In this episode, we chat with Mike Venter, an experienced exploration geologist whose worked in a wide range of commodities from a corporate, junior and private companies, although he specialises more in Battery/Critical/New Technology materials like graphite and lithium and their impact on new energy efficiency and infrastructure.

We discuss the importance of graphite in batteries, what are the different types found, and the challenges the industry faces. Also lithium’s role in batteries and what has happened with supply/demand more recently. We discuss other minerals like Magnesium, Nickel and Cobalt and their importance in the green economy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Graphite is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, and fortunately it is relatively inert. This makes its applications numerous and much sought after.
• With the rapid growth of electric vehicles and portable technologies, graphite based materials are becoming more and more important to produce.
• China has traditionally been the world's largest producer of flake graphite, and they continue to dominate the global market in terms of production. Therefore they largely control the pricing.
• Whether or not the graphite going into anodes is clean is an ongoing area of investigation. Many companies are responding by producing their own anode materials, so as to reduce dependence on China, and to be able to create their own environmental trails.

BEST MOMENTS

'Defining a graphite resource is all about quality'

'Graphite is the go-to material for the anode of your battery'

'It's all about quality, and being able to produce a product consistently'

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Dig Deep – The Mining Podcast on iTunes

Mike Venter LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/phmikeventer?originalSubdomain=za

ABOUT THE HOST

Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight to peoples experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.

Rob is the Founder and Director of Mining International Ltd, a leading global recruitment and headhunting consultancy based in the UK specialising in all areas of mining across the globe from first world to third world countries from Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia. We source, headhunt and discover new and top talent talent through a targeted approach and search methodology and have a proven track record in sourcing and positioning exceptional candidates into our clients organisation in any mining discipline or level. Mining International provides a transparent, informative and trusted consultancy service to our candidates and clients to help them develop their careers and business goals and objectives in this ever-changing marketplace.

CONTACT METHOD

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/

www.mining-international.org

https://twitter.com/MiningConsult

https://www.facebook.com/MiningInternational.org

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC69dGPS29lmakv-D7LWJg_Q?guided_help_flow=3