Did Tesla Battery Day leave you scratching your head? 

If so, you're in good company - if you consider Emily Hersh good company that is.

Alex Grant, Principal of Jade Cove Partners returns to the Minerals Manhattan Project to talk through the article he co-wrote following the announcement that Elon Musk is planning to extract lithium from clay in Nevada using salt and water.

Alex explains the different mechanisms that could be plausible explanations for how this saline process could work, as well as some lithium clay basics.

For the full article, written by Alex Grant (Jade Cove Partners), Dr. Mike Whittaker (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), and Dr. Aaron Celestian (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles):

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/inside-teslas-lithium-clay-salt-extraction-process-alex-grant/?trackingId=fl2mJlJdTKCPoukBNrUC4w%3D%3D

Follow Alex on Twitter @alexjadecove

Read more of Alex's clever papers on his website: https://www.jadecove.com/

The Minerals Manhattan Project welcomes Teague Egan, Founder and CEO of Energy X.

As the world is steadfast in transitioning to sustainable energy, Energy Exploration Technologies Inc. (EnergyX) has a mission to power the future. Founded by serial entrepreneur, Teague Egan, and a team of the world’s leading scientists and sustainable energy veterans, EnergyX is creating revolutionary technology to support the shift to clean energy.

https://energyx.com/

@energyx
@teagueegan

How does someone go from being an astronaut to running the United States Geological Survey?

Jim Reilly, Director of the USGS, joins the Minerals Manhattan Project to explain the role of minerals in everyday life. 

From coal to petroleum to critical minerals, Director Reilly takes us through how humanity has obtained energy has changed over the last 100 years. Renewable energy depends on critical minerals that have to be mined and processed.

Director Reilly explains how the USGS coordinates with states and other federal agencies to find and characterize critical mineral deposits, and his vision for the importance of mining to the future of energy. He also discusses the importance of recycling.

Director Reilly shares how the USGS coordinates with NASA to map the terrain on Mars to allow spacecraft to land.

Check out the USGS resources here - and see if there's a stream gauge near you!
https://www.usgs.gov/
https://trek.nasa.gov/mars/

Solid state lithium batteries were on everyone's minds last week following the announcement that Volkswagon-backed battery company QuantumScape was going public via a SPAC.

Emily Hersh, host of the Minerals Manhattan Project, virtually sits down with Doug Campbell to understand the context of solid state batteries in the race to electrify transportation. 

We cover:

• The basics of solid state batteries
• Different kinds of solid state electrolytes
• What implications solid state batteries would have on mineral supply chains
• Doug's view on the QuantumScape SPAC deal
• "Anodeless"lithium metal batteries vs. lithium metal foil
• Challenges and timelines

A must listen episode leading up to Tesla's battery day next week

https://solidpowerbattery.com/
@dougcampbellSP
@SolidPowerInc

Howard Klein, aka the Lithium Ion Bull, joins your host Emily Hersh on the Minerals Manhattan Project to dissect how the emergence of a "New Nemaska" looks to the original retail investors.

Howard breaks down the bankruptcy process of the infamous Nemaska , as well as how Orion Mine Finance, Pallinghurst, and Investment Quebec finalized a structure to breathe new life - and money- into the now infamous Nemaska

Howard gives us a timeline from a rights issue offering through bondholder disputes, as well as how Softbank ended up losing 100 million dollars. Howard explains his opinion on how WeWork collapse peripherally influenced the implosion.

This provides a jumping off point to discuss how none of the debt for Nemaska ever went into the ground - and what that can teach equity investors about capital structures for early stage projects.

Howard also explains some of those stock terms like SPACs, and how platforms like Robinhood are bringing in a new generation of retail investors.

Howard answers the question, are there any stock movements that investors should watch out for?


@lithiumionbull 
https://www.rkequity.com/rk-equity

Emily Hersh, host of the Minerals Manhattan Project, is joined by Simon Moores, CEO and founder of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. 

Simon and Emily chat about ExxonMobile going from the Dow's most valuable company to falling off the index, and what that means for when the critical minerals supply chain will catch up to supply the world's battery gigafactories.
 
We chat about the role of government in recovery from Covid, and Simon shares how Eminem's grammy speech inspired the show-stopping testimony he gave in front of the US Senate. In chatting about possible policy responses from the US Government, Emily suggests borrowing the portfolio approach taken by the pharmaceutical industry in developing a vaccine for Operation Warp Speed.

We go through a few rumors in the lithium market and catch up on where we think next year is headed.

To keep up with Simon, follow him on Twitter at @SDMoores and Benchmark Minerals at @benchmarkmin

Your host Emily Hersh of the Minerals Manhattan Project is joined by Cassandra Garrison, Argentina Correspondent for Reuters, to break down just exactly how the United States is planning to counter China's role as the investment bank for mining and infrastructure projects in Latin America.

Cassandra has recently published a series of articles focusing on the controversial nomination of hardliner Mauricio Claver-Carone to head the Inter American Development Bank, a role that has traditionally been filled by someone from Latin America.

Cassandra explains why Claver-Carone is controversial, and why the IADB (or BID by it's Spanish acronym) matters in the region despite limited lending capacity of roughly US $ 12 billion.

Cassandra puts the Claver-Carone controversy into context with the other US initiatives to bring supply chains closer to home, including a newly empowered Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the America Crece initiative, and others.

Cassandra breaks down the scope of China's investment in Latin America, and gives us an idea of what would be necessary from the United States to stack up to the famous Belt-and-Road initiative bankrolling infrastructure and mining projects in America's backyard.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-idb-election/latam-calls-grow-louder-to-delay-regional-bank-vote-in-setback-for-trump-pick-idUSKCN2533AU

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/08/26/world/americas/26reuters-latam-usa-bank.html?searchResultPosition=7

@CassLGarrison 

Emily Hersh and the The Minerals Manhattan Project catches up with Joe Bryan after his testimony before the United States Senate to understand why all the attention on critical minerals hasn't translated into more aggressive action within the US. 

Joe shares his path from working with the US Navy to his current roles today in Washington DC, and how US military technology is increasingly reliant on batteries that have logistics support chains.

Batteries solve the logistics challenge presented by convoys that transport fuel in hostile territory by widening the range of power sources, and the shift in energy is impacting the US geopolitical position especially with China.

David Livingston, Senior Analyst with Eurasia Group joins the Minerals Manhattan Project to discuss how deeply China dominates critical mineral supply chains, and why that is a result of direct, strategic planning that has taken place over the past two decades.

David explains the different stages of supply chains that are dominated by Chinese actors as well as equity ownership via investment. He shares his views on how partisanship and short-term action have shaped US action in the past on these critical minerals supply chains.

@DLinDC
http://linkedin.com/in/davidlivingston2020

As the world moves towards an electric vehicle future, a great deal of attention has been given to the effects of mining and environmental impact of producing batteries. One major area of attention is what happens to these batteries at the end of life, and how to keep them from being thrown into the trash.

But what does recycling mean, and is it actually as environmentally friendly as we'd all like it to be?

Tim Johnston, the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Li-Cycle, joins the Minerals Manhattan Project to walk us through what it means to recycle a battery.

We talk about traditional and newer battery recycling processes and compare their waste streams, carbon emissions, and products they produce.

Tim explains how a battery comes apart into plastic, metals, and "black matter" - the active material in the battery - and what different recycling streams can be used to product new products.

Emily drills Tim on the economics of each step of the recycling process, from the plastics to the metals through the black mass active material for manufacturing new batteries. Tim describes the hydro-metallurgical process used by Li-Cycle to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite ready to re-enter battery and other industrial processes.