MINEX Forum

Tag: Antofagasta

  • US Startup Atana Elements Plans Lithium Exploration Beneath Volkswagen and BMW Factory Sites in Germany and Poland

    US Startup Atana Elements Plans Lithium Exploration Beneath Volkswagen and BMW Factory Sites in Germany and Poland

    American startup Atana Elements is targeting lithium exploration beneath industrial areas in Germany and Poland where Volkswagen and BMW operate manufacturing facilities, in a project backed by Chilean mining major Antofagasta that aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on Chinese critical mineral imports.

    The company has secured exploration licences covering approximately 1.5 million acres across regions around Salzgitter in Germany and Wrocław in Poland, according to the Financial Times. The fact that the exploration areas lie beneath facilities already consuming lithium in battery production is described as coincidental rather than by design.

    Atana Elements is combining historical geological data with artificial intelligence technologies to identify promising lithium deposits, working in cooperation with Antofagasta. The company estimates it could extract up to 26 million tonnes of lithium across the two sites over the next 20 years — a figure that, if realised, would represent a significant addition to European domestic critical mineral supply. However, analysts cited by the Financial Times cautioned that the project remains at an early stage and that any assessment of actual production volumes is premature.

    The initiative reflects growing interest in unconventional domestic lithium sources across Europe as governments and industries seek to reduce exposure to Chinese-dominated supply chains for battery materials essential to the electric vehicle transition.

  • Japan, Spain and South Korea Warn of Unsustainable Copper Market as Smelting Fees Collapse

    Japan, Spain and South Korea Warn of Unsustainable Copper Market as Smelting Fees Collapse

    Japan, Spain, and South Korea have issued a rare joint statement voicing alarm over the steep decline in copper treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs), warning that the current market conditions threaten the sustainability of both smelters and miners.

    The statement — released following an online meeting of the three countries’ industry ministries — comes amid mounting pressure on global copper smelters, who face shrinking profit margins due to tight concentrate supplies and growing smelting capacity in China.

    In June, several Chinese smelters agreed to process copper concentrate for Chilean miner Antofagasta at no charge, underscoring the severity of the downturn.

    “We are deeply concerned that this deterioration in TC/RCs is prompting a reassessment of copper smelting operations worldwide, with several companies already indicating intentions to scale down or withdraw from copper concentrate smelting,” the ministries said.

    TC/RCs — fees paid by miners to smelters for processing copper concentrate into refined metal — have traditionally been a key revenue stream for smelters. However, in some spot deals this year, TC/RCs have turned negative, forcing smelters to pay miners to secure feedstock.

    The ministries warned that this imbalance undermines the sustainable coexistence of smelting and mining industries and increases dependency on a narrow group of supplier countries, a scenario they described as “undesirable” for both producers and consumers.

    “We hope TC/RCs will return to sustainable levels for copper concentrate trading,” the statement said, adding that the three countries would continue engaging with stakeholders to establish a resilient and sustainable copper supply chain.

    Naoki Kobayashi, deputy director of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), said the issue will be raised during LME Week in London, one of the global metals industry’s key gatherings.

    Japan’s leading copper smelters, including JX Advanced Metals and Mitsubishi Materials, have already announced plans to scale back concentrate processing due to eroding margins, reflecting a broader trend of contraction across the global smelting sector.