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.
$CLQ $CTEQF…details in the announcement !! This was for the financiers, so there is a lot of nitty-gritty in the 300 page document attached to the announcement.
The main thing is, they are going to finance the project with DEBT…no equity dilution is coming ! It is so good, they want to own it all. There will be no equity raises or stock dilution for construction.
Some other great details:
It is being financed as a COBALT MINE.
Another good one: Ivanhoe Mines is going to get a royalty ! They had some of the property because Friedland didn’t want permission problems. Can you believe it ?
Thje mining operations will be contract mining…no capex for equipment, no waste for changes in mining capacity
No hint about the second autoclave. All the data is based on annual capacity of just one autoclave.
Off-take agreements: strategy is to have off-take for 80-90% of production (one autoclave)
They need limestone to neutralize the goop at the end. There is one down the road. Guess who owns it.
Water is still somewhat unresolved. They have a borefield 65 km away, I think they will solve the problem before the DFS, which is due Q1 2018.
As usual, it is good that they are talking about the improvements to the rail and road lines. Indicates it is big enough and sure enough.
Couldn’t find a reference to the Sunrise parcel.
All details positive. The only question open is the water issue.
$CTEQF mega long. $IVPAF pretty long.
Thanks hn for the summary.
Based on Cobalt as it being the flavour of the day and rightly so.
Scandium is still quite unknown, but it’s time will come for sure, it’s building!
Just so positive, a dream of a company and RF will be promoting it even more.
Thanks, Squirrel, it was really not a summary–just a few points I got out of it. Jeez, the thing is over 300 pages long.
**
The scandium is expressed as a pure unknown plus,hence a value of ZERO, since the document was prepared for hard-headed financiers who don’t like to speculate.
Zero value for scandium in the project documents.
Zero value for any contract work or increased capacity from the second autoclave.
Since the report it is just for the “cobalt” project, the water business and the extraction business is simply ignored. ZERO
mention of it.
**
Yes…a dream of a company. What a team he has assembled. Look at their work, done on time to perfection to enable these announcements. All orchestrated perfectly.
What a great manager RF is, and what an incredibly demanding boss he must be to accomplish this. Geology, statistics, financials,
legal, operations, metallurgy, chemistry, technology, engineering,…unbelievable.
Although….I did spot a typo in the 300 page report attached to the MLA announcement. Tsk, tsk.
How does the no equity align with listing on other exchanges? Read many of your post and have been following as a long investor for a few months. But was excited to see a listing come to Canada and assumed there would be some new equity being listed.
Fundamental…not sure what you are asking, but let me try to clarify some things.
Cleanteq has applied for the TSX listing but it has not been approved yet.
It will be another exchange where their stock is bought and sold. We don’t know what the ticker symbol will be for the TSX. Right now you have to buy it as CTEQF on the US OTC, or CLQ on the Australian.
You mentioned that I said “no equity”. What I meant was that Cleanteq is not going to issue more stock (equity) and sell it, in order to raise money for the construction. This is a pretty commonplace method of raising money, but it hurts existing shareholders because more stock is put out into the market, which typically depresses the price. Selling EQUITY (selling stock, exchanging a fraction of the ownership for money) is one of the two major ways that these companies can raise capital.
The other way they can raise capital is by taking on DEBT. Cleanteq reveals in the released document that they are going to borrow money to finance Sunrise. That is, they will take a bank loan for it.
I interpret Cleanteq’s action as expressing confidence that the loan will be
easily repaid from operations, and that they are not worried about taking on debt and would prefer it since they do not surrender any ownership of the company. They would rather keep the ownership structure of the company the way that it is, with some debt attached, than to dilute the shareholders by issuing more shares for cash.
$GGIFF Garibaldi…long…I’m tagging along LONG on Garibaldi. So I am hoping for the best. But I have to say the contrast between Garibaldi management and Cleanteq is like night and day.
Look at the preparation and delivery of the recent Cleanteq releases…each one the result of months of careful advance planning and mountains of work.
Compare that to Garibaldi, who trumpeted on August 18 that they were going “FULL FORCE!” on the Nickel Mountain project. Here it is November and they can’t, or won’t, get a few friggin’ assays out, after botching the timing and confidentiality on their PP and causing a speculative uproar.
Difference between cheese and chalk Mate.
CLQ under promise and over deliver.
Garibaldi np. ???
$GGIFF That very well may be the case. CTEQF management is probably superior. They have also been working on their current project a lot longer that Garibaldi, right? They have had far more time to get organized, etc. They have more drilling, results, etc. to work with. Yes, Garibaldi did cause a speculation frenzy in their excitement and they got higher dollars for their fund raise as well.
