Wow! the video is too good. Hope you get a lot more views and I'm really excited for the channel's future. Wishing the project is a success and would love to know the background you mentioned in the end of the video.
Thanks a lot for the very kind comment! The background in short: after the mine's closure, a small portion of it became a special landfill for very high complexity stuff. All fine so far; there’s stuff we need to put in landfills, so that was a way to leverage the mining caves. But, just a few months after this new operation started, the landfill caught fire deep underground. It kept burning for about… 6 months. The thing is that nothing that was put down there was theoretically flammable, hence the following 20 years of juridic debate: what happened down there, and do we really know what’s been stored? The mining company got repurchased by the French state, so it’s the State that’s in front of the court, which is kind of weird. They lose repeatedly, and they should, if the verdict was enforced, take out everything that’s still down in the mine. But they don’t 😅 That’s not much of a problem, except for the water. If this source contaminated the groundwater, the entire region would have an issue sourcing its drinking water. So, the “lithium project” may well kill multiple birds with one stone, as it would also be an opportunity to take out and clean the water, which hence would solve a good portion of the mine/landfill problem. That's an intense debate in the local opinion that feels a bit left alone by the central state; that’s the sociological context I also mentioned in the video. Sorry, messy story, messy background told back here 😅
You’re an incredible communicator and editor. I expected to see a huge channel, and you’ve got 135 plays and like 1.15k followers?? Just confusing. You rock man!
You have some 20 major DLE operators around the world selling their tech, yet to date there's never been a large 'scaleable' DLE operation around in operation. Why? The current suppliers of lithium using conventional methods (spodumene or brine evaporation) know it best, it's proven tech and can yield the lowest cost production (ask ALB and SQM). Take the words of Joe Lowry and Rodney Hooper - they say DLE has pretty much been a dream for a lifestyle that has never come. Or how about something more recent like BHE's geothermal operation in the Saslton Sea, they went through all the hoops as this person did, only to discover that the high silica content kept jamming up their DLE equipment and processes.
I'm discussing this "never been scaleable" DLE aspect in the video and in more depth in the extensive podcast series I've linked here (including discussing it one-on-one with Joe Lowry). So, I'm mostly with you on that comment, yet I'd nuance it by mentioning that the Salton Sea is a graveyard and probably not the best place to try things out with DLE (see: th-cam.com/video/fN9pmk83_xo/w-d-xo.html). DLE is not the universal solution some want to advertise. But I believe it will play its role in the future, especially for geopolitical reasons. My two cents ;-)
@@AntoineWalterDWW It would be more useful to viewers to describe the history of the global lithium supply. Specifically how in the 1990s, America was the largest producer of lithium to today, serving a measly 1 or 2% of the global supply. Why is this not questioned? The entire emphasis should be based on why DLE never has come to maturity and there's a very high risk that it will never be cost competitive (asking those in DLE industry will never give you that answer). BTW the figures you're using for open lithium spot market pricing needs to be scaled down, we are NEVER going to have prices at the peak of Nov 2022 so a fair average may be somewhere 50% less than the already crashed lithium prices we see today. Be sure China is never going to let lithium sky rocket again. Rodney Hooper explained that today, you have like 200 different lithium players in the world, and in the next 10 years, at least 90% of them will go bust as their operations aren't viable. Another thing, when you speak to those DLE people running test samples and ask them if you would be crazy not to do anything, well my mind can't stop thinking the wise words of Warren Buffett, "Never ask a barber if you need a hair cut" - because the answer is always going to be yes 'we want your business' even if they know there's a high chance of going bankrupt.
