Raw material for e-cars: Lithium mine from 2027 in France

Status: 10/24/2022 6:34 p.m

The raw materials company Imerys plans to mine the light metal lithium in central France by 2027, which is crucial for the transport turnaround. This should also “strengthen Europe’s industrial sovereignty”.

By 2027, the light metal lithium, which is important for electric cars, is to be mined in significant quantities in central France. French mining company Imerys today announced the opening of a mine in the Allier department. The deposits in the region are said to be sufficient to produce 34,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually from 2028 – enough for the production of 700,000 electric vehicles.

Lithium mine to “strengthen Europe’s industrial sovereignty”

Lithium is required to manufacture the lithium-ion batteries installed in electric cars and is mined in many countries – especially in South America, Australia and China. However, the processing of the raw material currently takes place almost exclusively in the People’s Republic. In view of the car industry’s conversion to electric vehicles, there are increasing warnings of a new dependency on imports.

Imerys declared that the Allier mine would “enhance Europe’s industrial sovereignty”. According to the company, the group is investing around one billion euros in the “Emili” project. The lithium is to be mined underground to limit environmental damage on the surface. There are currently almost a dozen such projects in Europe – including in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and others in France. Imerys’ competitor, Eramet, is investigating a deposit in Alsace.

The mine in central France is expected to be the second largest in size to date. Porcelain clay has been extracted at the Allier site since the 19th century. The fact that lithium is also present there has been known for decades. At the beginning of last year, Imerys began investigating whether mining would be worthwhile. The result: The “concentrations and quantities” are “very attractive”.

French government supports the project

So far, according to the company, the mine is projected to have an operating life of 25 years, but there could be even larger reserves than previously known. “We will continue the investigations to see if we could have 30 or 35 years of operation,” said Imerys boss Alessandro Dazza. Mining is to take place underground, minimizing dust exposure on the surface. Pipelines and railways are planned for transport in order to avoid truck traffic.

Imerys expects CO2 emissions of eight kilograms per ton of lithium compared to 16 to 20 kilograms in Australia and China. “This project, which is exemplary in terms of environment and climate, will drastically reduce our need for lithium imports,” French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said in the mining company’s statement. The government supports the project.

The French raw materials company wants to become the leading supplier of lithium in Europe through the new mining project. The company’s shares rose by more than five percent at times on the Euronext in Paris.

Largest lithium deposit in the Rhine Valley

The start-up Vulcan from Karlsruhe in the Palatinate Rhine Valley is currently planning to reduce the largest production volume in Europe. In the Upper Rhine Graben in south-west Germany, a huge deposit of lithium is floating deep underground in thermal water. Research projects are currently underway to be able to extract the lithium on an industrial scale. In the future, the Upper Rhine lithium is to be promoted in an environmentally friendly and CO2-neutral manner. Because the hot thermal water is to be used to supply district heating networks and produce electricity at the same time.

Lithium is a key raw material for modern storage technologies and is therefore essential for e-mobility. The experts at the German Raw Materials Agency estimate that funding will have to be increased globally by a factor of four to seven in the coming years so that the switch to electromobility can be successful. If you wanted to replace all of the 50 million combustion engines in Germany with electric cars in the future, you would need an estimated 500,000 tons of lithium. For comparison: A total of around 100,000 tons of lithium were mined worldwide in 2021.

Lithium-ion batteries are also installed in smartphones, PCs and tablets. As a result, the price of the element has increased almost eightfold since the beginning of last year. According to the Natural Resources Agency, 75 percent of the lithium production capacity is in Chile and Australia.

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