battery metals

  • African Battery Metals returns to trading as investors approve restructure plans (ABM)

    African Battery Metals (LSE:ABM) returned from suspension today after a host of proposals aimed at refinancing and restructuring the firm were approved by investors at a general meeting on Friday.

    Shareholders in the Africa-focused exploration business voted 99.96pc in favour of all resolutions at the meeting in London. This outcome has, in turn, successfully triggered a number of proposals outlined by the business in a refinancing and strategic update issued last month.

    In this, African Battery proposed a conditional placing and subscription to raise £1m at 0.5p a share, resulting in the issue of 200m new ordinary shares. Each of these refinancing shares will have an attached warrant to subscribe for a new ordinary share at a price of 1p within two years.

    The money raised will be used to pay all of African Battery’s material company creditors through a mixture of cash and/or shares. In last month’s update, the firm said this would allow it to become debt free with a robust cash position for at least 12 months when considering current business costs and operational plans.

    The passing of all the resolutions at Friday’s vote will also see current chief executive Roger Murphy and, in due course, executive director Matt Wood step down from the firm’s board. They will be replaced by Andrew Bell, who will take on the role of executive chairman, and Paul Johnson, who will become executive director.

    Bell will be well known to AIM investors as the chief executive and chairman of Red Rock Resources (LSE:RRR) and the non-executive director of Regency Mines (LSE:RGM). He is also a non-executive director at ASX-listed Jupiter Mines and has formerly held senior roles at firms like Star Striker and Greatland Gold (LSE:GGP).

    Johnson will also be a familiar name to many in the market as the former chief executive of Metal Tiger (LSE:MTR), Metal NRG (NEX:MNRG), and China Africa Resources. He has also been chairman of ECR Minerals (LSE:ECR) and non-executive director of Greatland Gold (LSE:GGP) and Thor Mining (LSE:THR). He is currently chief executive of Value Generation Limited, a family investment and advisory company focused on the natural resource and related fintech sectors.

    As well as joining African Battery’s board, both Bell and Johnson will each subscribe to £50,000 worth of shares in the company’s placing. On top of this, Red Rock will subscribe to an additional £100,000 worth of shares.

    Following their appointment, the pair will lead a strategic and operational review of the business. This follows its suspension in December last year after it was unable to secure equity finance from its largest shareholders on any terms. At this time, the business said it would be at risk of being unable to continue to trade as a going concern if it could not reach a satisfactory settlement with its creditors.

    Now that it has reached a solution, African Battery has carried out a programme of core cost review and has reduced its corporate plc costs to minimal levels. It has also changed its board incentivisation rules, to ensure that all payments are reflective of the cash position of the company and performance-based. It will publish figures on its website for full transparency.

    Finally, the business will also undertake a more thorough strategic and operational review of existing company interests and target exploration resources in a prioritised manner. Following this, it will develop a strategic and operational plan. This will see management identify, review, and, if appropriate, acquire new opportunities to complement and diversify its existing business interests. This could include the potential acquisition of interests within Africa or new territories in both battery metals and other commodity categories.

    Finally, following the resolution of the meeting, African Battery will now appoint SI Capital as its joint broker alongside SP Angel.

    African Battery aims to become a significant explorer, developer and ultimately miner of battery metals, specifically cobalt, lithium, copper and nickel.   To this end, its strategy is to identify highly prospective opportunities at various stages of development in proven jurisdictions that it can either acquire or farm into,

    Author: Daniel Flynn

    The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    The article expresses the views of the Author solely and do not necessarily express the views of MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd or their connected parties who are not responsible for its content or accuracy.

    News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. Readers are recommended to seek the advice of appropriate professionals when considering investments in small capital.

  • Bluejay and Rio Tinto plan Enonkoski drilling as battery metal interest soars (JAY, BLLYF, S5WA)

    Bluejay Mining (LON: JAY | OTCMKTS: BLLYF | FRA: S5WA) unveiled plans on Monday for a maiden diamond drill and field programme at its promising Enonkoski nickel-copper-cobalt joint venture project in Finland. The project is well-timed, given the massive interest in battery metals at the moment.

