Eye on Lithium: EV laggard Toyota hedges bets with US$5bn battery investment

Toyota intends to increase battery production capacity by up to 40GWH
Battery production for EVs will kick off between between 2024 and 2026
Argosy completes 95% of development work at the Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina

All your lithium news, Thursday September 1.

Japanese carmaker Toyota revealed on Wednesday its plan to invest up to 730 billion yen, or roughly US$5.6 billion towards supplying automotive batteries for battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

As global demand for electric vehicles continue to surge, Toyota said in an announcement it intends to kick off battery production between 2024 and 2026.

With this investment, Toyota intends to increase its combined battery production capacity in Japan and the United States by up to 40GWh and hopes to meet the needs of customers in all countries by offering multiple powertrains.

Responding to robust demand for EVs and new tax credits tied to North American battery assembly in the Inflation Reduction Act, Toyota doubles investment in a North Carolina battery plant to $2.5 billion, adding another 350 jobs at the new facility.https://t.co/Jk0Qg3GhDT

— JesseJenkins (@JesseJenkins) September 1, 2022

In Japan, the company says around 400 billion yen or US$4.20 billion will be invested in the Himeji Plant of Prime Planet Energy & Solutions Co, as well as in Toyota plants and property.

Meanwhile, an injection of around 325 billion yen or US$2.5 billion will go towards increasing automotive battery production at Toyota’s battery manufacturing facility in North Carolina.

Toyota is notoriously anti EV, with Jack Hollis, Executive Vice President of Sales at Toyota Motor North America, most recently claiming there is not enough demand in the United States for electric vehicles, according to Electrek.

Here’s how ASX lithium stocks are tracking:

