NEN EXCLUSIVES
Donald Trump just threatened to cut GM's electric vehicle subsidies in their entirety
Copper and nickel are being stockpiled by China, Europe, and others, and no, it’s not because demand is drying up
Investor Alert: "Battery mining" is about to become big business and you don't want to miss the boat
Nemaska Lithium looks to produce lithium carbonate and hydroxide in Quebec by August 2020
New Energy Narrative, the Drudge Report of new energy news, is now offering battery metals miners/explorers, clean energy companies, and EV makers an exceptional advertising opportunity
It's official: The Trump Administration slaps China with $200 billion in new tariffs, to include tariffs on lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, manganese, aluminum, vanadium, and copper
New Energy Narrative presents: MAJOR PREDICTIONS for renewable energy, electric vehicles, batteries, and more, courtesy of investor Cory Groshek
A social (media) experiment by New Energy Narrative proves that lithium investors really need to do their own research
Why Elon Musk taking Tesla private could be a boon for lithium, cobalt, and other battery metals related stocks
Evaporation ponds are a waste of time, money, space, and water, and lithium producers would be wise to lose them
An open letter to Elon Musk, by Cory Groshek of New Energy Narrative and Manifestation Machine
3 major trends that battery metals investors must pay attention to in 2018
ELECTRIC VEHICLES & EV CHARGING
Mercedes-Benz, as part of its "electric offensive," intends to spend 20 billion euros on the purchase of lithium-ion battery cells for its planned line-up of 130 electrified vehicles by 2022
Elon Musk claims that Tesla's vehicles will soon be able to go from your garage at home to a parking lot at work "with no driver input at all," thanks to Autopilot upgrades
Elon Musk accuses 60 Minutes of selectively editing what he said during his interview this past weekend and demands that his responses to interviewer Lesley Stahl be depicted accurately
In yet another blow to plug-in hybrid vehicles, a new RAC Foundation study says they should be banned from motorway chargepoints until they can compete with pure EVs on charging speed
Electric vehicle production plans around the world are ramping up and building major momentum, which indicates that the end of the internal combustion engine is now imminent
Volkswagen Group's Audi to invest €14 billion into its own attempts to electrify and digitize its vehicle offerings, as the German auto industry continues to fight back against Tesla
Swedish utility Vattenfall has signed a deal to install its first electric car chargers in the UK, which will provide 100% renewable power via British wind farms
FreeWire Technologies, a startup that creates portable charging technologies for electric vehicles and other devices, has closed a $15 million series A round of funding led by BP Ventures
Tesla's Chinese gigafactory is expected to be put partially into operation in the second half of 2019, according to an official WeChat post from the Shanghai government
Mass adoption of electric vehicles could save the United States billions of dollars, but the savings are completely dependent upon the times of day that drivers choose to charge
The Trump Administration is allegedly looking into not only terminating subsidies for General Motors, but the electric vehicle tax credit for ALL automakers
China's Advisory Council on the Environment believes Hong Kong could try a lot harder when it comes to transitioning its commercial vehicles, and especially taxis, to electric vehicles
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
Vanadium is the hottest metal in the battery metals space, but with demand from the battery sector nowhere near demand from the steel sector, how long can its run really last?