    Mining behemoth Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO | LON: RIO | NYSE: RIO) is the company’s partner in the joint venture (“JV”), where a 3,000-metre drill programme starts next month. This will test for mineralisation in a number of geophysical targets, located in Enonkoski’s Tevanjoki and Laukunsuo areas.

    Bluejay explained that the chosen targets have a base of till nickel anomalies supporting them, alongside “historical observations of mineralised noritic outcrops and boulders”. These are similar to rocks seen at the former Laukunkangas mine nearby.

    This followed a magnetic survey of an area south-east of Laukunkangas, which completed mid-April. The newly acquired data is being processed and interpreted right now before the upcoming drilling.

    ALS will perform the drilling result assays, which the JV partners will evaluate.

    In summer and autumn 2021, the JV partners plan further exploration activities in the Enonkoski area with an update to follow “in due course”. Bluejay stressed that “strict Covid-19 protocols” are in place for all exploration activity.

    Both the drilling programme and the field programme are part of the JV and earn-in agreement between Bluejay and Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto can acquire an up to 75% interest in Enonkoski by spending $20 million.

    So far, efforts at Enonkoski include re-logging and sampling 19 historical diamond drillholes, with ongoing interpretation.

    There have also been two detailed ground magnetic surveys at Laukunsuo and Tevanjoki, as well as two Tromino trial surveys and “2.5D airborne electromagnetic inversion processing”.

    Nickel, copper, and cobalt are all huge players in the electrification revolution taking place right now. All three are used in electric vehicles (“EVs”). Most lithium ion batteries, the kind used in EVs, rely on nickelas well as cobalt. Copper is also a major EV component, not just for batteries but also electric motors, wiring, and charging stations.

    Demand for EVs is rising as governments crack down on traditional diesel and petrol cars in order to hit emissions targets. The UK, for example, is banning all net petrol and diesel cars by 2030, with potentially following in the mid-2030s.  Norway has one of the earliest bans, coming in just four years

    Enonkoski is one of Bluejay’s three large-scale project areas in east Finland. The other two are the Hammaslahti copper-zinc-gold-silver and Outokumpu copper-cobalt-zinc-nickel-gold-silver projects.

    Bluejay chief executive Bo Møller Stensgaard said the company’s work with Rio Tinto “is progressing well” with investigations finding “some appealing near-mine targets that will now be tested through drilling”. The JV partners will continue to evaluate “other high potential areas” of Enonkoski.

    “There remains a high level of interest in many of our battery metal projects and we remain confident in advancing those further for the benefit of our shareholders. We look forward in updating the market with the results at Enonkoski and further information on the progress at our other assets in due course,” Stensgaard concluded.

    Author: Anna Farley

    The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

    MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

  • Coronavirus highlights critical need for diversity in the battery metals supply chain

    The problems inherent in a battery metals supply chain supremely concentrated on China have been spotlighted by coronavirus, but the problems have been in play for years. 

    The bottleneck was there for all to see long before the spread of Covid-19 shuttered factories across China. 

    According to a Wednesday report by the Associated Press “the problem is supply chains. China’s are famously nimble and resourceful, but they lack raw materials and workers after the most intensive anti-disease measures ever imposed closed factories [and] cut off most access to cities with more than 60 million people.”

    While companies have begun to re-open, there are ongoing higher costs and significant delays. A mid-February survey by The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai found that 78% of businesses in Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and the wider Yangtze River Delta did not have enough staff to run full production lines. 

    Nearly half said their global operations had already been affected by the shutdown and 58% said their output would be lower than normal until at least the second half of 2020.

    Away from China

    Manufacturers are looking for new suppliers but few can compete on price and almost none can match China’s levels of service.

    These problems have been evident since President Donald Trump ignited the ongoing US-China trade war by imposing tariffs on imports from the trading giant. 

