The Global Lithium Podcast

Episodes

August 1, 2023: from the Global Lithium Podcast Archives. Episode 26 with Jon Evans, John Kanellitsas and Tom Hodgson of Lithium Americas. Recorded in 2018 the day after celebrating the filling of the first pond at Cauchari and just an hour after partner Ganfeng met with the President of Argentina. As I get ready to return to Argentina to see Cauchari in production, it seemed like a good time to revisit the early days of the project.

June 30, 2023 - from the Global Lithium Podcast Archives. The fifth anniversary of the episode when my family was on with guest host Chris Berry asking the questions.

September 12, 2022 - from the Global Lithium Podcast Archives, Episode 19 with “Volt Rush” author Henry Sanderson from 2018. Henry will be back on the podcast discussing his book later this month.

March 10, 2022

Episode 132: My thoughts on the recent earnings calls of Albemarle, Livent and SQM. GM’s EV and battery metals hype and Argentina’s importance in the “lithium decade”

November 14, 2021

Episode 123 - Stephen Sullivan, retail investor

My guest, Stephen Sullivan, is a retired NYPD Lieutenant. Stephen currently works for the US State Department in Latin America. We discuss how he came to invest in lithium and the tools he uses to make decisions. I close the episode with my thoughts on JM’s exiting the battery materials business and respond to questions I have been asked about Nano One since their recent podcast appearance.

November 7, 2021

Global Lithium Podcast Archives: Episode 47- Dr Tom Benson

For those that missed it when first released in 2019 as “Lithium Origins” it is very helpful to understand how lithium resources came to be.

October 17, 2021

Episode 120: Lithium Market Update & the DLE “Shark Tank”

September 21, 2021

Episode 117: Lithium Update: Ganfeng, Fastmarkets, Ioneer, DLE, Price

September 4, 2021 I answer several questions from listeners.

August 24, 2021 My brief response to what I consider an “over the top” promotional video regarding a non producing brine project with technology that is yet to be commercialized.

August 7, 2021 Episode 112: Listener’s Favorite Junior Lithium Companies

In this episode I give six podcast listeners the chance to discuss why they like their favorite junior - among the companies mentioned are: Savannah Resources, Critical Elements, Lake Resources, E3 Metals and Pilbara Minerals. I also comment on each company or project.

July 25, 2021 Episode 110: Thacker Pass and defining DLE

A short form episode with comments on the recent positive outcome of Thacker Pass hearing and comments on DLE

July 3, 2021 Episode 109 is a solo episode.

I discuss supply & demand, price, and comment on several companies

June 20, 2021 Part 2 of the most downloaded episode of all time with Dr Eduardo Bitran. Originally recorded in December, 2018

June 4, 2021 Episode 106 - a short solo episode

The most listened to episode of all time with Eduardo Bitran - part 1

A short episode with my thoughts on the Galaxy - Orocobre Merger

Episode 101: Learning to DYOR, Media Battles & a Certain Project in Europe

Episode 96: My thoughts on the earnings calls of SQM, Albemarle and Livent.

In episode 95, I discuss Elon Musk’s recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast and comment on what Elon, Chamath and some major mining billionaires don’t get about lithium. I also discuss why I think former Galaxy CEO Iggy Tan was underappreciated and provide some additional color to my past relationship with Galaxy Resources.

Episode 93: A solo podcast recorded 1/29/2021 with a market update & answers to listener questions

Episode 91: My thoughts on Lithium in 2021

Episode 90: Sigma Lithium (Ana Cabral-Gardner & Calvyn Gardner)

Episode 89: Livista Energy

This episode features Daniel Bloor and Jose Hofer of Livista Energy. You can follow them on Twitter @LivistaEnergy and on Linked In.

Livista plans to have the first large scale lithium conversion plant operating in Europe. In addition to discussing the project, we also cover:

Battery passports and traceability

The challenge of finding raw material supply

Will “ESG compliant” material receive price premiums?

Financing challenges

Site selection

Livista’s scope of ambition

Does Europe need a strategic lithium stockpile?

