Category Archives: Minerals

Plight of the PRA and how Benchmark became the lithium industry’s reference price

4th June 2018Batteries, Chile, China, Disruptive technology, Energy storage, EV, Lithium, Minerals, Supply Chain, UncategorisedBenchmark Mineral Intelligence

Since its inception in 2014, the rise of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence as the lithium industry’s reference price has been the ideal case study for how the commodities publishing industry is changing.

Scandals such as libor and credit ratings fixes have brought scrutiny (and with it a police raid) on commodity

Chart: Flake graphite capacity utilisation drops below 50%

23rd March 2016China, Graphite, Minerals, UncategorisedBenchmark Mineral Intelligence

Weak flake graphite concentrate demand has forced global capacity utilisation under 50% for a second consecutive year.

Flake graphite is used primarily in the steel industry – in refractory bricks and as a recarburising agent – and as a feedstock for battery anodes.

Although there was a marginal increase in … Read more

Cobalt brings tech giants’ supply chains into the spotlight

20th January 2016Apple, Batteries, Benchmark, Cobalt, conflict minerals, Minerals, Supply ChainBenchmark Mineral Intelligence

A new report by Amnesty International has uncovered human rights abuses by one of the world’s leading cobalt producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Ltd, a mining group partly owned by the Chinese government, has been accused of selling cobalt sourced from child labor into … Read more

Battery grade graphite set for record year

28th June 2015Graphite, Mineralsbattery, China, Graphitebenchmark

China’s output of spherical graphite has continued to go from strength to strength in Q2 2015 on the back of strong lithium ion battery demand from Asia.

The country, which produces 95% of the world’s uncoated spherical graphite – the semi processed material that makes a battery’s anode – has

Europe closes in on conflict minerals

4th June 2015Mineralscobalt, conflict minerals, europebenchmark

Annual “White List” to reveal which of the world’s smelters do not use conflict minerals
Focus not on downstream users like battery and smartphone makers
Europe likely to expand scope outside central Africa and to more minerals

An annual list that reveals the names of mineral smelters that do not … Read more

China delays flake graphite restarts

8th May 2015Graphite, MineralsChina, Flake, Graphitebenchmark

Winter conditions prolong flake graphite production slowdown; prices slide as suppliers offload inventories

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Much of China’s flake graphite production remains offline following a prolonged suspension of operations in many areas due to severe … Read more