The Global Lithium Podcast

Jon Evans is one of the most effective and knowledgeable executives in the lithium world. He is also a great leader. I have known Jon for well over a decade. First as my boss when I was running FMC Lithium’s Asia operations. When I left FMC and started Global Lithium, Jon was often a source of insightful advice. He remains a mentor to me despite being a Zodiac calendar younger than I am. Yes, you...

Carlos Vicens is the CFO of Neo Lithium . We discuss the 3Qs project in Catamarca Province, Argentina. Topics include: Operating in Argentina Unexpected “benefits” of Covid in moving the project forward ESG – more than just the “E” Their partnership with global battery leader CATL Straight talk on product “cuts” The top challenges bringing a lithium project into production Setting the record strai...

The is part 2 of my 100th episode with highlights from some of my favorite episodes and guests.  Jon Evans - Lithium Americas Li Liangbin and Wang Xiaoshen - Ganfeng Eduardo Bitran - CORFO Ken Brinsden - Pilbara Minerals Dr Yuan Gao - ex CEO of Pulead Dan Blondal and Dr Stephen Campbell - Nano One The Lowry family

Chris Berry , President of House Mountain Partners ( www.discoveryinvesting.com ), is one of the most highly regarded battery metals analysts in the space. He was also the first guest on the Global Lithium Podcast in November of 2017. It seemed natural to bring Chris back for episode 100 especially given the recent resurgence of interest in lithium and other battery metals as the global energ...

Jed Dorsheimer is the Global Head of Sustainability Research at Canaccord Genuity , Co-founder and President of the Biophysical Economics Institute and host of the Hidden Joule Podcast . Jed is a leading commentator on: Sustainability/ESG, Allocation of Resources, Climate Change, and Systems Complexity. We discuss: Economic ROI (Energy Return on Energy Invested) Basics of Thermodynamics An example...

Carlos Galli is an independent lithium consultant in Argentina. Carlos has worked on many brine projects both as a principal and a consultant. He learned from one of the best lithium minds in Argentina, his father Dr Daniel Galli. Topics covered in this episode include: Covid’s ongoing impact in Argentina Building a “lithium bridge” from the Argentine Puna to Europe for the EU battery supply chain...

Alex Cheesemen (@ACheesey on Twitter) is an ex Australian military officer and a significant player in the Western Australia lithium industry. Alex had the unique “opportunity” to be one of the last people standing at Altura Mining. In this episode Alex will share what he learned in the process of helping bring a significant hard rock asset into production and then, due to the vagaries of lithium...

Episode 94: Simon Hay Simon Hay is the CEO of Galaxy Resources . We review the status of production at Mt Cattlin and development plans for Sal de Vida and James Bay . We discuss spodumene prices and why Galaxy will continue to sell at spot price in 2021. Simon makes “no apology” for the new phased development strategy at Sal de Vida and discusses the conditions that need to be in place to move Ja...

Seth Goldstein is one of the best lithium analysts – anywhere. He works for top rated investment research company Morningstar where in addition to his lithium work he also chairs their EV committee. Prior to joining Morningstar, Seth worked for Berkshire Hathaway Energy. As part of his role with Morningstar Seth follows Albemarle, SQM and Livent; however, he is also well versed on other companies...

Episode 90 : Sigma Lithium - Ana Cabral-Gardner & Calvyn Gardner Sigma is developing a brownfield hard rock project in Brazil with a focus on “green mining” and ESG considerations.   Topics include: The three main considerations in developing Sigma’s resource ESG Sigma’s competitive position vs Australian Hard Rock producers Partnerships and Sigma’s plan for downstream lithium chemical pa...

Episode 89: Livista Energy This episode features Daniel Bloor, CEO, and Jose Hofer, Commercial Manager, of Livista Energy . You can follow them on Twitter @LivistaEnergy and on Linked In as well as their website: Livista. Energy Livista plans to have the first large scale lithium conversion plant operating in Europe. In addition to discussing the project, we also cover: Battery passports and trace...

Episode 88: Minviro / Life Cycle Assessments Robert Pell and Alex Grant from Minviro , pioneers in producing Life Cycle Assessments for the lithium industry, are my guests. Minviro is focused on the environmental portion of the emerging and increasingly significant field of ESG. We discuss: The development, importance and value of life cycle assessments Impact categories Properly quantifying resul...

