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LIT Lithium

TARGETS = http://seekingalpha.com/article/3981579-top-5-lithium-miners-consider ...Cormark Securities Inc. - Alec Meikle
Based on the above table comparing the major lithium triangle brine projects, we can see that of the listed pure lithium miners, Lithium Americas has the largest total resource/reserve size of 11.849m tonnes, followed by Orocobre (OTCPK:OROCF) (ASX:ORE) with 9.794m tonnes, and Galaxy Resources (OTCPK:GALXF)(ASX:GXY) with 8.373m tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). Of the listed pure plays Li3 Energy (OTCQB:LIEG) has the highest grade but a small deposit size at only 633,000 tonnes.

Lithium Spodumene mines
Talison's Greenbushes (51% owned by China's Chengdu Tianqi, 49% by Albermarle) is the largest global lithium spodumene mine and has the highest grade, followed clearly by Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS). After a large gap comes Nemaska Lithium (OTCQX:NMKEF) (TSXV:NMX), Altura Mining (OTC:ALTAF) (ASX:AJM), NeoMetals (), and Galaxy Resources.
Clay
In terms of clay resources the Bacanora (OTC:BCRMF) (TSXV:BCN) Sonora project is said to be the largest. However, some experts have concerns regarding extracting lithium economically from clay.
Year producing.
2016 - Orocobre, Mineral Resources(OROCF), Galaxy Resources(GALXF), Neometals
2017 - Should see Altura Mining and Pilbara Minerals (late 2017 or early 2018) entering production.
2018 - Should see Nemaska lithium entering production.
2019 - Should see Lithium Americas entering production.
2020 - Should see Bacanora Minerals and Lithium X (ROCEF) entering production.
Cost of production.
It is generally well accepted that lithium brine projects production costs are significantly lower than spodumene or clay deposits. Having said that, spodumene and clay projects are quicker to bring to market with lower CapEx.
Lithium brine requires evaporating and processing to get to the lithium carbonate, which then contains about 18 per cent of metallic lithium. Whereas spodumene hard rock contains about 6% lithium, so is a more concentrated source of lithium ore, but more expensive to process as the rock requires crushing.

The clay and spodumene generally have higher costs of production as you can see with Galaxy's spodumene project (right side of graph below). Off course this may soon change with newer lithium extraction technologies. POSCO, Lithium Australia and Nemaska Lithium are leaders in this area.

This may be just the beginning of a huge 20-year bull run for the lithium miners. A comparison would be buying the oil companies just around the time Ford (NYSE:F) started to mass produce cars. Of course, there are a lot more cars today, so the potential is even bigger.
Goldman Sachs - "Growth in EV applications alone could triple the size of the entire lithium market from 160,000 mt today to 470,000 mt by 2025. That is based on 22% EV penetration (BEV, PHEV and HEV combined) in 2025 from under 3% today."
Deutsche Bank in its "Lithium-ion age" stated, "Global battery consumption is set to increase 5x over the next 10 years, placing pressure on the battery supply chain and lithium market. We expect global lithium demand will increase from 181kt Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) in 2015 to 535kt LCE by 2025." ...........................

EV Lithium-ion battery costs have already dropped by over 65% since 2010. In early 2016, GM (NYSE:GM) said its cells cost $145 per kilowatt-hour, and Tesla indicated it's battery pack costs were close to $200/kWhr. By 2020, they could be at the $150 mark. This means even now (2016) a 60kWh battery pack for a GM Bolt or Tesla Model 3 will cost around $12,000, and by 2020 just $9,000 or less.
The high price to be solved very soon - BYD's [1211:HK] (OTCPK:BYDDF) (OTCPK:BYDDY) hybrid Qin sells now for around $30,000, GM's all electric Bolt will cost $37,500 when released later in 2016, and Tesla's Model S will be $35,000 when released late 2017. All of these prices are typically reduced to below $30,000 after subsidies. So by 2018, there will be at least 3 different EVs available that are priced similar to the average US car price.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3978337-lithium-boom-may-just-begun-20-year-bull-run
Lithium is the lightest known metal. Its consumption in the form of non-metallic products like lithium carbonate, chloride and hydroxide are core to a number of end markets such as batteries, ceramics, glass and industrial grease. Over the last three years, lithium has come to the attention of the mainstream media and financial institutions owing to its critical role in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for consumer electronics and electric automobiles.