The future of lithium price

Episode 88: Minviro and Life Cycle Assessments

Robert Pell and Alex Grant from Minviro, pioneers in producing Life Cycle Assessments for the lithium industry, are my guests. Minviro is focused on the environmental portion of the emerging and increasingly significant field of ESG.

We discuss:

The development, importance and value of life cycle assessments

Impact categories

Properly quantifying results vs “tick the box” exercises

The need for 3rd party reviews

OEMs desire for ESG compliant material but unwillingness to invest in it

How seriously life cycle assessments are being taken by the industry

And for those of you that are Ayn Rand fans, after this episode you may be asking “Who is Sarah?” instead of “Who is John Galt?”

Episode 87: Live Q&A from Panorama Minero’s “Lithium South America”

My favorite lithium event of the year is Panorama Minero's  “Lithium South America”. I had the opportunity to keynote at this event in Salta in 2018 and Jujuy in 2019. This year at the virtual event I participated by doing a live Global Lithium Podcast with a great co-host, Carlos Galli, who conveyed the questions from the audience and added his own insightful commentary.

Topics include:

Why OEMs are not investing in lithium and when this will likely change

The bifurcated market in both quality and price

Covid’s impact on the lithium demand

The coming shortage of battery quality lithium

Tesla’s lithium failure

Why Argentina should “build a lithium bridge” to Europe

The Future of DLE 

My ranking of the “Top Five” lithium players

Bolivia – the land of lithium dreams

In addition I make a few comments on the "divorce" of Livent and E3 Metals

Last week Altura went into receivership. A day later Pilbara had a conditional deal to purchase their neighbor. Lithium drama has moved at least temporarily from the Atacama to the Pilbara. I hope the acquisition happens and ultimately leads to Pilbara vertically integrating via partnerships in Europe and possibly Korea.

In Argentina last week, the government of Salta announced it would allow exportation of lithium brine to have the value addition take place in another country. I think this is a short sighted decision unless it is somehow limited to a brief period of time. I explain the logic behind my thinking.

Last week at the Fastmarkets Lithium Conference the question was asked – does Direct Lithium Extraction matter? I provide my thoughts on that topic. I also say why I think the conference needs a “makeover” to remain relevant and challenge my buddy Simon Moores who organized the first edition of the conference when he worked for the Fastmarkets (then called Industrial Minerals) to come up with a new and improved conference for the coming “Golden Age” of lithium.

SQM advised me last week what I “have to do” in order for them to be on the podcast….

Episode 83: Joe Lowry I am interviewed by a pro who talks to me about my three decade “journey” in the lithium world.

Topics include: 

Current lithium “state of play”

False lithium narratives

The EU battery build out and need for regional interdependence in lithium supply

Why do some contemplating EU conversion projects feel carbonate, rather than spodumene, is the best route to battery quality hydroxide?

Why the lithium industry continues to be so misunderstood

Barriers to investment

Is Elon Musk “worth his salt” with respect to lithium?

The future of the cost curve

Why I will never catch up with my daughter’s presence and number of followers on social media

What is my favorite “type” of lithium? Spoiler alert: I don’t have one

Why the next lithium shortage will last for several years?

The problem with feasibility studies

Why partners matter

Urban Mining

Ganfeng’s strategy

Shout outs to Jon Evans, Dr. Tom Benson and Chris Reed

Why I like LAC and hope Standard Lithium succeeds

Episode 82 features Marco Romero, CEO of Euro Manganese. We will discuss the manganese market especially as it relates to lithium batteries and then take a deep dive into the company’s project in the Czech Republic.

In a separate segment of this podcast you will also hear my candid thoughts on Piedmont Lithium’s supply contract with Tesla and SQM’s recent ESG announcement and 2020 sales/production guidance.

The Euro Manganese Project entails re-processing a significant manganese deposit hosted in historic mine tailings, strategically located in the heart of Europe, approximately 90km east of Prague. EMN's goal is to become a leading, competitive and environmentally superior supplier of Ultra-High-Purity Manganese Products, serving both the lithium-ion battery industry, as well as producers of specialty steel and aluminum alloys. 

