Keynote speaker

Ken Hoffman

Senior Expert - AP, Global Co-leader EV Battery Materials Group, McKinsey & Company

Presentation title

How to build a long-term critical minerals path for a resilient future

Presentation synopsis

"I will go through what a country/industry needs to think about for building a successful long term critical minerals industry. Specifically, I will talk about having a vision of the long-term battery market, determining the local strengths, and markets that you can address, having a long-term plan, incentivizing success, and encourage new technologies, and forming joint ventures globally to build win-win partnerships."

Biography

Mr Hoffman leads McKinsey’s global battery value chain work, and strategy on sourcing, battery technology, and recycling. Ken has been Executive director of projects that help upstream battery component companies successfully enter the battery value chain, with notable work in lithium (a major JV for a LiOH facility, largest LCA pricing contract ever completed, strategy work for both providers and buyers), nickel, manganese (both for NCM and LMFP players), electrolytes, performance powders, recycling technologies, etc. He has worked with several private equity companies on over 100 due diligences throughout the battery value chain, especially new lithium technologies (DLE, DLP, Lithium metal), recycling technologies, CAM producers, separators, cell providers, and new refining technologies. Ken has worked with nearly a dozen OEM's on the long-term sourcing strategies and how to think of the continuous change in battery technologies to their procurement needs. His team developed frameworks for ranking more than 40 battery technologies for a large technology company.

Previously, Ken was global head of metals and mining research for Bloomberg Intelligence, while at Bloomberg, he advised Peter Grauer when he was on the BOD for Glencore. Ken was also the director of research and Partner for the European investment fund MarCap Investors LP, a fund backed by Reservoir Capital. Marcap often took board seats and worked with boards and CEO's for the improvement of company results and goals.