The Global Lithium Podcast

Topics:  The Benchmark vision & business model  Limiting factors to the growth of the “lithium ion economy”  The “great battery raw material disconnect”   The LME nickel fiasco  Is President Biden invoking the Defense Production Act significant?  Tesla compared with legacy OEMs  The emerging US Battery Supply chain compared with the EU – rhetoric vs reality  Vertical Integration in the battery/EV space  Why the lithium shortage is understated – the battery scrap conundrum  Where is Benchmark in five years?  The impact of geopolitics on the lithium ion battery world  Rapid Fire

A solo episode covering the following topics: Lithium prices - why SQM, Albemarle and Livent have very different prices per kg The price of lithium stocks   The false narrative of Chinese lithium dominance Is GM the "Don Quixote" of the EV world? Energy Secretary Granholm playing politics in West Virginia Lithium training for media types Geothermal lithium - not ready for prime time?

Seth Goldstein is an analyst at Morningstar - an industry leader providing independent research and analysis on a global basis. In his role at Morningstar, Seth covers Tesla, Albemarle, SQM, Livent and Lithium Americas. Topics: The EV market from a regional perspective An update on Tesla’s new plants in Texas and Germany Lithium supply and demand - how long will the shortage last? Was Albemarle’s new lithium demand estimate for 2030 a meaningless theoretical exercise? Why lithium is different than other resource markets The Mineral Resources / Albemarle lithium JV - who has the upper hand in WA? Livent: Too little, too late with a flawed strategy? Or a strong niche player? Cathode – which “flavor” wins? SQM – will they outperform Albemarle on price again in this market cycle? Will SQM finally meet one of their volume predictions? The “Spot” vs contract pricing gap – how much? For how long? How will OEMs adjust their strategy to lithium limitations in this decade? Seth’s thoughts on Lithium Americas – Cauchari and Thacker Pass Product qualification in a market shortage Rapid Fire

Chris Reed is the CEO of Neometals Topics include: First lithium success – the development of Mt Marion and a profitable exit Battery recycling plans – Europe, North America, Asia Feedstock – scrap & end of life batteries, timing EVs “dirty little secret” – minimizing the current five years it takes the average EV to recoup the carbon footprint deficit with ICEs The contribution recycling can make to lithium supply by 2030 and 2040 “Peak Spodumene”: What total LCE volume? When? Electrolytic Lithium aka “Eli”– the process and potential Changing the cost curve Neometals upcoming London Listing Supply and demand imbalance Doomsday scenarios Rapid fire

A double episode for Super Bowl weekend.  Part One is with Standard Lithium's Dr Andy Robinson and Will Smith. Andy is COO. Will is Engineering Manager. We discuss the Standard Lithium project with partner Lanxess in El Dorado, Arkansas. Part Two features Andrew Miller the COO of Benchmark Mineral intelligence. We discuss lithium price, supply and demand and several other topics.

Simon Hay is the CEO of Leo Lithium and the former CEO of Galaxy Resources. Leo Lithium has a 50/50 JV with Ganfeng Lithium to develop the Goulamina Project in Mali.  Topics include: Africa's history in lithium Project details: resource/reserves, grade, flowsheet, utilities, etc Timing of stage 1 and stage 2 The Team Challenges Benefits of having Ganfeng as a partner Offtake Price formula The lithium market - what is "different this time"

My guests are Co-CEOs Ana Cabral-Gardner and Calvyn Gardner A lively discussion that was originally 72 minutes edited down to 47 minutes. Topics: Construction update and challenges Ramping up Covid and other obstacles  Sustainability BlackRock’s Investment ESG Investing Social License Battery Quality spodumene – reality or myth? Partners that matter Lifting up the local community Lithium: “The Limiting Factor” to EV Growth? How long is the “short term”? Twitter @SigmaLithium

My guest is Henrique Ribeiro of S&P Global Platts, a leader in providing price information, industry market insights and analytics. In addition to his work in lithium/battery metals price information and analysis, Henrique is also a host on the Platts Future Energy Podcast. In this episode, we discuss Platts role in providing information about lithium and other battery metals. We cover their methodology for making price assessments and how they factor in lithium product specifications. We discuss the significance of the “spot” price and why it can vary so significantly from contract price and information found in import/export statistics. I ask about quality control in the Platts process and how they deal with contacts that may try to “massage” the information they provide. I ask Henrique for his thoughts on the lithium supply and demand imbalance and when price may “soften”. We discuss the questions Henrique is most often asked by various industry stakeholders. Platts does not forecast lithium prices. We will discuss the logic behind that practice. In a world of many different prices for the same lithium grade, you will learn the value of the spot price as an indicator. We close with a slow rapid fire. Find out more at: spglobal.com

My guest is Daniel Jimenez ex SQM and currently running his own advisory firm, iLi Markets (ilimarkets.com). Recorded less than two weeks before the Chilean Presidential election runoff - described as the most divisive in the country's history. We discuss potential impacts of the election on the lithium industry depending on whether the winner is from the right or the left. At minute 14, we begin a discussion of the Atacama & the current & future production of both SQM & Albemarle from the world's premier brine asset. We we also review the reasons for SQM lagging the pricing results of most competitors. Spoiler alert – we both expect that situation to change. We also ponder Albemarle’s long & winding road in ramping up production from expansions in Chile. We move on to a discussion of global supply & demand. Daniel’s 2021 & 2022 total demand numbers are higher than mine but not drastically so. Daniel provides his thoughts on the potential for new lithium projects in Chile as well as DLE before moving on to the potential & challenges for the EU & North America to supply a significant percentage of their future lithium demand. We cover the recent rise of Chinese investment in South American lithium projects. Will recycling contribute significantly to lithium supply before 2030? Solid state batteries & the potential impact on what lithium raw material requirements. Rapid fire. Daniel can be found on Twitter @D_Jimenez_Sch

Dr. Yuan Gao has been a significant player in the lithium ion battery space for a quarter of a century. From his early days at FMC Lithium working in battery R&D to his time with Molycorp in rare earth materials followed by a five-year tenure as CEO of Chinese cathode producer Pulead and most recently as a member of Lithium Americas Board of Directors and as a sought after advisor. Few have the breadth of experience Yuan has. Dr. Gao holds twenty-one patents. In this episode we discuss the cathode market in detail from LFP to High Nickel products. We also review the challenges in producing LMFP and “Cobalt Free” High Nickel. We discuss the regionalization of battery supply chains and why it will be difficult for North America and Europe to play “catch up” with Asia. We move on to the future of solid state batteries and the challenges faced by the recycling industry. We ponder when recycling industry will transition from processing the scrap of new gigafactories to being part of a truly circular lithium ion battery ecosystem. As always, we close with rapid fire.