With the EU committed to making electric vehicles widely available by 2035, the demand for metals required to produce batteries, particularly lithium, is expected to explode. The market is currently dominated by a handful of countries, but Europe wants to join the club by exploiting its subsoil.
Since 2015, production volumes of lithium – also known as “white gold” – have tripled worldwide, reaching 100,000 tonnes per year by 2021, according to the International Energy Agency. The volumes could increase sevenfold by 2030. At the European level, about 35 times more lithium will be needed in 2050 than today, according to an April study by KU Leuven, a Catholic research university in Belgium.
Cadence Minerals plc (LON:KDNC) provides mining services. The Company focuses on finding lithium and other technology minerals in new places, as well as offers extracting services.