Don’t you think they will mature as a company in the next year or so as things become more clear here? Or else sell out to someone who will?
I think they are going full force on Nickel Mountain. I only hope the results are in the ballpark of the figures that are being thrown around. If not, they will lose a lot of credibility – & me a few bucks as well.
GGIFF at least niizajim, you can’t be left wondering ‘what if ‘, at least your having a really good go at it.
All the best.
Would have bought some $AUX, but they don’t have a US symbol and right now I am limited to trading in US stocks so too bad I missed that one!
I’m not being critical of anyone for speculating on GGIFF.
I am in it myself.
If the deposit is really good we will make money on the stock.
But I hope the deposit is better than the manner in which the recent PP, news and assays have been handled.
I mean it: if the deposit is on a par with Norilsk, you won’t need superstar management to bring it to the finish line. They will get bought out because the project is too large and they are an exploration company anyway.
On the the link to Eric Sprott’s Jekyll Island talk, he had some funny comments on GGI. Sprott said the GGI guys came to him and asked for about $100K to finish off their PP. He wound up going in for millions !
Also he said he got interested because of the chat board activity, and gave consideration to anonymous postings on core evaluations where he thought the poster sounded knowledgeable.
1st November. Suggest worth listening to it all.
GGI mentioned many times. Not sure if posted earlier today as been somewhat manic. Anyway here’s Eric Sprott, 38 mins in re GGI. MTS get a shout also and Novo at the end.
Quotes from the video by Mr Sprott re GGI.
“ I think they have the big one”.
“This is probably more along the lines of a Norilsk, never mind Voisey Bay”.
https://youtu.be/h8SGctygo_k
GGI…if the deposit is better than Norilsk, even the Russian Communists could manage it.
$NOVO np No position, but I think I’m going to sell some GGIFF at some point and diversify here into NOVO. I also want more CTEQF.
Fun to listen to Sprott. He does a lot of the same things we do…pieces things together, reads chat boards, eyeballs grades.
But we are in the hundreds or thousands. He is in the millions.
A lot of memorable, important remarks.
**He says keep your eyes and ears open,
there are opportunities out there.
**’Why would I want a five- or six-bagger, if I can find a 100-bagger ?”
**He reads chat boards and gets leads from them ! Gets a lot of info by paying attention closely, listens.
**Admits mistakes philosophically.
**He is not a geologist. Guys are after him all the time but he is just a clear-thinking guy who asks questions and looks at things with an open mind.
DYODD
**He thinks conservatism of mine management does a disservice to investors (short of lying or misleading them).
**He fired a CEO whom he believed did not properly understand, or was holding back, the potential of his company. A sandbagger.
Top companies to check out from the talk were Novo and Kirkland Lake.
When I watched his Jekyll Island talk this morning, I was fascinated with the same question.
I think the answer is related to the degree of certainty one has on the thing paying off. Sprott makes a lot of bets, we make only a few.
So one might be more attracted to a five-bagger that one is certain will pay off, rather than a 20 bagger with a 50/50 chance. It is a personal question. .
On the Norilsk comparison, Sprott is careful to point out that OTHER people are saying this. He is not saying it.
ss, do you know which board Sprott may have been referring to in his Jekll Island talk?
He was talking about Urbani from stockhouse.com SH is the wild west of all boards, I like it but it does have lots of flaming, bashers, shorters and wackos on there plus a few brilliant posters that make the needle in a haystack find all worth while.
Search at your peril Lol
ss, Williamstown mentioned BMT. I ran arcross this HotCopper post w/ brief EUC and BMT comparison.
(https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/ann-drilling-commenced-targeting-high-grade-cobalt-at-skuterud.3774351/page-14?post_id=28118265#.WfyKP49SwnQ)
x Both companies have 3 projects with historical significant record in cobalt mining.
x Their projects are located close to potential Co buying businesses: EUC next to German car manufacturers, BMT is near to Volvo and the new Swedish battery project.
x They are close to existing Co refineries: EUC with their project in Finland, BMT is near the Norway’s and Finland’s refineries
x Both have enough cash for exploration (at least for the current stages): EUC – $3m; BMT – $5m
x Drilling started by both: EUC in Dobsina (10Oct) and BMT in Skuterud (23Oct)
x Waste dump samplings are showing high Co inclusion by both
So, why there is such as big difference in market cap: EUC – $145.398 m and BMT – $17.11 m. It is >8.5x!
Should BMT’s share price be closer to ~$2.14 AUD to match EUC market cap?
