New Sources of Lithium Needed Outside of Chile to Meet Rising Demand

With the world’s largest lithium reserves, the South American country of Chile is experiencing declines in prices, despite soaring demand. According to estimates from Bloomberg NEF, demand for lithium is expected to soar from 300,000 tons per year in 2018 to 850,000 tons in 2025. To meet the demand, other companies will need to bolster the efforts of Chile’s top two producers, Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) and Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE: SQM). These new producers could come from Canada, in particular from Canadian miners, Nemaska Lithium (OTC: NMKEF) (TSX: NMX), Frontier Lithium Inc. (TSX.V:FL) (OTC:HLKMF) and QMC Quantum Minerals Corp. (TSX.V: QMC) (OTC: QMCQF). A lithium supply gap is forcing buyers to aggressively jockey for position on global supplies as they roll off the production line. While this war for supplies heats up, the buyers must also be keeping tomorrow’s lithium mines and the miners on their radar. Compared to 2018, sector giant SQM recently projected that lithium demand should grow at least 20% in 2019, driven by batteries ... Click here to view full article