The Global Lithium Podcast

Tu Le is the founder & Managing Director of Sino Auto Insights (@SinoAutoInsight on Twitter) and a Co-Host of the China EVs & More Podcast. Tu had significant experience with at Ford , GM and Apple before making his way to China and the EV world. Topics: China's current & future position in the global EV market Average battery sizes The return of EV incentives in China ? EV price c...

Ron Mitchell is the Managing Director of Global Lithium Resources (ASX GL1) and a veteran of the lithium industry with more than a decade of prior experience at Talison and Tianqi . Topics: Ron’s backstory Early days doing business in China Building relationships Negotiating in China How does the industry 10X supply? Ron’s spodumene price “crystal ball” Global Lithium Resources' two projects B...

John Worth is the CEO and MD of geo40 a technology company based in New Zealand engaged in low carbon recovery of minerals from geothermal fluids. They currently produce colloidal silica at commercial scale from geothermal streams in New Zealand and are leveraging that technology to provide direct lithium extraction (DLE) to a variety of asset types containing low levels of lithium (50 ppm & u...

I speak with three podcast listeners who are also keen lithium investors - Nathan Wolyniec from Brisbane Australia; John McElroy, a Green Beret with more than 1,000 parachute jumps originally from Syracuse, NY and David Cebalo a retired investor from Indiana. We discuss what drew them to investing in lithium stocks, how they research companies and make decisions. I end the episode with some though...

There are two guests on this episode: Daniel Jimenez & David Guerrero. Both have been on the podcast multiple times. You will get perspective on Chile's new lithium strategy/policy from both sides of the Andes. We also discuss the lithium price and lithium development in Argentina. We probe the possibility of changes to Argentina's royalty structure and ponder Argentina's ultimate...

I presented "The Lithium Decade" in Singapore last week at the Future Facing Commodities conference. Select slides from the presentation will be available on the Global Lithium website.

Peter Hannah (@PHmetals on Twitter) is a senior manager at Fastmarkets. This is Peter's second appearance. His first appearance in June, 2022 was in the top ten of all episodes to date. We discuss the current pricing situation: the volatility in China with spot price dropping vs rising contract prices elsewhere, supply and demand, the future of lepidolite, the perceived threat of sodium ion ba...

Daniel Jimenez is the MD of iLi Markets and a director of Galan Lithium. He has deep experience in lithium after spending almost three decades at SQM before starting his own firm. This is Daniel's fourth appearance on the podcast. In this episode we have a detailed discussion on current and future supply by region in the face of unprecedented demand growth.  We discuss the currently volatile...

Jigar Shah (@JigarShahDC on Twitter) is the director of the Loan Programs Office at the Department of Energy . Mr. Shah was formerly the co-founder and President at Generate Capital , where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a service financing. Jigar also has the best laugh of any prior guest on the podcast and ce...

Emilie Bodoin is the CEO of Pure Lithium .  Pure Lithium is on a mission to change the way batteries are made. Topics: The current state of lithium metal technology Brine direct to lithium metal - the ultimate DLE? Lithium ion batteries: a successful compromise Making lithium metal batteries a reality Mentors: Dr Donald Sadoway & Robert Friedland The first big win Building a team Learning...

This is a solo episode where I discuss: The recent General Motors investment in Lithium Americas  The Thacker Pass decision Rumors regarding Mineral Resources interest in Patriot Battery Metals Another round of bad lithium analysis from a large bank. And a shout out to Seth Goldstein at Morningstar

My guest is Ana Cabral the Co-CEO of   Sigma Lithium   Sigma is in the process of starting up the most significant hard rock project in South America Topics: Commissioning and start-up Sigma’s value proposition for the battery industry Spodumene to lithium chemicals conversion ratios Sustainability The market for tailings The team Becoming a 100K MT LCE producer Upstream disruption Board...

This short solo episode takes a look at the lithium year that just ended but more importantly what to expect in 2023. Brought to you by brinefield services company Zelandez. DYOR - the Global Lithium Podcast does not present ANY investment advice.

