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Snow Lake Lithium introduced right this moment it expects to provide sufficient lithium from its operations in Manitoba, Canada, to fabricate round 5 million electrical automotive batteries for the North American market over 10 years starting in 2025. In a press launch shared with CleanTechnica, Snow Lake CEO Philip Gross mentioned, “As we quickly transition to electrification, it’s important for the way forward for the North American automotive business that we construct a rock to street battery provide chain. Native sourcing of vital uncooked supplies corresponding to lithium is the one logical step to create a vertically built-in home provide chain.
“Snow Lake Lithium has entry to a wealthy lithium useful resource and is on the doorstep of North American producers. That is sufficient lithium to energy 500,000 electrical automobiles a 12 months produced in North America, which might considerably scale back logistics and emissions that will be created by importing uncooked supplies from China.”
Picture courtesy of Snow Lake Lithium
With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act within the US final month, entry to lithium provides which can be sourced from North America will change into vital for American automakers who need their electrical vehicles and vans to be eligible for the tax rebates and different incentives included within the new regulation. However whereas entry to lithium is necessary, extracting it in means that’s environmentally sound is a problem.
As Philip Gross told CleanTechnica’s Jo Borras earlier this year, Snow Lake is promising to be a “no-harm” producer of lithium. It would use hydroelectric energy solely. Its mining gear is all powered by electrical energy and it’ll use gentle rail programs to maneuver its merchandise to market as a substitute of utilizing ships or vans. All of those measures will decrease the environmental price of extracting lithium from the bottom with “arduous rock” mining, which the corporate believes is extra environmentally pleasant that extracting lithium from brine swimming pools.
Snow Lake Lithium is ideally positioned to serve the North American automotive business with entry to the US rail community through the Arctic Gateway railway. That can scale back transportation from hundreds of miles by street and boat to only a number of hundred miles by prepare.
To allow the seamless integration of the availability chain, Snow Lake Lithium plans to determine a three way partnership to create a lithium hydroxide processing plant and is searching for a partnership with an automaker or battery producer to deliver the plan to fruition. Mercedes and Hyundai have already begun on the lookout for lithium suppliers in Canada to assist them meet the US battery supplies sourcing laws that go into impact on January 1, 2023. The proposed lithium mine will probably be positioned in CentrePort Canada in Southern Manitoba. A scoping research is already underway to establish the simplest option to construct a world class lithium hydroxide plant in Manitoba.
Picture courtesy of Snow Lake Lithium
The 55,000-acre web site the place the Snow Lake operation will probably be positioned is anticipated to provide 160,000 tonnes of 6% lithium spodumene a 12 months over a 10-year interval. Presently, Snow Lake Lithium has explored roughly 1% of its web site and is assured that additional exploration will enhance estimates over the course of the subsequent 12 months. Over the approaching months, the corporate will proceed its engineering analysis and drilling program throughout its web site, with the expectation that mining operations, will transition to business manufacturing focused for 2025.
“Snow Lake Lithium is dedicated to creating and working a completely renewable and sustainable lithium mine that may ship a totally traceable, carbon impartial, and 0 hurt product to the North American electrical automobile and battery markets. We aspire to not solely set the usual for accountable lithium mining, however we intend to be the primary lithium producer on the planet to realize Licensed B Company standing within the course of.”
The US has put the highlight on the supply of supplies used to make the batteries for electrical automobiles offered in America. Snow Lake is properly positioned to step into that highlight and supply the lithium the US wants to maneuver the EV revolution ahead.
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