CODE	COMPANY	PRICE	% TODAY	% WEEK	% MONTH	MARKET CAP
WC8	Wildcat Resources	0.031	11%	11%	29%	$18,067,636
WCN	White Cliff Min Ltd	0.022	10%	69%	100%	$13,072,067
AOU	Auroch Minerals Ltd	0.069	8%	-3%	15%	$23,751,155
SRI	Sipa Resources Ltd	0.045	7%	5%	18%	$8,611,042
GL1	Globallith	1.825	6%	4%	25%	$272,961,000
NWM	Norwest Minerals	0.058	5%	-8%	26%	$9,933,406
CHR	Charger Metals	0.495	5%	-7%	1%	$15,313,086
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.021	5%	11%	62%	$19,061,481
PNN	Power Minerals Ltd	0.51	4%	5%	3%	$30,165,954
1MC	Morella Corporation	0.026	4%	0%	44%	$144,141,145
LIS	Lisenergylimited	0.525	4%	-12%	-30%	$83,786,664
A8G	Australasian Metals	0.28	4%	-7%	12%	$11,116,033
LEL	Lithenergy	1.01	4%	-2%	3%	$44,021,250
KAI	Kairos Minerals Ltd	0.029	4%	0%	5%	$54,994,618
BNR	Bulletin Res Ltd	0.145	4%	7%	21%	$40,962,754
SRZ	Stellar Resources	0.0145	4%	-9%	-9%	$13,512,767
GW1	Greenwing Resources	0.295	4%	26%	18%	$35,125,494
MNS	Magnis Energy Tech	0.475	3%	3%	46%	$446,352,482
INF	Infinity Lithium	0.16	3%	14%	14%	$64,327,025
FG1	Flynngold	0.099	3%	-1%	5%	$6,149,861
JRL	Jindalee Resources	2.56	3%	-7%	5%	$142,873,625
LRD	Lordresourceslimited	0.2	3%	-5%	-13%	$6,490,501
RDT	Red Dirt Metals Ltd	0.605	3%	16%	55%	$179,687,111
PLL	Piedmont Lithium Inc	0.89	2%	-1%	45%	$458,986,596
LNR	Lanthanein Resources	0.047	2%	7%	194%	$44,289,976
ARN	Aldoro Resources	0.26	2%	-4%	30%	$25,394,766
CXO	Core Lithium	1.425	2%	2%	23%	$2,432,073,498
KZR	Kalamazoo Resources	0.25	1%	14%	11%	$35,935,608
NVA	Nova Minerals Ltd	0.915	1%	10%	4%	$163,984,079
MIN	Mineral Resources.	64.24	0%	1%	20%	$12,115,979,475
LTR	Liontown Resources	1.74	0%	0%	32%	$3,810,815,332
AKE	Allkem Limited	13.95	0%	1%	24%	$8,869,823,976
PLS	Pilbara Min Ltd	3.66	0%	5%	32%	$10,882,135,320
RIO	Rio Tinto Limited	94.505	0%	-3%	-3%	$35,079,932,223
ADV	Ardiden Ltd	0.008	0%	14%	-6%	$21,346,683
AML	Aeon Metals Ltd.	0.029	0%	-3%	4%	$31,709,492
AVZ	AVZ Minerals Ltd	0.78	0%	0%	0%	$2,752,409,203
EMH	European Metals Hldg	0.725	0%	-9%	11%	$86,784,049
LIT	Lithium Australia	0.077	0%	-7%	8%	$79,726,518
LKE	Lake Resources	1.17	0%	-4%	44%	$1,626,269,240
RLC	Reedy Lagoon Corp.	0.015	0%	0%	7%	$8,361,404
TKL	Traka Resources	0.007	0%	17%	0%	$4,821,422
TON	Triton Min Ltd	0.028	0%	-3%	0%	$35,245,957
BMM	Balkanminingandmin	0.19	0%	3%	-5%	$6,222,500
AAJ	Aruma Resources Ltd	0.065	0%	-10%	-3%	$10,202,498
AX8	Accelerate Resources	0.036	0%	-16%	3%	$9,736,520
BYH	Bryah Resources Ltd	0.028	0%	4%	-7%	$7,819,097
DTM	Dart Mining NL	0.125	0%	64%	71%	$16,907,520
GSM	Golden State Mining	0.056	0%	-11%	24%	$6,552,795
IMI	Infinitymining	0.21	0%	17%	75%	$12,075,000
LRV	Larvottoresources	0.235	0%	2%	18%	$9,760,138
MMC	Mitremining	0.13	0%	2%	8%	$3,521,063
SHH	Shree Minerals Ltd	0.009	0%	6%	0%	$11,146,382
TMB	Tambourahmetals	0.1475	0%	-8%	-18%	$6,075,908
TSC	Twenty Seven Co. Ltd	0.002	0%	-33%	-33%	$5,321,628
KGD	Kula Gold Limited	0.022	0%	-8%	-18%	$4,733,864
SCN	Scorpion Minerals	0.081	0%	0%	25%	$26,878,327
AZI	Altamin Limited	0.091	0%	3%	-5%	$35,646,224
ENT	Enterprise Metals	0.01	0%	0%	-9%	$6,529,807
STM	Sunstone Metals Ltd	0.046	0%	7%	-8%	$119,436,535
AVW	Avira Resources Ltd	0.004	0%	-20%	33%	$8,475,160
RMX	Red Mount Min Ltd	0.007	0%	17%	8%	$11,496,547
EFE	Eastern Resources	0.03	0%	-3%	22%	$30,201,921
LSR	Lodestar Minerals	0.007	0%	0%	8%	$12,169,061
AOA	Ausmon Resorces	0.009	0%	29%	50%	$7,715,604
VKA	Viking Mines Ltd	0.007	0%	0%	0%	$7,176,809
VMC	Venus Metals Cor Ltd	0.16	0%	-9%	-9%	$25,612,589
RGL	Riversgold	0.037	0%	6%	37%	$28,682,028
ZNC	Zenith Minerals Ltd	0.325	0%	8%	-2%	$112,047,741
RAS	Ragusa Minerals Ltd	0.245	0%	-8%	222%	$31,517,797
G88	Golden Mile Res Ltd	0.033	0%	3%	27%	$6,723,176
THR	Thor Mining PLC	0.01	0%	11%	0%	$10,755,644
CZL	Cons Zinc Ltd	0.022	0%	0%	16%	$8,521,872
MXR	Maximus Resources	0.05	0%	2%	2%	$15,945,288
DRE	Dreadnought Resources Ltd	0.14	0%	33%	115%	$425,744,697
MM1	Midasmineralsltd	0.23	0%	-6%	21%	$13,140,306
M2R	Miramar	0.12	0%	0%	20%	$7,702,400
WMC	Wiluna Mining Corp	0.205	0%	0%	0%	$74,238,031
KTA	Krakatoa Resources	0.064	0%	-3%	33%	$22,061,435
TYX	Tyranna Res Ltd	0.033	0%	-3%	27%	$77,132,902
DAF	Discovery Alaska Ltd	0.078	0%	0%	70%	$17,490,306
DAL	Dalaroometalsltd	0.1	0%	11%	-9%	$2,987,500
TKM	Trek Metals Ltd	0.074	0%	-12%	14%	$22,985,151
CY5	Cygnus Gold Limited	0.29	0%	23%	45%	$42,683,741
LPI	Lithium Pwr Int Ltd	0.62	-1%	0%	16%	$218,215,530
WES	Wesfarmers Limited	46.51	-1%	-2%	0%	$53,301,829,776
ESS	Essential Metals Ltd	0.445	-1%	0%	-9%	$111,367,096
TEM	Tempest Minerals	0.0375	-1%	-9%	-6%	$19,181,115
MQR	Marquee Resource Ltd	0.074	-1%	-1%	4%	$23,671,319
ASN	Anson Resources Ltd	0.35	-1%	67%	169%	$364,908,879
NMT	Neometals Ltd	1.37	-1%	-6%	24%	$767,761,646
GLN	Galan Lithium Ltd	1.275	-2%	1%	8%	$394,417,996
QPM	Queensland Pacific	0.1475	-2%	-5%	2%	$234,541,970
SYA	Sayona Mining Ltd	0.29	-2%	0%	49%	$2,448,141,042
VUL	Vulcan Energy	8.1	-2%	1%	4%	$1,182,516,233
IGO	IGO Limited	13.195	-2%	6%	20%	$10,177,679,407
MLS	Metals Australia	0.053	-2%	-2%	-12%	$32,779,954
WR1	Winsome Resources	0.26	-2%	4%	44%	$35,805,208
GT1	Greentechnology	0.705	-2%	1%	5%	$132,674,143
AS2	Askarimetalslimited	0.3475	-2%	2%	29%	$15,999,591
LRS	Latin Resources Ltd	0.1125	-2%	-17%	44%	$224,307,789
CRR	Critical Resources	0.044	-2%	-6%	-6%	$66,960,686
EUR	European Lithium Ltd	0.084	-2%	-5%	9%	$120,420,569
AZL	Arizona Lithium Ltd	0.084	-2%	-5%	9%	$207,253,598
AGY	Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.405	-2%	3%	1%	$566,829,305
CAI	Calidus Resources	0.6	-2%	-4%	-16%	$269,235,749
MMG	Monger Gold Ltd	0.4	-2%	1%	67%	$16,416,400
INR	Ioneer Ltd	0.6475	-3%	-5%	16%	$1,395,259,161
TUL	Tulla Resources	0.5	-3%	-6%	-10%	$82,511,689
LLL	Leolithiumlimited	0.5575	-3%	5%	28%	$567,327,724
OCN	Oceanalithiumlimited	0.595	-3%	-11%	29%	$20,617,875
PAM	Pan Asia Metals	0.445	-3%	-4%	24%	$34,003,311
LPD	Lepidico Ltd	0.029	-3%	4%	0%	$195,215,737
QXR	Qx Resources Limited	0.029	-3%	-6%	-3%	$25,780,870
EVR	Ev Resources Ltd	0.027	-4%	0%	0%	$25,927,554
MRR	Minrex Resources Ltd	0.053	-4%	-7%	2%	$59,206,934
ZEO	Zeotech Limited	0.053	-4%	-9%	-18%	$83,870,351
EMS	Eastern Metals	0.13	-4%	-13%	-13%	$5,218,594
MTM	Mtmongerresources	0.13	-4%	-13%	24%	$5,063,854
EPM	Eclipse Metals	0.023	-4%	5%	10%	$46,107,034
AUN	Aurumin	0.11	-4%	-12%	-33%	$14,410,321
PGD	Peregrine Gold	0.745	-4%	-7%	77%	$30,202,814
PSC	Prospect Res Ltd	0.1	-5%	-5%	-17%	$48,537,244
XTC	Xantippe Res Ltd	0.0095	-5%	6%	19%	$81,257,347
FTL	Firetail Resources	0.255	-6%	-11%	-2%	$16,681,275
FRS	Forrestaniaresources	0.16	-6%	7%	7%	$5,671,422
IPT	Impact Minerals	0.0075	-6%	-6%	-17%	$19,850,964
WML	Woomera Mining Ltd	0.014	-7%	-7%	-13%	$10,302,496
AM7	Arcadia Minerals	0.27	-7%	-27%	93%	$13,542,389
RAG	Ragnar Metals Ltd	0.038	-7%	-16%	-10%	$15,546,580
IR1	Irismetals	1	-10%	20%	167%	$67,870,050

