Rio Tinto, a mining and metals company, has begun producing spodumene concentrate, a mineral used in the production of lithium for batteries, at a demonstration plant in Canada. The plant, part of the Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium Quebec Operations in Sorel-Tracy, was commissioned in June of 2022, and produced its first ton of spodumene… Read more »
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Mining giant Rio Tinto buys battery-electric locomotives
Mining giant Rio Tinto has ordered four battery-electric locomotives for use in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Wabtec will produce the four 7 MWh FLXdrive locomotives in the US, beginning in 2023, and Rio Tinto plans to conduct initial trials in the Pilbara in early 2024. The e-locos will be tested against a range… Read more »
Rio Tinto to buy lithium project in Argentina for $825 million
Mining and metals company Rio Tinto plans to purchase a lithium project in Argentina for $825 million from Rincon Mining in a transaction that’s expected to close in the first half of 2022. The Rincon lithium project is in the Salta province of Argentina, and currently hosts a pilot lithium production plant. After the purchase… Read more »
Rio Tinto achieves battery-grade lithium production at California plant
Rio Tinto has commenced production of battery-grade lithium from waste rock at a lithium demonstration plant at the Boron mine site in California. The demonstration plant is the next step in scaling up a lithium production process developed at Boron, to recover the mineral and extract additional value out of waste piles from over 90… Read more »
Mining giants agree BEVs are the best choice for mining equipment
Mining involves some of the most extreme energy requirements of any industrial process. To extract the minerals needed to power our technological lifestyle, billions of tons of rock have to be dug up, transported, crushed and processed, generally at remote locations. Regardless of what the “We love EVs, but…” crowd incessantly claims, the transition to… Read more »
Battery makers seem to be okay with an EV production slowdown
The news that GM, Ford and other automakers plan to slow down production of EVs in response to slower sales growth (EV sales grew by only 50 percent last quarter) was like an early Christmas for the various varieties of EV-haters. For most of us in the EV industry, it was more like a visit… Read more »
CharIN and ICMM launch new task force to electrify mining vehicles
The electrification of mining haul trucks has taken a step forward with the launch of the CharIN Mining Task Force, a partnership between charging standards body CharIN and the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). The task force will address technical bottlenecks around the interoperability of charging systems for zero-emission mining vehicles. These are… Read more »
Caterpillar demonstrates battery-electric large mining truck, invests in sustainable proving ground
Caterpillar has completed a successful demonstration of its first battery-electric 793 model mining truck. Caterpillar developed its battery-electric prototype with support from mining customers participating in its Early Learner program, which was established in 2021 with the aim of accelerating the development and validation of Caterpillar’s battery-electric trucks at participating customers’ sites. Participants with definitive… Read more »
Minnesota nickel mine faces environmental justice challenges
Let’s get this straight right away: this is not one of those “EVs’ Dirty Little Secret” articles. We know that e-mobility has an environmental footprint, but it’s far smaller than that of legacy petroleum-powered vehicles, as countless studies have shown. On the other hand, it’s critical that every step of the EV supply chain be… Read more »
Tesla to buy nickel from Talon Metals mine in Minnesota
Talon Nickel, a US subsidiary of Canada-based Talon Metals (TSX: TLO), has secured an agreement with Tesla to supply nickel concentrate from its Tamarack Nickel Project, a joint venture with mining giant Rio Tinto, in Aitkin County, Minnesota. Under the terms of the agreement, Tesla has committed to purchase 75,000 metric tons (165 million lbs)… Read more »