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Booming electric-car production is creating a mad dash for lithium. Meet 13 startups angling to cash in on a supply-chain weak link that may soon be worth $34.3 billion.

Author admin

February 8, 2023

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Sigma Lithium is just one company racing to tackle the auto industry's lithium crisis.

• Lithium is a crucial component of electric-car batteries.
• The Ukraine invasion, which threatens nickel, has elevated the need to secure battery metal supply.
• Here are 13 outfits seizing the opportunity to play a part in the growing lithium business.

The crisis in Ukraine has spelled trouble for the global electric-vehicle supply chain as it relates to nickel, a critical material in EV batteries. But it has also relit the spotlight on another metal key to battery production: lithium.

As a result, startups are racing to lead in an accelerating lithium market that could hit $34.3 billion by 2030 — 85% of which would be for the EV market, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Even though legacy automakers and startups are toying with different battery chemistries in search of the right mix of cost, performance, and availability of supply, many remain reliant on lithium-heavy tech. If companies lean on other lithium-based chemistries to reduce need for nickel or cobalt (the latter comes from problematic mining practices), demand for the metal could skyrocket.

But the lithium supply readily available, especially in the US, is expected to shrink as EV adoption accelerates and demand spikes. It's an access problem, but being dependent on foreign sources (like China, which dominates the space, according to Global Data) also raises concerns around national security. President Joe Biden recently invoked the Defense Production Act to encourage domestic production of EV-battery minerals to mitigate that risk. And Elon Musk recently tweeted about his interest in a play in the lithium space.

"It takes somewhere between three to five years to bring lithium to market from the time you put capital on the ground to the time you actually can sell, can market that lithium," Pedro Palandrani, the director of research at the fund-management firm Global X ETFs, said. "That inflexible nature of the supply side of the equation really creates these price increases for lithium and bottlenecks."

Giants like Albemarle, Ganfeng Lithium, and Sociedad Química y Minera have long dominated the booming lithium space, but dozens of startups are entering the scene. Here's a look at 13 of the outfits eyeing bigger parts of the space:



Piedmont Lithium

HQ: Belmont, North Carolina

CEO: Keith Phillips

The 6-year-old company is working to convert lithium resources into lithium hydroxide for batteries. The Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt, the only lithium deposit of its kind in the US, is one of the most important sites globally.

Piedmont is identifying prospective partners, such as EV startups and battery companies, to invest in and help fund Piedmont's projects. To Piedmont, the best way for industry stakeholders to secure enough critical supply at a reasonable cost is to coinvest alongside a Piedmont Lithium asset.

"There will be companies that don't get material and can't produce enough cars. There will be others that get the material at very high cost. And there will be others that make investments to both secure the supply so they get the material and control the cost," Phillips told Insider. "The only thing that's going to hold back EV penetration is the supply chain."

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Maciej Jastrzebski is the CEO of Toronto's Li-Metal, a 4-year-old lithium-production startup.

Li-Metal

HQ: Toronto

CEO: Maciej Jastrzebski

Founded in 2018, Li-Metal's lithium metal-production process uses available domestic chemical sources that don't produce toxic byproducts. Its lithium-metal-anode tech means battery-cell makers and car companies can produce advanced batteries with less lithium.

It recently announced a joint development and commercialization agreement with the solid-state-battery producer Blue Solutions.

"I had been searching far and wide across the battery supply chain for cost-effective battery lithium metal, and not only did it not exist but the pathway to get there didn't exist, and the answers that we were getting from the traditional lithium-metal companies and lithium-chemical companies were truly unsatisfactory," Dean Frankel, Li-Metal's chief commercial officer, told Insider in March. "We sit at the bleeding edge of the supply chain."



Acme Lithium is in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Acme Lithium

HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia

CEO: Steve Hanson

Founded in 2020, Acme focuses on acquiring and developing battery-metal projects in partnership with tech companies and commodity partners. The company is still a few years away from permitting — required before the start of construction and operation — but has two projects in Nevada, one in Oregon, and two in Manitoba. Acme has active exploration programs this year.

"We don't even have enough lithium supply for one automaker's battery factory," Hanson told Insider. "That's why we're seeing companies like Tesla and the big Detroit auto manufacturers, including Ford and GM, make significant investments in looking and seeking downstream sources.

; "We're seeing strategic investors seek future supply at an earlier stage than before. They are making inquiries to companies like ours to understand where they may have supply many years down the road.

"It certainly sends the message that there is a huge concern by the auto manufacturers and by other technology companies: How can we secure supply for the long term?"

Lilac in Oakland, California, uses its technology to tap into reserves of lithium in salt-water deposits.



Lilac Solutions

HQ: Oakland, California

CEO: David Snydacker

In Oakland, California, Lilac focuses on how materials needed for manufacturing EV batteries are mined.

Lilac's extraction technology taps into reserves of lithium in salt-water deposits. It says its process is more efficient and can be done more ethically and environmentally than many methods in use. The brine containing the lithium can be returned underground following extraction to minimize environmental impact. Lilac's backers include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, led by Bill Gates, and BMW.

Ascend Elements

HQ: Westborough, Massachusetts

CEO: Mike O'Kronley

The startup, formerly known as Battery Resourcers, was founded in 2015. It manufactures battery materials pulled from discarded batteries, including lithium, and returns them to the battery supply chain. This helps eliminate the industry's reliance on mining new materials.

