French lithium mine project unveiled in electric car race (updated)
24/10/2022 13:16
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Imerys targets 34KT/year of lithium hydroxide output from
2028
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Project at existing site in central France backed by
government
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CEO says group to start talks with potential partners
(Adds Imerys CEO comments, closing share price gain, bullets)
By Gus Trompiz and Dominique Vidalon
PARIS, Oct 24 (Reuters) - French minerals company Imerys
IMTP.PA unveiled plans on Monday to develop a lithium mine in
central France that it said could be a leading contributor in
Europe's quest for electric-vehicle battery materials.
Electric cars such as Renault's RENA.PA Zoe are key to the
European Union's strategy to cut emissions and the bloc is
trying to reduce reliance on battery supplies from Asia.
Imerys aims produce 34,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide
annually for at least 25 years from 2028 at an existing mine at
Beauvoir, north of Clermont-Ferrand.
That would be one of Europe's largest lithium mining
projects, the company said, and enough to supply around 700,000
electric car batteries a year - a sizeable chunk of the
government's target of 2 million EVs per year produced in France
by 2030.
Imerys was surprised at the scale of the resource after a
previous geological survey dating back to 1960 showed a much
smaller deposit, Chief Executive Alessandro Dazza told Reuters
by telephone.
The group will now begin talks with potential industrial and
financial partners, including car makers, with a view to
deciding on an investment model before the main construction
phase projected to cost around 1 billion euros ($983 million)
and begin in mid-2025, Dazza said.
"The game starts now," he said of partnership discussions.
Imerys is positioning the project as a low-emissions one,
helped by the use of an existing mining site and underground
extraction supported by electric vehicles.
New mining projects can attract local opposition, as
evidenced by environmental protests in Serbia which led the
government to revoke permits held by Rio Tinto RIO.L RIO.AX
for Europe's biggest lithium project.
Imerys did not see significant risks in planning permission
given backing from local and national authorities, Dazza said.
The mine plan was welcomed by the French government, which
announced that it was one of five critical metals projects, also
including a recycling scheme led by mining group Eramet
ERMT.PA , that would receive a total of 100 million euros in
funding.
Imerys estimated the lithium cash cost at 7-9 euros per kilo
for the planned mine, which will be located at its Beauvoir site
where it has been mining kaolin for ceramics since the late 19th
century.
The company's shares closed up 5% in Paris.
The majority of worldwide lithium production and known
reserves are outside Europe, notably in Australia, South America
and China.
Eramet is developing lithium production in Argentina and is
among companies exploring geothermal extraction of lithium in
the Rhine basin around the French-German border.
($1 = 1.0171 euros)
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by
Tassilo Hummel, David Holmes and Bernadette Baum)
((dominique.vidalon@thomsonreuters.com; +33149495432; Reuters
Messaging: dominique.vidalon.reuters.com@reuters.net))