A solo episode with comments on the royalty hearing in Arkansas this week, SQM's earnings call and a "doom & gloom" analyst call "Down Under".

Yuan Gao is one of the most experienced voices in the lithium ion battery world with more than a quarter century of experience across countries, companies and technologies.

Topics:

Reasons behind CATL & BYD's success

The China battery ecosystem

"Dare to gamble"

Is battery success possible in North America?

Cathode developments

Comparing China's cost structure to ROW

The CATL "playbook"Leveraging vertical integration to lower lithium prices

Price expectations

The cost curve

Sodium ion leverage?

Solid state batteries

Lithium metal batteries

Rapid fire

Carlos Galli is the VP of Growth & Innovation at Lithium Argentina. He is a global expert in lithium brine technology.

Topics:

Argentina's growing competitiveness in lithium

The arrival of "big balance sheets" in the Puna

Lithium's need for transparency

Learnings from China

Battery/cathode tech

The China lithium reprocessing industry

Is lithium chloride the "NBT"?

The partnership with Ganfeng

The DLE demo plant

Advantages of solvent of extraction

Why ponds with DLE make sense

Cauchari update

Teamwork

Why companies struggle with DLE

Rapid fire

Carlos Vicens is the founder and CEO of Full Circle Lithium, a company that has developed an effective fire extinguishing agent for lithium fires.

As the world moves to electric transportation and large scale BESS (battery energy storage systems) the risk to life and property from lithium fires has grown exponentially. Full Circle Lithium believes their FCL-X product is a viable solution to the problem.

Topics:

How significant an issue are lithium fires?

Why lithium fires are so challenging to extinguish

The team

Partnerships

The regulatory environment

Should lithium fires have a special classification?

Fire tests

How FCL-X works

Training fire departments

Playing with (lithium) fire

Next steps

Austin Devaney has a wealth of lithium experience from a decade with Rockwood/Albemarle, his time with Piedmont Lithium and his new advisory business: Li7 Charged.

Topics:

The state of the industry

Supply/demand

China's price strategy

The importance of Rio Tinto's entry

The rush to Africa

A "China build" vs the West

The new cost curve

The future of US lithium

Cathode (ex China)

Elon drama

Albemarle's woes

What is the incentive price?

Rapid fire

Dr Frank Jackel is the co-founder and Managing Director of Metals Hub (metals-hub.com @metals-hub on X).

Metals Hub is a leading software solutions provider that optimizes procurement processes.

One of the most significant issues facing the lithium industry is lack of clarity on pricing. Metals Hub is part of the solution to that problem.

I have no financial interest in Metals Hub. Nor was I compensated for having them on the podcast.

Topics:

What Metals Hub does

The need for price transparency

Albemarle - the first lithium client

The mechanics of a lithium sales event

Benefits to clients beyond auctions

The trend toward spot pricing

The advantage of being based outside China

Providing a level of trust in the market

When will the lithium market mature?

The future influence of AI

Rapid fire

This is a solo episode answering listener questions. I also discuss what I learned at a recent conference in Florida.

Andy Leyland (@andyleyland1 on X) is the founder and MD of Supply Chain Insights (@insights_SC on X). Supply Chain Insights is a leading advisory firm on all things related to the lithium ion battery supply chain.

Topics:

State of the LIB supply chain

China vs the rest of the world

Battery demand growth in 2025

Korea's bet on the US

Is LFP "the answer" for North America?

President Trump and critical metals

Market "reset" or "new normal"

CATL's lepidolite restart

Price in 2025 and beyond

The incentive price for western projects

Contracts: the latest trends

The cost curve

Conversion projects ex China

The change industry structure (Rio, Exxon, etc)

The futures market

The first episode of 2025 is a double episode covering the two most significant demand drivers of lithium: electric transportation and battery energy storage systems. My guests are two experts in their respective fields: Tu Le from Sino Auto Insights and Henrique Ribeiro from S&P Global.

Topics:

State of the NEV market

The rise of PHEVs

Autonomous vehicles

Zeekr (Geely) & Waymo

Top Chinese NEV companies

Tariffs

Tesla

Thinning the herd

Legacy OEMs: who survives?

FSD

Battery energy storage systems (BESS)

BESS impact on lithium demand

The economics of BESS

Sodium ion: not ready for prime time

How real is battery "second life"?

BESS in 2030

Daniel Jimenez and I discuss the following topics based on listener questions:

2024 Surprises

Lithium demand

Trends in EV adoption

PHEVs

BESS growth

The incentive price

The cost curve

Inventory

Rio - Arcadium

Africa's potential

Price

VW - Patriot

Canada

Argentina

Ex China conversion

LFP

The "Trump" impact

Rapid fire