Chris Berry (@cberry1 on Twitter) is the founder of Mountain House Partners, a Washington DC based advisory firm.  He is also a sought after commentator on the lithium ion battery metals space. Nothing said on the podcast should be considered investment advice. DYOR - do your own research. Topics in this episode: The biggest lithium surprise of 2022 Price – where to from here? The Inflation R...

Peter Oliver has been one of the most influential people in the lithium industry over the past two decades. He spent 18 years at Talison – 12 years as CEO/Managing Director and later was a Non-Executive Director.  Peter guided Talison through the acquisition by Tianqi Lithium in 2013 and then served as an advisor to Tianqi when they sold 49% of Talison to Rockwood (now Albemarle ) and later a...

John Young is the Non-Executive Chairman of Green Technology Metals (ASX: GT1) and a Co-Founder of leading lithium producer Pilbara Minerals . Cam Henry is the Founder and CEO of Primero , an EPC company that serves many industries but stands alone as the leading company serving the hard rock lithium space. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Green Technology Metals. In this episode we cover th...

JP Vargas is the Managing Director of Galan Lithium Topics: Galan's Hombre Muerto West resource in Argentina Permitting The chloride strategy The Team The most significant project challenges Relationship with the Catamarca Government Rapid Fire

This is a short episode with a focus on my recent trip to Chile as well as my time on the Camino in Portugal & Spain, a short visit to Reno and upcoming trip to Australia. If you want to skip the brief comments on the Camino trek I recently completed, fast forward to minute three: Mentions: Summit Nanotech, SQM, Albemarle, LAC, CORFO, Daniel Jimenez & iLi Markets

Henry Sanderson (@hjesanderson on Twitter) is an author and executive editor at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence . He was previously with the Financial Times . His recently published book Volt Rush is a must reader for anyone interested in EVs, critical metals and the energy transition. Topics: Henry’s reason for writing Volt Rush The rags to riches stories of Chinese “clean energy barons” now billi...

Austin Devaney (AustinDevaney on Twitter) is the Chief Commercial Officer at Piedmont Lithium and a former executive at Albemarle Topics: Austin’s early days in the lithium world How customer needs have evolved Lithium quality requirements for EVs SQM’s curious & value destroying “20% price decrease letter” from several years ago Why high prices aren’t able to quickly fix high prices in the lithiu...

In this episode I briefly speak about why I believe the "Big Banks" have, for the most part, gotten their recent price forecasts wrong. The rest of the episode is answering listener questions: Topics: The Inflation Reduction Act Permitting  DOE Loan Program DLE Canada's future in lithium The EU vs North America in battery supply chain development Companies mentioned: SQM, Albemarle, Ganfeng,...

I interview the co-founders of the International Lithium Association (ILiA). Anand, known as “The Lithium Raj,” has deep lithium experience. Roland has experience running other major industry associations. We start off discussing Anand’s experience as a lithium pioneer marketing spodumene from Australia (Greenbushes) before discussing the International Lithium Association’s reason for being. Follo...

As CEO of Pilbara Minerals for over six and a half years Ken Brinsden (@KenBPilbara on Twitter) had a long list of accomplishments. We discuss the past, present, and future in this episode. Topics: Lithium: unreasonable expectations on an immature industry The new price paradigm The creation and future of the Battery Metals Exchange (BMX) “Rearranging” margins in the supply chain End user naivete...

This is a solo episode where I discuss learnings from recent travel to the Benchmark and Fastmarkets conferences, my visit to the new Lithium Americas Technical Development Center in Reno, thoughts on the "speed" of the DOE loan office and recent announcements by Ford and GM. The episode closes with a Q&A session where I take questions and rapid fire from a long time podcast listener.

Tony Ottaviano is the CEO of Liontown Resources and an experienced mining executive. Topics: The move from the “Big End of Town” to the world of lithium The Kathleen Valley project Going underground Hiring criteria The team Building vs operating The most significant challenges Tony faces The offtake deals – Tesla, LG, and Ford ESG Core values The market Going downstream Rapid fire