Can’t help you there.
Williamstown might know why?
EUC has top star management, one point.
BMT undervalued like AUZ was and is?
deanbob the approx issued shares of BMT is 47.3M, compared to EUC 660.9M.
BMT compared to EUC – subject to one’s thoughts and their own
personal analysis – is as you said undervalued.
How much it’s under valued depends on each individuals assessment.
IMO if BMT’s drilling results confirm high grades of Co, a re rate of anything upwards to 100% is possible.
You must understand that this is my opinion only, and one’s DD/ DYOR is required to make an individual decision.
Darn. I was hoping he was reading Stock Gumshoe.
Sunshine and blue skies. I guess Sunshine is a good name. All debt financing….. that should not be under-estimated. Very good for us who are already heavily in. The story isn’t just holding, it keeps getting better.
Renby and Cleanteq longs…”Sunrise” connotes that we are early. And the temperature is gonna go UP.
I have a feeling that as good as the news is so far, we have not seen the end of it.
Note the TRADING HALT ON AUZ. It might be connected.
**
Neither the financing nor the TSX listing application have a visible connection to anything that might be happening at the LME in London, nor do they reasonably account for the absence of Riggall and Friedland at the AGM. Also, note that the TSX application was announced by Jiang Zhaobai. So I think something else is coming, something big with Friedland’s distinctive imprimatur.
I’ll be surprised if nothing is announced by next Friday evening, after the close of market. My best guesses are off-take, or participation in establishment of LME cobalt futures, or an acquisition, or a an anode JV with Easpring. Note that they could ALL be announced in the near future, and no single one of them precludes any of the others.
**
Gosh, I just get the feeling that this is going to be a $3 stock in the very near future. My Crystal Ball is glowing and throwing off sparks..
The web they are spinning is superb. The levels of unfoldment of this company are boundless. Watching this all unfold, while owning a piece of it, will be magnificent. There’s a minefield of catalysts, anytime one can explode. Everything we know, plus new things we haven’t even thought of. This is such an exciting company to follow, and if they do what I am pretty sure they are going to do, that leads to exciting possibilities about what I can do with all that new wealth.
Best thing to do with new wealth is to try to hang onto it.
If things go the way we hope, keep an eye out for a good property nearby to you in Costa Rica. I might be joining you.
CLQ have their own established borefield – google Syerston borefield. Today’s Ann says 50-60% debt and the rest to go to a syndicate. So some equity.
Johnn, you may be correct but I still do not interpret their information that way. The summary for the MLA deal said that they want the MLA and the syndicate to raise 50-60 percent of the
money and that the basis for financing was 100% equity.
I interpret this to mean that they are going to borrow 50-60% of the money and that the owners’ equity provides the rest.
They have already sunk millions into the project without borrowing a dime, this is counted as owner’s equity the way the capital expenses are calculated. In other words, what the company has already invested in the project counts towards the capex of the project.
The MLA money will be in the form of DEBT, they do not have to sell EQUITY (stock) in the company to get the money to build.
**
An interesting figure was that the study pro-forma said the company will have $60 million cash on hand for contingency.
Guess how much cash on hand they have right now…$62 million.
So good guess. This means:
THEY ARE READY TO ROCK AND ROLL.
Johnn…read the MLA release carefully. It clearly states the purpose is to create a DEBT FINANCE FACILITY. They are going to establish a line of credit.
ARRRF ARRRF. LOL, Ardea up 13% tonight after 14% last night, up 50% since I posted I bought it 3 weeks ago. I have to confess to owning the anti-HN-effect. Almost everything I buy just goes straight up. Everything I own, including stuff I’ve bought within weeks and months, the lowest that it is up is 36% at this moment, with the exception of cordoba, which is like a lone rose amongst all that green.
HN and I bought into cleanteq on the same day, we get a matter-antimatter effect, it makes us both big $$$, I’m not kidding either. With me you get hardcore analysis and magic as a bundle.
Here I demonstrate, in my costa rica back yard, how high and far cleanteq is going to go. https://www.facebook.com/jackebner/videos/vb.761286191/10155131347646192/?type=2&theater
So today I find out my ex girlfriend silvana changed her name to sunrise, and my mine changed its name to sophie…… or was that the other way around? whatever. I kind of tend to be disposed to things keeping their original name, but I roll with it.
A little press from the Motley Fool for both cleanteq and ardea, it looks like the whole freaking world is now figuring out what we figured out almost a year ago, thats the name of the game, great work for those into this early. https://www.fool.com.au/2017/11/01/how-these-cobalt-small-caps-could-make-you-rich/
Renby great article, HN and his follow gummies, prove that this is the place to be.
