20 Oct 2022 | 20:13 UTC

White House awards $2.8 billion to US battery metal producers

Highlights

Lithium producers among the recipients

Albemarle eyes domestic spodumene output

Grant to support Piedmont's Tennessee project

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US-based lithium producers Albemarle and Piedmont Lithium are among 20 companies that were awarded grants from the $2.8 billion in federal funding for domestic critical minerals projects that President Joe Biden announced Oct. 19.

The federal funds, authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will be distributed to 20 US manufacturing and processing companies seeking to contribute to the battery supply chain.

The White House estimates that the federal spending, when matched by fund recipients, will lead to more than $9 billion in investments related to the domestic production of electric vehicle batteries and will contribute to the production of enough lithium to support 2 million EVs annually.

"Together, these companies are going to build new, commercial-scale battery production and processing facilities all across America," Biden said in a speech.

The Biden administration has set a goal for half of all new car sales in the US to be EVs by 2030.

Recipients of the funding were quick to express their enthusiasm.

"Receiving the [Department of Energy] grant affirms Albemarle's position as a global market leader and one of the only lithium companies currently producing battery-grade lithium from US resources," Albemarle CEO Kent Masters said in a statement.

"Expanding our US footprint also increases the speed of lithium processing and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from long-distance transportation of raw minerals," he added. "We hope this project spurs additional investment by others in the domestic EV battery supply chain, such as cathode manufacturers, battery makers, and auto manufacturers."

Albemarle said it will use its nearly $150 million grant, received through the Department of Energy, to support the construction of a new, commercial-scale lithium concentrator facility near its Kings Mountain spodumene mining property in North Carolina. The plant will be capable of producing 350,000 mt/year of spodumene concentrate to supply its proposed 100,000 mt/year battery-grade lithium conversion facility in a yet-to-be-determined location in the US.

Piedmont said it received a $141.7 million grant that will help fund its proposed 30,000 mt/year lithium hydroxide facility in Tennessee.

"This grant will accelerate the development of the Tennessee Lithium project as a world-class lithium hydroxide operation, which is expected to more than double the domestic production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in the United States," Piedmont CEO Keith Phillips said in a separate statement.

Other recipients

Battery recycler Ascend Elements will receive $316 million, the largest single award the administration announced, to support efforts to develop US production capacity of precursor cathode materials for batteries using both recycled cathode materials from spent lithium-ion batteries and metal salts.

The funding will contribute to the installation of the first large-scale commercial lithium electrolyte salt production facility, the first lithium-iron-phosphate cathode facility, and the first commercial-scale silicon oxide production facilities in the US, the White House said in a press release.

"We may be our own supply chain, but if things continue to move in the right direction, we're going to be supplying the rest of the world as well for a lot of things," Biden said Oct. 19.

Graphite producer Syrah Technologies also received funding for the expansion of its Vidalia graphite plant in Louisiana. The company is a subsidiary of Australia-based Syrah Resources.

Furthermore, the administration said it would launch the American Battery Materials Initiative, which will "align ongoing work on critical mineral supply chains, coordinate community and industry engagement, help guide research, grants, and loans supporting environmentally responsible critical minerals extraction, processing, and recycling, and aid diplomatic efforts to build reliable and sustainable global supply chains."

The initiative will work through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, a project created by the US and other G7 member nations to fund international infrastructure, and it will be led by a White House steering committee and coordinated by the DOE with support from the Interior Department.

S&P Global Commodity Insights reporter Camellia Moors produces content for distribution on Capital IQ Pro.