Dale Henderson (@henderson_dale on X) is the Managing Director & CEO of Pilbara Minerals. I was honored to have him join me for the 200th episode.

Topics:

Pilbara’s four strategic pillars

The wild ride for lithium (& Pilbara)

Swing supply created by 2022 pricing

The steepening cost curve

Unsustainable pricing in 2024

The coming shortage

Continuing to be nimble

Managing through volatility

The POSCO JV & other world class partners

Where Pilbara sits on the cost curve

Growth and the Latin Resources acquisition

The arrival of big balance sheets to lithium

Brazil as a lithium jurisdiction

Keeping the team motivated

Two questions from Dale

Rapid fire

Dan Blondal aka "the man with one tweet" is the CEO of Nano One (TSX: NANO / OTC: NNOMF).

Topics:

A world class suite of partners

The battery challenge

Why ex China cathode capacity matters

China's current LFP dominance

Why the west has to do LFP differently

The importance of ESS as a catalyst

"Design one - build many"

Will Japan make a battery comeback?

The importance of the DOD investment

Staying the course

Rapid fire

The majority of this episode is a presentation I made at the Panorama Minero "Lithium South America" event in Jujuy, Argentina on October 9, 2024. The presentation starts at ~ minute 23. The episode begins with a interview with Alejandro Columbo from Panorama Minero. We discuss what Panorama Minero does and how this event has grown over the last decade to global significance.

My presentation "Lithium's Bright Future" also includes a discussion of the history of the industry and how the west's failure to act early in the last decade allowed China to become the current dominant player in lithium ion batteries and EVs. Yet the past isn't necessarily prologue.

My favorite event on the annual lithium calendar is Panorama Minero's "Lithium South America". My guests on this episode are Daniel Jimenez of iLi Markets, Roland Chavasse of the International Lithium Association and JP Vargas the MD of Galan Lithium.

Sid Subramani has global responsibility for lithium projects at Hatch (@HATCHglobal on X), a professional services and engineering company.

Topics:

The Hatch role in lithium

A typical engagement

Red flags

Projects: majors vs juniors

Big Energy vs Big Mining

DLE – when & how significant?

Common project mistakes

The importance of grade

Why projects are late

QPs

Lepidolite

Lithium jurisdictions

Specifications

Cap-Ex: China vs others

The cost curve

People

Rapid fire

Katie Pyfer is a Senior Director of Energy Storage responsible for global pricing at Albemarle. She has a PhD in analytical chemistry.

Topics:

Product analysis

Managing market cycles

Price discovery

"Micro" managing

Battery demand

Commodity or specialty chemical?

Tolling

The blending game

Qualification

Competitive tension

The benefit of lithium auctions

Price transparency

Contracts

The future of "futures"

I answer listener questions on this episode.

Topics:

The Future of DLE

Argentina production in 2025

Black Swan events

Can the US work with China?

The Pilbara/LRS deal

Is it time for more M&A?

US production in 2030

EU lithium potential

Hard rock vs brine

The Salton Sea

Is LFP the future?

Oversupply - how long?

SQM as a barometer of price

Rapid fire

Lisa Rebora is the Head of Global Lithium at Equinor, a global energy company (NYSE: EQNR). Equinor recently invested in two of Standard Lithium's projects in Arkansas and Texas but has lithium ambitions beyond the US.

Topics:

Who is Equinor?

Capital commitment to low carbon solutions

Why lithium?

The long look at DLE

Why Arkansas & Texas?

The relationship with Standard Lithium

The importance of Koch as a partner

Building a lithium team

Strength in Partnerships

Challenges getting to market

Market volatility

The lithium growth story

M&A

The million dollar question

The British invasion in Arkansas

Rapid fire