Episode 81 answers questions received after my recent appearance on the “TC’sChartCast” and continues the dialog on the lithium fallout after Tesla “Battery Day”

Tesla revealed a lithium “strategy” on Battery Day with almost no details. I provide some background on Tesla’s history with lithium supply and offer some comments on likely outcomes. This episode is only available here on the Global Lithium website

This episode features Vivas Kumar of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence for a second appearance. Vivas has been involved in the battery space for a few years beginning as the “lithium guy” at Tesla before joining Benchmark.

We cover a wide variety of topics of the day including when the next lithium shortage will happen and then focus the conversation on what is going on in the “soon to be very significant” Indian market. We also learn why Vivas thinks “flying cars” may become a “thing” in the future.

Listen all the way to “rapid fire” and you will find out why Vivas doesn’t want his mother listening to this episode.

Chris Reed, the CEO of Neometals (ASX: NMT), is my guest on episode 78. Chris was the mastermind behind the development of the Mt Marion mine. He wisely brought in two heavyweight partners - Ganfeng and Mineral Resources to ensure guaranteed offtake and timely construction / start-up. Mt Marion is the cornerstone of Ganfeng’s hard rock supply and the first strategic lithium asset in production for Mineral Resources. Chris timed Neometals’ very profitable exit from the project well and retained pro-rata future offtake rights.

One of the most forward thinking minds in the lithium world, Chris plans to lead Neometals into the broader battery metals market via “urban mining” – recycling lithium batteries to supply high quality cobalt, nickel and lithium while helping the battery industry greatly lower their carbon footprint.

We discuss the current oversupply of spodumene concentrate and where pricing needs to be for newly minted Western Australia mines to survive and then expand to meet the massive growth in lithium demand. Chris and I agree a tight lithium chemicals market and price spike are coming based on the lack of investment in new hard rock and brine capacity in recent years.

We examine the two main process categories of recycling and how Neometals will again utilize world class partners to move quickly along the development curve. Chris deconstructs the economics of recycling and where battery metals from urban mining will fit on the various cost curves.

The episode concludes by looking at Neometals plans for a lithium hydroxide plant in India with a strategic partner and then move to “rapid fire”.

Along the way I add to my vocabulary of Aussie sayings with at least three new ones. The first person that can guess them and leaves me a note on globallithium.net/contact gets a Global Lithium hat.

Chris and Neometals COO, Mike Tamlin were the guests on episode 3 “Wizards of Oz” which is still second most popular episode of all 77 prior podcasts based on downloads.

Episode 77 of the Global Lithium Podcast: “Gradually then Suddenly”: a conversation with Roger Atkins.

Roger Atkins of electricvehiclesoutlook.com is one of the top EV voices on the planet with 30 years of auto industry experience.

This conversation is not really about lithium, it is more about the demand drivers of lithium’s future. Anyone interested in batteries, electric mobility, energy storage or the future will benefit from this podcast. 

We discuss why OEMs really aren’t as motivated to transition to e-mobility as they like to “advertise”, why Tesla has an almost insurmountable lead in battery and EV technology and move on to the rivalry between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and how the world will benefit from their growing competition. We ponder if Musk and Bezos are the new generation of “Robber Barons” with social media generated halos.

Elon Musk’s admiration for Henry Ford is another topic. We wonder aloud if Elon would benefit from sharing ideas with Henry’s great grandson the current executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company.

Roger explains why simple EV penetration metrics are essentially a meaningless form of what he calls “numerical alliteration”.

We break down the e-mobility world by different types of vehicles and discuss how regional differences impact the development of the market. Some market segments are past the mass adoption “tipping point”, others are not.

Along the way you will hear thoughts about the major battery chemistries and their relative merits. Roger asks me if I think ESS will be a bigger market than e-mobility, the answer may surprise you. 

The above, much more and rapid fire.

Ali Dai is the Commercial Director of Chengdu Chemphys, a specialty producer of high purity lithium chemicals. Although less well known than Chinese major producers Ganfeng and Tianqi, Chemphys was active selling high quality lithium chemicals to the difficult to penetrate Japanese and Korean markets long before their larger rivals.

Ali was born in China, raised in Western Australia and left an investment banking career with JP Morgan Chase to return to Chengdu and become involved in the family lithium business. 

