Le lithium, le prix en baisse aprés la flambée.

[energy_isere]

suite de ce post du 14 juin 2025 : http://www.oleocene.org/phpBB3/viewtopi ... 6#p2412796

Huayou to start Zimbabwe lithium sulphate production early 2026

Reuters | October 17, 2025


The Arcadia lithium mine, which began production in 2023. (Image courtesy of Huayou Cobalt.)

China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt will start producing lithium sulphate during the first quarter of 2026 from its new $400 million plant in Zimbabwe, the company said on Thursday, as the African country pushes for more local processing.

The newly completed plant at Huayou’s wholly owned Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe’s Arcadia mine has capacity to exceed 50,000 metric tons of lithium sulphate annually, an executive said during a tour of the operation.

Lithium sulphate is an intermediate product which can be refined into a battery-grade material such as lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate used in battery manufacturing.

“We will start the first production from the beginning of next year,” Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe general manager Henry Zhu told reporters.

“The quantity of the lithium sulphate should be more than 60,000 metric tons, but it will depend on the configuration of the plant, because it is brand new,” Zhu added.

Zimbabwe, Africa’s top lithium producer, has been nudging miners to process the mineral in the country in order to help lift its economy.

Huayou, which acquired Arcadia lithium mine for $422 million in 2022, commissioned a $300 million lithium concentrator in 2023.

The company and other Chinese metals firms Sinomine, Chengxin Lithium Group, Yahua Group, and Tsingshan Holding dominate Zimbabwe’s lithium mining, producing concentrates and shipping them to their home country.

The southern African country will ban the export of lithium concentrates from 2027 as it pushes for more local processing.

Sinomine has also announced plans to build a $500 million lithium sulphate plant at its Bikita mine in Zimbabwe.

https://www.mining.com/web/huayou-to-st ... arly-2026/

[energy_isere]

Australian rare earth firm to select US plant site by year-end

Bloomberg News | October 24, 2025

Australian Strategic Materials Ltd. aims to choose a location for its planned US rare earths plant by the end of this year, capitalizing on President Donald Trump’s backing for the sector amid growing rivalry with China.

The firm has been in discussions with the Pentagon about funding to support a plant in America producing metal for rare earth magnets, chief executive officer Rowena Smith said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Friday. It already operates one metal plant in South Korea, and also wants to build a mine at its deposit in Australia.

“We initially, 12 months ago, shortlisted six states” for the new facility, Smith said. “We will identify our preferred state later this year.”

The Trump administration is ramping up efforts to back critical minerals projects outside China, as Beijing prepares to unleash even tighter controls on rare earths exports. Earlier this week, Washington and Canberra reached a broad agreement on joint funding for projects in Australia and the US to protect supply chains for industries from cars to the military.

ASM was not one of the initial beneficiaries, and its shares fell by about a third this week after months of volatile trading for rare earth firms worldwide. Its stock is still up by nearly 100% this year.

US states are offering “significant incentives” to build a metal plant, Smith said. The company recently raised A$80 million ($52 million) to fund company expansions, she added.

Magnets have been a focus of geopolitical tensions this year after China’s supplies slumped in the wake of a first wave of export controls. A flurry of new US magnet plants — mostly predating the recent crisis — are in the pipeline that will need supplies of refined metal and alloys to make their product.

ASM wants to build a supply chain starting from a potential mine at its Dubbo resource in Australia. That project has potential debt funding of up to $600 million from the Export-Import Bank of the United States, plus A$200 million in a letter of support from the Australian government.

https://www.mining.com/web/australian-r ... -year-end/