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

This episode takes a deep dive into the Lithium Americas Thacker Pass project .

My guests are LAC GM Hugh Broadhurst and R&D Manager Ryan Ravenelle.

Topics:

What makes Thacker Pass special?

Working with a major mining partner

The significance of the Reno Tech Center

Benefits of being in a “mining” state

Product specifications

The Team

Infrastructure

Logistics

The “Goldilocks” sulfuric acid plant

Sustainability

Community support

The project timeline

Challenges

The cost curve

Rapid fire

Dale Henderson (@henderson_dale on X) is the Managing Director & CEO of Pilbara Minerals. I was honored to have him join me for the 200th episode.

Topics:

Pilbara’s four strategic pillars

The wild ride for lithium (& Pilbara)

Swing supply created by 2022 pricing

The steepening cost curve

Unsustainable pricing in 2024

The coming shortage

Continuing to be nimble

Managing through volatility

The POSCO JV & other world class partners

Where Pilbara sits on the cost curve

Growth and the Latin Resources acquisition

The arrival of big balance sheets to lithium

Brazil as a lithium jurisdiction

Keeping the team motivated

Two questions from Dale

Rapid fire

Dan Blondal aka "the man with one tweet" is the CEO of Nano One (TSX: NANO / OTC: NNOMF).

Topics:

A world class suite of partners

The battery challenge

Why ex China cathode capacity matters

China's current LFP dominance

Why the west has to do LFP differently

The importance of ESS as a catalyst

"Design one - build many"

Will Japan make a battery comeback?

The importance of the DOD investment

Staying the course

Rapid fire

The majority of this episode is a presentation I made at the Panorama Minero "Lithium South America" event in Jujuy, Argentina on October 9, 2024. The presentation starts at ~ minute 23. The episode begins with a interview with Alejandro Columbo from Panorama Minero. We discuss what Panorama Minero does and how this event has grown over the last decade to global significance.

My presentation "Lithium's Bright Future" also includes a discussion of the history of the industry and how the west's failure to act early in the last decade allowed China to become the current dominant player in lithium ion batteries and EVs. Yet the past isn't necessarily prologue.

My favorite event on the annual lithium calendar is Panorama Minero's "Lithium South America". My guests on this episode are Daniel Jimenez of iLi Markets, Roland Chavasse of the International Lithium Association and JP Vargas the MD of Galan Lithium.

Sid Subramani has global responsibility for lithium projects at Hatch (@HATCHglobal on X), a professional services and engineering company.

Topics:

The Hatch role in lithium

A typical engagement

Red flags

Projects: majors vs juniors

Big Energy vs Big Mining

DLE – when & how significant?

Common project mistakes

The importance of grade

Why projects are late

QPs

Lepidolite

Lithium jurisdictions

Specifications

Cap-Ex: China vs others

The cost curve

People

Rapid fire