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A key global player, the United States is not used to being a bystander. Yet this is exactly what is currently happening, says Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s Managing Director Simon Moores, addressing the full U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources this morning.

Delivering his testimony on the outlook for energy and minerals market in the 116th Congress with a special emphasis on battery technology, Moores, who is also a member of the ARPN panel of issue experts, told senators that as battery megafactories are being built to make lithium ion battery cells “[a]t the beginning of 2019, the US has a minor to non-existent role in most of the key lithium- ion battery raw materials and only has a presence in lithium ion battery manufacturing via Tesla. Tesla and its Gigafactory 1 is emerging to be the most strategic US asset in the EV supply chain.

Providing insightful details and supporting data for the four key battery raw materials lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite, Moores drives home an important message:

“Those who control these critical raw materials and those who possess the manufacturing and processing know how, will hold the balance of industrial power in the 21st century auto and energy storage industries.”

The writing is on the wall. As Moores previously stated:

“Without low cost, abundant lithium ion batteries & secure supply chains, the US will fall behind in the EV & energy storage revolution.”

This clearly is a scenario U.S. policy makers and other stakeholders will want to avoid, which is why moving forward on mineral resource policy reform is critical.

We know it is much to ask of Washington, where too often, partisan politics override prudent policies. However, as another fellow ARPN expert panel member Jeff Green recently said (while addressing resource policy in the context of the defense industrial base):

“In the new Congress, Democrats and Republicans should seek out opportunities to work together in advancing mutually sought-after goals in this critical policy area.”

We’ve called it “the new black.” The Guardian even went as far as ringing in the “Ion Age.”  Bearing testimony to the growing importance of battery technology, the U.S. Senate will hold a hearing examining the outlook for energy and minerals markets in the 116th Congress on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 with an emphasis on battery technology.

Followers of ARPN will not be surprised to learn that Simon Moores, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s Managing director and member of the ARPN panel of issue experts has been asked – once more – to share their insights on the supply chain for EV lithium ion batteries and the energy storage revolution.

Moores considers the fact that the U.S. Senate Energy committee is holding its second hearing in 14 months on the issue progress, stating: 

“The highest level of US government is taking the risks to its future automotive and energy industries seriously. With the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) and the true arrival of battery storage as part of the energy mix, those that have low cost, abundant supply of quality lithium ion batteries will be ahead of the pack.  Right now, China is leading the build out of this lithium ion battery capacity and Benchmark Minerals now forecasts the country to have 68% of global capacity by 2028 while the US presently sits at 11%.

The other key factor in controlling this industry is securing supply chains for lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite anode materials. This is not just about low cost, high volume mining but key skills and know-how to produce chemically engineered battery grade chemicals – commodities for the 21st century.”

The committee has set the hearing for 10:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, and will offer a livestream on its website, where written testimony will also be made available at the time of the hearing.

Speaking at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s American Energy Innovation Council last week, Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced the launch of a new research center on lithium battery recycling. The Battery Recycling R&D Center will focus on reclaiming and recycling “critical materials (e.g. cobalt and lithium) from lithium based battery technology used in consumer electronics, defense, energy [...]

Unless you’ve spent the last few years under a rock, you know that battery technology is the new black. With a new detailed “briefing” feature, The Guardian even goes as far as ringing in the “Ion Age” – a play on lithium-ion battery technology, which continues to make headlines. Writers Adam Vaughan and Samuel Gibbs [...]

While we’re still waiting for policy makers and other stakeholders to take further action, in 2018 an important step was taken to set the stage for mineral resource policy reform with the release of the Department of Interior’s List of 35 Minerals Deemed Critical to U.S. National Security and the Economy. Throughout the drafting stage [...]

In case you hadn’t noticed amidst holiday preparations, travel arrangements and the usual chaos of everyday life – 2019 is just around the corner, and with that, the time to reflect on the past twelve months has arrived. So here is ARPN’s recap of 2018: Where we began. Unlike previous years, we started 2018 with [...]

In 2007, a new mineral found in Serbia made headlines around the world. “Kryptonite Discovered in Mine” – wrote the BBC about the discovery of a material the chemical formula of which – sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide – happened to match the one of the famed kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the [...]

It’s the big elephant in the resource room – China. The recently-released 130-page long declassified version of the Defense Industrial Base Report mention the words “China” or “Chinese”  a “whopping 229 times” – for good reason.  As the Department of Defense argues in the report, “China’s domination of the rare earth element market illustrates the potentially dangerous interaction between Chinese economic [...]

While the United States is finally taking steps to approach mineral resource policy in a comprehensive and strategic fashion, the European Union got a head start several years ago, and has since begun enacting mineral resource policy initiatives within the context of its raw materials strategy.  With its ambitious 2050 low-carbon vision, and the rise [...]

The recently-released Defense Industrial Base study, which once more has underscored the need for a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. resource policy, directed its focus on U.S. competitiveness primarily vis-à-vis China. Already vast and resource-rich, the country has demonstrated an insatiable appetite for the world’s mineral resources and has pursued an aggressive strategy to gain access [...]