Issue 52, March 01st March 15th

Transcription

1 Issue 52, March 01st March 15th

2 CONTENT Batteries and Vehicles General Motors s Volt production stands by Coda Automotive at final stage of assembling its first electric car Electrovaya launched a new line of lithium-ion batteries Bosch, Daimler, BMW Group, Siemens and others formed Joint Venture for electromobility 3M invests anode materials for Lithiumion batteries A123 Systems announced new contracts/agreements 1Introduction During the past two weeks important announcements were made in the lithium world. One could say that the news with the greatest impact was GM s decision to suspend for a limited period the manufacture of the Volt due to inventory accumulation. It is also important to comment that a couple of months ago the Company faced some problems with the battery pack (which is supplied by LG Chem.). Regarding lithium companies, it is important to highlight the opening of the Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant in China (Galaxy Resources), which is going to be the largest-capacity battery grade lithium carbonate plant in the Asia Pacific Region, with a design capacity of 17,000 tonnes per year. Lithium Industry Lithium One reports pumping test results at Sal de Vida Ultra Lithium signs Letter of Intent for strategic alliance POSCO introduced high-speed lithium extraction technology New World Resources extends period of exclusive negotiations with Li3 Energy SQM reports earnings for 2011 Orocobre reports the Maiden Resource for the Salinas Grandes project Galaxy Resources opened Jiangsu Lithium Carbonate Plant Mammoth Energy Group registered all current Chilean claims Li3 Energy signed MoU with strategic partner POSCO

3 2 Batteries and Vehicles BRIEF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Ford introduced first allelectric vehicle Date: March 05th Source: Ford Ford introduced at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show its first allelectric passenger car, the Focus Electric. This vehicle is powered by a 23kWh lithium-ion battery pack and has a target range of 100 miles which could be fully charged in about three to four hours. Smith Electric Vehicles will provide FedEx Express an allelectric Step Van Date: March 06th Source: Smith Electric Smith Electric Vehicles launched an all-electric vehicle that can reach a range of approximately 100 miles in a single charge. FedEx Express is going to be the first Company to deploy this vehicle in the United States. General Motors s Volt production stands by Date: March 03rd Source: Reuters General Motors (GM) announced it would temporality shut down production of the Chevy Volt since it was building up inventories despite the raise in sales in February over January. The Company reported that sales in 2011 reached 7,671 units and 1,626 units during the first two months of Coda Automotive at final stage of assembling its first electric car Date: March 12th Source: Coda Automotive Coda Automotive announced that its first fully electric car is at the final stage of assembly. The car is powered by a 31 KWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack that allows an autonomy up to 125 miles. According to the Company, in California with the federal and individual state savings and credits the price should be below US$ 27,250.

4 Tata Motors introduced a new range extended electric vehicle Date: March 06th Source: Tata Motors Tata Motors introduced at the Geneva Motor Show the Tata Megapixel, a city-smart global range extended electric vehicle concept that combines a lithiumion phosphate battery with an on-board petrol engine generator, which enables the car to reach a range of up to 900 km. The Boeing Company installed Coulomb s ChargePoint stations Date: March 14th Source: Coulomb Tech Coulomb Technologies announced that the Boeing Company installed Coulomb s ChargePoint Stations for electric vehicles on four campuses. According to the information, the charging stations were deployed as a pilot program sponsored by Boeing in order to respond to employee requests for EV charging points at work US Secretary of Energy announced National Clean Fleets Partnership Date: March 14th Source: US Department of Energy The US Secretary of Energy announced a partnership with Best Buy, Johnson Controls, Pacific Gas and Electric, and Veolia, in order to assist the nation s largest fleet operators in reducing the amount of gasoline and diesel they use nationwide. Electrovaya launched a new line of lithium-ion batteries Date: March 14th Source: Electrovaya Electrovaya made its first product delivery of a 25kWh, 400V Lithium Ion SuperPolymer Battery Energy Storage System to a large Japanese Utility through Nippon Kouatsu Electric Co. Ltd. The system will provide energy storage for a program to investigate distributed Energy Storage for Solar Applications. Bosch, Daimler, BMW Group, Siemens and others formed Joint Venture for electromobility Date: March 15th Source Bosch Bosch along with Daimler, the BMW group, EnBW, RWE and Siemens formed a Joint Venture named Hubject Gmbh in order to develop and operate a data platform that would create an integrated charging infrastructure for mobility and vehicle providers. According to the information released, the number of electric vehicles available in Germany is steadily increasing and this calls for an easily accessible and integrated charging infrastructure. 3M invests anode materials for Lithium-ion batteries Date: March 15th Source: 3M 3M announced that is investing in research of silicon based anode materials. The investigation is financed by a grant of US$ 4.6 million from the US Department of Energy as part of efforts to build more energy-efficient vehicles. According to the Company, the research would help to develop and integrate new cell materials that will make a transformative change in lithium- ion batteries energy density and cost used in electric vehicles. A123 Systems announced new contracts/agreements Date: March, Various Source: A123 Systems A123 Systems announced that it would supply lithium-ion battery packs to Tata Motors for its hybrid electric systems for commercial vehicle applications. The Company also announced the expansion plan of its partnership with SAIC Motor where both companies are carrying out a feasibility study to define the business plan and required investment for a jointly developed battery manufacturing facility in China. Finally, the Company informed that its co-owned Joint Venture ATBS has been selected to develop battery packs for the new Geely s plug-in hybrid electric sedan.

