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Annie Lee
A brine pool at an SQM lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The industry that deals with one of the world’s most important commodities is asking whether it's doomed to repeat a boom and bust cycle again and again.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 12, 2024
Lithium industry braces for long-term oversupply after price instability
Those involved with the commodity are asking whether they're doomed to repeat a boom and bust cycle again and again.
Mining magnate Dan Gertler in Congo in 2012
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 20, 2024
China's dominance of EV metals prompts U.S. to revisit stockpile 'panic button'
Budget cuts have shrunk U.S. strategic reserves to record lows, leaving it facing shortages of the raw materials needed to execute an energy transition.
Sodium — found in rock salts and brines around the globe — has the potential to make inroads into energy storage and electric vehicles because it’s cheaper and far more abundant than lithium.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 27, 2023
Salt in batteries: Shift may herald another shakeup
Sodium has the potential to make inroads into energy storage and electric vehicles because it’s cheaper and far more abundant than lithium.
A worker holds a piece of black mass — a mix of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite — at the Li-Cycle lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Ontario in 2021.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 29, 2023
Why the electric-vehicle industry is talking about ‘black mass’
The metallic powder is made by crushing and shredding batteries or battery cells, extracting unwanted elements, then refining the remainder.
Excavators in a pit at a nickel mine in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on July 10
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 24, 2023
Indonesian nickel mine takes green steps as environmental concerns mount
Nickel production in Indonesia is particularly carbon intensive — every ton of the metal-equivalent produced emits an average of 58.6 tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent, data has shown.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2022
Chinese lithium giant pulls EVs deeper into forced labor glare
Ganfeng Lithium, China's top producer of the material, is partnering with a state-backed entity to accelerate exploration for lithium, nickel and other critical metal assets in Xinjiang.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 14, 2022
Red-hot lithium boom pits Wall Street against the wonks
Lithium is a vital component of electric-vehicle batteries, which means the outlook for supply, demand and pricing is increasingly consequential.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 1, 2022
Hong Kong to lock down city for COVID-19 testing, reports say
After two years of limited outbreaks, Hong Kong is facing its toughest virus challenge of the pandemic, with the highly transmissible omicron variant testing its approach.
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2007
Britain opts for new nukes
Britain has decided to renew its nuclear deterrent. A parliamentary vote last month sharply divided the ruling Labor Party, forcing Prime Minister Tony Blair to rely on opposition Conservatives to pass the measure. Mr. Blair made his case by arguing that international uncertainty required Britain to...

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?