Research staff at LG Chem Laboratory check the lithium-ion batteries that LG Chem produced at the lab.

LG Chem has secured a stable supply of lithium, a key raw material for electric car batteries, with the company signing an agreement with Nemaska Lithium Inc. for the supply of lithium for five years. Under the contract, the leading Korean chemical firm will get 7,000 tons of lithium for five years starting from 2020.
Recently, the electric car battery community has been engaged in cutting the use of cobalt, while boosting the use of nickel, as part of the cost-cutting moves.
An electric car can travel 320 km with a lithium battery and the 7,000 tons of lithium can turn out as many as 140,000 lithium batteries for electric cars. LG Chem has also been strengthening its cooperative ties with both overseas and local suppliers to further stabilize its lithium battery production facilities. The company set up a j.v. with Hwayu Cobalt, the world’s top refinery of cobalt.
Nemaska Lithium Inc. is building one of North America’s richest and largest hard rock lithium mines and lithium salts (LiOH and Li2CO3) processing facilities through a unique deposit in Nemaska and a state-of-the-art electrochemical plant in Shawinigan, both located in the province of Quebec, Canada. The project is has its required permits, making it one of the next fully integrated lithium salts suppliers in the world.
Once in commercial production, Nemaska Lithium is projecting to be one of the world’s lowest cost producers of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate.

Hydrogen Lithium-ion Pieces.(Photos: LG Chem)

Currently Nemaska Lithium expects to complete its project financing in Q2 2018 and has a 12 month construction and commissioning time for the mine and 24 months for the electrochemical plant. Qualification of Nemaska Lithium’s lithium salts with key customers began in 2017 through its Phase 1 Plant which is producing commercial lithium hydroxide samples for customers.
Mr. Bourassa is President and CEO of Nemaska Lithium Inc. since the Company’s inception in 2008, bringing more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry to this role. Among other things he was instrumental in identifying and negotiating the acquisition of the Whabouchi lithium property and securing over $150 million through different types of financing to develop the Whabouchi project.
Through his leadership, the Company brought an historical lithium showing to a world class deposit and has developed new innovative processes of producing high purity lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate, which should allow Nemaska Lithium to become a world leader in these lithium salts markets. Mr. Bourassa is a recognized industry expert on lithium exploration and development and has spoken at numerous national and international conference.
Throughout his career, Mr. Bourassa has been involved in exploration and mining companies as President and CEO, legal counsel and in-house corporate counsel and director. These companies were producers of gold, copper, calcite and dolomite. Mr. Bourassa holds a law degree from Universite Laval.
 Nemaska Lithium will mine its own source of lithium, which is the 100% owned. The Whabouchi Lithium mine is located in northern Quebec. Controlling the raw material provides a cost advantage over the Chinese producers who are sourcing their concentrate from mines in Australia through contracted prices, not at cost, as is the case for Nemaska Lithium.