​Thailand Aims for Lithium Production泰国目标锂产业生产

Thailand Aims for Lithium Production

泰国目标锂产业生产

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　　By Gregory Stachel

　　27 January 2024

　　Thailand hopes to start producing lithium from a mine in its southwest in about two years, government and business officials say.

　　The mine could help the country become a center for electric vehicle (EV) production.

　　Lithium is a metal critical to EV battery production.

　　Establishing lithium mines would put Thailand in a special position among major producers of the metal because the country is also developing an EV production industry. Chinese carmakers already promised to invest $1.44 billion in that industry in Thailand.

　　The Australian company Miner Pan Asia Metals is preparing to register for mining permits in March for the Reung Kiet project. The project is taking place in the country's Phang-Nga area. The property could also include the proposed Bang I Tum mine.

　　Pan Asia's leader Paul Lock told Reuters that the company is "optimistic" about starting lithium chemical production from Reung Kiet by early 2026.

　　Thailand's Department of Primary Industries and Mines (DPIM) predicts that the Reung Kiet site could produce about 164,500 tonnes of the metal.

　　That would be enough to produce at least 1 million EV batteries of 50 kilowatt-hours, said DPIM Director General Aditad Vasinonta.

　　The official said mining could begin there in about two years.

　　And, Pan Asia's Paul Lock says the mineral resources at Bang I Tum may be 10 to 70 percent larger than Reung Kiet.

　　Experts do not know how much reachable lithium exists in Thailand. Major suppliers of the metal include Australia, Argentina, Chile, and China.

　　Center of production

　　Thailand is Southeast Asia's largest automobile producer and exporter. It wants EVs to account for 30 percent of its yearly automobile production by 2030.

　　Narit Therdsteerasukdi is Secretary General of the Thailand Board of Investment. He said the government has supported 38 battery production projects, including those for EV use, with total investment at $659.4 million.

　　"Our goal is to push Thailand to become the regional hub for battery production, both for EV and for energy storage," he said.

　　A regional hub is an important center of activity for a part of the world.

　　The Thai government is also pushing for lithium exploration in new areas. That includes changing laws to permit private companies to study agricultural lands, Aditad said.

　　One of the interested companies is Matsa Resources, an Australian miner looking for lithium in Thailand.

　　Matsa holds two special permits to look for lithium in Thailand. And it has over 100 requests waiting, it said in January.

　　"They will be only one of a handful of countries that have got the whole supply chain from mining to production within the same country," said Paul Poli, Matsa's leader.

　　The lithium under exploration in Thailand is found within a mineral known as lepidolite. It is more costly to process than the kind of lithium mined in Australia and Chile.

　　Matsa and Pan Asia said they are in discussions with Chinese companies to process the lepidolite mineral. Chinese companies have experience producing lithium from lepidolite in Jiangxi province.

　　I'm Gregory Stachel.

　　Devjyot Ghoshal and Panu Wongcha-um reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：Gregory Stachel

　　日期：2024年1月27日

　　政府和商业官员表示，泰国希望在大约两年后开始从其西南部的一座矿山中生产锂。

　　这座矿山可能有助于该国成为电动汽车（EV）生产的中心。

　　锂是电动汽车电池生产的关键金属。

　　作者：Gregory Stachel

　　日期：2024年1月27日

　　泰国希望在大约两年后开始从其西南部的一座矿山中生产锂。

　　这座矿山可能有助于该国成为电动汽车（EV）生产的中心。

　　锂是电动汽车电池生产的关键金属。

　　建立锂矿将使泰国在金属的主要生产者中处于特殊位置，因为该国也在发展电动汽车生产行业。中国汽车制造商已经承诺在泰国的这个行业中投资14.4亿美元。

　　澳大利亚公司Miner Pan Asia Metals正准备在3月份为Reung Kiet项目申请采矿许可。该项目正在该国的Phang-Nga地区进行。该物业也可能包括拟议的Bang I Tum矿。

　　Pan Asia的领导人Paul Lock告诉路透社，该公司对于2026年初从Reung Kiet开始生产锂化学品“感到乐观”。

　　泰国的主要工业和矿业部门（DPIM）预测，Reung Kiet地点可能生产约164,500吨金属。

　　DPIM总监Aditad Vasinonta表示，这将足以生产至少1百万个50千瓦时的电动汽车电池。

　　该官员表示，采矿可能在大约两年后开始。

　　而且，Pan Asia的Paul Lock说，Bang I Tum的矿产资源可能比Reung Kiet大10%到70%。

　　专家们不知道泰国有多少可达到的锂。金属的主要供应商包括澳大利亚、阿根廷、智利和中国。

　　生产中心

　　泰国是东南亚最大的汽车生产商和出口商。它希望到2030年，电动汽车将占其年度汽车生产的30%。

　　Narit Therdsteerasukdi是泰国投资委员会的秘书长。他说，政府已经支持了38个电池生产项目，包括那些用于电动汽车的项目，总投资额为6.594亿美元。

　　他说：“我们的目标是推动泰国成为电池生产的区域中心，无论是用于电动汽车还是用于能源储存。”

　　区域中心是世界某一部分活动的重要中心。

　　泰国政府也在推动在新区域进行锂的勘探。这包括改变法律以允许私人公司研究农田，Aditad说。

　　其中一个感兴趣的公司是Matsa Resources，这是一家在泰国寻找锂的澳大利亚矿业公司。

　　Matsa持有两个特殊许可证在泰国寻找锂。并且，它在1月份表示，它有超过100个请求正在等待。

　　Matsa的领导人Paul Poli说：“他们将是少数几个拥有从采矿到生产的整个供应链的国家之一。”

　　在泰国进行勘探的锂是在一种名为鳞石的矿物中发现的。它的处理成本比在澳大利亚和智利开采的锂更高。

　　Matsa和Pan Asia表示，他们正在与中国公司讨论处理鳞石矿物。中国公司在江西省有生产锂的经验。

　　我是Gregory Stachel。

　　Devjyot Ghoshal和Panu Wongcha-um为路透社报道了这个故事。Gregory Stachel为VOA学习英语改编了它。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　battery – n. 电池，是放置在机器内部（如时钟、玩具或汽车）以供应电力的设备

　　optimistic – adj. 乐观的，对未来充满或展示希望：期待好事发生

　　supply chain – n. 供应链，是供应所需材料和零件以向人们提供产品和商品的商业网络