Worthington Steel has reached an agreement to acquire, through its subsidiary Tempel Steel Company, a controlling equity stake in Italy-based Sitem S.p.A. (together with its subsidiaries, Stanzwerk AG, Decoup S.A.S. and Sitem Slovakia spol. s r.o., Sitem Group). Sitem Group produces electric motor laminations and accessory products for automotive and... Read more →

The rare earths supply chain is poised for greater geographical diversification as new mines and processing plants outside of China are brought into production throughout the second half of the decade, as part of on-going derisking efforts by Western governments. According to the Benchmark Rare Earths Forecast, the supply of... Read more →

DENSO Corporation recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Canatu to advance the practical application of carbon nanotube technology. By strengthening their partnership, the two companies aim to deepen their collaboration to contribute to the advancement of autonomous driving technology and the realization of carbon neutrality. As autonomous driving... Read more →

Rio Tinto has entered into a partnership agreement with the Swedish investment company Vargas, Mitsubishi Corporation and other international and local industry partners to study a low carbon aluminum greenfield opportunity in Finland. As the strategic industrial partner, Rio Tinto will provide the Arctial partnership with access to its proven... Read more →

Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Metal Mining (SMM) have signed a term sheet for a joint venture to deliver the Winu copper-gold project, located in the Great Sandy Desert region of Western Australia. Under the Term Sheet, which includes exclusivity obligations to work towards a binding definitive agreement, Rio Tinto will... Read more →

Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, with colleagues in Korea and Illionois, have developed high-entropy lithium-rich layered oxide cathodes (HE-LLO) for Li-ion batteries. A paper on their work is published in Journal of Power Sources. High-entropy oxides (HEOs) are emerging as promising cathode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their... Read more →

ArcelorMittal has previously announced the intention to invest in lower carbon emissions “hydrogen ready” DRI-EAF (DIrect Reduced Iron - Electric Arc Furnace) facilities to replace several blast furnaces across its European business as a key strategic first step towards reducing emissions. In all cases, the host countries offered funding support... Read more →

Galp has decided not to proceed with the construction of the Aurora project (earlier post). Originally a 50/50 partnership between Galp and Northvolt, the latter communicated to Galp in early 2024 its decision to cease investing in Aurora. Northvolt recently filed for Chapter 11 in the US. (Earlier post.) Aurora... Read more →

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has successfully trialed its hydrogen production technology at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks in New South Wales, demonstrating affordable and renewable hydrogen can be generated at scale to help decarbonize heavy industry. CSIRO’s tubular solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) technology has clocked 1000 hours of successful operation... Read more →

Electrolytes that convert chemical to electrical energy underly the search for new power sources with zero emissions. Among these new power sources are fuel cells that produce electricity. Fuel cells are often heavy, which is a problem because lighter power sources enable more energy efficient fuel cell-powered vehicles. Therefore, scientists... Read more →

NETL researchers have developed a low-cost process for converting coal tar waste into a high-quality graphene—material that can increase performance of energy-storing supercapacitor systems by up to 55%. Supercapacitors store electrical energy and, in some ways, are comparable to batteries. One primary difference is that supercapacitors can be charged and... Read more →

Exxon Mobil Corporation and LG Chem have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a multiyear offtake agreement for up to 100,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate. The lithium will be supplied from ExxonMobil’s planned project in the US to LG Chem’s cathode plant in Tennessee, which LG Chem... Read more →

Vulcan, a company using naturally occurring geothermal heat to extract lithium from underground geothermal brine and then convert it into battery-grade material, and BASF have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the use of geothermal energy at the chemical company’s Ludwigshafen site as part of a strategic partnership. The... Read more →

Graphjet Technology, a manufacturing company focusing on carbon-based materials, producing artificial graphite from biomass waste residues from the process of palm oil, announced the start of operations at its first commercial-scale green graphite facility located in the Subang District in Malaysia. This facility is the world’s first commercial-scale plant capable... Read more →

US Geological Survey researchers have developed a new model to assess how disruptions of critical mineral supplies may affect the US economy. Using the model, the researchers estimate there could be a $3.4 billion decrease in US GDP if China implements a total ban on exports of gallium and germanium,... Read more →

Piedmont Lithium, a North American supplier of lithium products, and Sayona Mining signed a definitive agreement to combine the two companies to create a leading lithium business, resulting in Sayona being the ultimate parent entity. The transaction will result in an approximate 50% / 50% equity holding of shareholders of... Read more →

Microporous LLC, a leading manufacturer of battery separators, will invest $1.35 billion to establish a new manufacturing facility in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The company will develop two phases of the project on Lot 1 of the Southern Virginia Megasite, each facility phase being approximately 500,000 square feet. Lot 2 of... Read more →