We discuss the current state of the lithium market and ponder when the the current oversupply situation will turn to shortage. I ask Alison about Chemphys plans for both expansion and utilizing partnerships to grow in the international market.

We explore the rise of lithium reprocessors, the challenge of upgrading industrial quality lithium to battery quality and opportunities for Chemphys to help brine producers implement direct lithium extraction. 

Ali gives her thoughts on the rise of high nickel cathodes and the recent resurgence of LFP cathode.

And, of course, we close with rapid fire.

My guest for Episode 75 is Gene Morgan the CEO of brine field services provider Zelandez. Gene has an interesting story that starts in New Zealand, moves to oil fields in various parts of the world before an invitation to Bolivia led to both meeting his wife and, ultimately, a career change to lithium. 

We discuss the various services Zelandez provides to lithium explorers, developers and producers. Gene has a unique window on the lithium space, interacting with a wide array of current and future producers.

Having started my career with an oil exploration and production company, I have long believed that the lithium industry has a lot to learn from the much larger and technologically advanced oil business.  

If you want to know more about the future of brine production in South America, then this is episode is for you.

The name Zelandez should be familiar to you since they have been a loyal sponsor of the Global Lithium Podcast since the early days.

Episode 74 “Forged in the Fire” features Ken Brinsden the CEO of Pilbara Minerals. Ken is one of my favorite all time guests. He is articulate and forthright in an industry known for opacity.

We cover several topics in 40 minutes including: Pilbara’s recent refinancing, their improved lithium recoveries to the world class level, how Pilbara is dealing with the current challenging market conditions and preparing for the inevitable upturn.

Ken gives his thoughts on the ability of the industry to respond to the anticipated steep growth in lithium demand in the coming decade and the opportunities a global lithium battery build out represent for the company.

I ask Ken to comment on Pilbara’s partnership strategy, corporate culture and the growing importance of ESG considerations to those seeking to finance lithium projects.

Ken’s office in Perth is about as far away from my home base in Charlotte as you can be. The normally reliable Zoom connection was stressed a few times but the majority of the episode is fine from a sound perspective.

E73: Pavel Galchenko

This episode features Pavel Galchenko of Halmek Lithium. Most investors and many analysts following the lithium industry can’t name a Russian producer; however, Pavel is well known by major lithium companies because of the many industry partnerships Halmek has had for distribution, toll production and providing an outlet for low quality lithium carbonate that Halmek has learned to convert into high quality lithium hydroxide. 

Pavel and his partners at Halmek have made step by step progress from distributing FMC Lithium (Livent) product and US DOE stockpile hydroxide to building their own plant producing industrial grade hydroxide from sourced carbonate to now making battery and high purity quality for local and international markets. 

We discuss the history of the Russian lithium market, the difficulties producing high quality hydroxide and the many challenges entering the lithium battery supply chain. 

Pavel can be found on Twitter @PYasev. 

This episode was brought to you by Zelandez.

E72: Dave Buckley

Episode 72 features Dave Buckley one of the few people on the planet to have extensive experience processing brine and hard rock into carbonate and hydroxide for two major lithium companies followed by half a decade of consulting experience with projects around the world. In addition, Dave also has cathode processing experience. 

We cover brine and hard rock processing challenges, issues with expansions in the Atacama, recovery rates, the challenge of producing a higher percentage of battery quality material, DLE, the need for developing lithium talent, hydroxide shelf life and why the “direct” hard rock route to hydroxide is a misnomer.

Dave and I grew both grew up in Western New York and although we didn’t meet until 1992 share a common bond in optimistically suffering through decades of football futility in Buffalo. Dave can be found on Linked In but keeps a very low social media profile.            

E71: The Lithium “Last Mile” Problem

This is a Q & A episode in two parts. The first part is an abbreviated version of my ‘Ask Me Anything” call with Daniel Graham, a podcast listener from Queenstown, New Zealand. We discuss why I still believe lithium is the best investment among battery raw materials, Tesla, range anxiety, the market for newly designed LFP batteries, lithium metal, ponder if DLE’s potential will be realized or if the industry will have to rely on existing technology for the foreseeable future. I give my thoughts on lithium projects on both sides of the Andes, the importance of project teams and I respond to a “personal question”.

