A Microcap Teaser Solution In Advance !!
(Australian stock exchange CLQ, OTC pinks CTEQF).
CleanTeQ is sure to be the answer to future teasers you will be reading about from resource gurus, To save you all the trouble of solving them, I decided to write this article.
My portfolio was grotesquely overweight in gold and silver positions, and in moments of anxiety I thought it would be a good idea to diversify and take a few positions in something other than gold mines, royalty companies, Mongolian exploration companies, and small-cap copper miners with major operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Thus I made a small speculation in CleanTeQ, solely on the basis that mining titan Robert Friedland was the Chairman, and CleanTeQ was the only resource company I could find that seemed to be in a position to mine scandium, a very rare metal that sells for a couple of thousand dollars a kilo.
My due diligence was so slight that I was embarrassed to emphasize my position to the readers at Stock Gumshoe. We are supposed to study these things a little more than I did for CleanTeQ. And after entering at 50 cents, the stock promptly dropped to 35 cents or so, making me glad that I did not look foolish by publicizing my position.
As the weeks went by, I started to find more information on the company that I should have found out beforehand. This was partly accidental, partly from other Gumshoe readers, and partly from new announcements and company news that occurred after I took a position. But the findings were all very positive, and because the company is so interesting I thought it warranted its own thread apart from the hard asset thread which I moderate.
I have a full long position and high hopes. And I thank Secretsquirrel, Griffin, Larry McKenna, and several others who helped fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle.
Below are my findings, opinions, and summary on CleanTeQ Holdings:
BUSINESS MODEL CleanTeQ is a hybrid company based with three bases: scandium mining and production, cobalt mining and production, and water purification. This seems like an odd combination, but as you will see, it is not. It is a stroke of genius. And I will explain why we should care about scandium and cobalt.
(1) The company is starting production of the Syerston mine, the world’s only scandium mine;
(2) The company will also produce significant amounts of cobalt as a co-product to the scandium;
(3) The company has a large-scale water purification technology, which will target municipalities,
Industrial operations with waste water problems, and mines, which also have water problems
PROSPECTS FOR THE THREE SEGMENTS
(1) Scandium is a very rare metal that usually occurs in only small amounts that are not economical to mine. It is mostly available as a by-product and the market is opaque, usually between private parties. Scandium has very beneficial applications in aerospace, aviation, and technology, but has not been widely applied because there is not a sufficiently reliable supply of it.
(2) Cobalt is essential in many batteries. Lithium gets all the investment press, but a majority of the battery formulations need cobalt, which is rare compared to lithium. Cobalt has a similar supply situation as scandium, it is mostly a by-product and is not commonly a prime mining target in and of itself. But demand for the electric energy market is growing rapidly and cobalt demand is growing and will continue to grow accordingly. Supply chains on cobalt are iffy.
(3) Water purification is a pressing need throughout the world. Cities with lots of people, industrialized places with lots of factories, or mines with waste water, all have a real and pressing need for large scale water purification. I think most people can accept this premise of widespread demand without a lot of documentation.
HOW DO THESE SEGMENTS RELATE TO EACH OTHER ? I cannot get too technical about the water purification technology, but I will try to explain what I understand, and how it relates to the scandium and cobalt operations. They call it Continuous Flow Ionization. Ionization is not a proprietary technology per se, but CleanTeQ has developed a way to implement ionization in a continuous feed, automated loop that improves volume, improves economics, is reasonably priced for installation, and can be custom-modified to specific waste problems. It can be used in conjunction with other filtration techniques. Further, it can be modified TO EXTRACT CERTAIN SUBSTANCES from the feed waste water. This is done by modifying the resins that are used in the ionization process.
Now it so happens that CleanTeQ has developed resins that can extract scandium and cobalt from waste water. So they potentially will have commercial sources of rare metals from the by-product waste of their water purification process !
HOW CLOSE IS THE WATER THING TO REALLY HAPPENING ? It is happening. CleanTeQ has signed a memorandum of understanding with a major Chinese municipality to implement their technology. There is a joint venture, 55% Chinese/45% CleanTeQ. Once the first one is up and working, China has a mind-boggling potential for water purification. For their teeming urban centers and for their mining and industrial locations, shall we say the potential is very large ?
CleanTeQ has 100% of rest of the world. CleanTeQ is closed-mouthed about other commercial sources, but they let on that they have been in contact with the likes of GE, Dow, and other big hitters. They state a pipeline target of $100 million by 2020; I predict they will do much better.
HOW CLOSE IS THE COBALT THING TO REALLY HAPPENING ? Very close. Battery useage is soaring and is the strategic target of many governments, corporations, and environmental groups. Batteries need cobalt.
HOW CLOSE IS THE SCANDIUM THING FROM HAPPENING ? This will take a while because the applications are high tech, with long lead times, and there is only one scandium mine in the world (CleanTeQ’s newly commissioned Syerston mine). CleanTeQ intends to develop the scandium market by being a reliable source of supply, and by driving the price down.
CleanTeQ will have viable margins with scandium prices up to half of current prices.
To give you an idea, the Russians made a few MIGs with scandium/aluminum alloys. They were faster, lighter, stronger. An addition of 0.5% scandium to aviation aluminum strengthens the frame, removes the need for riveting, reduces weight, and makes repairs easier. . The Russians dropped it because of costs; and Boeing and Airbus will not use it without a reliable source of supply. But there is about to be a reliable source of supply: CleanTeQ.
