Australian lithium miner Allkem said on Tuesday that lithium carbonate prices were expected to rise by a further 80 per cent in the second half of the fiscal year ending in June compared with the first half of the fiscal year because of surging demand for metals used in electric car battery production.
The Australian fiscal year is from July 1 of each year to June 30 of the following year. The spot price of battery-grade lithium carbonate has surged more than 400 per cent in the past year as demand outstrips supply, as carmakers around the world start to invest billions of dollars in cleaner modes of transportation. in order to promote the global cause of emission reduction.
The surge in novel coronavirus cases related to O'Micron worldwide will continue to affect operations and mining activities in the lithium mining industry in the near future, Allkem said.
Allkem is a professional lithium chemical company formed by the merger of Orocobre and Galaxy Resources. The company's business units include lithium brine and borax operations in Argentina, hard rock lithium operations in Australia and lithium hydroxide conversion facilities in Japan.
The company noted that demand for its spodumene concentrate and lithium carbonate continued to be strong due to tight supplies of raw materials and the entire battery supply chain. Spodumene concentrate is the ore from which lithium is extracted.
Allkem's Mount catlin mine produced 52225 dry tons of (DMT) spodumene concentrate in the fourth quarter, bringing total annual production to 230065 tons, 4.5 per cent higher than previously expected. However, last quarter production of Olaroz, Allkem's flagship mine in Argentina, fell 2 per cent from a year earlier to 3644 tonnes.
Allkem added that the start of production and first production of its Sal De Vida mine had been delayed until the second half of 2023 due to mining permits and related problems caused by the outbreak.