In Part II, I answer the question of why even major producers struggle making high percentages of battery quality material. I define the lithium “last mile” problem and answer specific questions about SQM and Standard Lithium. Finally, I discuss why the growth of LFP won’t make life easier for producers as far as quality is concerned.

The podcast can be found on the Global Lithium website: www.globallithium.net, Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcast and other major podcast outlets. To ask a question, leave a comment or to submit your name for the next "Ask Me Anything" drawing, please go to www.globallithium.net/contact 

E70: Nano One

My guests are Nano One's CEO, Dan Blondal and CTO, Dr. Stephen Campbell.  

We discuss Nano One's recent announcement of a potential game changing process for manufacturing 811 NMC.   We cover the resurgence of LFP and developments by BYD and CATL that could enable LFP to compete with high nickel cathodes in EVs.  We do a deep dive into cathode technology and debunk some commonly held misconceptions.  

Nano One's new cathode materials aim to make rechargeable lithium batteries safer and longer lasting. Their process technology can add value to any type of cathode and enables the use of lithium carbonate as the feedstock for high nickel cathodes.

After listening you will understand much more about cathodes and why producing 811 NMC has been such a challenge. You will also understand why the lithium chemicals market is likely to be balanced between carbonate and hydroxide well into the future despite all the forecasts to the contrary.

The Global Lithium Podcast

Episodes

June 4, 2021 Episode 106 - a short solo episode

A classic episode from 2018

A short episode with my thoughts on the Galaxy - Orocobre Merger

Episode 101: Learning to DYOR, Media Battles & a Certain Project in Europe

Episode 96: My thoughts on the earnings calls of SQM, Albemarle and Livent.

In episode 95, I discuss Elon Musk’s recent appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast and comment on what Elon, Chamath and some major mining billionaires don’t get about lithium. I also discuss why I think former Galaxy CEO Iggy Tan was underappreciated and provide some additional color to my past relationship with Galaxy Resources.

Episode 93: A solo podcast recorded 1/29/2021 with a market update & answers to listener questions

Episode 91: My thoughts on Lithium in 2021

Episode 90: Sigma Lithium (Ana Cabral-Gardner & Calvyn Gardner)

Episode 89: Livista Energy

This episode features Daniel Bloor and Jose Hofer of Livista Energy. You can follow them on Twitter @LivistaEnergy and on Linked In.

Livista plans to have the first large scale lithium conversion plant operating in Europe. In addition to discussing the project, we also cover:

Battery passports and traceability

The challenge of finding raw material supply

Will “ESG compliant” material receive price premiums?

Financing challenges

Site selection

Livista’s scope of ambition

Does Europe need a strategic lithium stockpile?

The future of lithium price

Episode 88: Minviro and Life Cycle Assessments

Robert Pell and Alex Grant from Minviro, pioneers in producing Life Cycle Assessments for the lithium industry, are my guests. Minviro is focused on the environmental portion of the emerging and increasingly significant field of ESG.

We discuss:

The development, importance and value of life cycle assessments

Impact categories

Properly quantifying results vs “tick the box” exercises

The need for 3rd party reviews

OEMs desire for ESG compliant material but unwillingness to invest in it

How seriously life cycle assessments are being taken by the industry

And for those of you that are Ayn Rand fans, after this episode you may be asking “Who is Sarah?” instead of “Who is John Galt?”

Episode 87: Live Q&A from Panorama Minero’s “Lithium South America”

My favorite lithium event of the year is Panorama Minero's  “Lithium South America”. I had the opportunity to keynote at this event in Salta in 2018 and Jujuy in 2019. This year at the virtual event I participated by doing a live Global Lithium Podcast with a great co-host, Carlos Galli, who conveyed the questions from the audience and added his own insightful commentary.

Topics include:

Why OEMs are not investing in lithium and when this will likely change

The bifurcated market in both quality and price

Covid’s impact on the lithium demand

The coming shortage of battery quality lithium

Tesla’s lithium failure

Why Argentina should “build a lithium bridge” to Europe

The Future of DLE 

My ranking of the “Top Five” lithium players

Bolivia – the land of lithium dreams

In addition I make a few comments on the "divorce" of Livent and E3 Metals

Last week Altura went into receivership. A day later Pilbara had a conditional deal to purchase their neighbor. Lithium drama has moved at least temporarily from the Atacama to the Pilbara. I hope the acquisition happens and ultimately leads to Pilbara vertically integrating via partnerships in Europe and possibly Korea.

