Albemarle and Talon Metals will receive US$90M and US$20.6M respectively

The US government this week unveiled a funding package to support domestic production of lithium and nickel that will be crucial to meet its energy transition targets. As part of the funding, the world’s largest lithium producer, Albemarle, will receive US$90M to support the planned reopening of its Kings Mountain lithium mine in North Carolina. The company is looking to restart operations at the brownfield site, which last produced lithium in 1988.

Talon Metals revealed that it had also entered into a definitive agreement with the Department of Defense’s Office of Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization to accelerate the development of its Tamarack project in central Minnesota. Talon is currently the 51% owner and operator of the Tamarack nickel-copper-cobalt project, with an option to earn up to 60% from its JV partner Rio Tinto.

The investment does not represent these companies’ first government funding. In October 2022, both Albemarle and Talon Metals received US$149.7M and US$114.8M respectively from the US Department of Energy to develop processing facilities in the USA.

The Biden administration’s latest critical mineral funding demonstrates that securing a stable domestic supply of nickel and lithium is a major priority for national security. This is particularly pertinent given that the USA currently accounts for less than 1% of both refined lithium and mined nickel production globally. As well as supporting the development of domestic mines, the country has also witnessed an influx of investment in battery manufacturing since the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives which has also assisted the establishment of raw material supply chains with free trade partners.