Automakers are now being forced to consider engineering rare earths out of electric vehicles entirely, as supplies of the metals are becoming far too difficult to secure
Researchers believe they've discovered a way to use purple phototrophic bacteria, which can store energy from light, to recover 100% of carbon from household sewage and industrial wastewater
Banks may not be investing in new mines or helping to fund a whole lot of battery metals exploration, but big mining companies are, in a big way
The Union of Concerned Scientists thinks U.S. automakers' counter to the Trump Administration's rollback of EPA fuel economy standards is complete b.s. and worse than the rollback itself
The U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Military were working on energy resilience-related projects long before Trump took office, and the President has done nothing to stop them from doing so since taking office
Scandium, on the list of 35 metals critical to United States national security, looks to be the next big thing in the aerospace and auto industries, as aluminum-scandium alloys gain in popularity
Chevrolet may not be planning any electric trucks, but they ARE planning a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered Silverado that the U.S. Army appears to be VERY interested in
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure would get built a lot faster if developers would stop treating it as a pet project and more like the extremely lucrative business model it could be
Australia’s Syrah Resources has signed a binding sales agreement with China’s Qingdao Taida-Huarun New Energy Technology for graphite from the company’s Balama project in Mozambique
BATTERIES & BATTERY MATERIALS
Australian Coalition ministers, per a new Austrade report: Australia must not squander the “once-in-a-generation” opportunity presented by the booming demand for lithium-ion batteries
Lithium Werks will begin construction in 2019 on its battery factory in China, the first such factory built by a European company, which will have an initial annual production capacity of 8GWh
Could fluoride-ion batteries ever compete with lithium-ion batteries for energy storage market share? The Honda Research Institute would like to think so
Chinese EV maker BYD, backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, is looking to spin-off and list separately its electric vehicle battery business within the next 4-5 years
The world's largest electric vehicle battery cell maker, China's CATL, plans to apply for up to CNY110 billion (US $16 billion) in credit as it looks to keep up with Tesla and others
Lithium Australia is claiming that it has achieved a world-first: Production of a lithium-ion battery made entirely of mining waste
Construction of a $4 billion lithium-ion battery project in Morowali, on the nickel-rich Indonesian island of Sulawesi, is set to begun on January 11, 2019
Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions of Japan and Johnson Controls Power Solutions of the U.S. are teaming up to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles starting in 2020
South Korean battery giant SK Innovation wants to not only invest billions of dollars and hire thousands of people within the U.S., but to “grow together” with U.S. society
Propulsion Québec is launching a study that will look into the feasibility of a Quebec, Canada-based lithium-ion battery industry to service the electric vehicle and battery storage industries
BATTERY STORAGE & RECYCLING
American Manganese has signed an MOU with Battery Safety Solutions of the Netherlands aimed at commercializing the circular economy upcycling of lithium-ion battery cathode materials
Siemens will supply what it calls the world’s first energy storage solution for an offshore drilling rig, the "BlueVault lithium-ion battery-based solution", in the Norwegian North Sea
Electric grid operators in the U.S. have completed their compliance filings for FERC's landmark energy storage order, paving the way for wider participation of energy storage in wholesale markets
South Australia's big battery has outperformed expectations in its first year of operation, saving almost $40 million in grid stabilisation costs and helping prevent blackouts
SolarEdge-owned, South Korean lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide (NMC) battery maker Kokam has won a bid to produce 40 MWH of solar-connected battery capacity in South Korea
Carl Smith, CEO of Call2Recycle: Generally speaking, we don’t recycle a very high percentage of batteries placed on the marketplace, and this needs to change, so batteries don't end up in landfills
Arsenal Foot Ball Club has announced the installation of a battery storage system at its Emirates stadium in London, UK that can store enough energy to power the stadium during an entire match
Ron Baron of Baron Capital: Tesla’s electric vehicle and battery storage businesses will be worth $500 billion each by 2030
A coalition led by the Energy Storage Association is calling on lawmakers in the U.S. to clarify that battery storage systems qualify for the Investment Tax Credit (ITC)
German battery storage firm Sonnen has begun assembly of batteries in Australia for the first time with the opening of a manufacturing facility in the old Holden car plant in Adelaide
LITHIUM
Australian Coalition ministers, per a new Austrade report: Australia must not squander the “once-in-a-generation” opportunity presented by the booming demand for lithium-ion batteries
Bernstein "analyst" Paul Gait proves he is an ignorant, talentless hack by basing his lithium calls on demand for low-quality Chinese carbonate and a misguided belief that lithium geology is "simple"
MGX Minerals has received an independent scale up and technology engineering review of its rapid lithium extraction technology for geothermal implementation in the western United States
BMO: Argentina lithium should trade at discounts to Chilean, Australian, and U.S. assets as political uncertainty and economic instability make the country less attractive for lithium investment
Many mining companies are looking for lithium brine in Argentina, but are they making a mistake, as the South American state looks increasingly unstable beside its neighbor Chile?