    And shifting production away from the Chinese state and into perceived cheaper South East Asian alternatives comes with its own set of problems. 

    A Wall Street Journal report written in the wake of the early stages of the trade dispute noted: “This should be Vietnam’s chance to shine. Instead it is becoming increasingly clear that it will be years, if ever, before this nation and other aspiring manufacturing destinations are ready to replace China as the world’s factory floor.

    The problem is even more acute for producers and users of battery metals. 

    Mitchell Smith, chief executive and president of cobalt development company Global Energy Metals (TSX-V:GEMC) told MiningMaven: “Coronavirus is having a large disruptive effect on the overall commodity marketplace as we are already witnessing large builds in stockpiles of minerals given the inability to transport and handle material at Chinese ports. The same can be said about exports of refined product.”

    Gigafactory

    Battery metals are key to the growth of the renewables industry: lithium-ion batteries form the basis for powering electric vehicles, for example.

    And while the explosion in the number of electric vehicles is set to drive the renewables revolution, the fact is that supply chains are simply not ready to produce the number of batteries that this wholesale change will require. 

    Elon Musk’s Tesla is ahead of the curve. Its $4.5 billion Gigafactory 1 in Nevada opened in 2016. Musk said at least 100 of these gigantic electric vehicle assembly lines would be needed to power the future growth of the industry.

    And yet Tesla has started building its latest Gigafactory not in the United States, but in China. Tesla has struggled to recruit enough engineers in America to run operations, an issue it believes — or believed, until coronavirus broke out — could be solved by China’s army of specialists. 

    Europe’s first Tesla-inspired battery megafactory belongs to Sweden’s Northvolt. That company received a €350 million loan from the European Investment Bank in May 2019 to get the project started. But this is one of only a handful being built outside China. 

    In 2017, there were 17 lithium-ion battery mega-factories under construction globally. Today, 46 of the 70 in construction are in China.

    Another problem

    There is vast and increasing demand for refined cobalt in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries. But few have tracked the scarcity of these in-demand resources. According to a MassifCapital report on risks in the supply chain: “If every battery manufacturing facility under construction today is built and operates at 100% capacity, then the next ten years will see an 8x increase in demand for lithium, a 7x increase in graphite anodes, a 19x increase in nickel and a 4x increase in cobalt.

    China’s domestic and foreign influence on the global cobalt supply chain also remains substantial. This dependence has already caused significant problems and industry experts expect the trend to continue. 

    Mitchell Smith put it like this: “Prolonged economic disruption due to the coronavirus epidemic should make end-users in the automotive and electronics industries reflect on the over-reliance upon one country.” 

    As a whole the industry desperately needs to consider diversification of supply and refinement of the materials critical for the new renewable world we will all be living in, Smith added.

    Author: Mark Sheridan

    The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

    MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article’s content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

     

  • Global Energy Metals to seek London dual-listing as its portfolio progresses and battery mineral demand grows (GEMC)

    Cobalt developer Global Energy Metals (TSXV:GEMC) has revealed plans to pursue a dual-listing in London. The Toronto-listed business said it expects the listing to support its large existing UK shareholder base and enhance its market exposure by providing access to British investors on a domestic exchange.

    In an update on Thursday, Global Energy said it has been discussing a dual-listing of its securities on a ‘recognised investment exchange in London’ for many months now. It has hired Peterhouse Capital to act as it lead adviser and manager throughout the process.

    Global Energy’s chief executive and director Mitchell Smith said the timing for a UK co-listing is currently ‘ideal’ because it will complement the recent progress made by the company across its portfolio.

    ‘A UK co-listing will allow European investors to participate in the increased demand for battery minerals brought on by the aggressive growth and continued global adoption of electric vehicles that our cobalt projects in safe, stable, top-tier mining jurisdictions offer,’ Smith added.

    As Smith highlights, the last few months have seen Global Energy take significant steps forward at several of its critical assets. Critically, last November saw the business execute final agreements to take a 100pc interest in the Millennium Project, located in the world-renowned Mt. Isa region of Queensland, Australia.