Let’s start with the prices: I’m never implying it’s reasonable to build a business plan with 80k per Ton. That happened, that might or might not happen again, but anyways, that’s the Chinese spot price, it doesn’t really reflect what is happening or will happen again in the future in Europe or the US. But on the other hand, (and I’m quoting Joe Lowry’s projections in the video), the lithium imbalance is here to stay. Demand is growing faster than offer can cope, at least as long as DLE doesn't significantly weight in. China can do all it wants to keep the prices down, but in the long run they’ll use lepidolite for that, which from the get go is significantly more expensive than spodumene, which will mechanically set the new low higher. Today, 97% of Europe’s lithium comes from China. By 2035, Europe will only produce EVs, where will its lithium come from? China will want to sell batteries and Europe to build them (if not, why build 40 Giga Factories?). So the lithium price might become an afterthought in regards of geopolitical considerations. I might be wildly wrong, yet, that’s what I took out of these 18 months of deep dive. Now, if I’m not a lithium native, I’m coming at it from a water perspective. DLE is a water treatment, and not the most complex at all, so technically, it’s absolutely within the water industry’s reach today. (Assuming you rather go for the very predictable Smackover Formation rather than the Salton Sea) So it comes down to costs. And yes, most of the DLE companies claims on costs are optimistic today, to say the least. But scale matters and we’ve seen that in the water industry with membranes in the 90s. As soon as the ion exchangers, the resins and the catalysts will be more or less standard and produced in high volume, costs will tumble. Probably not in the same extreme than membranes, but for graphene and graphene-coated ones, the comparison might even hold true. In conclusion, as much as I don’t believe that 90% of lithium can be produced from DLE, I would find it reasonable to tend to a 3-tier panorama. (thinking of DLE scale, when SQM kicks of “Futuro” later this year, we will see DLE scale dramatically. Add this to Exxon’s involvement in Arkansas and… let’s Re-discuss that in 12 months 😀)
❤just watched and it’s a great video and learning experience 🤓🎉… living myself in nice Alsace (Haut Rhin), im wondering and are highly interested how your LackerLI project has developed so far😃 I learned that Vulcan Resources (Australia) has achieved an agreement with the German government for DLE / LI brine extraction just opposite of your mentioned former Alsace (France😊) potash mining😉
Thanks for the nice comment! Actually, what Vulcan plans on doing is comparable but not similar. They’re digging deeper and combining lithium extraction with geothermal energy. Plus they’re using a sorbent based DLE when the one I’ve tested in my case is a membrane-based one. But yes, it’s quite close, and I’ve discussed it (on my podcast) with their CEO, as they had for some time the project to dig in Mulhouse. I told him, I’d rather dig in the former potash mines and less deep, but hey, it’s just my two cents 😉
Well, as I'm showing in the last part of the video, a project like "mine" could absolutely produce Lithium at a relatively affordable price. If the industry does the right moves, I don't see that becoming the bottleneck of a water's cost 🙂
Interesting subject, but much, much too long. I got tired of it after about 15 minutes and tried to skip through, but you seemed to be covering too many different aspects. If you can break it down into perhaps 3 videos of under 20 mins each I would watch them. Not sure if you are just giving out science information or trying to raise capital for a venture?
![TEEDEE TADA - DIAMOND NARAKORN X LEGO LYKN [Special Dance Performance]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QgtZedFeumA/mqdefault.jpg)
Wow! the video is too good. Hope you get a lot more views and I'm really excited for the channel's future. Wishing the project is a success and would love to know the background you mentioned in the end of the video.
Thanks a lot for the very kind comment!
The background in short: after the mine's closure, a small portion of it became a special landfill for very high complexity stuff. All fine so far; there’s stuff we need to put in landfills, so that was a way to leverage the mining caves.
But, just a few months after this new operation started, the landfill caught fire deep underground. It kept burning for about… 6 months.
The thing is that nothing that was put down there was theoretically flammable, hence the following 20 years of juridic debate: what happened down there, and do we really know what’s been stored?
The mining company got repurchased by the French state, so it’s the State that’s in front of the court, which is kind of weird. They lose repeatedly, and they should, if the verdict was enforced, take out everything that’s still down in the mine. But they don’t 😅
That’s not much of a problem, except for the water. If this source contaminated the groundwater, the entire region would have an issue sourcing its drinking water.
So, the “lithium project” may well kill multiple birds with one stone, as it would also be an opportunity to take out and clean the water, which hence would solve a good portion of the mine/landfill problem.
That's an intense debate in the local opinion that feels a bit left alone by the central state; that’s the sociological context I also mentioned in the video.
Sorry, messy story, messy background told back here 😅
@@AntoineWalterDWW interesting background, lot of win win win's that are possible. Hope it works out.
great job! really interesting, a learned loads. Good luck with the project!
Thanks a lot for the very kind feedback!
Fascinating montage.
Thank you very much from Mattapoisett Massachusetts
Keep the faith 💜
Thank you so much for the very, very kind words!
You’re an incredible communicator and editor. I expected to see a huge channel, and you’ve got 135 plays and like 1.15k followers?? Just confusing. You rock man!
WoW, that comment means so much to me, thanks a lot!
You have some 20 major DLE operators around the world selling their tech, yet to date there's never been a large 'scaleable' DLE operation around in operation. Why? The current suppliers of lithium using conventional methods (spodumene or brine evaporation) know it best, it's proven tech and can yield the lowest cost production (ask ALB and SQM). Take the words of Joe Lowry and Rodney Hooper - they say DLE has pretty much been a dream for a lifestyle that has never come. Or how about something more recent like BHE's geothermal operation in the Saslton Sea, they went through all the hoops as this person did, only to discover that the high silica content kept jamming up their DLE equipment and processes.
