Graphene Manufacturing Group Announce Listing of Company's Shares BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – TheNewswire - April 15, 2021 - Graphene Manufacturing Group (“GMG” or the “Company”) (TSXV:GMG) is pleased to announce that the Company’s ordinary shares (the "Shares") commenced trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) under the symbol "GMG". This listing follows the closing of the Company's Qualifying Transaction (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) with Cuspis Capital Ltd. At listing, the company will have 69,081,718 Shares issued and outstanding........ https://www.thenewswire.com/press-r...roup-announce-listing-of-companys-shares.html
Why silver prices lag behind copper’s gains, but outperform gold Published: May 27, 2021 at 12:16 p.m. ET By Myra P. Saefong https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-silver-prices-lag-behind-coppers-gains-but-outperform-gold-11622132209?mod=mw_latestnews Silver prices are up over 5% this year, but copper’s up nearly 29% Niklas Halle'n/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Many commodities have reached record highs this year, but silver’s value has failed to keep pace — with prices for the precious and industrial metal notching a modest gain that outperforms an even smaller rise in gold, but pales in comparison to the copper rally. Silver may be trading “more like a store of value asset so far this year, versus an industrial commodity,” many of which are up substantially, says Michael Cuggino, president and portfolio manager of the Permanent Portfolio Family of Funds. That is “not really surprising given the gains of last year,” he says. Silver futures rose 47% in 2020. Still, silver may “hit higher highs, and higher lows in the coming years” says Cuggino, with pent-up industrial and jewelry demand likely over the next year or so. Concerns over real or perceived inflation, a lack of capacity investment over the past several years, and a probable decline in the U.S. dollar as the global economy rebounds will also contribute to silver’s price moves, he says. Silver peaked near $30 an ounce in February this year, following a Reddit post suggesting a short squeeze on the metal. At $27.88 on Wednesday, prices are up more than 5% for 2021. Silver is viewed as a metal for jewelry, and copper as an industrial metal, says Collin Plume, founder and CEO Noble Gold. Silver, however, is the “best conductor of energy,” and if the next superpower is the country that conquers energy, “silver is the most important material.” Plume says silver will most likely top $50 if the Biden administration’s renewable energy plan is approved, raising demand for the metal and leading the market to realize supplies may come up short. Prices saw an all-time high of $48.70 in 1980, according to FactSet. Silver is used in both solar panels and electric vehicles, and will play a key part in the shift to 5G wireless network technology, says Ed Egilinsky, managing director and head of alternatives at Direxion. That would likely spur silver demand, boosting prices. Even so, silver lags behind the gains in several industrial commodities. Gold is the even bigger laggard among the metals, only recently turning 0.3% higher year to date as of Wednesday, breaching the $1,900-an-ounce mark for the first time since January. Both metals have underperformed because “there is so much hot money chasing what is moving,” such as cryptocurrencies, says Brent Cook, an economic geologist and senior advisor for the newsletter Exploration Insights. Cryptocurrencies have been blamed, in part, for gold’s decline, but Plume says investors are unlikely to abandon gold for crypto. The latter is a “risky” investment that some believe could make them millionaires by the time they retire, but precious metals are a “hedge to protect them from volatility” in assets like these, he says. Copper meanwhile, rallied to a record high settlement of $4.76 a pound on May 11, up nearly 29% this year. A production squeeze was “inevitable,” given the “dearth of new tier-one copper deposit discoveries,” Cook says, referring to top quality discoveries with long-term development potential. Base metals demand is “strong and will continue to be,” he says, with prices trending upward long term, “regardless of what noise the Chinese make.” Chinese authorities have warned of a “zero tolerance” for illegal activities that drive up commodities prices. That could lead a shift to focus on markets that need metals for industrial uses, paving the way for “the real value of gold and silver to come up,” says Plume. If the crackdown leads to a redistribution of gold and silver, that will “show the market just how many and how much industries” really need them, Plume says.
Been looking at copper and aluminium mining stock (I'm invested in lithium mining) but concerned that they are peaking and the media attention is attracting guys like me right before they dump 40%....
