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How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

bbc.com

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Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#141

Post by Gatsky »

hyperionplays wrote: post #20

Shame Australian's see little to no benefit, all of the profits are off shored and there are little royalties paid back to the Australian people.

Is that you, Clive?

This doesn’t seem very plausible to me. You are proposing that there could have been an alternate universe where, for example, instead of sending iron ire to China for steel production, Australia could have become the steel producer. This has many assumptions - firstly, that China would buy Australian steel as opposed to finding another ore producer and doing what they do now anyway. You also assume that this would be a good business in Australia. Quite possibly, the economics don’t play out due to energy/labour costs.

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#143

Post by perilunar »

photochemsyn wrote: post #8

This is a surprisingly comprehensive and well-written article, worth reading. For example, the authors note that the majority of Australia's lithium ore is refined to metal in China, although there's a push for local Australian refining. For more details on the current state of lithium battery production globally, this is good: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31850-y (Jul 2022) "Tracing the origin of lithi…

> This is a surprisingly comprehensive and well-written article, worth reading

Well, maybe. But it’s a bit ridiculous to have an article about mining without a single map or any links to maps. How many people reading the article know where Kalgoorlie or the Pilbara is? (or even Perth?)

Anyway, here are the mines referred to in the article, with links and/or Geohack

Cornwall Pit and Greenbushes mine, Greenbushes, WA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenbushes_mine

(looks impressive in Google Earth: https://earth.google.com/web/search/-33.8567368,116.0649188/)

Mount Marion mine, south-west of Kalgoorlie, WA: https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Mount_Mar...

Earl Grey Lithium Mine, Mount Holland, WA: https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Earl_Grey...

Ball Hill Lithium and Tantalum Mine, WA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Hill_Lithium_and_Tantalum...

Mount Cattlin mine, Ravensthorpe, WA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt_Cattlin_mine

Altura Lithium Mine, Pilgangoora, Pilbara, WA: https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Altura_Mi...

Wodgina mine, Pilbara region, WA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wodgina_mine

Finniss Lithium Project, near Darwin, NT: https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Finniss_L...

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#144

Post by ikr678 »

roenxi wrote: post #122

The issue with lithium is it is effectively illegal to process in most of the world that knows how to do it. The subtext in this article is that Australia is a major lithium producer ... because it has easy access to the Chinese refining pipeline which refines the cheap and dirty way. If it were practical to refine lithium in the cheap way we know how, then countries with large lithium reserves (US & Europe) would be…

The Kwinana lithium hydroxide refinery will start processing soon and keep some of the value-add in Australia, and provide local raw materials for battery production. I dont know if all that will end up cost competitive with what is already established in China though.

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#145

Post by zaphirplane »

rr808 wrote: post #7

Australia is like the Saudi Arabia of mining. Such a big continent with very few people. Politically stable and smart enough to exploit itself and keep most of the profits. The lucky country indeed.

And like Saudi leaving massive amount of money on the table by exporting raw materials and will crash when it runs out

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#146

Post by chris_wot »

roenxi wrote: post #133
llamaLord wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an Australian, you’re forgetting one really key part of the puzzle. Australia is a FUCKING ENORMOUS lump of mineral rich dust. The country is literally tinted red when viewed from space because of all the iron in our dry, desolate, empty-ass country. There is one, and I do mean ONE, advantage to being a developed western country that is also fucking empty and inhospitable. All the NIMBY’s are atleast 1000km away f…

We could, but that is a lot less economic. Open pit mines are for bulk commodities and if you put them in the middle of nowhere then the transport costs get extreme. It makes more sense to put them distant but proximate to an existing train line or city. Somewhere like the Pilbara is a bit of an exception because there are 300m high blocks of iron, so sure, we can afford to build a few new tracks. And Europe/the US/A…

Australia has an incredibly dense population basis around the seaboard. There is virtually no one in the centre. I don’t know of any other continent like this.

We are freaking Arrakis.

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#147

Post by chris_wot »

robbiep wrote: post #78
rr808 wrote: post #7

Australia is like the Saudi Arabia of mining. Such a big continent with very few people. Politically stable and smart enough to exploit itself and keep most of the profits. The lucky country indeed.

The true quote that coined that term is Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise. Maybe we’re a bit better now (particularly after the last election) but it doesn’t rea…

Our leaders are way more aware of events that surround them now.

But we do have a first rate health care system, high employment, decent weather and relatively stable government. We didn’t do anything stupid like leave important regional organisations, nor have we ever had our leader forment violent insurrection.

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#148

Post by EdwardDiego »

chris_wot wrote: post #146
roenxi wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We could, but that is a lot less economic. Open pit mines are for bulk commodities and if you put them in the middle of nowhere then the transport costs get extreme. It makes more sense to put them distant but proximate to an existing train line or city. Somewhere like the Pilbara is a bit of an exception because there are 300m high blocks of iron, so sure, we can afford to build a few new tracks. And Europe/the US/A…

Australia has an incredibly dense population basis around the seaboard. There is virtually no one in the centre. I don’t know of any other continent like this. We are freaking Arrakis.

Does that make Scotty from Marketing a Harkonnen?

Tony Abbott was a product of the Tleilaxu, that I'm sure of.

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#149

Post by EdwardDiego »

dalyons wrote: post #16
rr808 wrote: post #7

Australia is like the Saudi Arabia of mining. Such a big continent with very few people. Politically stable and smart enough to exploit itself and keep most of the profits. The lucky country indeed.

Mmm idk about keeping most of the profits - we could have done so much more in that regard over the last two decades. Missed opportunity to create something like Norway’s national oil wealth fund. Instead of offshoring most of the gains.

Aussie and NZ are rather alike. We sold nearly all our sawmills to overseas owned companies that only bought them for the associated contracts to purchase timber.

The sawmills were promptly closed, and the raw logs exported in bulk to Japan and China as a form of protectionism / subsidised employment. They take the inefficiencies to keep portions of their population employed that might otherwise not be.

Then there's the fact that nearly all of our dairy exports are milk powder. It's hardly value add.

Re: How Australia became the world’s greatest lithium supplier

#150

Post by EdwardDiego »

hyperionplays wrote: post #21
spoonalious wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is one: https://www.futurefund.gov.au/

it got raided by successive governments and the royalties we charge are tiny relative to other nations. For example: Australian Gas consumers pay more to use natural gas in Australia, than people in Japan, using Australian LNG.

I'm a Kiwi, and our cheese is cheaper in Perth than anywhere in NZ...

...I feel like our governments had the same neoliberal consultants come in.

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