to play in the transition towards sustainable energy.”
Julia Poliscanova, T&E’s senior director for e-mobility says:
“Batteries are the new oil, but to avoid the mistakes of the oil age we must ensure batteries are produced sustainably, their materials sourced responsibly, and the entire supply chain is circular.
“Transport & Environment has supported GBA’s work from the outset to cement sustainability and responsible sourcing into the global battery industry.
“The launch of the Battery Passport marks a key milestone on that journey. It will enable transparent disclosure of key sustainability and human rights data, thus improving transparency and trust across the supply chain.”
Source: Mining Review Africa
Bloomberg
Strategic partnership will create radically improved environmentally friendly battery recycling in South Africa.
Johannesburg / Houston 14 December 2022 – A business in the United States and a South African investment business have signed a term sheet to form a joint venture to build and operate two environmentally sustainable battery recycling facilities in South Africa. Through the joint venture, the companies aim to bring radical change to the management of South Africa’s battery waste.
The partners are Tabono Investments, a leading investment company in Africa with experience in mining, logistics and recycling and ACE Green Recycling, an innovative recycling platform for battery materials.
“Green energy is on the rise in South Africa,” said Tabono co-founder Liran Assness, “and with it, lead-acid and lithium-ion battery usage.”
Tabono’s other co-founder Reon Barnard added, “With dedicated environmentally friendly ways of recycling batteries, the world can leverage valuable materials like lead, lithium and cobalt, and power our future in a less harmful way.”
The facilities will separately process and recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries utilizing ACE’s proprietary technology that creates zero Scope 1 emissions by operating without fossil fuel-based heating. Both recycling facilities will be greenfield projects to be developed and operated by the joint venture. Under the new structure, ACE will have 51 percent ownership and Tabono will own 49 percent.
“We are committed to ensuring emerging markets benefit from our clean battery recycling solutions,” said Nishchay Chadha, ACE CEO and co-founder. “Combining our expertise with Tabono will ensure development of safe and sustainable closed-loop solutions for battery materials within South Africa.”
Once established, the joint venture will leverage each partner’s strengths. ACE has developed a portfolio of proprietary technologies to recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries and capture their critical materials atmarket-leading recovery yields. Tabono brings vast experience in the minerals and industrial services industries across Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.
Earlier this year, Tabono Investments acquired a stake in Advanced Group, a risk management, mitigation and emergency response specialist entrenched in the mining sector.
ENDS
About Tabono Investments
Tabono Investments is an owner-managed investment business focused on profitable businesses in highly specialised sectors. We are attracted to difficult, risky and specialised concerns that we can support to grow into significantly sized businesses within three years. Built by entrepreneurs from the ground up, Tabono Investments is excited by mining, industrial, services and logistics businesses which are highly specialised and hands-on.
www.tabonoinvestments.com
About ACE Green Recycling
ACE Green Recycling is a U.S.-based green recycling technology company with global operations across North America, Europe and Asia and is the only battery recycling tech platform with sustainable solutions for both Lead-acid (LAB) and Lithium-ion (LIB) batteries. The company is also developing clean technology solutions for other metallic waste streams. ACE’s green recycling technology aims to assist the battery industry in making global electrification sustainable.
www.acegreenrecycling.com
For further information, contact Despina Harito despina@turquoisepr.co.za or 084 453 1755 Michelle K Blumenau michelle@turquoisepr.co.za 083 273 9891
L-R Reon Barnard and Liran Assness, co-founders, Tabono Investments
Strategic partnership will create radically improved environmentally friendly battery recycling in South Africa.
Johannesburg / Houston 14 December 2022 – A business in the United States and a South African investment business have signed a term sheet to form a joint venture to build and operate two environmentally sustainable battery recycling facilities in South Africa. Through the joint venture, the companies aim to bring radical change to the management of South Africa’s battery waste.
The partners are Tabono Investments, a leading investment company in Africa with experience in mining, logistics and recycling and ACE Green Recycling, an innovative recycling platform for battery materials.