My favorite lithium event of the year is Panorama Minero's  “Lithium South America”. I had the opportunity to keynote at this event in Salta in 2018 and Jujuy in 2019. This year at the virtual event I participated by doing a live Global Lithium Podcast with a great co-host, Carlos Galli , who conveyed the questions from the audience and added his own insightful commentary. Topics include: Why...

Bob Morris is a battery metals expert who worked for industry heavyweights Umicore , INCO and Vale for many years before starting his own consulting company. Few people have the depth of the battery supply chain experience that Bob has. Although we dealt with many of the same customers and both spent time as expats in China and Japan, we never crossed paths until we were introduced recently by Dan...

Emilie Bodoin is the founder and CEO of Pure Lithium a start-up focused on changing the way lithium metal is made and greatly enhancing the quality vs the current state of the art. The original patent for rechargeable lithium batteries goes back to the 1970s and was based on using lithium metal. Technical/safety issues forced a compromise to the current lithium ion design using metal oxides rather...

Last week Altura went into receivership. A day later Pilbara had a conditional deal to purchase their neighbor. Lithium drama has moved, at least temporarily, from the Atacama to the Pilbara. I hope the acquisition happens and ultimately leads to Pilbara vertically integrating via partnerships in Europe and possibly Korea. In Argentina last week, the government of Salta announced it would allow ex...

In episode 83 I have a conversation with a skilled interviewer who talks to me about my three decade “journey” in the lithium world. Topics include: Current lithium “state of play” False lithium narratives The EU battery build out and need for interdependence in lithium supply Why do some contemplating EU conversion projects feel carbonate, rather than spodumene, is the best route to battery quali...

Episode 82 features Marco Romero , CEO of Euro Manganese . We discuss the manganese market especially as it relates to lithium batteries and then take a deep dive into the company’s project in the Czech Republic. In a separate segment of this podcast you will also hear my candid thoughts on Piedmont Lithium’s supply contract with Tesla and SQM’s recent ESG announcement and 2020 sales/production gu...

This is a two part episode. The first 20 minutes is episode 81 "Elon Musk: 40 Shades of Battery Grade" a Q&A with questions that resulted from my recent appearance on TC's Chartcast - episode 46. I discussed lithium industry basics with an audience more familiar with EVs than lithum chemicals. I got a few dozen questions after that episode and answer several of them here. Afterwards, I include...

This episode features Vivas Kumar of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence for a second appearance. Vivas has been involved in the battery space since 2017 beginning as the “lithium guy” at Tesla before joining Benchmark. We cover a wide variety of topics of the day and then focus the conversation on what is going on in the "soon to be very significant” Indian market. Listen all the way to “rapid fire” a...

Chris Reed, the CEO of Neometals (ASX: NMT), is my guest on episode 78. Chris was the mastermind behind the development of the Mt Marion mine. He wisely brought in two heavyweight partners - Ganfeng and Mineral Resources to ensure guaranteed offtake and timely construction / start-up. Mt Marion is the cornerstone of Ganfeng’s hard rock supply and the first strategic lithium asset in production for...

Episode 77 of the Global Lithium Podcast: “Gradually then Suddenly”: is a conversation with Roger Atkins . Roger Atkins of electricvehiclesoutlook.com is one of the top EV voices on the planet with 30 years of auto industry experience. This conversation is not really about lithium, it is more about the demand drivers of lithium’s future. Anyone interested in batteries, electric mobility, energy st...

Alison Dai is the Commercial Director of Chengdu Chemphys , a specialty producer of high purity lithium chemicals. Although less well known than Chinese major producers Ganfeng and Tianqi, Chemphys was active selling high quality lithium chemicals to the difficult to penetrate Japanese and Korean markets long before their larger rivals. Alison was born in China, raised in Western Australia and lef...

My guest for Episode 75 is Gene Morgan the CEO of brine field services provider Zelandez . Gene has an interesting story that starts in New Zealand, moves to oil fields in various parts of the world before an invitation to Bolivia led to both meeting his wife and, ultimately, a career change to lithium. We discuss the various services Zelandez provides to lithium explorers, developers and producer...

Episode 74 “Forged in the Fire” features Ken Brinsden the CEO of Pilbara Minerals. Ken is one of my favorite all time guests. He is articulate and forthright in an industry known for opacity. We cover several topics in 40 minutes including: Pilbara’s recent refinancing, their improved lithium recoveries to the world class level, how Pilbara is dealing with the current challenging market conditions...