Agenda: Benchmark Week 2023

8:00 AM

Registration Opens

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Networking Breakfast

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Keynote Stage

Upstream Day Opening Keynote from Benchmark Minerals

Andrew Miller, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

9:15 AM - 10:00 AM

Keynote Stage

Fireside chat with Arnold Schwarzenegger

10:00 AM - 10:20 AM

Keynote Stage

Panel Discussion

Building Global Partnerships to Diversify Clean Energy Supply Chains

Chris Davy, U.S. Department of State

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM

Automotive Supply Chain Insights

Tara Berrie, Rivian

10:40 AM - 11:30 AM

Networking break

11:30 AM - 12:15 PM

Panel Stage

Natural Vs. Synthetic Graphite

- Understanding the global supply/demand balance, battery performance, environmental & geopolitical considerations

Jessica Roberts, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Phil Hoskins, Evolution Energy Minerals
Hugues Jacquemin, Northern Graphite
Haibo Mo, Hensen Graphite & Carbon Corp

11:55 AM - 12:20 PM

Keynote Stage

Cathodes Keynotes

Christian Barbier, Allkem Limited
Javier Arraztoa, SQM
Denise Kirschner, SQM
Jorge Uzcategui, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Maximilian Court, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

12:30 PM - 3:15 PM

Panel Stage

Future Anode Technologies

A panel of thought leaders from organisations exploring the latest exciting developments in next generation anodes for lithium-ion battery applications. How are technologies pushing the boundaries forward and how will the industry scale up adoption and production?

Rory McNulty, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Jing Nealis, SES AI
Srini Godavarthy, PhD, Li-Metal
Emilie Bodoin, Pure Lithium Corporation

1:00 PM - 2:15 PM

Networking Lunch

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Lithium as the new oil

Lunch & Learn Stage

A debate on whether lithium will replace oil as the world's key critical commodity in the new energy economy

Roger Atkins, Electric Vehicles Outlook Ltd
David Dickson, Lake Resources
Salah Gamoudi, Standard Lithium

1:45 PM - 2:15 PM

Benchmark Workshop: Understanding Phosphoric Acid Market Dynamics

Maximilian Court, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

2:15 PM - 3:00 PM

Panel Stage

Cathodes Raw Material Supply Chain Development

– Developing lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese capacity

Chris Berry, House Mountain Partners
Navaid Alam, Evelution Energy
Simon Clarke, American Lithium Corp
Matthew James, Euro Manganese
Bruce Richardson, Anson Resources

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

Keynote Stage

Graphite & Anodes Keynotes

Developments in natural and synthetic graphite markets that will shape the future of the anode sector

-   Understanding the current landscape of graphite production and forecasted challenges and opportunities
-   Natural graphite: Where is ex-China flake graphite in development? How are the spherical processing ambitions changing?
-   Synthetic graphite: How is the ex-China synthetic graphite and needle coke supply chain developing?

Moderated by Andrew Miller, COO, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

Daniel Fletcher-Manuel, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Craig Scherba, NextSource Materials
Shaun Verner, Syrah Resources
Dr Chris Burns, Novonix Ltd
Laure Latour, Tokai Cobex
Albert Li, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

3:15 PM - 4:00 PM

Panel Stage

Next Generation Cathodes & Cells

- Exploring latest developments and innovations of anode chemistry, design and manufacturing
- Nickel cobalt aluminium (NCA) vs nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), lithium iron phosphate (LFP) & more

Manish Dua, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Robert Privette, Umicore
Sam Jaffe, Addionics
Dan Blondal, Nano One Materials Corp

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Networking Break

4:30 PM - 4:50 PM

Keynote Stage

Highlight presentation

Importance of Reinventing the Automotive Supply Chain

Mike Chaffins, DeLorean Motor Company

4:30 PM - 5:15 PM

Worley Hosted Workshop: Conquering scale-up challenges

Worley designs and delivers facilities across the battery value chain. Drawing on over 140 projects, we will discuss:

–Meeting your offtake commitments and business plan

–Impact to product qualification

–Technology provider unit operations

–Understanding OEM and end-user specifications

–Site selection and environmental permitting

–Supply chain constraints

Led by: Mervyn Stevens, Battery Material Processing SME, Worley

David Houser, Scale-Up SME, Worley

John Leblanc, Project Director, Worley

4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Panel Stage

Direct Lithium Extraction

- Understanding the processes and technologies to unlock resources and scale production of battery grade supplies via direct lithium extraction

Daisy Jennings-Gray, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Jeremy Patt, Summit Nanotech
Andrew Walker, Evove Ltd
Gene Morgan, Zelandez Limited
Teague Egan, EnergyX

4:50 PM - 6:00 PM

Keynote Stage

Sustainability & Circularity Keynotes

– What is the true carbon footprint and environmental impact of the EV, the Gigafactory and the lithium ion battery value chain? How can this be managed and improved?

