Experts urge government to mobilise investments in exploration of lithium

Dr Yusif Sulemana, a petroleum consultant says this is the best time, Ghana can mobilise and intensify investments for the exploration of lithium.

His comments come after the country announced the discovery of the rare metal, lithium, in commercial quantities more than a year ago.

Reports indicate that a precious metals explorer and producer is moving closer to commencing production of the mineral, which is among the top 10 most expensive minerals in the world after it was discovered in the Volta Region by the Minerals Commission.

Speaking on Energy 101 on Monday (29 November), Dr Sulemana said considering the economic and other potentials of lithium, investors will be willing to finance its production.

“What we can do logically is to make sure that the reserves that we are thinking about are in commercial quantities. If they’re in commercial quantities I can tell you that when you go to the capital market, this is the fastest way to get money to invest, in that, once you’re able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the lithium discovery is in commercial quantity… as we speak now, there’s a lot of capital constraint and serious competition between hydrocarbon and that of green energy.” 

“But when you look at the trend of the capital market, there couldn’t be any better time to invest in our lithium potential than now,” he stated.

However, Dr Sulemana is of the view that stringent measures need to be put in place to ensure that the discovery does not become destruction.

‘We have to get experts involved. The “business as usual” is not going to work here. Lithium is great potential but we need to get the legal framework right. We need to get a framework that will be able to minimize political interference in the business of lithium exploration as much as possible because that has always been the problem. If we don’t change our game and we continue with the same trajectory, we’ll get it wrong again.”

“So, at this moment in time, I believe we’ve learnt enough lessons when it comes to how our natural resources have been managed,” he added.

On his part, Ibrahim Baidoo also an energy expert with Energy and Associates Ghana said regulators must formulate and implement effective policies to ensure that mistakes are avoided in the exploitation of the mineral. 

He said if this is done, Ghana will reap the full economic benefits of the exploration of the lithium mineral.

“Our major problem is the implementation of the policies. So, we expect that the government this time will do proper hiring practice to engage the right people in respect of this to put implementation spot on. Either than that we’ll come back in the next 10 years to sing the same song as we do with gold,” he noted.

Energy experts say with the energy transition in full swing, investing in the lithium sector appears like a safer way to play the Electric Vehicle boom. 

Stakeholders are predicting that metals that power the clean energy sector such as lithium, copper, nickel, and cobalt are poised to become the oil of the future.

According to a recent Eurasia Review analysis, prices of the four metals could reach historical peaks for an unprecedented, sustained period in a net-zero emissions scenario.

Among the four metals, Lithium continues to lead the way, as average lithium on a per-vehicle basis, including hybrids was up 30% year over year in June, jumping from 14kg to just over 18kg.

Lithium prices are said to have doubled year-to-date and now tops US$16,500 a tonne.

Meanwhile, Ghana discovered Lithium in commercial quantities in 2018 during a nationwide exploration exercise.

Nicholas Brown and Emmanuel Aboagye-Wiafe

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