Despite Record EV Production Numbers, Shortage of Battery Metals Looms

USA News Group Commentary

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- USA News Group – Giants of the auto industry have notably began sending senior executives to mingle with mining experts at events such as the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference signalling an increasing importance to secure materials to make their cars. The reality is that there's a critical battery metals shortage looming, causing executives from car producers such as Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) (NEO:TSLA) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) to take the matter very seriously. Despite Tesla reporting record Q1 2023 deliveries, Benchmark Minerals projects will require more than 300 new battery metal mines to meet future EV demand. To get there, many battery metals projects continue to be developed, including those from Lithium South Development Corporation (TSXV:LIS) (OTC:LISMF), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB), and even Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B).

Lithium South Development Corporation (TSXV:LIS) (OTC:LISMF) recently completed the final drill hole of its resource expansion program at the Hombre Muerto North Lithium Project (HMN Li Project) in Salta Province, Argentina. As its flagship asset, Lithium South's project already has a solid foundation, with a maiden resource of 0.57 MT Li₂CO₃ equivalent (M+I) from 2019.

"We are pleased to have completed the 2022-2023 resource expansion program at the HMN Li Project," said Lithium South's President and CEO, Adrian F. C. Hobkirk. "We look forward to full results and the delineation of a new lithium resource."

To date, Lithium South has made significant progress on the HMN Li Project, including completing a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in April 2019. However, the original PEA assessment was based on only the Tramo claim, which covered 383 hectares of the project's initial claims. Since then, the company has significantly expanded its land position, which now comprises 5,687 hectares spread across 9 mining concessions. The monitoring wells will provide a preliminary indication of whether the claim block will support one or more shallow pumping wells for potential future lithium production.