Ford to buy lithium for electric car batteries from Quebec’s Nemaska Lithium
A Quebec firm constructing a lithium mine and manufacturing plan has signed an 11 yr deal to promote merchandise to Ford to be used in electrical automotive batteries.
The deal introduced by the automotive large and Nemaska Lithium on Monday will see the American automaker develop into the Quebec firm’s first buyer.
Ford will purchase as much as 13,000 tons a yr of lithium hydroxide produced at Nemaska’s manufacturing unit in Bécancour, Que., about 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal, the 2 corporations mentioned in a joint news launch.
“This agreement is a vote of confidence for the solidity of the project, of the quality of the product that will be produced, and, of course, a testament to the effort of the Nemaska teams,” Steve Gartner, the chief monetary officer of Nemaska Lithium, mentioned in an interview Monday.
The firm’s Whabouchi mine, within the James Bay area of northern Quebec, is scheduled to start producing lithium ore in 2025, which is able to then be processed on the Bécancour plant when it opens the next yr.
“Lithium is a key component in high-quality and high-performing electric batteries,” Gartner mentioned. “We have a world class deposit in the James Bay region and we look to establish the first integrated mine to lithium hydroxide plant in Quebec to support the North American supply chain for electric vehicles.”
Ford will even purchase spodumene focus, a lithium ore, from Nemaska Lithium earlier than the plant begins producing lithium hydroxide.
The automaker mentioned in a launch that Nemaska will present a sustainable supply of lithium that can assist it scale manufacturing of electrical autos and make these autos extra accessible to clients.
Gartner mentioned the plant will supply a extra environmentally-friendly provide of lithium than a lot of its opponents.
“One of the strong advantages that our product will have is that we have access to hydroelectricity,” he mentioned. “On top of that, we use up to 12 times less water than certain processes and (emit) more than 70 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than other similar processes around the world.”
No greenback worth was supplied for the deal.
Nemaska is co-owned by Quebec’s financial improvement company Investissement Québec and Livent, a Philadelphia-based lithium firm.
Last summer time, the Quebec authorities and Livent introduced they might every make investments $80 million to fund the research and preparatory work essential to resume development of the mine and to start development of the Bécancour plant.
A earlier model of the corporate, below completely different possession, entered creditor safety in 2019, dropping Investissement Québec $71 million. Under the earlier Liberal authorities, Quebec spent $130 million to assist that firm.
In 2020, when the province took over the venture with a private-sector accomplice, it dedicated to spending as much as $300 million on the relaunch of Nemaska. Of that funding, $175 million has already been introduced.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed May 22, 2023.