Researchers in China have developed a simple, highly efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly processfor the sustainable recycling of depleted lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). No chemicals beyond citric acid need to be added to leach out and separate more than 99% of the lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese metals contained in NCM... Read more →

US Congressman Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) celebrated the bipartisan House passage of his legislation to ensure parity between Critical Materials, as defined by the Department of Energy (DOE), and Critical Minerals, as defined by the US Geological Survey (USGS) to eliminate confusion, confer the same benefits to both lists moving forward,... Read more →

Midas Vantage Projects (MVP) Lithium Limited has received a letter of intent (LOI) from Evove Ltd outlining Evove’s commitment to commissioning MVP Lithium’s DLE plant in 2025 subject to processing brine at industrial scale on Evove’s equipment at their testing facility in the UK and on-site demonstration. MVP Lithium’s resource... Read more →

Rio Tinto has entered into definitive agreements with GravitHy, an early-stage industrial company, to help accelerate GravitHy’s steel decarbonization project in France. As part of this collaboration, Rio Tinto will supply high-grade direct reduction iron ore pellets from its Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) operations to GravitHy’s planned operation,... Read more →

Echion and CBMM, the global leader in the production and commercialization of niobium products, have officially inaugurated the world’s first volume manufacturing facility dedicated to producing Echion’s proprietary ultra-fast charging XNO active anode material technology. The new plant, located in Araxá, Brazil, is the largest niobium-based anode production facility in... Read more →

Constellium announced a major advancement in aluminum recycling for the automotive industry, by implementing Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technology at an industrial scale. LIBS is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which uses a highly energetic laser pulse as the excitation source. This initiative, developed in collaboration with OSR GmbH... Read more →

Swiss Steel Group has introduced its lead-free machinable steel, 11SMn30+BX. 11SMn30+BX is a sustainable, high-quality alternative to traditional leaded machinable steels. Using boron (B) instead of lead as an alloying element, this innovative solution maintains exceptional workability while aligning with future regulatory standards. The addition of boron to free-cutting steel... Read more →

Despite the growth in metals supply over the last decade, BloombergNEF’s (BNEF’s) annual Transition Metals Outlook finds that there are still not enough raw materials to meet growing demand. This supply squeeze could slow the adoption of clean energy technologies. In order to meet the demands of a net-zero emissions... Read more →

Li-Cycle Holdings entered into an agreement with Glencore covering the off-take of 100% of the mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) to be produced at Li-Cycle’s Rochester Hub. By amending and restating certain of its existing commercial agreements with Glencore and Traxys North America, Li-Cycle has established the commercial framework for the... Read more →

Rio Tinto’s previously announced acquisition of Sumitomo Chemical Company’s (SCC’s) 20.64% interest in New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) was completed on 1 November 2024. NZAS owns and operates the Tiwai Point aluminum smelter in New Zealand, which produces more than 335,000 tonnes of the world’s purest aluminum using electricity from... Read more →

USC researchers have developed a new process to upcycle the composite materials appearing in automobile panels and light rail vehicles, addressing a current environmental challenge in the transportation and energy sectors. The study recently appeared in the Journal of American Chemical Society. I wasn’t sure if it was possible to... Read more →

Luxembourg-based OCSiAl opened its first European production facility in Serbia. The new facility is dedicated to producing TUBALL nanotubes and nanotube-based products. The Serbia facility employs a modular design that enables rapid scalability, allowing OCSiAl to set up and launch new synthesis units within two years at any location. This... Read more →

Ioneer Ltd received its federal permit for the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). With the positive decision, Rhyolite Ridge becomes the first US lithium project approved by the Biden Administration as part of its efforts to accelerate domestic critical mineral production and advances the... Read more →

The US Department of the Treasury and the IRS released final rules for the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (Section 45X of the Internal Revenue Code), to spur continued growth of US clean energy manufacturing. The Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit helps to level the playing field for US companies to onshore... Read more →

Eramet announced the buy-back of all Tsingshan Group’s minority interest (49.9%) in Eramine Sudamerica for a net cash impact of $699 million. Eramet now owns again 100% of its Argentinian subsidiary. Following the successful operation of a pilot plant on site since end-2019, Eramet engaged construction of Centenario’s first lithium... Read more →

Greensteel Australia and global steelmaking technology leader Danieli will work together to build a 600,000-tonne-per-year rolling mill that will be powered entirely by green hydrogen. The first-of-its-kind green steel facility is to be located in New South Wales, Australia. Danieli, an Italian-based metal processer and supplier, will partner with Greensteel... Read more →