WHAT ABOUT IP PROTECTION ? I believe the IP and know-how moat is sufficient. CleanTeQ holds a perpetual license from a high-level Russian research organization that provided some of the foundation technology. I am not a patent lawyer and a lot of the know-how will be proprietary, not patented. CleanTeQ has been at this for over ten years, I think the barriers to entry are sufficient.
MANAGEMENT Totally a plus. Robert Friedland is the Co-Chairman and CEO, he has 20% of the company, great credibility and clout with the Chinese, and an unbelievable track record in mining. Sam Reggall is the other co-chairman. I know little about him, other than from my observations of him on an Australian investment show that aired last week. He was impressive.
MONEY AND FINANCES I don’t think there is anything at all to worry about. Friedland must be worth billions, the Chinese are in, and the concept has enormous potential.
Sources: as I mentioned, information is scant. My sources were the CleanTeQ website, presentations and and interviews with Friedland and Reggall, and the sketchy information on the brokerage sites. Nothing you cannot find on your own.
Long CleanTeQ
This is a discussion topic or guest posting submitted by a Stock Gumshoe reader. The content has not been edited or reviewed by Stock Gumshoe, and any opinions expressed are those of the author alone.
$FYI – Vandium the next bull market?
There seems to be a mounting interest in Vanadium the cause of which seems to be vanadium redox flow batteries. I don’t see storage batteries as yet being an issue here in the states so the push seems to be coming from Europe and China. There are some nice perks for having a storage battery on your alt enery source such as AC when the grid is out, using the battery when there is a surcharge on electricity, and 3 phase electrical.In any case here are a couple of links that will hopefully ahed some light on vanadium;
http://maucapital.com/when-robert-friedland-talks-vanadium-i-pay-full-attention/
http://www.prophecydev.com/the-vanadium-bull-500-and-one-vanadium-stock-that-few-talk-about/
xpost
Griffin…vanadium…future of battery developments…no opinion. Even if one believes in the future of vanadium, or other arcane materials, then one has to find investments that will benefit.
The time horizons for scandium, cobalt and copper as investment ideas are already pretty far out for me. I do not think I have the patience to invest or speculate in materials whose emergence is more than five or ten years away.
Nor do I have the expertise or speculative instincts for forming an opinion on the technologies involved.
One investment idea is gaining strength for me. That idea is Cleanteq Holdings. Cleanteq has the ability to become the go-to resource, no matter what materials or metals are needed for the technology du jour.
They can already extract the materials that are being discussed.
I was thinking about this today. CleanTeQ has a unique potential. Really, it is starting to look like Cleanteq could be the ONE must-have “mining stock” of the 21st century. They are a techno-miner, with the potential of leveraging and capitalizing huge underutilized deposits and billions of tons of existing ore and slag. There is a correspondence to Uber, insofar as Uber takes advantage of underutilized capital invested in private vehicles
and generates income from it by use of technology.
CleanTeQ is the Uber of mining. Wherever the mine, whatever the mineral target, Cleanteq can generate income from the ore, even if its technology is not the primary extraction method.
Uber did not invent the car, the taxi cab company, cloud computing, or satellite transmission. Yet they have come up with an application that is capitalized in the billions.
Similarly, Cleanteq did not start any mines (save Syerston), they did not invent any mining equipment, they did not invent ionic resin extraction. Yet by applying a combination of technologies, they have a process that can capitize and extract income and value from thousands and thousands of waste heaps and water problems all over the world.
Long CleanTeQ
I think we are on the same HN. I post this because Friedland is involved and the spot price on vanadium seems say something is up. I also thought our Gummies should be aware of vanadium if there is a extended move. The Gibellini Vanadium project that $PRPCF holds was also held by American Vanadium Corp $AVCVF. AVC was premature in the flow battery market and I got beat up for it. I’m going to watch Prophecy for the time being. I don’t see much happening in storage batteries unless heaven forbid someone detonates a high altitude nuclear device and takes out the electrical grid then it is too late. RF may have a better picture of wat is happening world wide with vanadium. I’d also like to find something closer to production of vanadium. Maybe one of our readers will chip in.
I sold one of my Bio stocks that is having problems and put the money in $ECSIF. Next month there should be a revised feasibility study due it should bump the SP and then I will sell part of my position to bring Clean TEQ to a full position.
Would love to get an update or bens thoughts on China three gorges corporation and clean teq JV- also scandium off takes in the works. Scandium aluminium will be lightweighting EV’s – must be a major car co sniffing around. Usually when clean teq go quiet on something a deal is in the works
Johnnn…Ford took a gamble when they went to aluminum instead of steel on the frame of their best selling and most profitable item, the F150 truck. I have not heard anything about corporate remorse. If they are OK with aluminum on the F150 body they will look to improve it. And alu/scan alloys are weldable, which overcomes a disadvantage of aluminum in auto applications.
“New Ford F150…stronger than ever, with space-age super alloys ! FORD TOUGH !”
**
On the other hand, it would be a major negative if Ford were to backtrack and return to all- steel on the F150. This is a move we would notice on the NFL commercials during football season.
Audi using Alu already for 20 years great for weight reducing and corrosion it has a few negative issue,s too but they are minor, improves the fuel economics positively
pieter132…thanks for the info on Audi.
One recalls that Audi, Porsche and VW are all in the same group. So if there is an important development in one, we might have justification to believe that the others will follow along eventually.
China Three Gorges news events…the Chinese are inscrutable and CleanTeq is low-profile.
