Australia’s mineral exploration company Infinity Lithium [INF:AU] announced a deal with a subsidiary of Germany’s thyssenkrupp AG [TKA:GR] on producing lithium with green hydrogen, as reported by Reuters on December 6. The two companies will start testing the technology at a factory of thyssenkrupp in Germany. Infinity Lithium added that it is considering using the technology in its lithium project in Spain.

Earlier in June, according to Reuters, Infinity Lithium reached a deal with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution to supply the latter with battery-grade lithium hydroxide. The deals came amid the increasing demand for lithium which is essential for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence expects the total demand for lithium globally to rise above 400,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2021. So far, global lithium manufacturers are racing to ramp up their production capacities. For instance, at the end of 2020, Chilean chemical company, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile [SQM:US], said it planned to raise USD1.1bn to increase its lithium carbonate capacity and spend USD1.9bn over the next four years to more than double Chile’s annual lithium carbonate capacity from 70,000 tons to 180,000 tons.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/infinity-lithium-thyssenkrupp-assess-green-hydrogen-potential-lithium-production-2021-12-05/

http://www.sheitc.sh.gov.cn/jjyw/20210222/2b68ba65b63940af9bf3691b67402499.html