The Global Lithium Podcast

A summary of my recent 12 day trip to Australia.

CEO of Liontown resources, Tony Ottaviano, discusses building a strong team and culture, developing a renewable energy project, maintaining supply readiness and customer visits, navigating uncertainty and potential changes, lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices in Korea and Japan, Australian meat pies, and encounters in the lithium industry and podcasting.

Lithium Americas will separate into two entities in the fourth quarter of 2023. LAC’s South American assets will become Lithium Argentina (@Lithium_ARG on X aka Twitter). I spent a few days with the team last week in Buenos Aires and Salta, Argentina. Recording a podcast seemed like a natural thing to do. John Kanellitsas, Franco Mignacco, Ignacio Celorrio, Carlos Galli and Tom Benson joined me with a cameo appearance by Kelly O’Brien. Topics: The journey to becoming Argentina’s third lithium chemical producer The importance of finding and retaining the right people Combining cultures in the Minera Exar JV The Lithium Americas separation Politics in Argentina The growing significance  of lithium to Argentina Why it is too soon for Argentina should focus on making batteries Doing lithium “differently” The 500,000 ton goal for Argentina Leveraging talent from other industries Bringing new technology to exploration Pastos Grandes Talent wars “The Signal and the Noise” The five year vision for Lithium Argentina

On this episode I enlist the help of Rene LeBlanc & Tara Berrie to help me answer listener questions that cover a broad cross section of interests from how to evaluate lithium projects to the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act to where price may be heading. Shout outs to Daniel Jimenez and Chris Berry.

Denis Geoffroy is the Chief Commercialization Officer at Nano One. Denis has spent a quarter of a century in the lithium ion battery space and was responsible for the only commercial North American LFP operation in Candiac, Quebec. We discuss his journey in LFP and how Nano One’s “One Pot” technology will enable a resurgence of LFP production in North America. Topics: LFP – born in Texas and the early days in Quebec LFP’s recent resurgence in the market How China came to dominate the market The current state of LFP supply Nano One: “Changing How the World Makes Battery Materials” LFP – the “mass market” EV cathode The original “million mile” battery Bringing LFP production back to North America Nano One partnerships Recycling LFP Learning from cathode “OG” Dr Yuan Gao Rapid fire

Chris Gale is the founder and MD of Latin Resources. www.latinresources.com.au / @LatinRes on Twitter Topics: Backstory – the long, winding road to lithium Raising capital Going to South America How a lithium explorer survives Why Brazil? The long odds against explorers becoming producers Upgrading the resource Learning from Sigma’s experience What is a tier 1 lithium deposit? First steps in developing a project The Team The importance of getting a lithium legend on the BOD Potential off-takers Rapid fire Rest in peace Dr John Goodenough

Tu Le is the founder & Managing Director of Sino Auto Insights (@SinoAutoInsight on Twitter) and a Co-Host of the China EVs & More Podcast. Tu had significant experience with at Ford, GM and Apple before making his way to China and the EV world. Topics: China's current & future position in the global EV market Average battery sizes The return of EV incentives in China ? EV price cuts Tu Le: "BYD is what Tesla wants to be" Why is GM's CEO saying they can't build a profitable EV in the $30-40K price range in this decade China EV plans for North America The coming consolidation of EV producers in China Why legacy OEMs are on the decline in China E-Mobility "smartification" & ACES Why software leads the way in EV development North American & EU decoupling from China - easier said than done Changing the US driving mindset E- Mobility growth in India The critical metals angst of OEMs Sodium Ion battery impact on EVs ONE - Our Next Energy The top five global EV/Mobility companies in 2030 Rapid Fire

Ron Mitchell is the Managing Director of Global Lithium Resources (ASX GL1) and a veteran of the lithium industry with more than a decade of prior experience at Talison and Tianqi. Topics: Ron’s backstory Early days doing business in China Building relationships Negotiating in China How does the industry 10X supply? Ron’s spodumene price “crystal ball” Global Lithium Resources' two projects Building the team at GL1 Partners Offtake Going downstream? Doing mining differently Geopolitics A question for Ron from Tara Berrie Rapid fire from me as well as Alex Cheeseman Closing comments on China's "interesting" price narrative

John Worth is the CEO and MD of geo40 a technology company based in New Zealand engaged in low carbon recovery of minerals from geothermal fluids. They currently produce colloidal silica at commercial scale from geothermal streams in New Zealand and are leveraging that technology to provide direct lithium extraction (DLE) to a variety of asset types containing low levels of lithium (50 ppm & up). After successfully piloting DLE technology they now plan to move to the demo level with a target of commercialization in North America by 2025 and later in other jurisdictions. Topics: The need to add DLE to the lithium supply portfolio What makes a great DLE project Why it makes sense to pursue low ppm level lithium streams in North America Where DLE fits in on the cost curve Tailwinds from the "new normal" of lithium prices The need for multiple DLE players Why geo40 is leaving the Salton Sea to others My comments on what is happening in price

I speak with three podcast listeners who are also keen lithium investors - Nathan Wolyniec from Brisbane Australia; John McElroy, a Green Beret with more than 1,000 parachute jumps originally from Syracuse, NY and David Cebalo a retired investor from Indiana. We discuss what drew them to investing in lithium stocks, how they research companies and make decisions. I end the episode with some thoughts on the Livent - Allkem merger announced earlier this week.