“Green energy is on the rise in South Africa,” said Tabono co-founder Liran Assness, “and with it, lead-acid and lithium-ion battery usage.”
Tabono’s other co-founder Reon Barnard added, “With dedicated environmentally friendly ways of recycling batteries, the world can leverage valuable materials like lead, lithium and cobalt, and power our future in a less harmful way.”
The facilities will separately process and recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries utilizing ACE’s proprietary technology that creates zero Scope 1 emissions by operating without fossil fuel-based heating. Both recycling facilities will be greenfield projects to be developed and operated by the joint venture. Under the new structure, ACE will have 51 percent ownership and Tabono will own 49 percent.
“We are committed to ensuring emerging markets benefit from our clean battery recycling solutions,” said Nishchay Chadha, ACE CEO and co-founder. “Combining our expertise with Tabono will ensure development of safe and sustainable closed-loop solutions for battery materials within South Africa.”
Once established, the joint venture will leverage each partner’s strengths. ACE has developed a portfolio of proprietary technologies to recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries and capture their critical materials atmarket-leading recovery yields. Tabono brings vast experience in the minerals and industrial services industries across Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.
Earlier this year, Tabono Investments acquired a stake in Advanced Group, a risk management, mitigation and emergency response specialist entrenched in the mining sector.
ENDS
About Tabono Investments
Tabono Investments is an owner-managed investment business focused on profitable businesses in highly specialised sectors. We are attracted to difficult, risky and specialised concerns that we can support to grow into significantly sized businesses within three years. Built by entrepreneurs from the ground up, Tabono Investments is excited by mining, industrial, services and logistics businesses which are highly specialised and hands-on.
www.tabonoinvestments.com
About ACE Green Recycling
ACE Green Recycling is a U.S.-based green recycling technology company with global operations across North America, Europe and Asia and is the only battery recycling tech platform with sustainable solutions for both Lead-acid (LAB) and Lithium-ion (LIB) batteries. The company is also developing clean technology solutions for other metallic waste streams. ACE’s green recycling technology aims to assist the battery industry in making global electrification sustainable.
www.acegreenrecycling.com
For further information, contact Despina Harito despina@turquoisepr.co.za or 084 453 1755 Michelle K Blumenau michelle@turquoisepr.co.za 083 273 9891
L-R Reon Barnard and Liran Assness, co-founders, Tabono Investments
Strategic partnership will create radically improved environmentally friendly battery recycling in South Africa.
Johannesburg / Houston 14 December 2022 – A business in the United States and a South African investment business have signed a term sheet to form a joint venture to build and operate two environmentally sustainable battery recycling facilities in South Africa. Through the joint venture, the companies aim to bring radical change to the management of South Africa’s battery waste.
The partners are Tabono Investments, a leading investment company in Africa with experience in mining, logistics and recycling and ACE Green Recycling, an innovative recycling platform for battery materials.
“Green energy is on the rise in South Africa,” said Tabono co-founder Liran Assness, “and with it, lead-acid and lithium-ion battery usage.”
Tabono’s other co-founder Reon Barnard added, “With dedicated environmentally friendly ways of recycling batteries, the world can leverage valuable materials like lead, lithium and cobalt, and power our future in a less harmful way.”
The facilities will separately process and recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries utilizing ACE’s proprietary technology that creates zero Scope 1 emissions by operating without fossil fuel-based heating. Both recycling facilities will be greenfield projects to be developed and operated by the joint venture. Under the new structure, ACE will have 51 percent ownership and Tabono will own 49 percent.
“We are committed to ensuring emerging markets benefit from our clean battery recycling solutions,” said Nishchay Chadha, ACE CEO and co-founder. “Combining our expertise with Tabono will ensure development of safe and sustainable closed-loop solutions for battery materials within South Africa.”
Once established, the joint venture will leverage each partner’s strengths. ACE has developed a portfolio of proprietary technologies to recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries and capture their critical materials atmarket-leading recovery yields. Tabono brings vast experience in the minerals and industrial services industries across Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.
Earlier this year, Tabono Investments acquired a stake in Advanced Group, a risk management, mitigation and emergency response specialist entrenched in the mining sector.