ABB is partnering with ArcelorMittal to introduce XCarb steel made with high levels of recycled steel and 100% renewable energy for its Kabeldon power distribution system. The sustainable sourcing agreement helps reduce the carbon footprint of key electrification equipment by 29%. With the use of XCarb steel, the team behind... Read more →

Using a combination of water testing and machine learning, a US Geological Survey-led study estimated between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves are located beneath southwestern Arkansas. If commercially recoverable, the amount of lithium present would meet projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times... Read more →

Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) received a grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office. Bridgestone will design, build and operate a pilot plant that will advance an innovative, potentially more sustainable and cost-effective approach to obtaining butadiene from ethanol. The project will evaluate the economic and... Read more →

At the International Suppliers Fair (IZB) in Wolfsburg, Germany, Volkswagen Group and thyssenkrupp Steel signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the planned supply to Volkswagen Group of low-carbon steel from thyssenkrupp Steel’s future direct reduction plant. thyssenkrupp Steel’s direct reduction plant, which is scheduled to go into operation in... Read more →

The US Department of Commerce and Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $325 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to solidify US leadership in semiconductor-grade polysilicon production. The proposed funding would support the construction of a... Read more →

South Korean Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, along with the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, the First Vice Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy visited POSCO’s Pohang Steelworks on 17 October to discuss measures for boosting investment and toured around the proposed site for hydrogen-based steelmaking and the operations at... Read more →

Stegra—which renamed itself from H2 Green Steel in September—is partnering with John Laing and Aquatech to provide sustainable water treatment plant to the world’s first large-scale green steel plant. John Laing is a leading international investor and active manager of core infrastructure assets and Aquatech is a leading provider of... Read more →

thyssenkrupp sold the Indian company thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel India Private Ltd. to JSW Steel Limited and JFE Steel Corporation. The Indian-Japanese consortium is acquiring the Indian electrical steel business of thyssenkrupp for a purchase price of around €440 million. thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel India is part of the Electrical Steel business... Read more →

Advent Technologies announced significant performance breakthroughs for its Membrane Electrode Assembly (Advent MEA G2) technology. The Advent MEA G2 technology has already been provided for testing to select strategic partners, in the automotive and aerospace industries. It is being developed within the framework of L’Innovator, the company’s joint development program... Read more →

Lithium Americas Corp., the Canada-based developer of the Thacker Pass lithium mining project in northern Nevada, and General Motors Holdings LLC entered into a new investment agreement to establish a joint venture for the purpose of funding, developing, constructing and operating Thacker Pass. The JV Transaction will deliver $625 million... Read more →

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced a conditional commitment for a direct loan of up to $670.6 million to Aspen Aerogels Georgia, LLC (Aspen Aerogels). The loan, if finalized, will help finance the construction of an aerogel blanket manufacturing facility in Register, Georgia. Aspen’s PyroThin aerogel... Read more →

For next-generation power electronics, BASF has developed a polyphthalamide (PPA) that is especially suited for manufacturing housings of IGBT (insulated-gate bipolar transistor) semi-conductors. Ultramid Advanced N3U41 G6 addresses the growing demand for high-performance, reliable electronic components for e.g., electric vehicles, high-speed trains, smart manufacturing and the generation of renewable energy.... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the City of Duluth and its local development partners will receive DOE support to develop hydrogen and renewable energy systems, as well as a clean energy workforce, to enable the deployment of a green iron plant in the region. Minnesota is the... Read more →

Rio Tinto and Arcadium Lithium announced a definitive agreement under which Rio Tinto will acquire Arcadium in an all-cash transaction for US$5.85 per share. (Earlier post.) The transaction represents a premium of 90% to Arcadium’s closing price of $3.08 per share on 4 October 2024, a premium of 39% to... Read more →

SiAT, a leading Taiwanese manufacturer of advanced nanomaterials for batteries, and CSAC, the largest Taiwanese aluminum producer, released the latest test results for their joint CNT-coated aluminum foil (CCAF) during a speaker session at the Battery Show Detroit on 8 October. Launched in February, the CCAF is designed to meet... Read more →

Integrals Power reports a breakthrough in Lithium Manganese Iron Phosphate (LMFP) cathode active materials for battery cells. Applying its propriety materials technology and patented manufacturing process, the company has overcome the drop in specific capacity compared that typically occurs as the percentage of manganese in increased. The result is cathode... Read more →

Rio Tinto confirmed that it has made an approach to Arcadium Lithium—a newly formed company from the merger of Allkem and Livent—regarding a potential acquisition of Arcadium Lithium by Rio Tinto. The approach is non-binding and there is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed to or will proceed.... Read more →