Electrification
Visualizing Peru’s Silver Mining Strength
The following content is sponsored by Silver X.
Visualizing Peru’s Silver Mining Strength
Peru’s silver mining industry is critical as the world progresses towards a clean energy transition. Silver’s use in EVs, solar energy, and mobile technologies will require ready supplies to meet demand.
Peru will be centre stage as the world’s second-largest producer of the precious metal.
This graphic sponsored by Silver X showcases Peru’s silver mining strength on the global scale, putting in perspective the country’s prolific production.
Global Silver Production by Country
Mexico, Peru, and China dominate global silver production, with these countries producing more than double the silver of any other country outside of the top three.
In terms of regional production, Central and South America provide the backbone for the world’s silver industry. With five nations in the top 10 producers, these regions delivered ~50% of the world’s 2020 silver production.
Country | 2020 Silver Production (in million ounces) | Share of Global Silver Production |
---|---|---|
Mexico | 178.1 | 22.7% |
Peru | 109.7 | 14.0% |
China | 108.6 | 13.8% |
Chile | 47.4 | 6.0% |
Australia | 43.8 | 5.6% |
Russia | 42.5 | 5.4% |
Poland | 39.4 | 5.0% |
United States | 31.7 | 4.0% |
Bolivia | 29.9 | 3.8% |
Argentina | 22.9 | 2.9% |
World Total | 784.4 | 100% |
Along with being the top silver mining regions in the world, Central and South America silver production expects to have the strongest rebound in 2021.
While global silver production could increase by 8.2%, Central and South America’s production could rise by 12.1%.
Peru can feed this growth, with the country’s exploration investment forecast for this year expected to reach up to $300 million with over 60 projects currently in various stages of development.
The South American Powerhouse: Peru’s Silver Mining Strength
Despite its current silver production, there remains more to mine and explore. In fact, Peru holds the majority of the world’s silver reserves with 18.2%, making it the global focal point for silver exploration and future production.
Country | Silver Reserves (in tons) | Share of World Silver |
---|---|---|
Peru | 91,000 | 18.2% |
China | 41,000 | 8.2% |
Mexico | 37,000 | 7.4% |
Chile | 26,000 | 5.2% |
Australia | 25,000 | 5.0% |
Other countries | 280,000 | 56% |
World total | 500,000 | 100% |
While 2020 and 2021 saw slowdowns in mineral production, Peru’s metallic mining subsector increased by 5.1% in August 2021 compared to the same month last year. The country’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics also highlighted a double-digit rise in silver production of 22.7% compared to August of last year.
Satiating the World’s Silver Demand
As silver demand is forecasted to increase by 15% just in 2021, silver supply constraints are a clear roadblock for clean energy technologies and electric vehicle production. With Peru’s annual silver production forecasted to grow by more than 27% by 2024, the country is looking to solve the world’s growing silver supply crunch.
The nation’s strong credit ratings and well-established mining sector offers investors a unique opportunity to tap into the growth of Peru and its silver industry, while powering renewable energy and electric vehicle production.
As a Peru-based mineral development and exploration company, Silver X Mining is working to produce and uncover the silver deposits that will provide the world with the metal it needs for cleaner technologies.
Electrification
Will Direct Lithium Extraction Disrupt the $90B Lithium Market?
Visual Capitalist and EnergyX explore how direct lithium extraction could disrupt the $90B lithium industry.
Will Direct Lithium Extraction Disrupt the $90B Lithium Market?
Current lithium extraction and refinement methods are outdated, often harmful to the environment, and ultimately inefficient. So much so that by 2030, lithium demand will outstrip supply by a projected 1.42 million metric tons. But there is a solution: Direct lithium extraction (DLE).
For this graphic, we partnered with EnergyX to try to understand how DLE could help meet global lithium demands and change an industry that is critical to the clean energy transition.
The Lithium Problem
Lithium is crucial to many renewable energy technologies because it is this element that allows EV batteries to react. In fact, it’s so important that projections show the lithium industry growing from $22.2B in 2023 to nearly $90B by 2030.
But even with this incredible growth, as you can see from the table, refined lithium production will need to increase 86.5% over and above current projections.
2022 (million metric tons) | 2030P (million metric tons) | |
---|---|---|
Lithium Carbonate Demand | 0.46 | 1.21 |
Lithium Hydroxide Demand | 0.18 | 1.54 |
Lithium Metal Demand | 0 | 0.22 |
Lithium Mineral Demand | 0.07 | 0.09 |
Total Demand | 0.71 | 3.06 |
Total Supply | 0.75 | 1.64 |
The Solution: Direct Lithium Extraction
DLE is a process that uses a combination of solvent extraction, membranes, or adsorbents to extract and then refine lithium directly from its source. LiTASTM, the proprietary DLE technology developed by EnergyX, can recover an incredible 300% more lithium per ton than existing processes, making it the perfect tool to help meet lithium demands.
Additionally, LiTASTM can refine lithium at the lowest cost per unit volume directly from brine, an essential step in meeting tomorrow’s lithium demand and manufacturing next-generation batteries, while significantly reducing the footprint left by lithium mining.
Hard Rock Mining | Underground Reservoirs | Direct Lithium Extraction | |
---|---|---|---|
Direct CO2 Emissions | 15,000 kg | 5,000 kg | 3.5 kg |
Water Use | 170 m3 | 469 m3 | 34-94 m3 |
Lithium Recovery Rate | 58% | 30-40% | 90% |
Land Use | 464 m2 | 3124 m2 | 0.14 m2 |
Process Time | Variable | 18 months | 1-2 days |
Providing the World with Lithium
DLE promises to disrupt the outdated lithium industry by improving lithium recovery rates and slashing emissions, helping the world meet the energy demands of tomorrow’s electric vehicles.
EnergyX is on a mission to become a worldwide leader in the sustainable energy transition using groundbreaking direct lithium extraction technology. Don’t miss your chance to join companies like GM and invest in EnergyX to transform the future of renewable energy.
Electrification
Chart: The $400 Billion Lithium Battery Value Chain
In this graphic, we break down where the $400 billion lithium battery industry will generate revenue in 2030.
Breaking Down the $400 Billion Battery Value Chain
As the world transitions away from fossil fuels toward a greener future, the lithium battery industry could grow fivefold by 2030. This shift could create over $400 billion in annual revenue opportunities globally.
For this graphic, we partnered with EnergyX to determine how the battery industry could grow by 2030.
Exploring the Battery Value Chain
The lithium battery value chain has many links within it that each generate their own revenue opportunities, these include:
- Critical Element Production: Involves the mining and refining of materials used in a battery’s construction.
- Active materials: Creating and developing materials that react electrochemically to allow batteries to charge and discharge.
- Battery cells: Involves the production of rechargeable elements of a battery.
- Battery packs: Producing packs containing a series of connected battery cells. Generally, these come in two types: NMC/NMCA, the standard in North America and Europe, and LFP, the standard in China.
- Recycling: Reusing battery components within new batteries.
But these links aren’t equal, each one is projected to generate different levels of revenue by 2030:
China 🇨🇳 | Europe 🇪🇺 | United States 🇺🇸 | Rest of World 🌍 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | $184B | $118B | $62B | $39B |
Critical Element Production | $37B | $25B | $15B | $8B |
Active Materials | $54B | $31B | $14B | $11B |
Battery Packs | $34B | $22B | $11B | $7B |
Battery Cells | $53B | $37B | $20B | $11B |
Recycling | $6B | $3B | $2B | $2B |
On the surface, battery cell production may contribute the most revenue to the battery value chain. However, lithium production can generate margins as high as 65%, meaning lithium production has potential to yield large margins.
How Much Lithium Is Available?
Just a few countries hold 81% of the world’s viable lithium. So, supply bottlenecks could slow the growth of the lithium battery industry:
Nation | Viable Lithium Reserves (2023) |
---|---|
Chile 🇨🇱 | 9.3M t |
Australia 🇦🇺 | 6.2M t |
Argentina 🇦🇷 | 2.7M t |
China 🇨🇳 | 2M t |
U.S. 🇺🇸 | 1M t |
Rest of World 🌍 | 4.9M t |
Supplying the World With Batteries
Supplying the world with lithium is critical to the battery value chain and a successful transition from fossil fuels. Players like the U.S. and the EU, with increasingly large and growing lithium needs, will need to maximize local opportunities and work together to meet demand.
EnergyX is on a mission to become a world leader in the global transition to sustainable energy, using cutting-edge direct lithium extraction to help supply the world with lithium.
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