Just be patient and give it time to happen.
Griffin, your post was helpful and relevant…this is a discussion forum, and thanks to people like you the rest of us learn about potential developments and opportunities.
Everyone has their own situation and observations to make.
What simulated me on the vanadium conversation was the realization that any particular development and its reliance on a specific material is irrelvant with respect to Cleanteq (save nickel, cobalt, and scandium) because to a large extent it really doesn’t matter what fringe metal is needed…Cleanteq is in a position to extract it with their Clean i-X technology.
HN…I should back up the truck. You make a very powerful argument and write more persuasive copy than CleanTeq produces for itself. Long CleanTeq
Eager, I’m loaded and looking for more. Selling off flotsam and jetsam.
I’m pretty sure a truckload in the low 60’s will be a lot heavier in two years,
maybe a lot earlier. $CTEQF and $SAND are my largest positions, $IVPAF is now third
but I am looking to build it up again when the DRC position clarifies.
From what we have seen from Cleanteq, it is hard to imagine a lot of long-term downside.
The market cap is only $350 million. How low could it go ? What evidence is there of future failure, other than the fact that an uncertain future has not arrived yet ?
HN….Yes, very much agree. My largest position cashwise is IVPAF and share numberwise is CTEQF. I’m also long SAND. I plan to replace some flotsam and jetsam with more CTEQF this coming week.
From a UK perspective, the most interesting stock in the Vanadium Redox Flow Machine space is AIM-listed RedT (RED). They are up and running with a range of shipping-container based machines, with the first few test machines in place in the UK and S Africa, and ongoing discussions with a nuber of UK utilities. Their investor communications are poor so it’s frustrating to find out what’s going on. The most obvious appications for VRFMs are to back up solar and wind farms to make them viable 24/7
Thanks for posting, this should really be in the storage-of-electricity-batteries-big-image column ;
https://www.stockgumshoe.com/2016/07/microblog-storage-of-electricity-batteries-big-image/
Another flow battery maker is Uni Energy aks UET
http://www.uetechnologies.com/
They also use what looks like a shipping crate. They have been working with PNNL and have an electrolyte that adds 70% capacity to the battery.
Hi Shavian, $Red also on my watch list, not bought any yet as I can’t get overly optimistic with them just yet, the idea is there, but seem to have been treading water with little progress (polite?) for some time…
Not sure if this is something or nothing, but mentions CleanTeQ.
Other prominent vendors: 3M, Air Products and Chemicals, Alfa Laval, Clean TeQ Holdings Limited, Honeywell International, Sharp Corporation , Troy Filters, W. L. Gore & Associates.
http://www.satprnews.com/2017/08/19/industrial-air-cleaners-market-is-expected-to-peak-demand-with-increasing-use-in-amc-and-hepa-filters/
Glad to see the price of nickel approaching $5 again, just a month ago it was descending near $4. If you look at the last FS for syerston, cleanteq used a $7.50 nickel price and a $12 cobalt price. A lot of the exciting gain in cobalt, now more than doubled, was off-set by the decrease in nickel. Nickel has been a hugely volatile metal, spiking to $23 about 10 years ago, and as low as $2. It not usually talked about in relation to cleanteq, but nickel prices will be huge going forward as a factor that affects the stock price. I don’t have any special insight into the long term prospects for the price of nickel, but would think that the demand should be ever increasing over the next decade due to its use in the electric battery revolution. Syerston is in a good position, because everybody horny for cobalt will have to buy their nickel as well if they want a priority place in line. If nickel runs up at some point, that could be party time for cleanteq owners.
It is certainly worth keeping an eye on Li ion battery technology and in particular the composition of the cathodes. Nickel and manganese may progressively supplant cobalt on the grounds of economy and profits, as long as cobalt remains significantly more expensive.
Here are a couple of companies I’m watching Biosolar $BSRC and NanoOne material Technology $NMOMF. I haven’t really looked at NanoOnne to see if they are scalable for large batteries. BiosSolar has recently announced that they believe they have a silicon cathode and anode formula for productionThere are several newsletters that stay with the alt energy market if your interested.
Hi Griffin
Nano One is focused on simplifying the process of producing bespoke cathode material combinations for any ‘lithium’ battery technology. Their patented process cuts out a couple of stages and reduces costs for the end product as well as being highly and quickly adaptable to any end user specifications. They should have a great future – until of course all these technologies are replaced by supercapacitors, solid state cathodes and graphene batteries! In the meantime, fill your boots, as we say in Wales.
There is a lot going on with batteries, graphene, too much to keep track of really. Your cusins inAustralia Ionic Ind want to replacwe the li-ion battery;
http://www.ionicindustries.com.au/ionic-in-the-australian/
xpost
Technology is changing so fast it is very risky picking the winners.
The guy on top now is passed and forgotten tomorrow. A few emerge and become dominant. But most fall by the wayside.
These are reply’s from Ben… about a few weeks ago…the #’s are always changing . I agree nickel could be a killer. Btw I have no clue as to who any of you are but Johnnn posts says my thoughts better then I could write them. Getting the #’s right is the key between winning and losing. I’m not a good #’s guy. Looking for somebody to put them all together. Here you go…..””Infomine quotes cobalt price today at US$25.63/lb
For our PFS we stated a cobalt resource (at 0.60% NiEQ cut off grade) of 114,000 tonnes cobalt, or 251 million pounds.