    The growth-stage site is a multi-zone, near-surface cobalt-copper sulphide system with several kilometres of potential strike length. It contains a defined zone of mineralisation where a 2016 JORC Resource estimate identified 3.1MMts of inferred resources containing 0.14pc cobalt and 0.34pc copper with gold credits. Global Energy is now looking at ways to increase the size of this deposit.

    As part of the Millennium deal, Global Energy has also acquired two additional, unexploited Mt.Isa discovery sites called Mt. Dorothy and Cobalt Ridge. It has lined up numerous targets at the projects for investigation and test work to define a resource.

    Beyond Millennium, last month saw Global Energy secure an option to take an 85pc position in two highly prospective cobalt projects in Nevada. The Lovelock cobalt mine and Treasure Box project in Churchill County are based just c.150km east of Tesla’s Gigafactory. Finally, the business owns 70pc of the Werner Lake cobalt mine in Ontario Canada where partner Marquee Resources is currently completing an exploration campaign.

    Elsewhere on Thursday, Global Energy announced the resignation of its VP projects Paul Sarjeant, who leaves to pursue a leadership position within the resource sector. He will remain a member of Global Energy’s board.

    ‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank Paul for his hard work and commitment having played a critical role in the building and growing of Global Energy Metals into what it is today,’ said Smith. ‘On behalf of the Board and the Management of GEMC I would like to wish Paul all the very best in his new role and appreciate his continued support of our company as director and a qualified person.’

    Author: Daniel Flynn

    The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, owns a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

    MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author.  News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

  • Horizonte Minerals to push forward at Araguaia after completing $25m Orion royalty deal (HZM)

    Horizonte Minerals (LSE:HZM) sat at 4p on Monday morning after confirming the drawdown of $25m worth of funding towards its Araguaia ferronickel project in the Para state of Brazil.

    As announced in August, Orion Mine Finance has provided an upfront $25m cash payment to Horizonte in exchange for a 2.25pc royalty on Araguaia. This royalty applies only to the first 426,429ts of contained nickel within the ferronickel produced and sold at the asset. This volume is equivalent to the nickel production estimated over Araguaia’s life of mine as per its stage one feasibility study (FS).

    Orion is a significant player in the mining financing space, deploying around $1.5bn in royalties, streams, debt, and equity over the past three years alone. The non-dilutive funding it has provided to Horizonte will support the business in advancing pre-construction work streams at Araguaia.

    Araguaia is a Tier 1 mining project with a high-grade scalable resource, located south of the Carajás Mining District in the Pará State of north-east Brazil.  The area boasts plenty of well -developed infrastructure such as roads, rail and hydroelectric power.

    Horizonte’s stage one FS for the asset centres around an open-pit nickel laterite mining operation that delivers ore from several pits to a central processing facility. Here, a single line rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) extracts ferronickel, used in the stainless-steel industry, from Araguaia’s ore. After an initial ramp-up period, the project will reach full capacity of c.900,000ts of dry ore feed per year to produce 52,000ts of ferronickel containing 14,500ts of nickel annually. Over an initial 28-year mine life, the FS design generates free cash flows after taxation of $1.6bn returning an IRR of more 20pc against on an initial capital cost of $443m.

    On top of this, Araguaia has been designed to allow for a second RKEF process plant, funding through operational cash flow. This stage two expansion would double Araguaia’s ferronickel output, providing for a 26-year mine life generating cash flows after taxation of $2.6bn with an estimated NPV of $741m and an IRR of 23.8pc. All of these figures were reached using a conservative base case nickel price forecast of $14,000/t, well below the $16,462/t at which the metal presently sits.

    Monday’s news comes just days after Horizonte announced that a pre-feasibility study (PFS) confirmed its Vermelho project as a ‘large, high-grade resource, with a long mine life and low-cost source of nickel sulphate for the battery industry’.