Chinese lithium consumers are attempting to use lower prices for local lithium carbonate as leverage to get lower contract pricing for 2019, despite lithium prices rising everywhere else
Lithium giant Albemarle is attempting to use its transition to Australian hard rock and lithium hydroxide production against Chile over a denial of its request for a lithium sales quota increase
Portfolio strategist advisor Matt Bohlsen: The stock of EV metals miners have been massively oversold, lithium and cobalt prices have stabilized, and sentiment will soon swing to the upside
LSC Lithium has announced positive PEA results for a planned 20,000 tons-per-annum lithium carbonate operation at its Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project in Argentina
The merger of Tawana Resources and Alliance Mineral Assets is now official, with the shares of new, combined entity scheduled to hit the ASX on Monday, December 17, 2018
COBALT
China's grip on the cobalt chemicals sector that supplies the electric vehicle and battery storage industries is an existential threat to the economies of the entire Western world
Portfolio strategist advisor Matt Bohlsen: The stock of EV metals miners have been massively oversold, lithium and cobalt prices have stabilized, and sentiment will soon swing to the upside
Conservation and clean-water groups this week appealed state permits issued for the PolyMet open-pit copper and cobalt mine in northern Minnesota and filed a separate appeal challenging the state’s mining rules
Cobalt Blue says it now owns 93.68% of the Thackaringa cobalt project after its JV partner Broken Hill Prospecting opted to not sink anymore funds into exploration at the moment
The DRC has officially declared cobalt a "strategic mineral resource", meaning mining giants Glencore and China Molybdenum will now owe 10% more in royalties on any of their output of it
CRU Group: "China controls a massive proportion of the world’s cobalt sulphate...and aside from one chemical refinery in Finland, they control pretty much the entire world’s cobalt chemical refining capacity"
Glencore's CEO Glasenberg aims to hang onto his role for at least 3-5 more years, as the company seeks "to find alternative interim solutions" to its Katanga-has-uranium-in-its-cobalt problem
Congolese state-run miner Gecamines has signed a production-sharing deal for copper and cobalt deposits with HongKong Excellen Mining, as China looks to lock up more supplies of critical EV metals
German carmaker BMW is joining chemicals giant BASF and South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI to work on a program to improve working conditions for "artisanal" cobalt miners in the Congo
Battery metals expert Chris Berry believes there is a huge disconnect when it comes to investors understanding the supply and demand picture for lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, graphite, and vanadium
NICKEL
India’s environmental court says it will issue its judgment next week on whether to allow Vedanta Ltd to re-open its copper smelter in Tamil Nadu, currently shut down over pollution concerns
Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) President: The Philippines' new mining and rehabilitation program will result in 10-20% less nickel production next year versus this year
BHP, the world's third largest nickel producer, has received approval from the Western Australia to develop a nickel mine that will feed its Nickel West battery chemicals business
Brazilian miner Vale SA, the world’s top nickel producer, plans to invest $500 million in its struggling New Caledonia nickel mine on its own after previously vowing to find a partner for the venture
Indonesia has granted permission for two commodity companies in the country, Modern Cahaya and Integra, to restart exports of nickel ore as they have made progress on smelter projects
Indonesian state miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) is seeking to export 5 million tons of nickel ore in 2019, up from an estimated 3.9 million tons in 2018
The London Court of Appeals has upheld Vladimir Potanin, one of two major shareholders in Nornickel, in his attempt to block the other, Oleg Deripaska, from buying more shares in the giant nickel producer
Battery metals expert Chris Berry believes there is a huge disconnect when it comes to investors understanding the supply and demand picture for lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, graphite, and vanadium
Australian cobalt and nickel junior Ardea Resources says it won't bother completing a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for its Goongarrie Project unless a "strategic partner" commits to it first
Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining will invest over $1.77 billion to set up a nickel smelter in Indonesia to meet strong demand for the metal used in electric vehicle batteries
COPPER
Antipa Minerals, which is currently exploring at a Western Australia-based copper project with partner Rio Tinto, says it's striking out so far in terms of finding an economically viable deposit
Australia's South32 has signed a new, $1 million funding agreement with Canada's EMX Royalty Corp, which will support generative work on copper projects in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah
China's copper imports fell 3% in November from a year ago to 456,000 tons, but they were up 8.6% from October's number at 420,000 tons
Excelsior Mining has begun construction on its Gunnison copper project in Arizona with an aim to commission its mine by Q4 of 2019
Altius Royalty Corporation has exercised a royalty option, originally entered into on July 19, 2013, on Excelsior Mining's Gunnison copper project in Arizona, in exchange for C$5 million
Conservation and clean-water groups this week appealed state permits issued for the PolyMet open-pit copper and cobalt mine in northern Minnesota and filed a separate appeal challenging the state’s mining rules
Canada's Teck Resources has agreed to sell a 30% stake in its Quebrada Blanca copper mine expansion in northern Chile to Japan’s Sumitomo for US $1.2 billion
Premiums for imports of copper into China, the world's largest consumer of the metal, sank to an 18-month low this week, in a sign that demand for physical metal is waning after a buying spree