This is always a little bit of a dubious statistic because it ignores factors like mining dilution, metallurgical recovery and the cost to get it out etc, so you need to look at it in the full context of the PFS, but on the face of it, the in-ground value of the cobalt resource today is US$6.44 billion. ”
“Again referencing the warnings below about the validity of this measure because it ignores factors like mining dilution, metallurgical recovery and the cost to get it out etc, we stated on 20 Sep 2016 that the resource of Sc was up to 109Mt @ 56ppm Sc which equates to 9.3M Kg of Sc Oxide (Sc metal tonnage multiplied by 1.53 to convert to Sc2O3). Which equates to about US$14B of scandium oxide at $1500/Kg. ”
”For our PFS we stated a nickel resource (at 0.60% NiEQ cut off grade) of 700,000 tonnes nickel, or 1.543 billion pounds.
This is always a little bit of a dubious statistic because it ignores factors like mining dilution, metallurgical recovery and the cost to get it out etc, so you need to look at it in the full context of the PFS, but on the face of it, the in-ground value of the nickel resource today is US$6.2 billion at a ~US$4/lb Ni price
FS due for completion end of 2017 “”
Those numbers are compelling, especially when you consider they say they can get the stuff out at industry low costs, and they will process the product into the final form the battery and aluminum people need. Looking for that final feasibility coming out this year to show the world this thing is going to turn into a money printing machine.
also, considering those numbers, buying a share of platina, a supposedly similar deposit, seems like a pretty ridiculous opportunity, since right now its priced at 10 million bucks…. 10 million for something like 10-20 billion dollars of scandium and cobalt in the ground that exists just next to a freaking getting built scandium and cobalt processing plant. In australlia. I think I may have just talked myself into parking a few more bucks there, it seems like an unbelievably valuable resource for peanuts.
Clean teq looking to optimise cobalt in the early years in the DFS . i wonder if they will tweak their figures ie one could argue there is room to bring cobalt up to $15 and Nickel down to $5. Maybe Ben can answer that one 🙂
My guess is before that DFS comes out, they will have commitments for cobalt and nickel at something closer to todays prices. Not sure if future commitments are linked to the spot prices, or they negotiate a flat fee price, but the DFS will likely have the power of actual binding commitments.
Cleanteq and DFS…my impression is that a DFS is “bankable”, meaning it has enough certainty and credibility to merit a bank loan.
It seems to remove financing as an issue, at the least it would indicate that private money could be raised at decent prices, since the inference is that they can get bank financing if necessary.
renby…they have stated several times that they expect off-take agreements this year.
I see no reason to doubt them. They are very careful about what they say in matters like this, so when they say “This year” I am very comfortable to take them at their word.
Johnnn, it seems to me they are emphasizing the part of the business which has a real market that is here and now. This is only logical; and in fact the company is being valued as a nickel/cobalt mining project.
All miners are discounted for blue sky exploration and development potential. The potential of commodity appreciation is also discounted. Cleanteq’s future potential in scandium, water purification, mineral extraction, and commodity price appreciation are likewise being discounted
severely. These potentials are too speculative for the analysts.
Therein lies our opportunity.
Rubberworm…excellent, thank you.
Cleanteq…$ 20 billion metal in the ground, ballpark ignoring price increases. Blue sky water purification potential.
Blue sky mineral extraction outside of Syerston….for $350 million market cap. I’m signed up.
you betch’em Red Rider! I just hope the stars are lined up so I can back up my truck for a OW position.
CleanTeQ and others….
There are a growing number of ASX junior miners looking to take advantage of the market potential of cobalt. Although these are highly speculative plays at best, investors would do well to watch the emergence of best of breed. Stability is a major reason to consider this mining sector. Right now, approximately 65% of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from a country considered high risk – the DRC. Global investors are keen to find more stable sources of supply.
The following table includes ten miners listed alphabetically either flagshipping cobalt projects or holding potential cobalt resources from flagship copper or nickel mining operations.
http://www.thebull.com.au/premium/a/69029-asx-cobalt-miners-for-your-radar.html
When evaluating other cobalt opportunities in relation to cleanteq, consider 1. cost of extraction, 2. cobalt grades, 3. whether final product is industrial spec sulphate form or needs additional processing.
Clean Teq has produced high purity Cobalt (II) Sulphate Heptahydrate samples and sent them to potential customers for their testing and analysis. Clean Teq report dated 31 July, 2017
http://www.aspecthuntley.com.au/asxdata/20170731/pdf/01878348.pdf
$CLQ long –
EagerBeaver – http://www.cleanteq.com/investors/asx-announcements/
Have a great week ALL… 🙂
Useful,table Squirrel, thanks. Did my own research and tooknan opening position today. Thanks to all posters and HN in particular for this promising investment.
Welcome and good luck, Shavian.
Show me the autoclaves. It will take a lot more than “cobalt” in the company name and an inferred mineral deposit to get me excited.
On the subject of autoclaves, it might be of interest that the distance between New Caledonia, where Clean TeQ’s recently purchased autoclaves are located, and the port of Newcastle, New South Wales, is 1,159 miles if the ship sails in a straight line.
https://www.distancecalculator.net/from-noumea-to-newcastle-2
Goldman Sachs have begun buying CLQ – boom coming!
Just wondered where you got that info from?
Ss, broker data from ASX.
Very interesting .What kind of #’s and when was GS buying?
TIA
Goldman Sachs have just started taking a position – let’s hope they go large. Will be better placed to give you a figure in a few days when trades settle. Good sign imo.
