A Blog for Browsing Mining, Mineral Processing, and Metals Info

Mining companies in #Peru, a leading #Copper exporter, are accelerating their production of copper to take advantage of better prices for the red metal, the finance minister said in broadcast comments.

Peru is on track to become the world’s second-biggest copper producer this year thanks to rising output from new mines commissioned during the commodities boom earlier this century.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/peru-copper-idUSL1N1EB0RW

#Stanford University researchers have identified nearly two-dozen solid electrolytes that could someday replace the volatile liquids used in smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices.

Despite years of laboratory trial and error, researchers have yet to find an inexpensive solid material that performs as well as liquid electrolytes at room temperature.

Instead of randomly testing individual compounds, the team turned to AI and machine learning to build predictive models from experimental data. They trained a computer algorithm to learn how to identify good and bad compounds based on existing data, much like a facial-recognition algorithm learns to identify faces after seeing several examples.

Read more at: http://news.stanford.edu/2016/12/15/no-burning-batteries-stanford-scientists-turn-ai-create-safer-lithium-ion-batteries/

The Breakthrough Energy Coalition (BEC) is an influential group of investors and institutions that is committed to investing in technology that can help solve the urgent energy and climate challenges facing the planet.

Read more at: http://www.ibtimes.co.in/mukesh-ambani-jeff-bezos-jack-ma-bill-gates-collaborate-1-billion-energy-fund-708343

The investment bank said it was forecasting a moderate #Copper deficit of around 180,000 tonnes for 2017, flipping from earlier estimates of a 360,000-tonne supply surplus.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-research-copper-goldman-idUSKBN1410WD

In recent years, the growing new energy vehicle industry has been attracting the attention of manufacturers both in #China and overseas.

#Mercedes-#Benz, a unit of the #German company Daimler AG, plans to build a battery plant and make electric cars in #China, #Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Read more at: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/motoring/2016-12/08/content_27606664.htm

#Chinese and #Korean investors are said to be in advanced talks with the #Chilean government to open up a $2 billion mega-#Lithium batteries plant in the country’s north, known for its vast salt flats under which experts say there is enough of the commodity to supply the world for decades.

Read more at: http://www.mining.com/chinese-korean-group-to-build-2-billion-lithium-batteries-plant-in-chile/

#Tesla cannot launch a $35,000 Model 3 without a Gigafactory that’s operating at or near its design capacity of 35 GWh per year. That will require about 7,800 tonnes of #Cobalt per year. Tesla doesn’t have a cobalt supply chain that can take almost 10% of global cobalt production away from the companies that are presently using the metal.

Speaking at a press briefing at the #NewYork Stock Exchange, Murilo Ferreira of #Vale made a bold prediction that half of the cars in the Group of Seven industrialized democracies — the #US, #Canada, #France, #Germany, #Italy and the #UK — would be #ElectricVehicles within five years.

He said Vale’s #Nickel assets would be well-placed to supply the battery makers building batteries for electric vehicles, which required nickel purity of 99.9%, with the #Canadian assets supplying #NorthAmerica and #NewCaledonia supplying #Asia.

Read more at: http://www.platts.com/latest-news/metals/newyork/vale-sees-nickel-opportunity-in-electric-vehicle-21198072

#Lithium, or white petrol as it’s becoming known, is a hot commodity. Demand for the metal could triple in the next ten years, driven particularly by a rise in demand for #Batteries in products like #Smartphones, #Laptops and electric cars. Only today a group of leading carmakers including #Ford, #BMW and #Porsche announced they wanted to build a #Europe-wide network of charging stations for #ElectricVehicles.

Read more at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04jf21v