Aluminium maybe, but I'm no fan of ally, so it can do whatever. Ally 1.8 million tons, copper 125k tons
Goldman Says China Has Lost the Ability to Boss Commodity Prices Alfred Cang, Bloomberg News (Bloomberg) -- China’s efforts to rein in surging commodities prices are likely to be in vain as it’s lost the ability to boss the market amid the developed-nation recovery from the pandemic, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The speed of the rebound in advanced economies, particularly the U.S., means China is no longer the marginal buyer dictating pricing, Goldman analysts led by Jeff Currie said in a note. The price dip after warnings from Beijing about speculation is a “clear buying opportunity,” as raw materials such as copper and soybeans remain on an upward path on tight supply, they said. The largest buyer of many commodities, China has been trying to temper the rally due to fears over inflation. It’s jawboning has had some success, with local iron ore prices down more than 20% since May 12. The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index is only down around 1% over the period, however. What Beijing is doing is similar to what Washington did in the mid-2000’s, Goldman said. “When commentators are unable to understand what is driving such a paradigm shift in prices, they attribute it to speculators - a common pattern throughout history, which has never solved fundamental tightness.” There’s “mounting evidence that commodities are no longer China-centric,” the analysts said. The main reason for the U.S.’s greater power in the market is Washington’s fiscal stimulus, but there are also structural factors -- China no longer benefits as much from low-cost labor or from its previous indifference to environmental concerns -- that make this a paradigm shift, they said. ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
China Starts a War on Commodity Prices Goldman Says It Can’t Win Bloomberg News June 4, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...on-commodity-prices-goldman-says-it-can-t-win Beijing is trying to rein in surging raw-materials costs The crackdown could ripple through markets around the world It sounds like a Mao-era relic of China’s planned economy: the Department of Price. But this rarely discussed corner of the Chinese bureaucracy is now playing an increasingly important role in the inflation debate that’s whipsawing financial markets around the world. It’s here, in a drab office building on the west side of Beijing, where Communist Party apparatchiks have for months been formulating one of the country’s most expansive campaigns to influence market prices since an ill-fated attempt to tame the Chinese stock market in 2015. The target this time around: a commodities boom that has lifted prices of everything from coal to glass and steel rebar to record highs. The National Development and Reform Commission headquarters in Beijing. Source: Imaginechina/AP Photo Over the past three weeks, policy makers from Premier Li Keqiang on down have unleashed a near-constant barrage of rhetoric and administrative measures to rein in the commodities surge that’s squeezing China’s export-manufacturing machine and threatening to derail the nation’s economic recovery. Officials have raised transaction fees, changed tax rules, censored industry research, urged producers to sell inventories, cajoled trading firms to cut bullish wagers, vowed to clamp down on “malicious” speculators and more. While strategists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. have said any attempt to stop the rally will likely fail in the face of supply constraints and buoyant global demand, Chinese authorities show few signs of letting up after achieving some early successes. Prices for rebar and coal have fallen as much as 22% from their highs in May, though they’re still sitting on substantial 12-month gains. That’s turning China’s campaign into a must-watch for traders of not just commodities, but also Treasuries, tech stocks and nearly every other major asset class where inflation concerns have bubbled to the fore in recent months. It also marks a potentially pivotal moment for China’s start-stop transition toward freer markets. Even as policy makers focus much of their attention on commodities, they’re also ramping up a clampdown on cryptocurrencies and taking increasingly assertive steps to manage moves in the yuan and housing prices. The scope of the government’s meddling as it juggles these challenges -- along with risks from a record pile of corporate debt and a tense relationship with the U.S. –- may shed light on how Beijing plans to strike a balance between giving a “decisive role” to markets and maintaining economic and social stability. While the government has dialed back use of direct intervention in recent years, authorities haven’t hesitated to act in myriad other ways to guide prices and curb volatility. “The starting point of this crackdown is to maintain economic stability,” said Dong Hao, director of Chaos Ternary Research Institute, a subsidiary of one of China’s largest commodities asset managers. “There is of course a choice to let the market freely adjust the allocation of resources through conventional market mechanisms. But this time, it seems that the social cost may be very large.” This account of the crackdown is based on interviews with nearly 20 Chinese officials, commodity company executives and consultants, along with public remarks from senior policy makers and reporting by state media. Many of those interviewed agreed to speak on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the subject. Anxiety over the