February 20, 2018

Toyota to make cheaper electric motors by halving use of rare earths

Asia’s No.1 carmaker has developed a magnet that reduces dependence on neodymium, a key rare earth metal used in the world’s most powerful batteries for electric vehicles.

February 17, 2018

Battery-technology metals to leave gold, silver in the dust: readers

A whopping two-thirds of MINING.com readers say battery-technology metals will perform better than precious or base metals this year.

February 12, 2018

Soaring cobalt prices force Samsung SDI to mine metal from old phones

The firm is also trying to halve use of cobalt in batteries from around 20% by raising the proportion of nickel, and it will start researching on development of nearly…

February 7, 2018

Rio Tinto pays biggest divvy in history as profit hits three-year high

Mining giant posts 90% increase in profit amid what CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques calls “resilient” commodity prices.

February 7, 2018

Why Tesla is turning to Chile for its lithium: Andy Home

Chile is an obvious place for Tesla's chief executive, Elon Musk, to look for secure supply, as the global lithium mother-lode is in the brine lakes of the country's Atacama…

February 6, 2018

Zimbabwe to enter lithium market with $1.4bn mine

Country is backing Prospect Resources’ (ASX:PSC) Arcadia lithium project, expected to generate that much revenue over eight years.

February 5, 2018

Pile-of-cash dilemma for mining industry once crippled by slump

With metals from zinc to palladium trading at multi-year highs, four of the world’s top producers generated combined free cash flow last year of about $87 million a day.

February 2, 2018

Rio Tinto back in race for stake in world’s largest lithium miner

Rio’s renewed interest in SQM is welcome by the Chilean government, which had expressed concerns about a potential and dangerous concentration in the market should major lithium producers, such as…

February 2, 2018

Commodity boom has a dark side as cost creep erodes windfall

Mining and metal companies are rediscovering the downside of rallying prices: higher costs.

February 2, 2018

Electric cars and niche metals lure cash to Africa’s mines

Here are five metals grabbing attention across the continent.