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Comprehensive Supply Chain Solutions

Potash
While not a battery mineral, potash is emerging
as another “sustainable mineral” thanks to its low
operational carbon footprint and ability to increase
agricultural yields and improve nutrition in developing
nations. The WA sector is being driven by a group of
ambitious juniors with potential to grow production to fit
demand for sulphate-of-potash, a high-quality fertiliser
which is increasingly in demand across the globe

New gold terrains
A process which started more than a decade ago
with the discovery of Tropicana and continued last
decade with the Gruyere find has continued in 2020
with the discovery of the Hemi gold deposit in the
Pilbara. Not only does Hemi represent a new style
of gold mineralisation for WA (intrusion-related
gold systems), it was also found under a thin layer
of transported cover, encouraging explorers
to deploy new technology to test previously
unheralded regions in remote parts of the State

Vanadium
One of WA’s forgotten commodities, vanadium has
flattered to deceive down the years thanks to an
uneven market and operational issues at the few
projects which have got close to production. Now,
however, its role in static battery technology means
there is a market beyond steel giving players such
as Australian Vanadium Ltd and Technology Metals
Australia Ltd confidence they can finally get their
long-awaited projects into production

Nickel

It has been a long time coming but signs of the
next big nickel discovery in WA have finally started
showing in 2020. The success of Legend Mining Ltd
and then Chalice Gold Mines Ltd earlier in the year has
thrown the exploration spotlight back on one of WA’s
favourite commodities and with BHP Ltd announcing
its intentions to expand its nickel business, there is
plenty of incentive for others to chase new deposits

Lithium
Lithium was the first of the battery minerals to
boom but also the first to see its run stall. While
the current travails of the established producers
suggest the market may have gotten ahead of
itself, long-term projections remain positive for
the metal. Outside current operators such as
Greenbushes, Pilbara Minerals Ltd and Altura
Mining Ltd there is a dozen or so lithium plays
primed for any eventual upswing in demand. With
EV production expected to increase dramatically
in the second half of the decade, the WA lithium
sector could eventually fulfill its promise

Downstream processing

Attempts to build battery precursor and cathode manufacturing facilities in WA continue despite the coronavirus setbacks. In August, the WA
Government announced a $13.2 million incentives programme to attract a global cathode active materials production facility in the State.
this comes on the back of similar backing for the Future Battery Industries CRC and BHP Nickel West’s construction of a nickel sulphate plant at
its Kwinana nickel refinery. While COVID has slowed the EV revolution, many analysts believe it could reinforce WA’s downstream ambitions
by highlighting Europe and the US’s need to diversify away from their reliance on China for key ingredients in the EV process

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT OCTOBeR 2020 Page 37