    The work estimated that the property, also based in Para, would have a 38-year mine life generating total cash flows after tax of $7.3bn. Elsewhere, the PFS gave Vermelho – which produces nickel suitable for use in electric vehicle batteries- an IRR of 26pc and an estimated base case post-tax NPV of $1.7bn against an initial capital cost estimate of $642m. Finally, the work put Vermelho’s estimated annual production at 25,000ts of nickel and 1,250ts of cobalt when operating at full capacity. This translates into a cash cost of $8,020/t of nickel, defining the project as a low-cost producer.

    Author: Daniel Flynn

    The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

    MiningMaven Ltd is not responsible for its content or accuracy and does not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

  • Time to take note of Power Metal’s innovative spin-off strategy (POW)

    Power Metal Resources’ (LSE:POW | FRA:2M5) business model may have been overlooked before, but now is the time to sit up and take notice of its impressive potential.

    Speaking last week, chief executive Paul Johnson walked Mining Maven through the firm’s “dual model approach”, which involves using spin-offs to help fund other projects and increase working capital.

    Right now, Power Metal has nine projects in its portfolio, with plans to spin out some and develop others internally.

    In a glowing research note, First Equity analyst Jason Robertson recently gave the firm a buy rating, highlighting that there was “enough quality of prospective projects and assets within the group to form the basis for at least five or six separately listed companies”.

    This echoes Johnson’s comment that, when looking at Power Metal, “you're effectively buying five or six exploration companies in one wrapper”.

    Johnson explained that the firm’s approach, which involves handing over project responsibility in exchange for shares and warrants, is “designed to generate its own working capital”.Power Metal can then sell shares in spin-offs in order to bring in more funds for the projects it develops internally.

    And Power Metal has some seriously high-calibre projects in its war chest.

    For example, it has a 49.9% stake in a JV, known as Red Rock Australasia, which is focused on Australia’s sought-after Victoria goldfields. Gold projects in Victoria are attracting sizeable interest at the moment after the “remarkable discoveries” made at depth in the state’s Fosterville mine. The JV partners plan to list core Red Rock Australasia assets through a Canadian IPO.

    Elsewhere, Power Metal has also earned a 35% interest in the Haneti project in Tanzania. This is prospective for nickel, platinum-group-elements (“PGE”), cobalt, copper, gold, and lithium, and drilling is already underway.

    Meanwhile, another powerful asset for the firm is the Molopo Farms Complex (“MFC”) project in southwest Botswana, where it is targeting nickel, copper, and PGEs. Power Metal has secured a 40% direct interest in the MFC project by spending $500,000. It also holds an 18% stake in the company that owns the MFC, Kalahari Key Mineral Exploration. Combined, these give Power Metal a 50.8% effective economic interest in the project.

    Johnson explained that, when it comes to choosing projects, Power Metal focuses on “great diversification across commodities, jurisdictions and types of geology”. Spreading operations across North America, Africa, Australia, offers “inherent protection against geopolitical risk, operation risk, and financing risk,”he added.

    Johnson also stressed the importance of “large-scale”projects, with the scale being Power Metal’s “predominant focus” when it comes to new project acquisitions. That can be from a corporation or an exploration perspective.

    The chief executive has also made a unique vow not to conduct heavily discounted financing, a commitment that is made possible thanks to funds from spin-offs.

    “Yes, we’re on a public market and we can raise money if required, but I’ve given a commitment that we will not do heavily discounted financing,” Johnson promised.

    The company’s share price is down 15% year-to-date, but up more than an incredible 850% on a one-year basis at 2.49p.

    This only adds to Power Metal’s appeal, as the current dip is likely to be temporary given the company’s strong and diverse project interests.

    Moreover, Johnson’s pledge on financing gives shares an edge in the small-cap mining space, where heavily discounted placings are par for the course.

    He pointed out that investors are often frustrated when they buy a share at 3p on the market, only for a company to turn around the next day and announce a 2p financing. Thanks to its dual-model approach, Power Metal avoids this and helps shares keep hold of their value.

