Private equity funds are emerging as a major financing source for new critical minerals projects, with traditional bank financiers taking a lesser role as risk perception grows, members of the UK’s Critical Minerals Association said.
Traders, streamers, off-takers and end-users who are anxious to secure supplies of critical minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, silicon, niobium, rare earths and graphite, are also coming to the fore as financiers. Governments in the future are expected to be more supportive as they build up their own lists and stockpiles of materials that are used increasingly for applications in energy transition, including in electric-vehicle batteries and wind towers as well as defense, participants at the event said.
Battery grade lithium carbonate was assessed at Yuan 470,100/mt ($70,214/mt) July 8 on a delivered, duty-paid China basis, stable on the day but down Yuan 4,900/mt on the week, according to Platts’ assessment from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Read more: HSN
