NewsBite

High Voltage: Trump a potential speed bump for US adoption, but EV narrative looks inevitable

Donald Trump could produce a bump in the road for the US’s EV uptake, but a couple of moves by China offer better news for lithium.

Rob Badman
5 min read
May 30, 2024 - 1:44PM
Stockhead
Donald Trump potentially could slow the US's electric vehicle revolution, but it's unlikely he could stop it. Picture: Getty Images
Donald Trump potentially could slow the US's electric vehicle revolution, but it's unlikely he could stop it. Picture: Getty Images

With lithium struggling a little this week, investors keen on the metal need some good news.

Here are a couple of items to generate – both involving China in one way or the other.

And, inevitably something to worry about, involving a familiar (orange) face.
China’s progress with solid-state lithium batteries seems to hold great promise, as does the global electric vehicle pricing wars started by the Middle Kingdom.

For the latest resources news, sign up here for free Stockhead daily newsletters

On the negative side of the ledger, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump looms as somewhat of a speed bump for EV adoption in the States.

More of all that later, or skip forward if you really need to.

Unfortunately the “spot” LCE price is moving backwards at the time of writing, continuing its most recent droop. As does that of spod.

It looks, however, like it might be a minor blip in a longer bottoming out scenario once zoomed out, but time will tell.

Moving to the ASX, and despite the flaccid commodity pricing, we’re at least seeing some positive local lithium stories again this week. In the news for the right reasons this week, we have:

LORD RESOURCES (ASX:LRD)

Infill soil sampling work has confirmed multiple, large high-priority lithium-caesium-tantalum geochemical anomalies at Lord’s 100 per cent-owned Jingjing lithium project in WA’s Eastern Goldfields.

Jingjing, which was acquired in May 2023, consists of two tenements that sit within the “Goldilocks Zone” for lithium-caesium-tantalum deposits. Jingjing is being explored independently of the company’s Horse Rocks, where exploration is being undertaken under a strategic partnership with Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN).

Read more on the Lord Resources situation here.

PURSUIT MINERALS (ASX:PUR)

High grades of lithium brine have been intersected at Pursuit Minerals’ Rio Grande Sur project in Argentina from the very first diamond hole as part of Stage 1 resource expansion, showing up to 620mg/l lithium.

The Rio Grande Sur project is a vast landholding in the Salta province, part of South America’s Lithium Triangle – the world’s largest source of lithium from salt flats.

And it’s in prime real estate next to established operations and developments such as Arcadium Lithium’s (ASX:LTM) El Fenix and Sal de Vida, POSCO’s Sal de Oro and Ganfeng’s Mariana projects, among others.

PUR is targeting a resource upgrade this quarter to build on an inferred resource which currently sits at 251,300t lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE).

Read morehere.

MORE FROM STOCKHEAD: Everest heads for new heights | ASX uranium stocks’ African adventure | Is this copper run ‘unsustainable’?

WINSOME RESOURCES (ASX:WR1)

This James Bay-focused (Quebec, Canada) $244 million market capper has turned heads this week, announcing a significant increase of the mineral resource estimate (MRE) at its Adina lithium project.

It’s talking a 33 per cent increase to 77.9 million tonnes with a higher-grade lithium content to boot – at 1.15 per cent Li2O.

It’s a big upgrade, with an uptick in lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) to 2.21Mt Lithium and, says the company, confirms Adina’s positioning as “one of the largest undeveloped lithium deposits in the world”.

The company notes, too, that 61.4Mt at 1.14 per cent Li2O in the higher confidence Indicated category derived from systematic drilling is a strong foundation for long-life project feasibility studies.

Winsome’s MD Chris Evans is upbeat, stating: “The update to the MRE affirms the significance of our global resource and solidifies our position and strategic location at the heart of the green energy industry and EV supply chain in North America.

“To increase the resource by almost 20Mt while also enhancing our grade and resource category is an exceptional outcome from our latest phase of systematic drilling. In particular the grade which has been defined close to surface in the main zone is a key advantage as we progress the Adina lithium project.”

CUFE (ASX:CUF)

CuFe is laying the foundation for drilling at its North Dam lithium project near Coolgardie, WA, with completion of the first heritage survey and approval of additional program of works to extend the program’s scope and coverage.

Further rock chip sampling of potential host pegmatites for anomalous REE and niobium mineralisation is also to be carried out, and is RC drilling expected to start in July.

Read more here.

Trump, a speed bump in the EV road?

The distinct possibility of another Donald Trump presidency presents the markets with all kinds of uncertainty. So, would he be good, or bad for the battery metals sector?

It certainly doesn’t sound overly positive when you read things such as his supposed plan, if elected, to stop all electric car sales in the US and roll back tailpipe emissions targets along with slashing EV tax credits.

However, as the Jalopnik article above notes, the automotive and EV landscape in the US has evolved since Trump was in the Oval Office and looks very different these days.

Per Bradley Brownell’s piece:

“Despite his best efforts, the EV market has grown significantly in the last eight years. Just 159,139 electric vehicles were sold in the US in 2016, and that number is expected to exceed 1.5 million (or 10 per cent of US new car sales) in 2024. 

“Hyundai, for example, is investing $13 billion on electric vehicle production in Georgia, a state Donald Trump narrowly lost by 12,000 votes in 2020.

“By threatening the livelihoods of blue collar American workers, Trump may be doing more harm than good for his case in these manufacturing-reliant states.”

It’s possible a Trump win could be a speed bump in the EV-adoption road in the US, but widespread EV adoption seems inevitable whoever wins the current election race.

Visit Stockhead, where ASX small caps are big deals

Something more solid

Solid-state lithium batteries – are they on their way towards mass production overdrive? According to a Shanghai Metals Market article, the largest solid-state battery project in China, Qingtao Kunshan, is reportedly set to begin production in June.

The project is said to have a total investment of 5 billion yuan, which is about $US690 million.

Solid state lithium batteries are regarded as a way forward in the EV battery space as they offer potential for higher energy density than current lithium-ion batteries.

This could translate to greater range capacity and longer-lasting charging, as well as addressing problematic safety issues of current iterations of lithium-ion energy storage.

Meanwhile, global electric vehicle wars are heating up, and China’s been firing all the shots of late (see X posts below).

But in an attempt to ward off the BYD affordable EV assault on global car markets, cheaper electric vehicles are being planned by Volkswagen in Europe as a matter of priority.

The Volkswagen Group said earlier this week that it had been working on compact electric vehicles that will cost about 20,000 euros for “for some time”.

That’s the equivalent of about $32,600 Aussie dollars, and $US21,700. These new EVs are set to hit roads in 2027.

ASX battery metals stars

This content first appeared on stockhead.com.au

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While LRD, PUR and CUF are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article. 

SUBSCRIBE

Get the latest Stockhead news delivered free to your inbox.Click here

Originally published as High Voltage: Trump a potential speed bump for US adoption, but EV narrative looks inevitable

Read related topics:Donald Trump
More related stories

Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/stockhead/high-voltage-trump-a-potential-speed-bump-for-us-adoption-but-ev-narrative-looks-inevitable/news-story/4128cda3f11a153bb5ead4807e436074