Sarah Colbourn, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
David Klanecky, Cirba Solutions
Scott Sellwood, Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA)

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Networking Reception

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM

Networking Breakfast

8:45 AM - 9:15 AM

Keynote Stage

Benchmark Opening Keynote

Simon Moores, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

9:15 AM - 10:00 AM

Keynote Stage

Benchmark Week Guest of Honour Keynote

Professor M. Stanley Whittingham

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Keynote Stage

Fireside: Outlook for the world economy and the implications for the mining and minerals sector

Dr. Hamid Rashid, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Manish Dua, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

10:30 AM - 11:10 AM

Networking Break

10:40 AM - 11:30 AM

Keynote Stage

Guest of Honour Keynote: Mining the energy transition

11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Keynote Stage

Nissan’s view of the circular economy

Kent O'Hara, 4R & Battery Business, Nissan Group of the Americas

11:30 AM - 11:50 AM

Keynote Stage

Keynote Fireside: Rare Earths and Critical Minerals in California

Daan De Jonge, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
James Litinsky, MP Materials

11:50 AM - 12:30 PM

Panel Stage

The Metals Company Hosted Workshop: Deep Sea Mining

The polymetallic nodule resource – the largest undeveloped source of battery metals on earth

Craig Shesky, The Metals Company
Jorge Uzcategui, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

Keynote Stage

Lithium Leadership Summit: Scaling Lithium to 2030

-   Bottlenecks and easy wins in the scaling of lithium chemical supply
-   Understanding Lithium Pricing: the interplay with incentive price, market price, contract price
-   Traditional Lithium vs New Lithium

Andrew Miller, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Christian Barbier, Allkem Limited
Joe Lowry, Global Lithium
Anthony Tse, NEO Capital
Daisy Jennings-Gray, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

12:30 PM - 1:15 PM

Wave International Hosted Workshop

– Introduction to Wave International.

– Overview of process technologies for key battery minerals.

– Role of mid-stream products in the battery minerals supply chain.

– Considerations for development of western refineries.

Led by:

Robin Macaskill, COO, Wave International

Brett Cassidy, Process, Engineer, Wave International

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Networking Lunch

1:15 PM - 2:00 PM

Demystifying Supply Chain Site Selection

Lunch & Learn Stage

Evan Hartley, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Carl Quesinberry, Avison Young
Scott Watkins, Clayco
John Cerveny, Sr. Director & Program Manager, NENY Supply Chain Program

2:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Keynote Stage

Next Generation Battery Innovation

-   What battery chemistries, designs or manufacturing processes will disrupt energy storage?
-   What are the barriers to commercialisation?
-   What will the future of battery production look like?

Rory McNulty, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Mark Gresser, Wildcat Discovery Technologies
Vivas Kumar, Mitra Chem

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Panel Stage

Critical Mineral Symposium

J.T Starzecki, 5E Advanced Materials, Inc
Matthew Hughes, Netzsch
Carlos Vicens, Full Circle Lithium Corp
Mikaela Hall, Mississippi Lime Company
James Rodriguez de Castro, Mongolian Minerals Pte. Ltd.
Igor Barsukov, American Energy Technologies Co.

3:00 PM - 3:20 PM

Keynote Stage

Energy Transition Geopolitics Keynote

Morgan D. Bazilian, Ph.D., Colorado School of Mines

3:20 PM - 3:35 PM

Keynote Stage

Highlight presentation: Graphite supply chain issues and the future of anode material

Jaebum Park, POSCO Research Institute(POSRI)

3:35 PM - 4:00 PM

Networking Break

4:00 PM - 4:50 PM

Keynote Stage

North American Energy Transition Geopolitics Panel

– Understanding the key impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and other policy developments
– Strengthening strategic relationships with politically aligned markets

Chris Berry, House Mountain Partners
Albert Gore, Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA)
Sajit Pillai, US Department of Energy
Anthony Huston, Graphite One
Austin Devaney, Piedmont Lithium Inc.

4:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Panel Stage

Critical Mineral Symposium

Martin Moloney, Buxton Resources Ltd
Stephen Stone, Castle Minerals Limited
Matthieu Bos, Falcon Energy Materials
Greg McCunn, Noram Lithium
Ben Stoikovich, Sovereign Metals
Andrew Worland, International Graphite Ltd

4:50 PM - 5:30 PM

Keynote Stage

Energy Transition Geopolitics: Global Perspectives

– Exploring policy developments and political considerations across key international jurisdictions

Vlad Månsson, Trade Commissioner USA & Head of Energy and Transport Americas, Business Sweden

Roger Atkins, Electric Vehicles Outlook Ltd
Michael Schmidt, German Raw Materials Agency (DERA)
Carl Delfeld, Nuvo Assets
Vlad Mansson, Business Sweden
Danny Keating, Giyani Metals

5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Networking Reception

7:30 AM - 8:30 AM

Networking Breakfast

8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

Keynote Stage

Benchmark Opening Keynote

Michael Finch, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

8:50 AM - 9:10 AM

Keynote Stage

Downstream Day Opening Keynote

Abigail Seadler Wulf, Head of the American Battery Materials Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy

9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

Keynote Stage

Opening Keynote

John Bozzella, Alliance for Automotive Innovation

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Keynote Stage

Financing the Energy Transition

Investment Keynote
Speaker to be confirmed

Financing the Energy Transition
– Activating finance for the energy transition
– Discussion of financial instruments available to the industry and how the energy transition investment opportunity is viewed by
capital markets
– Identifying roadblocks between capital and battery industry projects
– Importance of ESG credentials to facilitating investment in the new energy economy

Anthony Tse, NEO Capital
Michael Willoughby, HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited
Ernie Ortiz, Lithium Royalty Corp
Asogan Moodaly, International Finance Corporation (World Bank)
Dave Oude Nijeweme, Worley

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Networking Break

11:00 AM - 11:45 AM

Keynote Stage

Electric Vehicle Demand Dynamics

- Exploring lithium ion battery penetration across passenger, commercial and alternative mobility markets

Evan Hartley, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
William Roberts, Rho Motion
Bill Van Amburg, CALSTART

11:00 AM - 12:45 PM

Panel Stage

Critical Mineral Symposium

Greg Reimer, Surge Battery Metals Inc
Mark Strauss, Aqua Metals
Oliver Gunasekara, Impossible Metals
Jaclyn Ruptash, Premium Nickel
Prashant Chintawar, Volt Resources Limited
Aiden Lee, Graphjet Technology
Christine Rivera, Agilent Technologies
Dean Hanisch, Stria Lithium