ENDS
About Tabono Investments
Tabono Investments is an owner-managed investment business focused on profitable businesses in highly specialised sectors. We are attracted to difficult, risky and specialised concerns that we can support to grow into significantly sized businesses within three years. Built by entrepreneurs from the ground up, Tabono Investments is excited by mining, industrial, services and logistics businesses which are highly specialised and hands-on.
www.tabonoinvestments.com
About ACE Green Recycling
ACE Green Recycling is a U.S.-based green recycling technology company with global operations across North America, Europe and Asia and is the only battery recycling tech platform with sustainable solutions for both Lead-acid (LAB) and Lithium-ion (LIB) batteries. The company is also developing clean technology solutions for other metallic waste streams. ACE’s green recycling technology aims to assist the battery industry in making global electrification sustainable.
www.acegreenrecycling.com
For further information, contact Despina Harito despina@turquoisepr.co.za or 084 453 1755 Michelle K Blumenau michelle@turquoisepr.co.za 083 273 9891
L-R Reon Barnard and Liran Assness, co-founders, Tabono Investments
PRESS RELEASE
Press release: for immediate publication 18 Nov 2022
DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum to provide much-needed
strategic focus for minerals of the future
“Building an inclusive and equitable battery metals sector in the heart of Africa”
Driven by the demand for batteries and electric vehicles in a transparent and open environment, the continent welcomes the new DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum: a specialised event that will gather high-level representatives from the entire battery metals industry value chain from 12–13 September 2023.
Battery metals and minerals include cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, graphite, manganese, rare earths and the 3Ts (tin, tantalum and tungsten). The DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum will take place in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC where about 68% of the world’s cobalt is mined.
“DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum is committed to positioning DRC as the African hub for battery metals production and manufacture. It is about creating wealth for the entire DRC and African battery metals industry value chain,” says event director Sam Madlabane.
He adds: “the forum will provide a prime engagement platform and meeting place for government, mining companies, key stakeholders, technology and service providers and end users to facilitate dialogue in defining and building a new extractive sector of the industry in the DRC. In addition, it is important to build an inclusive and equitable battery metals industry in the heart of Africa, underpinning broad-based sustainable growth, local beneficiation and socio-economic development.”
Flagship events
The DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum forms part of the already impressive mining portfolio of the VUKA Group (formerly Clarion Events Africa), with long-running flagship events, such as DRC Mining Week and Nigeria Mining Week, which was recently held to record numbers in Abuja, as well as Mining Review Africa, a leading industry magazine and online news platform.
The event will comprise a two-day conference and there are various sponsorship opportunities for sector leaders to promote their sustainable mining industry practices to government officials, key leaders and decision makers. AVZ Minerals Limited has already been confirmed as the cobalt plus sponsor. Says VUKA Group MD David Ashdown: “
More information about the programme is available on the event website: www.drc-africabatterymetals.com. To register to attend, click here.
About DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum
DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum is a launch annual event and is organised by the VUKA Group. DRC Mining Week and Nigeria Mining Week are partner events and Mining Review Africa is the premier event media partner.
About VUKA Group
The VUKA Group (formerly Clarion Events Africa) is a leading Cape Town-based and multi-award-winning organiser of exhibitions, conferences and digital events across the continent in the mining, infrastructure, energy, mobility, ecommerce and CX sectors. Other well-known events by VUKA Group include DRC Mining Week, Nigeria Mining Week, Enlit Africa, Africa’s Green Economy Summit, ECOM Africa, CEM Africa and Smarter Mobility Africa.
About Mining Review Africa
Mining Review Africa (MRA) is the leading monthly magazine and digital platform in the African mining industry. Every month, MRA reaches an audience of over 50,000 influential mining authorities and key decision makers through a variety of channels, including an interactive website, videos and print distribution at all major mining conferences in Africa and across the globe.
DRC-Africa Battery Metals Forum dates and location:
Dates: 12–13 September 2023
Location: Pullman Kinshasa Grand Hotel, Kinshasa, DRC
Website: www.drc-africabatterymetals.com