The age of the electric car is upon us. Electric motor vehicles (EMVs) are taking over roads worldwide, and their international success led by companies such as Tesla will soon be replicated across Africa.The journey to African streets being filled with quieter, more environmentally-friendly vehicles starts with responsibly sourced materials that are crucial for these vehicles’ power systems. In the coming decades, hundreds of millions of vehicles will hit the roads carrying larger rechargeable electric-vehicle batteries (EVBs) inside their engines
Many challenges with battery supply chains are tied to extracting and processing of five minerals used in many of today’s leading electric vehicle (EV) batteries: lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite.
These chemical elements form the basic building blocks of lithium-ion battery cells and are what gives them the power to store and release energy for propelling electric vehicles.
Many of the minerals needed to produce them, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel and graphite are available in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe ,Zambia, South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania or Gabon among others. The DRC alone is estimated to have several million tonnes of lithium reserves.
Lithium resources have been identified in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali and Ethiopia. Several projects on the continent have been backed by major players in the battery and commodity industry such as CATL, Ganfeng Lithium and Glencore.
Zimbabwe is set to construct Mapinga Energy Park,the construction is set to start during the second quarter of 2024.The mines-to-energy project will include the construction of two 300MW power stations, a coking plant, a lithium salt plant, a graphite processing plant, a nickel-chromium alloy smelter as well as a nickel sulphate plant.The industrial park, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe, will be established after Government and two Chinese investors, Eagle Canyon International Group Limited and Pacific Goal Investment,
The electric vehicle revolution is already affecting the African commodities market. Lithium and cobalt prices are higher due to increasing electric vehicle demand pushing the case for more investments in the region.Today we have several lithium junior projects in Africa, which due to the higher lithium prices are seen to be more appealing, such as Montero Mining in Namibia, Kodal Minerals with a project in Mali or Premier African Minerals with a project in Zimbabwe, to name a few.
Top 10 largest lithium mines in Africa:
Arcadia Lithium Project, Zimbabwe.
Bikita Minerals, Zimbabwe.
Manono Lithium Project, DRC
Manono Tailings Project, DRC.
Blesberg Lithium Project, South Africa.
Goulamina Lithium Project, Mali.
Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project, Zimbabwe.
Ewoyaa Lithium Project, Ghana.
Ganfeng Lithium, DRC.
Karibib Lithium Project, Namibia.
Moreover, we have the cobalt industry in Africa led by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), home for the likes of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt or ERG (Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation).
Africa is home as well to other cobalt producers in Morocco and Madagascar, such as Managem Group and Ambatovy. The higher cobalt prices are due to the increasing demand for this material promoting an appetite to invest, which normally results in a byproduct of copper or nickel mining operations.
It is in the copper belt in Africa (crossing areas of the DRC and Zambia), however, where most of the cobalt mined in the world comes from.Cobalt normally comes as a byproduct of copper or nickel mining operations, making it harder when looking at starting a new cobalt operation or ramping up production.
In addition, interest in graphite has spurred as a consequence of the electric vehicle revolution. Syrah Resources is based in Mozambique and there are several juniors looking to start production there, such as Kibaran Resources in Tanzania or Triton Minerals in Mozambique.
Here are the minerals that are make up the biggest portions of EV batteries:
Lithium
Cobalt
Nickel
Manganese
Iron
Graphite
Aluminium
Copper
Steel
Both lithium-ion batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries contain manganese, nickel, and graphite, but in different quantities.
The difference between the two is that lithium-ion batteries contain lithium, whereas nickel-metal hydride batteries don’t. With the ongoing lithium shortage, this gives nickel-metal hydride batteries an edge over other types.
However, nickel-metal hydride batteries are still currently expensive to produce, since they contain rare-earth metals, such as lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium.
LFP batteries – the newest kind of EV battery – contain primarily lithium, iron, graphite, and aluminium, which are all common and widely mined metals.
Common types of EV batteries
There are three main types of electric vehicle (EV) batteries in use today: lithium-ion batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries, and lithium iron phosphate batteries.
The difference between these three types of batteries in the following sections.
Lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries (also known as Li-ion) are the most commonly used type of electric battery, accounting for around 60% of market share in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
They’re popular because they have a high energy density (meaning they can hold a lot of power whilst taking up little space), high heat resistance, and high energy efficiency.
Nickel-metal hydride batteries
Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are mostly used in hybrid EVs (HEVs). Even though they’re more durable than lithium-ion batteries, they’re less popular because they’re expensive to manufacture and not as heat resistant.
For this reason, some HEV manufacturers have switched to lithium-ion batteries. However, Toyota, which has 60% of the global HEV market share, still uses nickel-metal hydride, and has not announced any plans to switch.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries
The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery is the new kid on the block. LFP batteries are gaining popularity because they’re less expensive to produce than the previous two types. Plus, they don’t use certain metals, such as cobalt or nickel.
China is the current leader in LFP production, supplying 90% of global components for them.
Key minerals in EV batteries
EV batteries are complex structures that include various minerals, with the exact mix and quantities varying depending on the battery type.
There is an opportunity to manufacture the cells or batteries needed for EVs in Africa, and battery factories can stimulate regional and continental economic growth. Battery factories could help to develop skills in engineering and attract talent to different regions where manufacturing takes place.All the components required are mined in Africa,there is need for Africa to have majority of the batteries manufactured in the continent through working out synergistic relations amongst member states which do have deposits of the mineral componentd required for a specific battery type.The advent of EV revolution must benefit Africa in the same way Middle East benefitted from oil.
The policy makers should come up with policies that shall help Africa turn around it’s fortunes as a result of the EV Revolution.
The mines mining these strategic minerals must have robust Corporate Social Responsibility to benefit members of the community thus development has to cascade to the community.There should be local partners and possibly governments to mitigate about a scenario where the owners of the resources will not be aware of the whole value chain.
Saxon Zvina is a Senior Consultant in Sustainable Mining, providing strategic solutions for environmental and social responsibility in the industry. Reach him at saxon@skyworld.co.zw or on Twitter: @saxonzvina2.