commodities boom has been building since the start of the year inside the halls of the Department of Price, which is part of China’s economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission. Even though few outside China have ever heard of department, it plays a key role in the country’s commodity sector. Its main responsibilities include monitoring and forecasting price changes and promoting price reforms for key commodities and services, according to the NDRC’s website. As bureaucrats at the Department of Price, and colleagues at other NDRC units such as the Bureau of Economic Operations, studied the commodities rally and brainstormed countermeasures earlier this year, they summoned a steady stream of industry officials, executives and researchers to the NDRC building in Beijing. The discussions were heated at times, with some government officials urging participants to focus on solutions instead of offering fundamental explanations for why prices should be rising, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the most concerning reports came from manufacturers, builders and even some power plant operators, who complained they were struggling to cope with soaring input costs. Rising prices have long been a source of angst for Chinese policy makers. An inflation spike in the late 1980s -- fueled in part by policies devised by a precursor to the Department of Price -- is widely viewed as one contributor to the protest movement that culminated in China’s deadly crackdown in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. The first public signal that authorities had become serious about clamping down on this year’s commodities boom came on May 12. In a statement issued by the State Council after a meeting chaired by Premier Li, authorities called for “adjustments to deal with the excessively rapid rise in commodity prices.” Li delivered an even more pointed warning a week later, saying that targeted measures would be taken to “screen abnormal transactions and malicious speculations.” Commodities firms have responded by paring their bullish futures bets, some after direct requests from policy makers and others because they want to avoid unwanted government scrutiny. Meanwhile, producers have abandoned plans to stockpile inventories in hopes that prices would rise further. Some market watchers have argued the crackdown’s longer-term impact on prices will be limited. Goldman strategists led by Jeffrey Currie said in a May 27 report that China has lost its power to dictate prices for key commodities including oil and copper, advising clients to “Buy the China led dip.” After a brief slump in mid-May, the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index of contracts traded mostly in the U.S. and London rebounded to a fresh decade-high on June 2. It’s one sign of how difficult it will be for China to insulate itself from volatility in global commodity prices, even as the country pursues a “dual circulation” strategy to reduce its reliance on overseas markets. The NDRC didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. How far China pushes the crackdown may depend in large part on whether rising input costs begin to filter through to Chinese consumers. Overall consumer inflation has remained tame so far, thanks to falling pork prices and intense competition among manufacturers that has made them reticent to pass on higher costs. Inflation pressures are likely to tick higher, at least in the short-term. Figures due next week are expected to show producer prices jumped 8.4% in May, the most since 2008, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. “The recovery in China turned out much better than expected, but this has also resulted in a very different set of problems from what the government had to deal with for the last few years,” said Chen Long, an economist at Beijing-based consulting firm Plenum. “Now we are seeing a lot of upside surprises.” While the chances of widespread street protests from an inflation surge are remote, anxiety levels at the Department of Price may stay elevated for some time yet. — With assistance by Alfred Cang, Lucille Liu, Dan Murtaugh, Jason Rogers, and Tom Hancock
Steel’s massive rally hits all parts of the global economy Joe Deaux Jun 12, 2021 https://www.afr.com/markets/commodi...l-parts-of-the-global-economy-20210612-p580fh The steel industry is booming like never before as the global economy recovers from the pandemic, and the ripple effects are being felt by everyone from home builders to appliance makers. Demand is so frenzied that US mills have stopped taking orders from customers in recent weeks, according to Dan DeMare, director of sales at Heidtman Steel Products. DeMare said the mills may not begin taking new orders until late summer so that they can clear backlogs. The rally seemed unimaginable to steel executives just 10 months ago, who said it could be at least 2022 before metal demand would return to pre-pandemic levels. Bloomberg In a global economy already shaken by supply shortages and inflation worries, the mills’ moves may signal more delivery snags and even higher prices for a commodity key to a wide swath of industries. Across the world, about 500 pounds of it is used per person each year, in everything from paper clips and automobiles to skyscrapers and toasters. Steel in the US has tripled in 12 months as the swifter-than-expected economic recovery caught producers by surprise, while in China futures reached a record after authorities pledged to lower output in a push to control emissions. Prices have also surged in Europe, so imports may only rise a certain amount even if the US were to lift Trump administration tariffs. “The sharpness and speed of the moves has been something like I’ve never seen before,” Phil Gibbs, an analyst at Keybanc Capital Markets in Cleveland, said in a phone interview. “I’ve been covering this space now close to 15 years, so I’ve seen some pretty crazy runs.” While prices have surged across commodities, the 220 per cent jump in US steel in the past year eclipses other high-fliers such as copper and crude oil. A Standard and Poor’s index of steel companies, which includes Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs and US Steel, is up 69 per cent in 2021, easily the benchmark’s best performance through the first five months of the year. The rally seemed unimaginable to steel executives just 10 months ago, who said it could be at least 2022 before metal demand would return to pre-pandemic levels. The quick recovery and slow ramp-up of steel plants drained inventories that were already low during the height of the pandemic. Lumber, a market where producers were also caught short amid a surprise surge in housing demand, is one of the few materials with comparable gains. And even home builders are having to reckon with the impact of tight steel supplies. No appliances Carl Harris, who has spent 36 years building homes, said he’s looking at two-month delays on refrigerators, ranges and dishwashers. Delivery times that are normally two to three weeks are now as much as half a year in many parts of the country, he said. The lag means Harris can’t install the appliances package to market the two-bedroom empty-nester home in Newton, just outside Wichita, Kansas, even though the rest of the house is ready. He said other builders in the area are also having trouble getting plumbing fixtures, which have to be in place before a certificate of occupancy is issued. “A lot of steel goes into appliances, so we’ve seen a huge backlog in getting some of the appliances so we can close these houses,” Harris, who is a managing partner at Harris Homes in Wichita, said in a phone call. “We’re seeing significant shortages.” It’s also getting more expensive to drill in the shale patch as rising prices for steel, cement and other supplies and services lead to higher costs for explorers, according to Citigroup. Steel prices for the drill pipe used in new wells could rise about 50 per cent in 2021, Citigroup said. Executives at Ford Motor said on a first-quarter conference call that the company has seen commodity prices increase primarily for aluminium, steel and precious metals. It expects to see about a $US2.5 billion increase in commodities from the second through fourth quarters, “so that’s going to hit us as we go through the rest of the year”, said John T. Lawler, Ford’s chief financial officer. ‘Sticker shock’ There’s a risk that the elevated prices could start to cause buyers to balk, or look for substitutes where possible. “At some point, this causes demand destruction,” Keybanc’s Gibbs said. “Try to buy an appliance, a new house -- everything is giving more sticker shock.” There are also some signs that the supply crunch could improve. US steel makers are expected to bring on about 4.6 million annual tonnes of production capacity by the end of 2022, according to Andrew Cosgrove at Bloomberg Intelligence, an increase of about 4 per cent from current levels. Also, surging prices have given President Joe Biden’s administration reason to consider removing Trump-era tariffs on steel imported from the European Union. And in China, the world’s top steel consumer and producer, the government has frequently reiterated its commitment to curb record output since late last year. Still, the country’s mills are churning out unprecedented volumes of steel. But for now steel customers looking for immediate supplies, or spot metal, are having to pay more and wait longer. “There’s not a lot of spot availability,” Heidtman Steel’s DeMare said in an interview. Mills “have limited their order books, put a cap on the number of orders so they can start to get caught up”. Bloomberg
China’s Campaign to Control Commodities Goes Into Overdrive Bloomberg News June 16, 2021 State firms ordered to curb overseas commodities exposure China will also release metals from secretive state reserves Workers at a metal stock yard in Shanghai on June 7. The run up in commodities prices has fanned concerns in China that factories will eventually need to pass on higher costs to consumers, hurting the economy. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg China has stepped up its campaign to rein in commodity prices and reduce speculation in a bid to ease the threat to its pandemic rebound from soaring raw material costs. State-owned enterprises were ordered to control risks and limit their exposure to overseas commodities markets by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The companies have been asked to report their futures positions for Sasac to review, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential. In a second development, the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration will soon release state stockpiles of metals including copper, aluminum and zinc, the agency said in a statement Wednesday. The metals will be sold in batches to fabricators and manufacturers, it said, without giving the volumes to be released. Most metals prices in London and Shanghai fell, as did the Singapore Exchange’s iron ore contract. Shares of metals companies in China and Hong Kong declined, while Australia’s metals and mining sub-index posted its biggest loss in almost a month. Mining and steel stocks fell in Europe, with Rio Tinto Plc, BHP Group and ArcelorMittal SA losing at least 0.8%. “We haven’t seen the country release state reserves for years,” said Jia Zheng, a commodity trader with Shanghai Dongwu Jiuying Investment Management Co. “This will boost short-term supply, sending a bearish signal to the market.” Speculative Risks The scrutiny on overseas commodities positions, meanwhile, is aimed at “curbing excessive speculation as prices are overheated and could bring risks to SOEs,” said Jia. The run up in commodities prices has fanned concerns in China that factories will eventually need to pass on higher costs to consumers, hurting the economy. The role of speculators has drawn particular scrutiny from authorities. While China has accelerated its efforts to curb inflationary pressures, the moves have had mixed results. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stepped up the rhetoric on May 12, urging the country to deal with soaring prices. Iron ore slumped in the latter part of May following his comments, though it’s since rebounded, and base metals prices remain much higher than last year despite a recent retreat. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said last month the country’s efforts are likely to be in vain as China is no longer the buyer dictating pricing, with the price dip a clear buying opportunity. China doesn’t publish information about the volumes it holds in its state reserves, but the government quietly sets aside commodities as a way of insulating from future price spikes. The material can be released in emergencies, such as previous instances of selling pork to cool inflation concerns due to a shortage of the staple meat. This would be the first publicly announced release of copper from China’s state stockpiles since 2005, when Beijing sought to damp local prices after wrong-way bets by a government trader. Reserves of aluminum and zinc were also sold in 2010. The lack of detail on volumes set to be released this time means it’s uncertain how effective the move will be in taming prices. Sasac Order It’s also unclear what could have triggered Sasac’s latest order on overseas positions. The regulator hasn’t ruled out further measures, including those that target specific companies under its control, the people said. A fax to Sasac seeking comment didn’t receive a reply. The government had already asked domestic firms, including steel mills, commodities merchants and brokerages, to reduce bullish bets on local futures markets for highly volatile raw materials like iron ore and coal. The expansion of oversight suggests Beijing is now seeking to exert a measure of control over the international benchmarks that influence commodities prices in China, as well as deterring speculation more generally among state-owned companies. — With assistance by Jason Rogers, Winnie Zhu, Alfred Cang, James Thornhill, James Poole, and Mark Burton
Long read, but this is interesting af: How to make lithium-ion batteries invincible News Release 23-Jun-2021 Berkeley Lab researchers are developing a family of cathode materials that have all of the advantages of conventional lithium batteries but without the supply constraints DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Research News IMAGE: Jingyang Wang holds up a ceramic palette sample prepared for the DRX research program co-led by Gerbrand Ceder and Guoying Chen at Berkeley Lab. view more In our future electrified world, the demand for battery storage is projected to be enormous, reaching to upwards of 2 to 10 terawatt-hours (TWh) of annual battery production by 2030, from less than 0.5 TWh today. However, concerns are growing as to whether key raw materials will be adequate to meet this future demand. The lithium-ion battery - the dominant technology for the foreseeable future - has a component made of cobalt and nickel, and those two metals face severe supply constraints on the global market. Now, after several years of research led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), scientists have made significant progress in developing battery cathodes using a new class of materials that provide batteries with the same if not higher energy density than conventional lithium-ion batteries but can be made of inexpensive and abundant metals. Known as DRX, which stands for disordered rocksalts with excess lithium, this novel family of materials was invented less than 10 years ago and allows cathodes to be made without nickel or cobalt. "The classic lithium-ion battery has served us well, but as we consider future demands for energy storage, its reliance on certain critical minerals exposes us not only to supply-chain risks, but also environmental and social issues," said Ravi Prasher, Berkeley Lab's Associate Lab Director for Energy Technologies. "With DRX materials, this offers lithium batteries the potential to be the foundation for sustainable battery technologies for the future." The cathode is one of the two electrodes in a battery and accounts for more than one-third of the cost of a battery. Currently the cathode in lithium-ion batteries uses a class of materials known as NMC, with nickel, manganese, and cobalt as the key ingredients. "I've done cathode research for over 20 years, looking for new materials, and DRX is the best new material I've ever seen by far," said Berkeley Lab battery scientist Gerbrand Ceder, who is co-leading the research. "With the current NMC class, which is restricted to just nickel, cobalt, and an inactive component made of manganese, the classic lithium-ion battery is at the end of its performance curve unless you transfer to new cathode materials, and that's what the DRX