In Argentina last week, the government of Salta announced it would allow exportation of lithium brine to have the value addition take place in another country. I think this is a short sighted decision unless it is somehow limited to a brief period of time. I explain the logic behind my thinking.

Last week at the Fastmarkets Lithium Conference the question was asked – does Direct Lithium Extraction matter? I provide my thoughts on that topic. I also say why I think the conference needs a “makeover” to remain relevant and challenge my buddy Simon Moores who organized the first edition of the conference when he worked for the Fastmarkets (then called Industrial Minerals) to come up with a new and improved conference for the coming “Golden Age” of lithium.

SQM advised me last week what I “have to do” in order for them to be on the podcast….

Episode 83: Joe Lowry I am interviewed by a pro who talks to me about my three decade “journey” in the lithium world.

Topics include: 

Current lithium “state of play”

False lithium narratives

The EU battery build out and need for regional interdependence in lithium supply

Why do some contemplating EU conversion projects feel carbonate, rather than spodumene, is the best route to battery quality hydroxide?

Why the lithium industry continues to be so misunderstood

Barriers to investment

Is Elon Musk “worth his salt” with respect to lithium?

The future of the cost curve

Why I will never catch up with my daughter’s presence and number of followers on social media

What is my favorite “type” of lithium? Spoiler alert: I don’t have one

Why the next lithium shortage will last for several years?

The problem with feasibility studies

Why partners matter

Urban Mining

Ganfeng’s strategy

Shout outs to Jon Evans, Dr. Tom Benson and Chris Reed

Why I like LAC and hope Standard Lithium succeeds

Episode 82 features Marco Romero, CEO of Euro Manganese. We will discuss the manganese market especially as it relates to lithium batteries and then take a deep dive into the company’s project in the Czech Republic.

In a separate segment of this podcast you will also hear my candid thoughts on Piedmont Lithium’s supply contract with Tesla and SQM’s recent ESG announcement and 2020 sales/production guidance.

The Euro Manganese Project entails re-processing a significant manganese deposit hosted in historic mine tailings, strategically located in the heart of Europe, approximately 90km east of Prague. EMN's goal is to become a leading, competitive and environmentally superior supplier of Ultra-High-Purity Manganese Products, serving both the lithium-ion battery industry, as well as producers of specialty steel and aluminum alloys. 

Episode 81 answers questions received after my recent appearance on the “TC’sChartCast” and continues the dialog on the lithium fallout after Tesla “Battery Day”

Tesla revealed a lithium “strategy” on Battery Day with almost no details. I provide some background on Tesla’s history with lithium supply and offer some comments on likely outcomes. This episode is only available here on the Global Lithium website

This episode features Vivas Kumar of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence for a second appearance. Vivas has been involved in the battery space for a few years beginning as the “lithium guy” at Tesla before joining Benchmark.

We cover a wide variety of topics of the day including when the next lithium shortage will happen and then focus the conversation on what is going on in the “soon to be very significant” Indian market. We also learn why Vivas thinks “flying cars” may become a “thing” in the future.

Listen all the way to “rapid fire” and you will find out why Vivas doesn’t want his mother listening to this episode.

Chris Reed, the CEO of Neometals (ASX: NMT), is my guest on episode 78. Chris was the mastermind behind the development of the Mt Marion mine. He wisely brought in two heavyweight partners - Ganfeng and Mineral Resources to ensure guaranteed offtake and timely construction / start-up. Mt Marion is the cornerstone of Ganfeng’s hard rock supply and the first strategic lithium asset in production for Mineral Resources. Chris timed Neometals’ very profitable exit from the project well and retained pro-rata future offtake rights.

One of the most forward thinking minds in the lithium world, Chris plans to lead Neometals into the broader battery metals market via “urban mining” – recycling lithium batteries to supply high quality cobalt, nickel and lithium while helping the battery industry greatly lower their carbon footprint.

