Why Nevada?
Nevada enjoys unmatched infrastructure, skilled miners, consistent permitting protocols, relatively low taxes, a social license to operate and a safe operating environment. Nevada is also home to the only brine based producing lithium operation in North America so it’s no wonder Nevada’s “Lithium Hub” is experiencing a frenzied land grab similar to the California’s Gold Rush.
Why Lithium?
Even in slow global growth or recessionary environments, the increasing number of end uses results in overall lithium demand remaining strong, even as demand for existing uses declines. Notwithstanding global growth or any other factor, two of the most important ways to lessen the effects of climate change rely largely on lithium-ion batteries.
“Increasingly, lithium is becoming to batteries what silicon is to semiconductors—prevalent, even among worthy alternatives. In one form or another, the lithium-ion battery is the technology of our time.”
The Economist
Energy metal markets are booming
The age of electrification across the transportation sector, the solar panel revolution, and Tesla’s battery gigafactory are igniting a battle for the cheapest battery. That will transform lithium into a boom-time mineral and the hottest commodity on the energy investor’s radar. It has been easy to take lithium for granted. This wonder mineral is the backbone of our everyday lives, popping up in everything from the glass in our windows to our mountains of electronics.
And while investors have long appreciated the steady rise in demand for this preferred mineral, the number of new applications continues to multiply. Smart phones, tablets, laptops, and other consumer electronics demand more lithium. But the largest driver for future lithium use will be in electric vehicles and home batteries for solar panels. That has lithium on the verge a boom for which supply can no longer be taken for granted.