That would be good to know …
Thanks
Thanks Johnnn,
And ….2 MEGA autoclaves!!
On the subject of autoclaves, it might be of interest that the distance between New Caledonia, where Clean TeQ’s recently purchased autoclaves are located, and the port of Newcastle, New South Wales, is 1,159 miles if the ship sails in a straight line.
https://www.distancecalculator.net/from-noumea-to-newcastle-2
Nickel sulfate becoming the buzz word.
http://www.bestchinanews.com/Finance/12745.html
$CDBMF…went long, small position…on the Hard Asset thread, I have made a post on Cordoba Minerals. It is advertised as a copper/gold exploration-development speculation;
but I mention it here, because Robert Friedland and HPX are VERY involved, and I suspect it will be a showcase for Cleanteq mineral extraction techniques…besides being a whale
copper/gold discovery play.
Hi all – firstly, thank you to everyone for their contribution here, and in particular HN. It was the convincing story evoked by the spirited discussion and due dilligence undertaken by you all that made me take a position in $CLQ as of early this morning (UK resident here, and bought shares of $CLQ directly off the ASX, so my alarm clock was tooting its tune at an unholy hour).
This is my first ever venture into a mining stock, but as you all well know it would incorrect to regard Cleanteq in such a linear fashion. The potential Cleanteq has to simultaneously solve and make better the numerous problems the world has surrounding pollution – not exactly a lonely consumer cohort – is scintillating. The fact that at present market cap most of this is being discounted makes this as much a value play as it is a growth play into the expanding scandium and cobalt markets of the future.
I came across this brief white paper on Scandium during my due dilligence. It is much a reaffirmation of things that have already been mentioned by others but it is nice to have and refer to when needed.
http://www.emcmetals.com/i/pdf/Scandium-White-PaperEMC-Website-June-2014-.pdf
Cheers
Long $CLQ
$CTEQF long – Welcome to the HendrixNuzzles zone Coyote!
You maybe interested in HN’s other current thread: Comment Link: https://www.stockgumshoe.com/2017/07/microblog-gold-and-silver-and-hard-assets-summer-2017
#Best2You&ALL. 🙂
Welcome, Coyote.
God bless the English. They colonized America, Australia, and Canada… my favorite jurisdictions.
Remember that miners suck. Cleanteq is an exception.
Thanks Hendrix and Ben.
Pertaining to your comment that miners suck Hendrix, I would hazard a guess that that historic truth could begin to shift over the course of the next decade. Lifting from Robert Friedland’s own commentary on a recent podcast I listened to involving him, machine learning and I-pulse technology could present a situation where the overhang of labour costs in remote locations as well as I-pulse’s 99.99% recovery of metal with very little energy cost (compared to the extortionate grinding costs of the current day) would revolutionize the economics of low grade deposits. I think it is sensible to infer that this may very well be Friedland’s thesis when it comes to the San Matias deposit of Cordoba Minerals provided they don’t find higher grade copper. The idea of what ore is profitable will be reperceived according to him. High grade versus low grade won’t matter (as much).
Coyote, I think the line of reasoning is on the right track. However my instincts are that for large volume industrial metals, high grade will still be very desireable and it will continue to have a major impact on mine economics.
6% copper ore will still be much better than 1% ore.
The situation is different for the rarer elements and metals, because there are virtually no “high grade” ore bodies for these things. Unless you can economically extract something measured in a few parts per million, or mass less than 1% of the ore, you cannot get these elements at all.
For example, a “good” cobalt deposit has 0.15% cobalt. Some have much less…say 0.06%.
We have no real information on the cost of applying HPX nuclear technology for ore processing. We have only very sketchy information on the cost of Clean i-X circuits.
So we are speculating about it. But it seems that there are three major functions:
1. Reduction of rock by electromagnetic means to
render target minerals accessible and extractable.
This has not been demonstrated to the trade or to the public, but Friedland is talking about it.
It is a mystery as to the role of Clean i-X technology on the zapped rock.
2. Clean i-X, in conjunction with other techniques, to be used as a primary extraction method. This is being demonstrated at Syerston.
3. Clean i-X, in conjunction with other techniques, as a recovery and purification method for mine waste and water purification.
This is being demonstrated by various contracts and announcements. These applications are already being sold and marketed by CleanTeQ water and Multotec. They are real.
***
My guess…surmise…speculation…is that Friedland and company believe the San Matias project has high grade deposits in it, and they will try a large-scale CleanTeQ primary extraction plant there. Copper and gold are a logical next-step-up from a “boutique” specialty operation producing cobalt, nickel and scandium.
I speculate further that they will also use San Matias as a proving ground for the HPX rock-zapping technology.
HPX controls the 50,ooo acre San Matias project.
Cleanteq has the extraction technology.
Friedland has the electro-pulse rock-zappers.
Seems like a pretty good recipe.
Aussie market is flying tonight….save a few shares for us Pal. Btw the English jump in early in mining. They have been doing it for 100’s of years. Check out Greenstone Resourses…They seem to even have the backing of Lord Renwick.
Booooooom!
Jeez, Cleanteq hit 70 cents this morning. Low volume, though.
I might spend the rest of the day watching the minute-by-minute price action on the darned thing.
A suggestion for those following…with a bull market brewing in metals, CleanTeq making a move and getting press, and geopolitical uncertainty higher than ever, I suggest that this is a good time for everyone to review his or her investment style and objectives, and your resource allocations.