We discuss the current oversupply of spodumene concentrate and where pricing needs to be for newly minted Western Australia mines to survive and then expand to meet the massive growth in lithium demand. Chris and I agree a tight lithium chemicals market and price spike are coming based on the lack of investment in new hard rock and brine capacity in recent years.

We examine the two main process categories of recycling and how Neometals will again utilize world class partners to move quickly along the development curve. Chris deconstructs the economics of recycling and where battery metals from urban mining will fit on the various cost curves.

The episode concludes by looking at Neometals plans for a lithium hydroxide plant in India with a strategic partner and then move to “rapid fire”.

Along the way I add to my vocabulary of Aussie sayings with at least three new ones. The first person that can guess them and leaves me a note on globallithium.net/contact gets a Global Lithium hat.

Chris and Neometals COO, Mike Tamlin were the guests on episode 3 “Wizards of Oz” which is still second most popular episode of all 77 prior podcasts based on downloads.

Episode 77 of the Global Lithium Podcast: “Gradually then Suddenly”: a conversation with Roger Atkins.

Roger Atkins of electricvehiclesoutlook.com is one of the top EV voices on the planet with 30 years of auto industry experience.

This conversation is not really about lithium, it is more about the demand drivers of lithium’s future. Anyone interested in batteries, electric mobility, energy storage or the future will benefit from this podcast. 

We discuss why OEMs really aren’t as motivated to transition to e-mobility as they like to “advertise”, why Tesla has an almost insurmountable lead in battery and EV technology and move on to the rivalry between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and how the world will benefit from their growing competition. We ponder if Musk and Bezos are the new generation of “Robber Barons” with social media generated halos.

Elon Musk’s admiration for Henry Ford is another topic. We wonder aloud if Elon would benefit from sharing ideas with Henry’s great grandson the current executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company.

Roger explains why simple EV penetration metrics are essentially a meaningless form of what he calls “numerical alliteration”.

We break down the e-mobility world by different types of vehicles and discuss how regional differences impact the development of the market. Some market segments are past the mass adoption “tipping point”, others are not.

Along the way you will hear thoughts about the major battery chemistries and their relative merits. Roger asks me if I think ESS will be a bigger market than e-mobility, the answer may surprise you. 

The above, much more and rapid fire.

Ali Dai is the Commercial Director of Chengdu Chemphys, a specialty producer of high purity lithium chemicals. Although less well known than Chinese major producers Ganfeng and Tianqi, Chemphys was active selling high quality lithium chemicals to the difficult to penetrate Japanese and Korean markets long before their larger rivals.

Ali was born in China, raised in Western Australia and left an investment banking career with JP Morgan Chase to return to Chengdu and become involved in the family lithium business. 

We discuss the current state of the lithium market and ponder when the the current oversupply situation will turn to shortage. I ask Alison about Chemphys plans for both expansion and utilizing partnerships to grow in the international market.

We explore the rise of lithium reprocessors, the challenge of upgrading industrial quality lithium to battery quality and opportunities for Chemphys to help brine producers implement direct lithium extraction. 

Ali gives her thoughts on the rise of high nickel cathodes and the recent resurgence of LFP cathode.

And, of course, we close with rapid fire.

My guest for Episode 75 is Gene Morgan the CEO of brine field services provider Zelandez. Gene has an interesting story that starts in New Zealand, moves to oil fields in various parts of the world before an invitation to Bolivia led to both meeting his wife and, ultimately, a career change to lithium. 

We discuss the various services Zelandez provides to lithium explorers, developers and producers. Gene has a unique window on the lithium space, interacting with a wide array of current and future producers.

Having started my career with an oil exploration and production company, I have long believed that the lithium industry has a lot to learn from the much larger and technologically advanced oil business.  

If you want to know more about the future of brine production in South America, then this is episode is for you.

The name Zelandez should be familiar to you since they have been a loyal sponsor of the Global Lithium Podcast since the early days.

Episode 74 “Forged in the Fire” features Ken Brinsden the CEO of Pilbara Minerals. Ken is one of my favorite all time guests. He is articulate and forthright in an industry known for opacity.

