I will probably open up a hornets nest here, but i have no problem with a mining tax, not for explorers obviously, but for producers.*Ditto Bro
Especially if they Don't want China to control the EV / Battery / Lithium / Rare Earths space for Yrs to come
Speaking of Dumb & Dumber / Asleep at the Wheel, Shoot yourself in the Foot kinda Stupid, Did you see where,
California approves lithium tax despite industry’s warnings
California on Thursday approved a plan to tax the electric vehicle battery metal lithium to generate revenue for environmental remediation projects despite industry concerns that it will harm the sector and delay shipments to automakers.
Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, approved the tax as part of a must-pass state budget on Thursday.
The state legislature had signed off on the levy during deliberations on Wednesday night.
The tax is structured as a flat-rate per tonne and will go into effect in January.
The tax will be reviewed every year, and state officials have agreed to study potentially switching to a percentage-based tax.
The largest American state sits atop giant lithium reserves in its Salton Sea region, east of Los Angles, an area heavily damaged in the 20th century by years of heavy pesticide use from farming. Funds generated from the tax are earmarked in part to cleanup of the area.
Federal officials have praised the area’s start-up lithium industry because it would deploy a geothermal brine process that is more environmentally friendly than open-pit mines and brine evaporation ponds, the two most common existing methods to produce lithium.
Two of the area’s three lithium companies warned the tax would scare off investors and customers.
Both said they may leave the state for lithium-rich brine deposits in Utah or Arkansas.
Privately-held Controlled Thermal Resources Ltd said the tax would force it to miss deadlines to deliver lithium to General Motors Co by 2024 and Stellantis NV by 2025.
EnergySource Minerals LLC, also privately held, said it halted discussions with potential financiers and an automaker.
“Supporting a tax that ensures lithium imports from China are less expensive for auto manufacturers to secure will devastate this promising Californian industry before it has begun,” said Rod Colwell, Controlled Thermal’s chief executive.
‘Taxafornia’ approves Salton Sea lithium tax
Late last week California approved its plan to tax lithium, despite industry concerns it would harm the sector and delay shipments to automakers.
While it was still in debate, EnergySource Minerals CEO Eric Spomer told Reuters his company had halted discussions with potential financiers and a major automaker and that the tax “would stifle our industry before it even begins.”
Controlled Thermal Resources (who have contracts to supply lithium to General Motors by 2024 and Stellantis by 2025) CEO Rod Colwell said the tax would force the company to miss those delivery deadlines.
CTR plans to produce 60,000 tonnes of lithium – enough to make roughly 6 million EVs – by mid-2024 in California, which would make it the largest U.S. lithium producer.
The California Energy Commission has even estimated that there’s enough lithium in the area to meet all of the United States’ projected future demand and 40% of the world’s demand.
But the lithium would need to be extracted via geothermal brines which hasn’t been done before at scale, and industry experts like ‘Mr Lithium’ Joe Lowry say the Salton Sea was never going to reach supply expectations anyway.
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EU declaring lithium hazardous ‘unlikely’ and ‘counterproductive’ to supply chain goals
Earlier this month Albemarle said it might have to shut down its Langelsheim plant in Germany if the metal used in electric vehicle batteries is declared a hazardous material by the European Union.
Vulcan Energy COO Vincent Ledoux Pedailles has told S&P Global the whole idea is counterproductive.
“It seems pretty unlikely that given the EU objectives of becoming self-sufficient in EV lithium-ion battery production by 2025, targeting 80% domestic lithium production in the next five years, targeting 35% lithium recycling by 2029, they will then approve such proposal that can be seen as counterproductive,” he said.
However, Pedailles also said the European Commission could potentially grant a special status to certain countries, allowing then to waiver on the 1A classification for specific industries/activities – and that Germany could potentially ask for a waiver for lithium used in batteries.
“Cobalt is already sitting in this category (along with 850 other products) and is being consumed in batteries in Europe on a daily basis, however, it is true that it could have an impact lead by additional costs in controlling, processing, packaging and storage,” he said.
First draft act expected in Q4
The first draft of an act reclassifying lithium compounds is expected to be published between October and December.
“The risk is that if lithium salts are incorrectly reclassified as 1a/SVHC it would introduce great uncertainty to long-term business viability planning of investments around these three salts,” International Lithium Association Secretary General Roland Chavasse said.
“Should any of these three lithium salts be classified incorrectly as 1a and be placed on the SVHC there could be significant unintended consequences for investments in their use in the EU, thereby putting in question the long-term viability of lithium being produced, refined, used and recycled in EU member states.”
He also said the reclassification would add a lot of long-term financial uncertainty to the massive investments which are needed to achieve a domestic battery supply chain.
“It is hard to know how this will play out as there are many variables, but I think it is unlikely to make battery makers supply chains more local or reduce their costs,” Chavasse said.
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Food for thought on the Road to Mining Manono Bro
Fingers
Frank
Miners make a fortune and pay little tax comparatively, the same goes for multinationals.
I certainly aint a Clive Palmer fan, but he made a good point when spruiking for votes with the election just gone....
If every miner paid a 10 - 15% mining tax, then Australias trillion dollar debt, gets paid off quick time.
If we were to apply that same rule for multinationals as well, Australias financial position would be the envy of the world.
That said, i would hold off taxing the lithium sector until it became more mature.
The world needs as much lithium as it can get its hands on, so the more incentives, the better.
imo
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imo
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