5 3 Lithium Industry BRIEF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Rodinia Lithium received conditional approval at Clayton Valley Date: March 01st Source: Rodinia Lithium Rodinia Lithium announced that it has received conditional approval from the Bureau of Land Management permitting the company s subsidiary, Donnybrook Platinum Resources to drill in Clayton Valley lithiumbrine project, Nevada. The Company plans to resume drilling once the Environmental Assessment and public comment period are complete. Lithium One reports pumping test results at Sal de Vida Date: March 01st Source: Lithium One Inc. Lithium One Inc. announced the completion of the short-term pumping test program at the Sal de Vida lithium-potash brine project in Argentina. Composite results (total of 37 samples) from 5 wells with the highest pumping rates indicated lithium content ranging from 709 to 859 mg/l and averaging 776 mg/l. According to the information, three regions within the basin have been identified as potential production well fields. Two of these areas will be evaluated with long-term pumping test as part of the next phase of development. Ultra Lithium signs Letter of Intent for strategic alliance Date: March 02nd Source: Ultra Lithium Ultra lithium announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Beijing Explo-Tech Engineering Co. Ltda. (BETEC) to form a strategic alliance for the exploration of Ultra s prospective Serbian exploration licenses. According to the information, this CAD$4.25 million strategic alliance would allow the Company the rapid advancement of the exploration program with minimal dilution to the Company.

6 BRIEF NEWS Simbol Materials looks for a new technique to extract lithium Date: March 01st Source: CNBC According to the CNBC, Simbol Materials is researching in a new technique to extract lithium out of the effluent water of geothermal power plants. Geothermal power plants extract hot brine from underground to turn turbines and generate power, a typical 50MW plant creates enough brine to produce 16,000 tones of lithium carbonate. POSCO introduced high-speed lithium extraction technology Date: March 05th Source: Posco RIST, under POSCO, had demonstrated the technology to directly extract lithium out of the salt water from the Great Lake of Uyuni, Bolivia. This technology uses chemical reaction instead of evaporation; the extraction period is shortened from 12 months to less than 1 month, and the recovery rate is bigger. Also the Company plans to construct lithium extraction plants in association with lithium producers which have salt water, based on the new lithium extraction technology. New World Resources extends period of exclusive negotiations with Li3 Energy Date: March 05th Source: New World Resources New World Resources announced that the Company and Li3 Energy, Inc. have agreed to extend the period of exclusive negotiations in respect of the sales of the rights to New World s lithium assets to Li3 Energy for a further 45-day period. All other terms of the letter of intent remain unchanged. SQM reports earnings for 2011 Date: March 06th Source: SQM SQM reported earnings for 2011 of US$545.8 million, an increase of 42.8% with respect to Gross margin reached US$854.8 million, increasing 36.5% from last year, and Revenues totaled US$2,145.3 million for 2011, representing an increase of 17.2% over the year According to SQM s Chief Executive Officer, behind these big growth rates are the high volumes in specialty plant nutrition and record volumes in lithium and iodine business lines. The revenues for lithium and derivates are shown below /2010 Lithium and Derivates Th. MT % Lithium and Derivates Revenues MUS$ % Source: SQM

7 Orocobre reports the Maiden Resource for the Salinas Grandes project Date: March 07th Source: Orocobre Orocobre Limited announced the completion of the maiden resource estimate and results of initial pumping test for the 85% of its Salinas Grandes lithium-potash project in Salta province, Argentina. According to Orocobre s Managing Director, the next step is to undertake long term pumping test in 4 locations within the shallow resource. Provided that adequate pumping rates can be sustained over time, with stable and economic lithium and potassium grades, the Company anticipates undertaking further drilling and a preliminary economic assessment for the project. Resource category Inferred Resource Brine body Average resource Tonnes contained parameters concentrations metal Brine volume Lithium mg/l Potassium mg/l Lithium Potassium million M ,547 44, ,850 Source: Orocobre Galaxy Resources opened Jiangsu Lithium Carbonate Plant Date: March 08th Source: Galaxy Resources Galaxy Resources Limited announced the official opening of its wholly-owned Jiangsu Lithium Carbonate Plant located in Jiangsu province, China. According to the Company, the A$100 million plant is the largest-capacity battery grade lithium carbonate plant in the Asia Pacific Region, with a design capacity of 17,000 tonnes per year and it is expected to start production at the end of the current quarter. Mammoth Energy Group registered all current Chilean claims Date: March 09th Source: Mammoth Energy Group Mammoth Energy Group announced that its Chilean Subsidiary, Compania Lithium Investments Limitada of Chile has registered all of its claims in Chile. According to the Company s President, everything currently acquired was registered to the Company and they received all of the certificates from the public records from the different areas throughout the country where the company had acquired stakes.

8 Li3 Energy signed MoU with strategic partner POSCO Date: March 12th Source: Li3 Energy Li3 Energy, Inc. announced the execution of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with its strategic partner POSCO to construct a test facility. Some the key terms of the MoU are: POSCO will design, build and operate a test facility for the recovery of lithium at its sole expense; Li3 Energy will provide all technical support as necessary; the location of the test facility will be based on the needs, timing and permits required; the parties will make every reasonable effort to obtain the necessary permits and to advance the plans for the design and building of the test facility in 2012.

9 Fidel Oteiza 1921 Of Providencia - Santiago - Chile Office: Fax: info@signumbox.com