We cover several topics in 40 minutes including: Pilbara’s recent refinancing, their improved lithium recoveries to the world class level, how Pilbara is dealing with the current challenging market conditions and preparing for the inevitable upturn.

Ken gives his thoughts on the ability of the industry to respond to the anticipated steep growth in lithium demand in the coming decade and the opportunities a global lithium battery build out represent for the company.

I ask Ken to comment on Pilbara’s partnership strategy, corporate culture and the growing importance of ESG considerations to those seeking to finance lithium projects.

Ken’s office in Perth is about as far away from my home base in Charlotte as you can be. The normally reliable Zoom connection was stressed a few times but the majority of the episode is fine from a sound perspective.

E73: Pavel Galchenko

This episode features Pavel Galchenko of Halmek Lithium. Most investors and many analysts following the lithium industry can’t name a Russian producer; however, Pavel is well known by major lithium companies because of the many industry partnerships Halmek has had for distribution, toll production and providing an outlet for low quality lithium carbonate that Halmek has learned to convert into high quality lithium hydroxide. 

Pavel and his partners at Halmek have made step by step progress from distributing FMC Lithium (Livent) product and US DOE stockpile hydroxide to building their own plant producing industrial grade hydroxide from sourced carbonate to now making battery and high purity quality for local and international markets. 

We discuss the history of the Russian lithium market, the difficulties producing high quality hydroxide and the many challenges entering the lithium battery supply chain. 

Pavel can be found on Twitter @PYasev. 

This episode was brought to you by Zelandez.

E72: Dave Buckley

Episode 72 features Dave Buckley one of the few people on the planet to have extensive experience processing brine and hard rock into carbonate and hydroxide for two major lithium companies followed by half a decade of consulting experience with projects around the world. In addition, Dave also has cathode processing experience. 

We cover brine and hard rock processing challenges, issues with expansions in the Atacama, recovery rates, the challenge of producing a higher percentage of battery quality material, DLE, the need for developing lithium talent, hydroxide shelf life and why the “direct” hard rock route to hydroxide is a misnomer.

Dave and I grew both grew up in Western New York and although we didn’t meet until 1992 share a common bond in optimistically suffering through decades of football futility in Buffalo. Dave can be found on Linked In but keeps a very low social media profile.            

E71: The Lithium “Last Mile” Problem

This is a Q & A episode in two parts. The first part is an abbreviated version of my ‘Ask Me Anything” call with Daniel Graham, a podcast listener from Queenstown, New Zealand. We discuss why I still believe lithium is the best investment among battery raw materials, Tesla, range anxiety, the market for newly designed LFP batteries, lithium metal, ponder if DLE’s potential will be realized or if the industry will have to rely on existing technology for the foreseeable future. I give my thoughts on lithium projects on both sides of the Andes, the importance of project teams and I respond to a “personal question”.

In Part II, I answer the question of why even major producers struggle making high percentages of battery quality material. I define the lithium “last mile” problem and answer specific questions about SQM and Standard Lithium. Finally, I discuss why the growth of LFP won’t make life easier for producers as far as quality is concerned.

The podcast can be found on the Global Lithium website: www.globallithium.net, Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcast and other major podcast outlets. To ask a question, leave a comment or to submit your name for the next "Ask Me Anything" drawing, please go to www.globallithium.net/contact 

E70: Nano One

My guests are Nano One's CEO, Dan Blondal and CTO, Dr. Stephen Campbell.  

We discuss Nano One's recent announcement of a potential game changing process for manufacturing 811 NMC.   We cover the resurgence of LFP and developments by BYD and CATL that could enable LFP to compete with high nickel cathodes in EVs.  We do a deep dive into cathode technology and debunk some commonly held misconceptions.  

Nano One's new cathode materials aim to make rechargeable lithium batteries safer and longer lasting. Their process technology can add value to any type of cathode and enables the use of lithium carbonate as the feedstock for high nickel cathodes.

After listening you will understand much more about cathodes and why producing 811 NMC has been such a challenge. You will also understand why the lithium chemicals market is likely to be balanced between carbonate and hydroxide well into the future despite all the forecasts to the contrary.