It is important to have a clear understanding of whether you are a short-term trader or long-term investor, or something in-between. The reason is that your “correct” action will often be the opposite in the same situation, depending on your time frame and investment objectives.
For example, in the present circumstances, (1) a short-term trader might sell off Cleanteq on a spike; but (2) a long-term investor will sit with his position, now in the black; and have the peace of mind and luxury of a winning position. (3) Another person might sell off part of the position to lock in a profit, looking to buy back when the fever subsides.
To be clear, I am mostly in the long-term mindset, because I am looking for really big capital gains; and the time frames needed for things to play out in resources is fairly long. I am also concerned with capital preservation. As a believer in precious metals, I must be prepared for long periods of price suppression and defamation of gold by central government and bank policies. If you are of a short-term mindset, that is OK; but we will often want to take opposite sides of the bet, and it is not especially productive for us to debate it.
So a large portion of my investments are in gold and silver related stocks or “intrinsic value” resource investments. I consider these to be hard savings and will pretty much keep them, no matter what the short-term fluctuations in spot prices are. I consider SAND, SLW, CTEQF, IVPAF, SA, PVG, MAG, CCJ, and PSLV in this category. At the right entry, these are as good as money in the bank to me.
**
On the other hand, I have found myself drawn to really speculative investments in explorers and developers,
especially those where Robert Friedland is involved. These have upsides in multiples of current market caps. They need long time frames. They are mostly thinly-traded foreign stocks that have tiny market caps, low volume, and bad bid/ask spreads.
It is where the unknowns are greatest, but the returns will be what we read about in newsletter pitches. Here I look for clues and interpretations that are more inductive and speculative; I am not an insider or a geologist, so I must think harder , pay more attention to details, and be more creative in interpretation than the general market to find companies with high upsides and a good chance of success.
In this “speculative” group are ERDCF, CNRIF, KNTNF, CLASF, CDBMF, BCEKF, PTNUF, KVLQF, UEC, UURAF.
Mariana Resources was in this category. CTEQF was in this category. But CTEQF has graduated to the Hendrixnuzzles Triple A-Investment Grade-Gotta Have A Lot Of It category.
**
What is conspicuously absent are the traditional big cap mining stocks. As a believer in the “optionality” concepts propounded by Rick Rule, I would prefer to avoid them during most market conditions. However I think they are
valid if one is persuaded that we are in a protracted bull market for commodity prices, or a period of general monetary debasement and inflation, or a secular economic boom. In those circumstances I would consider them.
HN- great summary of your thinking. It is very similar to my approach. Only big differences are:
1. Do not believe platinum will move as well as silver and gold.
2. Not convinced that Uranium will ever move meaningfully.
3. Like Altius and OR as commodity royalty plays.
Hedy…there are actually no differences in our outlook. I agree with all three of your points.
I have no dedicated platinum investments; I am likewise not persuaded on uranium, although I have a toe in the water (two toes, UEC and CCJ), and I do like Altius and OR, although I have no position in them at the moment. My available cash went into Cordoba Minerals. I recall that you were instrumental
in eliciting this suggestion from the Rick Rule recommendations from Sprott symposium.
HN-I do own one large miner- BHP
Like them, as far as I like big cap miners.
My previous big cap preferences were BHP, TCK and Rio Tinto. If I wanted to enter the big cap sector, I would also check out Glencore, which has been referred to several times recently by people who ought to know.
In copper, I settled on SCCO because of its South American jurisdiction profile; and I would consider VALE if I ever got bullish on iron ore. I like potash but the players seem to be all of the big cap variety.
I have not looked into aluminum.
No position in any of the tickers mentioned.
In a commodity bull market or high inflation scenario, I would consider them as trading vehicles. But as I have stated many times, my basic position is that miners suck, and I agree with the general outlook on optionality as propounded by Rick Rule.
Cobalt Miners News For The Month Of August 2017 by Matt Bohlsen https://seekingalpha.com/article/4101612-cobalt-miners-news-month-august-2017
Ben, you have too much time on your hands, or I’m going to have to get earlier. ;-]
$FYI – Cobalt Miners News For The Month Of August 2017
by Matt Bohlsen @sa
Summary
Cobalt spot price news – cobalt spot prices rise yet again, now up 125% in the past year.
Cobalt market news – the cobalt deficit continues.
Cobalt miner news – BASF and Norilsk Nickel enter exclusive negotiations to cooperate on raw material supply for battery materials. Ardea Resources expands their contained cobalt resource to 405,000 tonnes.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4101612-cobalt-miners-news-month-august-2017?uprof=46&isDirectRoadblock=true
Note: Interest charts on grade and resource size.
$ECSIF $CTEQF long
xpost
Matt Bohlsen et al are long GLENCORE (LSX:GLEN), KATANGA MINING (TSX:KAT), FORTUNE MINERALS (TSX:FT), CRUZ COBALT CORP (TSXV:CUZ), ARDEA RESOURCES (ASX:ARL), FIRST COBALT (TSXV:FCC). Note that our favorite, Clean TeQ, is absent from this list. Is Ardea Resources on our radar? They are claiming to have “the developed world’s largest Cobalt resource” and are also reporting deposits of Nickel, and Manganese, the big three components of Lithium Ion battery cathodes.
re: Ardea Resources np , EagerBeaver, A reminder that you may use the ‘Comment Search’ feature to find if subject has been previously addressed https://www.stockgumshoe.com/2017/02/microblog-scandium-cobalt-and-water-purification-cleanteq-holdings/comment-page-6/#comment-4945162 Best2You
Thank you. I found some discussion related to Ardea Resources on page 6 on August 5/6 and related to warrants.
