The Great Nevada Lithium Rush to Fuel the New Economy
The race is on to get the mineral out of Clayton Valley and into your iPhones, Bolts, and Powerwalls.
The lightest metal on the periodic table of the elements and a superb conductor, it’s what gives the lithium ion batteries in our cell phones, laptops, newer Priuses, and Teslas the ability to recharge more times, last longer, and provide more energy per weight or volume than other battery chemistries. And it’s cost-effective: The lithium in a Tesla costs around $500, less than a roof rack. It’s also what makes devices explode if their battery-management systems aren’t working properly, as seems to be the case in many so-called hoverboards, or there’s a manufacturer defect, as with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7.
At least six startups have recently placed or leased claims in the area. They join North Carolina-based Albemarle Corp., whose recently acquired Silver Peak mine and processing operation has been unearthing lithium from Clayton Valley’s brines since the mid-1960s, for use in glass, ceramics, greases, medical applications, and consumer electronics. Each newcomer is hoping to become the pure-play lithium company that blows up to fill a projected supply shortage.
Banks and consultants such as Deutsche Bank and Macquarie Research are near-unanimous in the belief that the next several years will see an increase of 60 percent to 250 percent in demand for lithium—and that it will sell for 50 percent or more above historical levels. The rise in demand will be driven by batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage for wind and solar plants. UBS Group estimates that electric cars will account for 9.2 percent of global light vehicle sales by 2025, up from only 1 percent today, while analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have suggested that the market for lithium in energy storage could eventually be bigger than in all other products combined.
bloomberg.com
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