program offers. DRX materials have enormous compositional flexibility - and this is very powerful because not only can you use all kinds of abundant metals in a DRX cathode, but you can also use any type of metal to fix any problem that might come up during the early stages of designing new batteries. That's why we're so excited." Cobalt and nickel supply-chain risks The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has made it a priority to find ways to reduce or eliminate the use of cobalt in batteries. "The battery industry is facing an enormous resource crunch," said Ceder. "Even at 2 TWh, the lower range of global demand projections, that would consume almost all of today's nickel production, and with cobalt we're not even close. Cobalt production today is only about 150 kilotons, and 2 TWh of battery power would require 2,000 kilotons of nickel and cobalt in some combination." What's more, over two-thirds of the world's nickel production is currently used to make stainless steel. And more than half of the world's production of cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, with Russia, Australia, the Philippines, and Cuba rounding out the top five producers of cobalt. In contrast, DRX cathodes can use just about any metal in place of nickel and cobalt. Scientists at Berkeley Lab have focused on using manganese and titanium, which are both more abundant and lower cost than nickel and cobalt. "Manganese oxide and titanium oxide cost less than $1 per kilogram whereas cobalt costs about $45 per kilogram and nickel about $18," said Ceder. "With DRX you have the potential to make very inexpensive energy storage. At that point lithium-ion becomes unbeatable and can be used everywhere - for vehicles, the grid - and we can truly make energy storage abundant and inexpensive." Ordered vs. disordered Ceder and his team developed DRX materials in 2014. In batteries, the number and speed of lithium ions able to travel into the cathode translates into how much energy and power the battery has. In conventional cathodes, lithium ions travel through the cathode material along well-defined pathways and arrange themselves between the transition metal atoms (usually cobalt and nickel) in neat, orderly layers. What Ceder's group discovered was that a cathode with a disordered atomic structure could hold more lithium - which means more energy - while allowing for a wider range of elements to serve as the transition metal. They also learned that within that chaos, lithium ions can easily hop around. In 2018, the Vehicle Technologies Office in DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy provided funding for Berkeley Lab to take a "deep dive" into DRX materials. In collaboration with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and UC Santa Barbara, Berkeley Lab teams led by Ceder and Guoying Chen have made tremendous progress in optimizing DRX cathodes in lithium-ion batteries. For example, the charge rate - or how fast the battery can charge - of these materials was initially very low, and its stability was also poor. The research team has found ways to address both of these issues through modeling and experimentation. Studies on using fluorination to improve stability have been published in Advanced Functional Materials and Advanced Energy Materials; research on how to enable a high charging rate was recently published in Nature Energy. Since DRX can be made with many different elements, the researchers have also been working on which element would be best to use, hitting the sweet spot of being abundant, inexpensive, and providing good performance. "DRX has now been synthesized with almost the whole periodic table," Ceder said. "This is science at its best - fundamental discoveries that will serve as the bedrock of systems in future homes, vehicles, and grids," said Noel Bakhtian, director of Berkeley Lab's Energy Storage Center. "What has made Berkeley Lab so successful in battery innovation for decades now is our combination of breadth and depth of expertise - from fundamental discovery to characterization, synthesis, and manufacturing, as well as energy markets and policy research. Collaboration is key - we partner with industry and beyond to solve real-world problems, which in turn helps galvanize the world-leading science we do at the Lab." Fast progress New battery materials have traditionally taken 15 to 20 years to commercialize; Ceder believes progress on DRX materials can be accelerated with a larger team. "We've made great progress in the last three years with the deep dive," Ceder said. "We've come to the conclusion that we're ready for a bigger team, so we can involve people with a more diverse set of skills to really refine this." An expanded research team could move quickly to address the remaining issues, including improving the cycle life (or the number of times the battery can be recharged and discharged over its lifetime) and optimizing the electrolyte, the chemical medium that allows the flow of electrical charge between the cathode and anode. Since being developed in Ceder's lab, groups in Europe and Japan have also launched large DRX research programs. "Advances in battery technologies and energy storage will require continued breakthroughs in the fundamental science of materials," said Jeff Neaton, Berkeley Lab's Associate Lab Director for Energy Sciences. "Berkeley Lab's expertise, unique facilities, and capabilities in advanced imaging, computation, and synthesis allow us to study materials at the scale of atoms and electrons. We are well poised to accelerate the development of promising materials like DRX for clean energy."