The vast majority of brine lithium is sourced from desserts – which boast not only lithium reserves, but also have the optimum natural evaporation conditions to process it. Major production occurs in the deserts of Nevada, Chile and Australia.

Battery applications are expected to be the growth driver for lithium in the foreseeable future. Electric vehicle developments will head this growth, underpinned by the consumption of portable electronics like tablets and power tools – the vast majority of which use lithium-ion technology.

Ceramics and glass demand will continue to require concentrates – especially in Asia, where the industry is seeing rapid growth. Industrial applications like grease, aluminum and continuous castings will continue to demand increasing amounts of lithium.




http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/lithium-the-opec-killer/5341
*******March 2016...In the next five years, the world is going to have to increase annual lithium output from about 32,500 metric tonnes today to 100,000 in just five years.
Everyone will be driving Tesla's Model S electric car... or maybe a Chevy Bolt or a Ford Focus. These electric cars will be so cheap that they will be affordable for nearly everyone.
The big money is piling in as we speak. Vanguard has $221.2 million invested already. Fidelity is in with a $183.3 million stake. Janus Capital has dumped $188.7 million in the Metal Oil revolution.
Don't think this is some coincidence. It's been in the making for some time. By the time small investors wake up, it will be too late.
If the current volatility in the price of oil is any indication... it means we're gearing up for a major energy transition. This energy transition will be the reason for a staggering amount of wealth as Lithiuml becomes mainstream. A small stake could multiply several times over — sometimes overnight — enough to fund your retirement. It doesn't matter who likes it. It is happening, and you better get some green from this while you can. By my count, just a small, $5,000 stake could explode into a $40,000 payday. Heck, $10,000 could catapult to $80,000 in less than 12 months. That's an 800% surge based on what has happened in the past... Enough money to help you start a new retirement fund and make sure you never work another day. It's the golden goose and Aladdin's lamp all rolled in one....(just a little hype...no harm...)

Because while the U.S. pats itself on the back for the riches flowing from fracking wells, an upheaval in clean energy is quietly loosening Big Oil's grip on the automotive industry, according to Bloomberg.
In a nutshell, Tesla Motors offered the proprietary technology at the heart of its Model S electric car to any company that wants to build electric cars. Elon Musk opened his cookbook and let everyone else follow his revolutionary electric car recipe. And by the time he was done, he had all major automakers on board. BMW and Nissan shook hands on the deal and, in return, offered to throw some of their patents into the mix to push the electric car agenda forward. There was once a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of the company's Palo Alto headquarters. They have since been removed in the spirit of the open source movement for the advancement of electric vehicle technology. The price of these sleek electric hybrids will drop from $70,000 to an affordable $25,000. Gasoline-driven SUVs and cars will be pushed out of the parking lots and driveways across America. No more messy gasoline pumps. No more dirty engine servicing. And most importantly, no more fossil fuels contributing to climate change. As the government puts it, we just cannot continue to use fossil fuels forever. Now, regardless of how you feel about climate change, the reality is that the world is mobilizing to cut its CO2 emissions. Transportation eats about 70% of all the petroleum we use, at the same time creating a staggering amount of carbon emissions contributing to climate change. China, desperate for clean skies, plans to spend $1.5 billion annually over the next 10 years to build infrastructure such as charging stations for lithium-powered electric cars. Lithium is the lightest of all metals. It has the greatest electrochemical potential and provides the highest specific energy per weight. And there's more demand for it right now than at any other time in history simply because of the adoption of electric vehicles as our new choice of transportation.