Congrats on your successes, you’ve certainly excelled, and may there be many more before the year ends.
Great that Motley Fool is plugging our picks. This is mainstream investment media so it’s a strong sign they feel the companies are credible enough to give ink.
It doesn’t matter that the article is very superficial and author’s facts could have been picked up by a casual glance at this blog.
With Friedland going after the TSX listing, market cap growing, larger media and capital giving it attention, and announcements lined up like ships outside the harbor, the stock is set up for phenomenal growth.
“You make money in the stock market when everybody agrees with you. But they agree with you LATER.”
Part of the world will figure out cobalt and nickel.
Part of it will figure out the scandium.
Another part will figure out the water purification.
A really small part will figure out the mineral extraction….the pipeline of waste ore deals coming in gold, uranium, germanium, and God-knows-what-else.
But there is only a very small constituency that sees all of it.
Excellent and EXACTLY…..!!
I’m going to explain why I am very luke warm on scandium in the short and even medium term, and people who are thinking scandium is going to sell for $2000 or more, and banking on that for their investments, are going to get killed, they’d be just throwing their money away. The essential problem is not as much a matter of demand as it price. Its present boutique price in the range of $4000 may be deluding some people who are projecting it when 20-100 times the present supply becomes available.
This is how scandium will probably play itself out. A bunch of companies are coming on-line with scandium production over the next 2-5 years. Clean TeQ alone can produce something like 15 times the present total world usage annually if they want to. There is this somewhat wild factor that needs to be understood with scandium……. the supply limits the demand. This is a little unusual in the normal supply/demand quotient. With scandium, unless a lot of it is reliably available at a certain price, then the demand is suppressed. It isn’t like the whole world is hungry for a hamburger, and you can sell all the hamburgers you can make. it more like you first have to have 1000 McDonalds, then the world is ready for a hamburger. In other words, you need mass supply before you can get even moderate demand.
So the first few companies start to produce scandium, and a few more start building their scandium mines, and a few more trying to get financing for a scandium mine, and all of them horny as hell for an off take commitment. Meanwhile, cleanteq and maybe a few other companies begin to stockpile the stuff, as a secondary byproduct to whatever else they are mining. These stockpiles become important, as it gives potential large buyers the confidence that reliable supply is secure. The cost for mining scandium as a by product is very low, I don’t want to say free, but practically almost. So they can choose to stockpile the stuff until the market is ripe for business, or they can sell it for cheap, I mean, if they just have it laying around, it cost them nothing to mine it, and there is an unlimited supply of the stuff on their property for the next 50 years, THE PRICE GETS DETERMINED BY WHATEVER THEY CAN GET FOR IT. This is a fatal set up for any company that is a primary scandium producer, that cost them big money to mine the stuff. They have zero chance to build a viable business.
Now in the long term, I believe scandium will get used big time in the future, scandium aluminum alloy is too good of a material, they will find all kinds of uses for it, and the manufacturing infrastructure will evolve to incorporate it. I think 3D printing applications will be huge for scandium. At some point the demand could grow very strong, and the price begin to come up. I’d guess maybe 10-15 years for it to cycle to that point.
We agree, scandium is a long term proposition. That is why Sunrise is presented as a cobalt/nickel project. Renby, Hendrixnuzzles, and Robert Friedland all agree.
A new scandium-only project will be a dead duck competing with Sunrise.
Cleanteq can make the scandium price whatever they need to because it is incremental to all their financials. The extra cost is close to zero and the income is all plus. They will kill anybody coming in with a primarily scandium project.
$EUC ASX…long…hats off to Billville. Quarterly activity report:
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20171031/pdf/43nv2rdd0c41yf.pdf
Busy guys
Euc ASX as I have mentioned previously expecting v good drilling results soon.
MEI ASX is also worth having a close look, plus another higher sp, low issued shares is BMT ASX, which I think Griffen commented on a couple of months ago, drill results are due anytime, and if positive should see a decent re rate, only problem is the shares are tightly held – have to act quick though.
IMO any of the above shares should do well if drilling results are as expected.
As always do your own DD/DYOR.
COBALT – Favourite Company?
Ardea ARL:AX
Hi everybody! I haven’t followed the discussions here closely in quite some time now, but I wonder what cobalt-play people here fancy the most?
I’ve tried to get filled on ARL.AX, but the damn thing has been constantly getting away from me so I just have a micro-position. Clean-Teq is my biggest position and has been for quite some time now.
Ardea is one of the top picks. Overall the favorites seem to be Cleanteq, European Cobalt, Australian Mines, and Ardea.
There is some support for Platina, but nobody thinks it will get developed; it is really just a real estate play on the deposit and a low market cap. Platina makes noise about doing something but I doubt they will.
Some readers also like ECSIF. If you want pure cobalt exposure, you might like Cobalt Twenty Seven. If you really want to get deep into it, Jervois Mining owns the property contiguous to Cleanteq’s Sunrise (formerly Syerston) project. Australian Mines has an option on the property owned by JRV.
Because of Cleanteq, there has been a lot of focus on eastern Australia and especially those companies that hold property that appears to host part of the Cleanteq deposit. Cleanteq’s neighbors are Australian Mines and Platina.
I don’t think any contributors would say our list is exhaustive. It is just a list of the stocks we have found interesting.
If you have a big position in Cleanteq, IMO you are decently covered with the best of the lot. Some of them might do a moon shot, but Cleanteq has a higher degree of certainty.
HN blast from the past – I’m hiding in the shadows- LOM AUS NP, renewed interest, awaiting lab results from Africa.
Still trying to locate the vein – if they do holders may be too old to celebrate, at least the kids and their kids ( the grandkids ), will live to enjoy the winnings.
Very frustrating stock.
Just thought you would be interested.
Really helpful summary HN, certainly for me.
Thanks HN!
I still think Clean Teq has the lowest risk vs reward, but the other picks are also interesting. I will try to get ARL.AX filled on a pullback, but it never seems to come.
Posted here, as just confirms the EV revolution that is taking place. There really is NO stopping it, going to happen quicker than most anticipated.
https://newatlas.com/pan-european-ev-fast-charging-stations/52047/
Automotive titans join forces to install 400 fast charging station across Europe.
Daimler, BMW, Ford and VW (which includes Audi and Porsche) are collaborating on the installation of fast charging stations across numerous countries in Europe, starting with 20 this year. By the year 2020, the IONITY project will comprise of around 400 EV pitstops to make long range travel easier on the electric driver
I know very little about battery technology, but just came across this.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2017/11/20171102-enevate.html
Enevate introduces its silicon-dominant Li-ion technology for EVs; extreme fast charging and high capacity
2 November 2017
Enevate Corporation, developer of a silicon-dominant composite anode material and high energy density batteries (earlier post), has introduced HD-Energy Technology for Electric Vehicles (EVs); the high energy-density cells support extreme fast-charging. Enevate’s silicon Li-ion battery technology in EV cells (NCM-based) can be charged in 5 minutes at up to a tested 10C charging rate to 75% capacity with energy densities of more than 750 Wh/L. Conventional graphite cells with lower capacities suffer significant degradation with extreme fast charging.
Enevate first introduced its HD-Energy Technology—a self-standing, silicon-dominant composite film anode with more than 70% silicon—in 2014, with an initial focus on smartphones, tablets, ultra-thin/hybrid notebook PCs, and wearable devices. (Earlier post.) Enevate licenses its silicon-dominant HD-Energy Technology to battery and EV automotive manufacturers and suppliers worldwide.
Enevate Announces 5-Minute Extreme Fast Charge Battery Technology for Electric Vehicles
Silicon-dominant Li-ion technology also delivers additional automotive requirements including energy density, range, and cost
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171102005395/en/Enevate-Announces-5-Minute-Extreme-Fast-Charge-Battery
Have a great weekend and beyond all!
Nickel Cobalt Manganese
Does not look very promising for the graphite diggers!
Shavian I think graphite and graphene will have a huge impact in many areas, however, it’s probably 2/3yrs away as scientists universities develop applications for its usuage.
Even CLQ mentioned graphene in their report.
Can you elaborate? Given the time it takes to take an initial find to production, doesn’t it make sense for them to be ramping up now? I have no position in this sector, but have been reading up.
deanbob you may like to read idtechex.com re the list of presenters who are exhibiting at their ID Tech Ex show on 15 – 16th Nov in the Santa Clara Convention Center,CA.
The industry is you could say in its infancy, but the usages,applications will be diversified across many industries.
The key is can the products/ applications perform superior, cheaper in the market place on a large consumer scale.
IMO the impact will be big and profound.
I’m haven’t a science background and other gummies who have, will understand the intricacies much better than me.
Obviously with CLQ mentioning graphene in its report. means something to them going into the future.
All the best.
Who could do the ramping up ? What miners of graphite or manufacturers of graphene are there, who could increase production, and who would they sell to ?
hn, you say if the Chinese are interested, you are too? Read the last sentence. At the risk of possibly repeating what others have said before and just scratching the surce of the subject ….
Nobel recipient Konstantin Novoselov: “I don’t think it has been over-hyped… It has attracted a lot of attention because it is so simple — it is the thinnest possible matter — and yet it has so many unique properties. There are hundreds of properties which are unique or superior to other materials. Because it is only one atom thick it is quite transparent — not many materials that can conduct electricity are transparent.”
“Analysts say the first graphene-intensive products should come to market within 18 months,” says Businessweek, “with IBM, Samsung, and Nokia among those racing to be first.” Already, Future Markets, Inc. reports a 4,000% increase in demand for graphene-based materials…
There are two ways to make graphene. One is done in a lab, but it’s expensive and often cost-prohibitive. The lower cost way to make graphene is by using natually occurring graphite. China produces ~73% of world’s graphite
deanbob you’re correct, there are going to be many purposes for graphite and graphene, plus in many instances the quality of graphite/ graphene in many high end cases will be the dominant dominator.
As an example, FGR Aux has developed a timber fire retardant which is low cost from quality graphene – the emphasis is on low cost and naturally quality product, and working in collaboration with some Australian Universities is working on supercapacitors batteries which one of the University research Guys is presenting at the idtechex show.
There would be many more instances around the world where similar developments are taking place.
This is only in its infancy and is going to be a generational change, and will be here sooner rather than later.
Graphite will be needed but I am unsure of the investment and applicattion landscape. It may be even more unattractive to me than lithium. My instinct is that graphene is a tech play, not a mining play. I would prefer to go for companies like Cleanteq and Lockheed who can figure out the right applications and end uses.
I am not saying that lithium and graphite will not have companies and stocks that do not perform well. I am just saying that I do not feel comfortable with the general landscape of suppliers as stock equity investments or speculations. There may be some great companies in the sector of which I am simply ignorant.
HN although having your own mine will have many advantages re continuity of supply etc, I agree with you that the big money will be made from tech innovations.
If scarcity of supply occurs, and we see price hikes than naturally owning a mine will be highly profitable.
I don’t see owning stocks in this area as a priority at the moment.
Graphene(and other emerging 2D materials such as Boron Nitride) do not have to rely on graphite as the only feedstock, and in any case the quantities required are minute in mining terms. Investing in graphite miners is not the way to profit from the coming graphene revolution; as you say HN, this a tech story not a mining story – may I digress please?
On my side of the pond progress in graphene is more rapid than most realise. ISO published in October the standards for graphene, of which the key one is not more than 10 layers of atoms. This has knocked out many aspiring graphene producers and some frauds. The star among those firms which have made the cut is small UK engineering group Versarien (AIM:VRS – I hold). They have provided their graphene particles (tradenamed Nanene) to several -some say over 100 – major corporations in trial quantities, and now the first collaboration project has just gone public – it’s with Israeli Aerospace Industries! Two more collaborations are reportedly very close to announcing. The Universities of Manchester and Cambridge are shareholders inVRS’s Nanene and graphene inks subsidiaries respectively to commercialise their research. Nanene has already (reportedly ) found its way into the latest mods of Maclaren’s Formula 1 cars, but a lot of this stuff is awfully hush-hush,as we say over here, subject to NDA.
I could bang on for hours but this is a bit off track, so those interested just DYOR or email me on mikeshaw208@gmail.com
Thank you for the info. How do the costs of hi-tech to produce graphene compare to what used from mined graphite?
Deanbob. In fact the costs can be minute once you have cracked the tech and the IP. VRS just went for a fund raise of £1.2 m at 18p in order to scale up production by a factor of 10. The propriatory machinery to acheive this apparently costs less than £500k. The fund raise was open to PIs as well as instis, after the market closed on Friday night. It sold out in less than an hour, so the BoD made a quick decision to widen it to raise £2.9m for extra capital to develop several other incoming collaborations which are on the brew. Worth a look imho.
TSX has a 4 week review period of all the listing application documentation before it passes. My hunble guess load up before then.
AUZ BOOM BOOM!
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/ann-auz-secures-20-million-from-international-investors.3815550/?direction=previous#.Wf-6UuinzMI
6 November 2017 ASX: AUZ Australian Mines secures $20 million in funding via placement to international institutional investors HIGHLIGHTS • Placement oversubcribed by more than 3-times the initial amount sought • Funds ensure: o continued trial mining and sample production from its Sconi Cobalt-Nickel-Scandium Project in Queensland o completion of the Sconi Project’s Bankable Feasibility Study and, o accelerated resource expansion drilling at the Company’s Flemington Cobalt- Scandium-Nickel Project in New South Wales. The world is rapidly moving towards a low-emissions future. The major global automotive manufacturers, for example, are all looking to introduce battery-powered electric vehicles as a core part of their vehicle range over the coming years and governments are similarly seeking to incorporate renewables (with the associated battery storage) in their future energy mix to power cities and towns1. Fundamental to this global shift is access to a reliable supply of the key battery metals including cobalt and nickel. For that reason, Australian Mines Limited (“Australian Mines” or “the Company”) has attracted (and continues to attract) significant interest from battery makers as well as other international companies that operate in the energy and automotive sectors given the scale and advanced nature of the Company’s cobalt-nickel-scandium deposits. 1 Cobalt 27, Initial Public Offering (IPO) presentation, released May 2017
This, in turn, has placed Australian Mines squarely on the radar at some of the world’s largest investment houses, most of whom are seeking to take positions in near-production cobalt-nickel operations. Given the significant interest in Australian Mines from institutional fund managers, the Company approached a number of these funds for the purposes of acquiring an interest in Australian Mines via the recently completed placement. The response from these funds was overwhelming, with the company receiving applications for almost $40 million for what was intended to be a $10 million placement. After consultation between the Australian Mines’ Board and the incoming investors, the Company accepted applications for $20 million, comprising 235,294,118 fully-paid ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.085 per share, which was the average price Australian Mines’ shares traded at over the past 5 days (known as the 5-day VWAP). Argonaut and London-based Arlington Group Asset Management acted as joint lead managers for the placement. This placement was undertaken in accordance with Section 708 of the Corporations Act and Listing Rule 7.1 and 7.1A of the ASX Listing. (A total of 87,610,596 shares were issued under Listing Rule 7.1 and 147,683,522 shares were issued under Listing Rule 7.1A) Institutions that participated in this placement included a fund, which is arguably one of the world’s largest investment managers. A leading Asian-based resources investment company also used this opportunity to acquire a stake in Australian Mines2. The willingness for these global funds to invest in Australian Mines is seen by the Company as a strong endorsement of the quality of its projects, the development strategy being pursued of these assets, and the strength of the Company’s management team.
Long AUZ.
Ss & other gummies great result.
$AUZ – I am unable to adequately express my gratitude to you SecretSquirrel for presciently introducing Australian Mines to this great Gummunity and me, Thank YOU Chief! Best2YOU and ALL! – Ben
Platina (PMG:ASX) moving dramatically. The reason? Platina has a 30% JV with Artemis Resources (ARV:ASX) who have just announced significant levels of Fortescue Group sediments overlaying the MunniMunni PMG deposit just 20km from Purdeys (where ARV has JV with Novo Resources (NSRPF:NY)) and if you dont know about this you have not yet heard of the Pilbarra gold rush underway in Western Australia. Quinton Hennigh the MD of novo believes the Pilbarra is an analogue of the Witwatersrand of Sth Africa. You can hear him here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEK9Fz5_7vI
$PTNUF $PGM asx Platina Resources…long….thanks, fizee. Had no idea. Platina better that I thought, bonus asset.
**
Artemis entered in to a binding agreement with ASX listed Platina Resources Limited (“Platina Resources”) (ASX Code: PGM) on 5 August 20152, which provides for Artemis’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Karratha Metals Pty Limited, to earn a 70% interest in the Munni Munni Project by spending $750,000 over a 3 year period. …Once $750,000 has been spent a 70/30 Joint Venture will be formalised
with Platina Resources.
$ARV.asx, $PGM.asx – Fortescue Sediments above Munni Munni PGE Deposit
-Karratha, Western Australia- http://www.platinaresources.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-November-2017-ARV-Fortescue-Sediments-above-Munni-Munni-PGE-Deposit.pdf
Ben, Looking at the maps, Munni Munni is a joint venture involving Platina Resources and Artemis Resources in Western Australia. Artemis describes Munni Munni as Australia’s largest PGE ( Platinum Group Element ) resource.
Cobalt: A Precarious Supply Chain
http://www.visualcapitalist.com/cobalt-precarious-supply-chain/
$ARRTF Artemis Resources, $NSRPF Novo Resources (no position), $PTNUF Platina Resources (long)
Novo…high interest
Artemis…interest
A look at the website of these western Australian exploration speculations gives a lot to think about.
Reader fizee suggested the Platina/Artemis JV on Munni Munni may have caused Platina to jump.
Novo has a welter of various claims around Karratha that comprise a wide variety of targets, although the one attracting attention right now is the finding of alluvial gold in a bed of conglomerates.
Artemis has an earn-in option and JV with Platina in the same area on some of Novo’s territory. There are map claims that detail the interlocking relationships, but they are difficult to sort out with respect to which company is likely to get how much benefit. The easy way to play is to follow Sprott, who has taken a major position in Novo and has been very blunt about the potential he believes is there.
The Platina position is only on a portion of the Artemis claim, which similarly is only a portion of the Novo claims.
My Platina position was based solely on the Flemington asset in eastern Australia, so this new asset is strictly a plus
and I see no reason to divest Platina.
Inlcined to go into Novo and Artemis although the cat sems to be out of the bag. We were early on Sunrise/Syerston/Flemington, but are a little late on Novo and Artemis. But they look promising.
HN Please forgive if this has already been discussed.
But I thought you may be interested….
http://www.stockhouse.com/opinion/independent-reports/2017/10/26/sama-resources-and-srg-graphite-worth-accumulating-an-energy-metal-power-group
Thanks mudmar ! Sama Resources looks like a super find. Another reader also called it out on the other thread, but sometimes I need to be boinked on the head a few times before the message registers.
I decided to take a position. Thanks for finding this.
HN while you’re all excited about graphite, here’s something to wet your appetite- Graphene Based Supercapacitors Could Lead To Battery Free Electric Cars Within 5 Years.
The collaboration between scientists at Rice University and Queensland University of Technology resulted in two papers published in the Journal of Power Sources and Nanotechnology.
The supercapacitor consists of two layers of graphene with an electrolyte layer in the middle.
Think no batteries ( Li, Co, Ni etc ), unthinkable maybe not?
Williamstown…I try to avoid getting too excited.
What are the electrolyte materials between the supercapacitators ?
They apparently used a water based electrolyte – no details on what it is.
Just in passing, it looks like the Cleanteq HQ is cheek-by-jowl to Monash University. Logical tie-in to the research going on there.
SME.v …Sama has also granted HPX an exclusivity period of 90 days to settle and execute definitive agreements. A break fee of US$1,000,000 is payable in the event of a breach of the exclusivity provisions…. http://samaresources.com/news/sama-resources-inc-and-hpx-techco-inc-announce-strategic-partnership-to-develop-the-cote-divoire-nickel-copper-and-cobalt-project/
HN. A long overdo thank you for both this and the gold thread. I am an AVID reader of these two discussions and it has added greatly to my learning curve and enthusiasm …oh and not to mention a good many laughs along the way!
Best to you and all who contribute such insightful information.
Thank you.
I apologise for not declaring this earlier but I am long novo and also the following WA (WesternAustralia) gold explorers (ASX listings): DeGrey Mining (DEG) DGO Gold (DGO) Kairos Minerals(KAI). I held Artemis (ARV) until recently (and dont like management). This should perhaps be on the gold blog but landed here because of platina. I am not selling my novo and if Quinton Hennigh is correct (I have been following him for several years and very impressed) then it would not be early to buy in. But it is still a theory although the limited information is positive.
Novo did the deal with Artemis because the Artemis claim was ready to go (permits and heritage, which can be lengthy, were in place). Platina/Artemis JV also has this advantage. Novo meanwhile is trenching and bulk sampling and Quinton is keen for wide diameter drilling, he acknowledges the difficulties of estimating nuggety gold. There may be some results from Novo early next year.
Novo has been doing deals for years for territory and has large tenements but other companies (including the above) are becoming active. Is the gold there? We should have a much better idea in a few months but certainty will take longer.
One of the best finds of RF …Mr. Stockdale….
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wv4hRJVZ7pM
Right on Rubberworm.
As bullish as I am on Cleanteq, listening to Stockdale is making me seriously re-evaluate my position to the upside. And Cleanteq is already my largest position.
Long $CTEQF Good news there! Thanks for posting that. I liked that their 3 yr time frame for the mine might shrink a little because of their autoclave purchase that they were able to do.
I wish they would talk more about the water side of their company. Can’t figure out why that doesn’t really take off.
I guess all things take time!
I’m seriously underinvested on this one and need to find a way to get more.
niiz…you have to consider the venue of the interview. This one was at a mining conference that emphasizes technology and the audience was tilted towards professionals in the mining industry.
A generalized presentation to investors would put more emphasis on the water.
I’m sure there will be announcements on water. They will probably start with mining and industrial applications…we know they have things in the works for a major gold mine (I suspect Barrick) and for coal ash in China.
Don’t want to be late for that party.