Ardea will struggle to extract their resource economically – too much acid needed. Worlds largest, but that’s no help at .05% Co. priced cheap for a reason.
Maybe a good takeover target for you-know-who.
Eagerbeaver…that’s because Cleanteq Holdings is a water purification company. No wait a minute, it’s a scandium mine. Or a technology company.
Oh I almost forgot. They have cobalt and nickel too.
HN…. Yes, I know. That’s why I doubled my position in Clean TeQ recently. Perhaps I should have quadrupled it or more. My attention was drawn to Ardea Resources because they say they have lots of cobalt and nickel and also manganese, the big three for Li Ion battery cathodes, for which the demand is rapidly increasing. And they are in Australia. Manganese is a lot cheaper than cobalt. Just think they are worth keeping an eye on.
$FTSSF – First Cobalt to Resume Trading on August 28
Note First Cobalt halted trading due to merger with Cobalt One, current SP $.58
https://firstcobalt.com/2017/first-cobalt-resume-trading-august-28/
FTSSF np
Cobalt may not be in as much demand as thought if high power density Lithium sulfur batteries solve a problem They build up a layer that shortens their life. If solved The Tesla type battery,,, using cobalt, will be instantly obsolete. Science is moving rapidly to get a practical low cost , high power battery.
http://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=4614&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=HL-ElectrolyteDecomp
Now morgan stanley buying CLQ
Everybody will own this stock eventually. And that includes the conservative advisors and custodians at RW Baird and other firms who won’t let you buy it in an IRA.
One reason I am really bullish on CleanTeQ is that I will not have to jump around buying different mining ten-cent microcaps for every rare element that I never heard of, every time a promising high-tech battery innovation rears its ugly head in the technology space.
**
Need some niobium ? How about vanadium, the Chinese are going to want a lot of it, you know. Or maybe you are a little nervous about your cobalt supply ? Or maybe you need light, medium or heavy rare earth elements ? How about some nickel sulfate? Scandium, anyone ? Any decimal purity you want. Name it.
CleanTeQ has just the thing for you.
Simply put in a CleanTeQ circuit near that mountain of waste ore, and start cleaning up that tailings heap next to your mine and make money selling Element X. And while you are at it, you could make a few bucks on Element Y and Element Z, also.
If your heap of waste rock is really big and chock full of trace elements that are now in demand, Cleanteq will put up the installation and go halves with you.
**
Did you know that the Fresnillo mine has been mining silver in Mexico since 1554 ? That is is 463 years of mine waste and ore that didn’t make the cut-off grade Or that the King Leopold zinc mine, one of the richest and largest ever, was in production for the better part off a century ? And how long has copper ore been dug out of those big Chilean mines ?
I have no specific knowledge of any specific minerals of interest in these particular piles of rubble, or their economic potential. This is strictly a flight of imagination and fantasy.
But just you watch.
Long Cleanteq
Cleanteq…listening to Robert Friedland…in connection with my fantasmagoric speculation on the minerals in 463 years of mine tailings at the Fresnillo silver mine, and other places, let me paraphrase a few sentences from Mr. Friedland in the Northern Miner interview:
“Our concept of “What is ore?” is going to be completely changed. For years miners have separated “good ore” from “bad ore”. Good ore is of such and such a grade, and on which they can make money, and waste ore, which is uneconomical to process….
All our present economic mining concepts like cut-off grade, NPV, and so on are based on this.
This model is about to be disrupted.”
***
It’s not too hard to read between the lines on that one.
Cleanteq is not the only disruptor in mining.
Friedland also emphasizes the nuclear technology of HPX, which he apparently believes will also be instrumental in a revolution in mining extraction. But…alas…we cannot invest in HPX.
We’ll have to settle for Friedland proxies, like Cordoba, Peregrine Diamonds and Cleanteq.
Yes, indeed.
Goldman Sachs is always first.
I was going to say “it’s amazing”. But when you have the brightest and richest guys, have connections with the Powers or are the public face of them (after the Fed), and are wired in with everybody, I guess it’s not so amazing.
It will be interesting if Johnnn can get the amount of shares GS picked up.
Somebody pulled the plug out of the tub tonight
Rubberworm…. Are you referring to Clean TeQ? There was a fall from 0.91 to 0.85 AU on the Sydney Exchange but the stock has been making a good recovery since then. Is the reason for this volatility known?
Almost back to even now….some say it was due for a little pull back and I heard the ASX was having a crappy day accross the board.
The drop most likely was correlated to a 2.6% drop in the price of nickel. The recent ride up has also probably correlated to the recent run-up of nickel. Cobalt and scandium get most of the discussion, but we are also in the nickel business, and nickel just ran from $4 to $5.26 in a matter of weeks, for a nickel mining company, that is big time bottom line stuff. Of course, we won’t have any nickel to sell for 4 years, no matter high these minerals go for now. I think maybe cobalt might take a break, and nickel could easily run a lot higher, which could make the upcoming economic study even more compelling. I am go to stick my neck out and predict $6 nickel by the release date of the feasibility report.
renbycage I think you are exactly right, Nickel is a huge market and all cobalt means to most is blue and scandium is totally alien.
rubberworm…Looks like a pre-runup shakeout. Push it down…blow out the weak holders…and scarf it up before the news pop.