It's working with SK Battery America to recycle lithium-ion-battery manufacturing scrap out of Ascend's recycling facility in Covington, Georgia, which the company says can recover 98% of materials.

Mangrove Lithium

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Saad Dara

Spun out from a project at the University of British Columbia and founded in 2017, Mangrove says it's developing a faster and less expensive way to refine and produce lithium.

"That raw material, we believe, is going to limit how many EVs can actually end up on the road," Dara told Insider last year.

Mangrove is optimizing the step in between lithium extraction and battery manufacturing, using a processing tech to produce lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide for battery cathodes or anodes. The company wants to license its technology to mining companies, battery makers, and automakers.



Li-Cycle, a company founded in 2016 that recycles lithium-ion batteries, went public via SPAC in August.

Li-Cycle

HQ: Mississauga, Ontario

CEO: Ajay Kochhar

The company, which recycles lithium-ion batteries, was founded in 2016 and went public via special-purpose acquisition company in August. It has facilities in Kingston, Ontario, and Rochester, New York, and plans to build more in Arizona, Alabama, Ohio (via GM's Ultium Cells), and Norway. A new Rochester hydrometallurgical hub could help it lead in battery-grade nickel, cobalt, and lithium production.

Li-Cycle's commercial battery-supply customers include Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, General Motors, and Kia. It also has an agreement to recycle battery scrap from LG Energy Solution and supply it and LG Chem with nickel starting next year.

"Consumers have spoken, and they want these vehicles. That's first and foremost. Hence, OEMs are tailoring to their customers," Kochhar told Insider in March, referring to original equipment manufacturers. "Zooming out, we can help to alleviate these supply-chain pressure points, and in the long term, this could be the urban mining solution."



Sigma Lithium, founded in 2012, is working to create the largest hard-rock-lithium deposits in the Americas. Pictured is Ana Cabral-Gardner.

Sigma Lithium

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Calvyn Gardner and Ana Cabral-Gardner

The Canadian company, founded in 2012, is working to develop the largest hard-rock-lithium deposits in the Americas. It plans to use lithium to boost growth of the EV industry, and it wants to do so by becoming one of the biggest and lowest-cost producers of sustainable lithium products. It is currently under construction, operating out of Brazil, and has been producing lithium concentrate at a demonstration pilot plant since 2018. Sigma Lithium has a contract with LG and hopes to reach net-zero targets by 2024.

"No matter which battery technology one selects, you always have around 17 to 20% lithium in the battery," Cabral-Gardner told Insider in December. "We need to follow the energy transition with production practices and production techniques that are in line with the decarbonization and sustainability purpose of promoting the energy transition to begin with."



Lithium Americas, which runs projects in both Argentina and the US, was founded in 2007 and is based in Canada.

Lithium Americas

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Jonathan Evans

Lithium Americas, which was founded in 2007 and has raised $1 billion in debt and equity, mines, produces, and supplies lithium. It runs projects in both Argentina and the US and is working to develop new sources of lithium, which it says will help meet the growing demand for low-carbon energy sources. In Argentina, it runs the Cauchari-Olaroz project, expected to be the next low-cost brine-lithium-carbonite project in the country, as well as the Pastos Grandes project, which it acquired in December. In the US, it runs the Thacker Pass project in Nevada, which will be developed as an open-pit mining operation.

Standard Lithium

HQ: Vancouver

CEO: Robert Mintak

Standard Lithium, founded in 1998, claims to be bringing the first new US lithium project in more than 50 years into production. Its flagship project is in southern Arkansas, which it says is the largest lithium-brine project in the US. The company is working to test and prove the commercial viability of sustainable lithium extraction from more than 150,000 acres of brine operations. It says its extraction process is environmentally friendly and eliminates the need for evaporation ponds, as well as reduces the processing time to hours and increases the effectiveness of lithium recovery.



Core Lithium in Adelaide, Australia, wants to become Australia's next major lithium producer by the end of this year.

Core Lithium

HQ: Adelaide, Australia

CEO: Stephen Biggins

Core Lithium, founded in 2010, says it's developing one of Australia's most capital-efficient, lowest-cost spodumene-lithium projects. Its goal is to become Australia's next major lithium producer by the end of this year. Its Finnis Lithium Project is near the Darwin Port in Australia's Northern Territory, which is the country's nearest port to Asia. The company says its proximity to the port, as well as the fact that it's close to grid power, gas, and railways, gives the project an advantage. According to Core's website, it expects to start production before the end of the year.



Lake Resources in Sydney was founded in 1997 and has four lithium-brine projects in South America's Lithium Triangle.

Lake Resources

HQ: Sydney

CEO: Stephen Promnitz

Lake Resources is an Australian clean-lithium developer founded in 1997 that is using direct-extraction technology developed by its technology partner, Lilac Solutions, to mine lithium. It has four lithium-brine projects in the Lithium Triangle in South America, which is where 40% of the world's lithium is produced. Its flagship Kachi project in northern Argentina covers 170,000 acres.

Lake Resources recently signed a preliminary deal with Ford in which the automaker agreed to buy lithium from Lake Resources' Kachi project, Reuters reported. Ford plans to buy roughly 27,500 tons of lithium from Lake Resources, though the agreement is nonbinding. The Kachi project is expected to be open by 2024, according to Reuters.

Lithium Corp.

HQ: Elko, Nevada

CEO: Tom Lewis