    When factoring in this aspect, as well as potential upsides from its projects, it’s hard to argue that Power Metal’s £28.5 million market cap is an accurate reflection of value.

    Not only does Power Metal have gold investments at a time of high prices and strong safe-haven demand, but it also has investments in battery metals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium during a worldwide electrification boom. In the US alone, the Biden administration is rolling out a $174 billion plan to drive electric vehicle adoption and development.

    On top of that, the company is focusing on scale, meaning that newer projects are likely to get bigger and more impressive over time. This can only spur Power Metal on to greater heights.

    Author: Anna Farley

    The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, owns a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

    MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance

  • US senator lays out plans to boost domestic battery metal miners with streamlined regulation

    Battery metal miners with US-based projects received a welcome boost last week after plans to streamline domestic regulation and permitting requirements in the sector were unveiled at a major industry conference. Speaking at a Washington-based event on Thursday hosted by Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, US Senator Lisa Murkowski said she plans to introduce the Minerals Security act alongside fellow senator Joe Manchin.

    Murkowski, who chairs the US Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told Reuters the act would support the development of lithium, graphite and other electric-vehicle supply chain minerals mines in the US. The directive will form part of growing efforts to curb China’s increasing dominance in the electric vehicle (EV) space.

    Although electric-focused automakers and battery manufacturers like Tesla and Volkswagen wish to expand in the US, they are currently reliant on mineral imports rather than domestic mines and processing facilities. The chief source of this supply is China, which produces nearly two-thirds of the world’s lithium-ion batteries. The US, meanwhile, manufactures just 5pc.

    Our challenge is still a failure to understand the vulnerability we are in as a nation when it comes to reliance on others for our minerals,’ Murkowski said. She added that China’s lead in the EV space – which is expected to soar over the coming decades – also gives it an edge in its ongoing trade disputes with the US.

    The US is not the only country worried about China’s dominance over the growing EV supply market, either. Indeed, France and Germany both asked the European Commission to support a €1.7bn battery cell consortium earlier this week. Also in attendance at Thursday's event was Tesla, which highlighted its concerns around a global shortage of nickel, copper, and other EV battery minerals in the future due to underinvestment.

    The combination of concerns over global supply and increasing efforts to boost the US battery metals sector is encouraging for those firms already operating projects in the sector. For example, Tim McKenna of Piedmont Lithium - which is developing a lithium project in North Carolina – said at Thursday’s event: ‘We need to focus the United States on the fact that China is way ahead of us in the electric vehicle race.’

    A potential beneficiary that we have previously covered on Mining Maven is Global Energy Metals (TSX-V:GEMC). Last month, the Canadian developer- which is planning to co-list in London- revealed that it had made a payment allowing it to begin exploration work at the two US cobalt projects it is buying in Sparks, Nevada. The properties are called Lovelock and Treasure Box and are located in Churchill County, around 150km east of Tesla’s major battery factory in Sparks.

    Lovelock covers around 1,400 acres and is said to have produced 500ts of cobalt and nickel mineralisation between 1883 and 1890 when it was last in operation. Global Energy believes exploration work and modern drilling techniques could unlock a large amount of potential value at the site. Treasure Box, meanwhile, is adjacent to Lovelock and hosts mine workings from limited copper production, which occurred until early into the 20th century. A historical diamond drill hole at the asset reportedly intersected 1.52pc copper over 85ft, with mineralisation beginning at the surface.

    Global Energy has agreed to buy an 85pc-interest in the projects from Nevada Sunrise, making its first option payment in March. In April, it raised $813,500 in an oversubscribed private placing intended to support its work programme in Nevada.

    Speaking to Mining Maven in February, Global Energy’s chief executive Mitchell Smith said the acquisition had given the business a low-cost entry to an exciting jurisdiction close to the world’s largest battery factory:

    Author: Daniel Flynn

    The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, owns a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.

    Catalyst Information Services Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.

    MiningMaven.com and Catalyst Information Services Ltd are not responsible for its content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author.  News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance