The energy sector is largely shifting away from carbon-based fuels and towards renewable alternatives, with the green battery boom being an especially salient example of this trend.
As the name suggests, battery metals are key components of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, and as this sector continues to grow these commodities are quickly becoming critical raw materials. What metals are in batteries? Investors have likely already heard about lithium and cobalt, the darlings of the EV industry, but other common battery metals include nickel, graphite, manganese and vanadium.
Read on to learn why battery metals represent a growing investment opportunity and to find out about the important role Australia plays in the global battery metals landscape.
While it might seem like countries such as China and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have cornered the markets for production of various battery metals, Australia presents a great opportunity for investors as a formidable contender in the space due to its top position in the lithium market and its up-and-comer status in cobalt and vanadium mining.
While battery metals are sometimes grouped together, it’s important to remember they each have their own individual drivers and characteristics that investors should know about before entering the sector.
Although the production of many battery metals is dominated by Chinese mining companies, Australia has gained a solid foothold in the battery metals market, creating many investment possibilities.
Currently, the DRC accounts for about 68 percent of all cobalt production, but Australia is fast emerging as a viable competitor. Additionally, Australia presents a more sustainable and ethical alternative to the DRC, due to human rights and child labour issues for miners in the DRC.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2022.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Australian Vanadium, Firebird Metals and Element 25 are clients of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.
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