Pilbara Minerals Ltd., seeking to develop one of the world’s largest lithium projects, believes prices can sustain recent rapid gains on soaring demand in China for renewable energy, especially electric vehicles.
“Big buyers of big volumes are right now paying more than $20,000 a metric ton for lithium carbonate in the battery market,” Chief Executive Officer Ken Brinsden said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg Television from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. Prices are likely to remain at that level on accelerating demand growth as China’s government seeks to expand its use of renewable energy, he said.
Pilbara is attempting to fast-track development of its Pilgangoora project, the second-largest deposit of tantalite and lithium-bearing spodumene, to tap rising demand. It’s aiming to begin some production as soon as December 2017 and last month agreed a sales agreement with China’s General Lithium Corp….
Source: Soaring Lithium Prices Can Sustain Gains, Pilbara CEO Forecasts – Bloomberg