Avalon intent to cash in on rapidly rising technology metal demand – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – September 15, 2017)

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VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – A whole new world for lithium demand has aspiring technology metals firm Avalon Advanced Metals evaluating its options to cash in on the red-hot industry, with the company patiently advancing three projects in its portfolio that will benefit from higher metals prices.

Just this week, new evidence was provided that the emerging age of the electric vehicle (EV) is approaching faster and at a far greater scale than even recent forecasts predicted, with German automaker Volkswagen announcing its investment of about €20-billion in the space, which could alone gobble up the entire supply of lithium today.

China also dropped a bombshell this week when announcing tentative plans to ban internal combustion engines, which analysts expect will coincide with China’s commitment to an emissions cap by 2030.

A global supply gap in lithium is looming and is expected to intensify from 2019 onwards, as demand growth is expected to significantly overshadow supply. Complicating things further, according to Avalon Advanced Metals president and CEO Don Bubar, is that not all forecast supply expected to come on line over the next five years will materialise, as juniors struggle to perfect their flow sheets, exacerbating the supply gap and setting the stage for rocketing lithium prices.

“From the outset, the company has envisioned becoming a diverse technology metals company. One has to be opportunistic that way, having a basket of opportunities positions one well to capitalise on opportunities when they come around,” Bubar told Mining Weekly Online in an interview.

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