SHENZHEN, China, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Highpower International, Inc. ("Highpower International" or "the Company") (HPJ), a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of lithium and nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) rechargeable batteries, and a battery management systems and battery recycling provider, today announced that the Company recently began to receive orders, and started shipping lithium polymer batteries to DJI, a globally recognized manufacturer of commercial and recreational unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. Highpower International has received DJI's supplier qualification approval and began to provide lithium polymer batteries for its drones. The Company has provided its batteries for use in DJI's Phantom 3 and Phantom 4 drone products and Highpower expects to develop its relationship with DJI further continuously. As a world-leading drone brand, DJI is famous for its cutting-edge technology and rigorous requirements for its products and suppliers. Considering Highpower's comparative lithium battery advantages and DJI's high-end technologies, we feel that this is a mutually beneficial relationship that could grow over time."

DJI is a leading manufacturer of commercial and recreational unmanned aerial vehicles for aerial photography and videography. Headquartered in Shenzhen, widely considered China's Silicon Valley, DJI benefits from direct access to the suppliers, raw materials, and young, creative talent pool necessary for sustained success. Drawing on these resources, the company has grown from a single small office in 2006 to a global workforce of over 3,000.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2142683-highpower-technologys-bearish-then-bullish-two-day-seesaw
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3981266-lithium-americas-well-valued-near-term-lithium-producer
Lithium mining is a leading industry supporting three separate billion-dollar industries - smartphones, electric vehicles and energy storage.
China's lithium-ion battery production tripled in 2015.
With 12 lithium ion battery "mega factories" set to come on line (or expand) by 2020 (including Panasonic (OTCPK:PCRFY), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), LG Chem (OTC:LGCLF), Samsung SDI (OTC:SSDIY), BYD (OTCPK:BYDDF), Foxconn (OTC:FXCOF), according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (and 7 of those in China), owning more of the supply chain makes a great deal of strategic sense.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) calls "lithium the new gasoline." They forecast 22% electric vehicle (EV) penetration by 2025, and "lithium demand for all EV applications could grow more than 11x by 2025.
Macquarie Bank says "lithium is the new wonder resource in the mining sector," and that "demand is expected to systemically outstrip supply in a few years, driven by an estimated 31% CAGR of EVs to 2021.
Over the next two years, 25 new makes and models of electric cars are expected to be released. BYD and Tesla currently lead global sales.

Ford (NYSE:F) is spending USD 4.5b to add 13 new EV models to electrify40% of its vehicle line up by 2020. General Motors (NYSE:GM) has the Bolt coming, Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY) has the Leaf, Toyota (NYSE:TM) the Prius, Mitsubishi (OTCPK:MSBHY) the Highlander, and VW (OTCPK:VLKAY)(Audi/Porsche), BMW (BAMXY:OTC), Renault (OTC:RNSDF), are all moving fast toward EVs.
The Economist magazine recently called lithium "the world's hottest commodity."
Tesla's Elon Musk also recently announced that Tesla "could triple the total planned battery output of the Gigafactory to ~105 GWh of cells and ~150 GWh of battery packs - or over 3 times the current total lithium-ion battery production worldwide." He also stated around half of this capacity would be needed to cater to the growing energy storage business.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is working on a secret project called Project Titan, to build an electric car. Musk believes Apple will have a car in the market by 2020.
Energy storage using lithium-ion batteries requires larger volumes of lithium especially for the utility sized 100kWh plus powerpacks. This can be another enormous driver of lithium demand.
Electric Vehicle Obsession

https://twitter.com/evobsession
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March 6, 2016 Taiyou Research surmise that 'the global market for lithium ion batteries is a fast growing one and is expected to cross $30 billion by 2020'. At present, lithium ion batteries are mostly found in consumer electronic devices, but with the advent of cells of greater capacity and power in large-format applications, their use in EVs and storage applications is increasing. Both capacity and power are important factors in batteries and, depending on the application, one takes precedence to the other.
The Birth Of The Lithium-Based Economy
http://etfdb.com/index/solactive-global-lithium-index/
6 types of Lithium Batteries

LIT Lithium research