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/email-from-md-ben-bell.3627366/page-39?post_id=26793237#.WaNhpyiGPcc
$FTSSF – First Cobalt Expands Exploration Team and Provides Drilling Update
Note; First Cobalt came off trading halt during merger with Cobalt One. The SP was at .58 during halt and has dropped this morn by .04
https://firstcobalt.com/2017/first-cobalt-expands-exploration-team-provides-drilling-update/
xpost
$FYI – Cobalt sulphate prices continue rise on battery demand, metal remains stable
http://benchmarkminerals.com/cobalt-sulphate-prices-continue-rise-on-battery-demand-metal-remains-stable/
Note received this via Clean TEQ and it essentially validate previous posts.
Note; 2. Refining capacity limited by environmental restrictions
and 3. End of lower cost cobalt in supply chain
The first says maybe there is additinal room in China for Cean TEQ and the second says new contracts need to be on the books.
$ECSIF long
https://www.otcmarkets.com/ajax/showNewsReleaseDocumentById.pdf?id=27021
Cleanteq is clean. There is no substitute for integrity.
My thought from my head…integrity yes…why…news…that will move SP is near…and insiders better play to insider rules and more. I could be dead wrong but that is what I’m thinking.
rubberworm, I agree it is odd to have such an announcement.
No doubt about Friedland and his regular troops, but I wonder about the Chinese. They may not abide by such quaint concepts.
rubberworm…also agree, we are due for some news out of China.
Great call, Rubberworm. 48 hours later we got the off-take agreement.
$PTNUF is on sale this a.m. Now long 🙂 Thanks HN and other fine folks!
Best2ALL
Allocating funds devoted to Friedland enterprises:
I find my portfolio swelling with firms that have Friedland involved.
The first question I have when considering new positions is:
” Would I rather have this new stock ?… or would I rather put X more dollars into Cleanteq, Ivanhoe Mines, or Cordoba Minerals ?
And I am reminded that I do not yet have a position in Peregrine Diamonds.
For what it is worth, my Cleanteq position is largest; then Ivanhoe Mines; then Cordoba. I feel underweight in Cordoba.
No position in Peregrine.
HN you seem to enjoy teasers so I have one for you.
What would think of the following:
Sampling returns grades up to 39g/t Gold and 6.9% Cobalt
And NO that is not a typo or a decimal place mistake on the Cobalt grade plus the samples are taken from surface outcrop samples and past mine tailings.
Market capitalization A $26m
Ksand, the grades are super, obviously the question is how big the deposits are. Do tell.
better check out MGX minerals for numerous areas while still cheap. GOD BLESS
HN
It might be useful to remind some of our newer readers regarding the percentage breakdown of your asset allocation. This way they can understand the true “risk” or lack there is in your Freidland purchases.
I have this fear that some are speculating with too big a portion of their total assets.
Hedy, good idea.
Short version:
60-65% real estate out of the stock market; cash or physical coins/metal/bullion
20-25% stock investments, mostly hard asset related
10-15% speculations
***
I am not recommending this asset allocation, or even suggesting it for others. I only say that I am comfortable with it. It has evolved from my own viewpoint as I have made decisions, and fits my circumstances and means. It is probably too risky for most readers.
I give my my financial advisor the willies. He wants me in dividend stocks and will not buy OTC “penny stocks” like Ivanhoe and Mariana Resources in my IRA account.
My viewpoint is that I have no confidence long-term in fiat currencies and want hard assets.
I respect other viewpoints and opinions, but my asset allocation reflects my outlook.
***
About two-thirds of my assets are out of the stock market altogether. It is in mostly unleveraged rental property, cash, or physical gold and silver.
***
Of the one-third that is in the stock market, I estimate that about 65% is in what I consider hard asset stock INVESTMENTS. I consider established resource stocks like SAND, PVG, SLW, MAG, and IVPAF in this category. The only sizeable non-hard asset stock investment I currently hold is Pfizer.
We could quibble about whether the Friedland companies are investments or speculations; but I consider Cleanteq, Ivanhoe and Cordoba to be investments, even though there is a fair amount of volatility and uncertainty in them. I am confident they will perform in the end. They are cheap. They have value. They are well managed. They are potentially great investments.
Altogether I expect this group will preserve capital value and stand an excellent chance of high appreciation.
****
About 10-15% is in high-risk SPECULATIONS. Most are in natural resources; one exception is biotech Arch Therapeutics, in which I still have a full position.
These are too speculative to be called investments, they are mostly mineral explorers and developers that need a discovery or a transaction. In this category are SA, ERDCF, BCEKF, CLASF, UEC, KNTNF, PTNUF, KVLQF, and CNRIF. I try to buy so cheaply that price collapses are unlikely; but I must believe in them enough so that I am comfortable with a position size that will have an impact on the portfolio if I am correct. Otherwise, why bother ?
I rely on my own analysis. I try to find companies that have “newsletter headline” potential returns. I am big-game hunting in this group.
HN… This is most helpful. Thank you.
Peregrine 0
Cordoba 1
Ivanhoe 3
Cleanteq 5
HN… Would it be correct to assume that these are Dollar ratios?
eager…Yes, relative position size ratios in dollars.
$FYI – Pierce Points – First Metals Casualty of China’s Environmental Crackdown
http://mailchi.mp/piercepoints/this-south-africa-gold-miner-just-launched-a-never-seen-strategy-223765?e=c2b8487770
I just got this via IR at Clean TEQ looks good for Clean TEQ
$CTEQF long