29 lithium companies finished in the green, 55 fell flat and 47 ended the day in the red.

Who’s got news out today?

ARGOSY MINERALS (ASX:AGY)

Construction is progressing at the Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina’s Salta Province, with 95% of the works ticked off for the development of the 2,000tpa lithium carbonate production operation.

AGY says it remains on budget and is targeting to achieve first battery quality lithium carbonate product next month.

The 2,000tpa production operation major works comprise three main phases – being design, construction, and commissioning.

AGY managing director Jerko Zuvela says the company is looking forward to becoming the next commercial scale lithium carbonate producer.

“The lithium market continues its strong momentum with lithium carbonate prices forecast to continue around record highs into 2023 and beyond, resulting in very lucrative upcoming product sales revenues,” he explains.

MORELLA CORPORATION (ASX:1MC)

Further results from geophysical exploration activities completed at the Fish Lake Valley Lithium Project in Nevada, USA have been received.

From July to August 2022, Morella completed a second phase of magnetotelluric surveying over the northern part of the project area which included a composite cross section (looking northeast) of the four MT survey lines.

This work confirmed additional shallow and at depth target zones, which Morella says will be followed up in future drilling programs.

Interestingly, these results demonstrated a shallow, very high conductivity layer of possible lithium sediments from surface to roughly 30m depth.

1MC CEO Alex Cheeseman says building on the initial exploration results with additional, clear and obvious drilling targets is a fantastic result.

“Having recently been on the ground at Fish Like Valley, we are increasingly confident of the potential of this project,” he says.

“With continued, multibillion-dollar downstream investment into US electric vehicle supply chains, having our hands on a prospective lithium project with increasing size and scale provides an enviable growth opportunity for Morella.”