INTHEBLACK August 2025 - Magazine - Page 41
Australia is deeply involved
with the battery supply chain,
but only at the resources stage.
Once minerals are delivered,
China controls the vast majority
of global battery production.
There are significant
opportunities for Australia
in the refining of minerals.
What powers
the battery
economy?
As the world shifts from fossil fuels to renewables, demand for batteries
is energising entirely new supply chains.
Words Chris Sheedy
PERHAPS THE MOST VITAL OF
battery ingredients, and currently at the
heart of the broader battery economy,
is lithium. It is a soft, white mineral extracted
from the ground or from saline groundwater
known as brine.
Also referred to as “white gold”, lithium
is one of several minerals that make up the
mix that drives electric vehicles (EVs) and
enables smartphones, power tools, laptops
and much, much more.
Thanks to the battery trade, the
value of lithium is counted in more
than dollars and stretches well
beyond chemistry.
Lithium holds an enviable place at the
intersection of technology and trade, mining
and manufacturing, the global economy
and the clean energy transition.
“Batteries begin with mining,” says
Jairo Bernal CPA, former head of finance
and company secretary at Chilean lithiummining company SQM. “When it comes
to EV batteries, you are looking at a critical
mix of lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and
manganese — and let’s not forget copper,
essential for conductivity.”
These critical elements are sourced from
different geological settings around the globe.
Lithium, for instance, is mainly extracted
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