I'm discussing this "never been scaleable" DLE aspect in the video and in more depth in the extensive podcast series I've linked here (including discussing it one-on-one with Joe Lowry). So, I'm mostly with you on that comment, yet I'd nuance it by mentioning that the Salton Sea is a graveyard and probably not the best place to try things out with DLE (see: th-cam.com/video/fN9pmk83_xo/w-d-xo.html). DLE is not the universal solution some want to advertise. But I believe it will play its role in the future, especially for geopolitical reasons. My two cents ;-)
@@AntoineWalterDWW It would be more useful to viewers to describe the history of the global lithium supply. Specifically how in the 1990s, America was the largest producer of lithium to today, serving a measly 1 or 2% of the global supply. Why is this not questioned? The entire emphasis should be based on why DLE never has come to maturity and there's a very high risk that it will never be cost competitive (asking those in DLE industry will never give you that answer). BTW the figures you're using for open lithium spot market pricing needs to be scaled down, we are NEVER going to have prices at the peak of Nov 2022 so a fair average may be somewhere 50% less than the already crashed lithium prices we see today. Be sure China is never going to let lithium sky rocket again. Rodney Hooper explained that today, you have like 200 different lithium players in the world, and in the next 10 years, at least 90% of them will go bust as their operations aren't viable.
Another thing, when you speak to those DLE people running test samples and ask them if you would be crazy not to do anything, well my mind can't stop thinking the wise words of Warren Buffett, "Never ask a barber if you need a hair cut" - because the answer is always going to be yes 'we want your business' even if they know there's a high chance of going bankrupt.
Let’s start with the prices: I’m never implying it’s reasonable to build a business plan with 80k per Ton. That happened, that might or might not happen again, but anyways, that’s the Chinese spot price, it doesn’t really reflect what is happening or will happen again in the future in Europe or the US.
But on the other hand, (and I’m quoting Joe Lowry’s projections in the video), the lithium imbalance is here to stay. Demand is growing faster than offer can cope, at least as long as DLE doesn't significantly weight in.
China can do all it wants to keep the prices down, but in the long run they’ll use lepidolite for that, which from the get go is significantly more expensive than spodumene, which will mechanically set the new low higher.
Today, 97% of Europe’s lithium comes from China. By 2035, Europe will only produce EVs, where will its lithium come from? China will want to sell batteries and Europe to build them (if not, why build 40 Giga Factories?). So the lithium price might become an afterthought in regards of geopolitical considerations.
I might be wildly wrong, yet, that’s what I took out of these 18 months of deep dive.
Now, if I’m not a lithium native, I’m coming at it from a water perspective.
DLE is a water treatment, and not the most complex at all, so technically, it’s absolutely within the water industry’s reach today. (Assuming you rather go for the very predictable Smackover Formation rather than the Salton Sea)
So it comes down to costs. And yes, most of the DLE companies claims on costs are optimistic today, to say the least.
But scale matters and we’ve seen that in the water industry with membranes in the 90s. As soon as the ion exchangers, the resins and the catalysts will be more or less standard and produced in high volume, costs will tumble. Probably not in the same extreme than membranes, but for graphene and graphene-coated ones, the comparison might even hold true.
In conclusion, as much as I don’t believe that 90% of lithium can be produced from DLE, I would find it reasonable to tend to a 3-tier panorama.
(thinking of DLE scale, when SQM kicks of “Futuro” later this year, we will see DLE scale dramatically. Add this to Exxon’s involvement in Arkansas and… let’s Re-discuss that in 12 months 😀)
❤just watched and it’s a great video and learning experience 🤓🎉… living myself in nice Alsace (Haut Rhin), im wondering and are highly interested how your LackerLI project has developed so far😃
I learned that Vulcan Resources (Australia) has achieved an agreement with the German government for DLE / LI brine extraction just opposite of your mentioned former Alsace (France😊) potash mining😉
Thanks for the nice comment! Actually, what Vulcan plans on doing is comparable but not similar. They’re digging deeper and combining lithium extraction with geothermal energy. Plus they’re using a sorbent based DLE when the one I’ve tested in my case is a membrane-based one.
But yes, it’s quite close, and I’ve discussed it (on my podcast) with their CEO, as they had for some time the project to dig in Mulhouse. I told him, I’d rather dig in the former potash mines and less deep, but hey, it’s just my two cents 😉
Great video - you should be getting much more views for the quality you provide
Thanks a lot for the very kind feedback! Let’s hope the TH-cam algorithm thinks the same 😅
Elon has said that lithium is fairly common. You can find it everywhere.
He’s said it, indeed. Except… it’s not true 🙂
I enjoyed watching it. thanks Antoine, love this
Thanks a lot!
Problem you will face is that Li will get so expensive we won't be able to afford the cars!!!
Well, as I'm showing in the last part of the video, a project like "mine" could absolutely produce Lithium at a relatively affordable price. If the industry does the right moves, I don't see that becoming the bottleneck of a water's cost 🙂
131 views 1 day ago. 131 million views in 1 year from now.
I’d be SO happy with just 0.1% of that prediction, but thank you so much for the very kind comment! ☺️
5 months later and nobody wants E.V.'s.
Haha, there’s a bit of truth to that 😅
Interesting subject, but much, much too long.
I got tired of it after about 15 minutes and tried to skip through, but you seemed to be covering too many different aspects.
If you can break it down into perhaps 3 videos of under 20 mins each I would watch them.
Not sure if you are just giving out science information or trying to raise capital for a venture?
Shilling penny stocks. 🤣