2017 was a year of tremendous accomplishment for Clean Teq Holdings in every respect.
We saw remarkable achievements in mine construction, in finance, and in market development, with landmark contracts in every business segment;
We saw a complex business appear as if by magic, including business offices on four continents, and the launch of business website in the water division;
We were informed of superb existing and newly-formed strategic partnerships,
with the likes of Airbus, Peng-Xin Mining, Chinese state and power entities, Chinalco, and Multotec;
We were witness to a major off-take agreement with a leading battery manufacture;
We learned of an astute acquisition of a controlling interest in a VRB business by Mr. Friedland;
We learned of deep and valuable research and development support at prestigious universities and manufacturers;
and we became sure of unseen low-cost manufacturing contacts and alliances.
And oh-by-the-way, we got a listing on the TSX.
The company inspires confidence and optimism. Robert Friedland has a deep long-term strategy, and he knows what he is doing.
I am not sure what is more impressive: His strategic vision, or his managerial talent in executing it.
Clean Teq is a company that is worth following. It is by far my largest position.
There are a lot of companies with good concepts. But Clean Teq has a deep and brilliant strategic concept which is at the heart of major world trends; a revolutionary technology; and a management that executes flawlessly.
**
GOING FORWARD: SUITABLE TOPICS FOR THIS THREAD
1. CLEAN TEQ HOLDINGS, CLEAN TEQ WATER, and their interests, or related companies.
2. Miners and producers of COBALT, VANADIUM, SCANDIUM; also nickel, zinc, graphite, lithium, rare earths, silica, and manganese.
3. WATER PURIFICATION, especially when tied into mineral extraction therefrom.
4. โTECHNO MINERSโ and other innovators in mining and material extraction
See notes below on thread and topic overlaps, which are unavoidable.
**
One year ago this week, I wrote an article on Clean Teq Holdings. It was a speculative company, but
one with a visionary and proven leader, dramatic potential in specific, attractive commodities,
innovative methods and IP for mineral extraction, and big ambitions in water purification.
Clean Teq Holdings defied easy categorization, and continues to do so.
One year later, Clean Teq has not disappointed. Clean Teq has exceeded all reasonable expectations.
**
If you need background on Clean Teq, I refer you to the predecessor of this thread: โScandium, Cobalt,
and Water Purification: Clean Teq Holdingsโ, where you will also find the guidelines and rules for this
thread; and to the Clean Teq and Clean Teq Water websites, which warrant close examination.
OUR BIAS AND BASIC VIEW
This thread is for those who believe in the coming EV wave, light weighting of transport, and most importantly,
in the importance of energy storage and batteries of all scales;
and also, it is for those who believe that the disruptions caused thereby will be rapid.
Because of this opinion, it follows that the existing viable battery technologies and the materials needed
for them are important. We anticipate rapid change; we subscribe to the Tony Seba โDisruption Scenarioโ,
that suggests disruptiv changes are occuring faster.
If you disagree with the Disruption Scenario, or the eventual proliferation of EVs,
that is fine; but please do not debate it on this thread. The thread is for those who believe in the future of battery power,
and in the immediate opporunities in commodities related to batteries and energy storage.
We will be able to see in shortly whether we are right or wrong in this belief.
If it takes longer than we think, we will complain about ”being early.”
My perspective is for the next five years. That is โlong termโ. This is not a trading thread.
Occasionally short-term opportunities are appropriate to call out,
but short-term trading is not the emphasis here.
On the other hand should restrain ourselves from too much attention
to developments and materials for technologies that are likely to take longer than five years to have an impact.
We are looking for investable ideas, not 10 year forecasts on the Future of Civilization.
So letโs keep it down on hydrogen fuel cells and molten salt batteries for a couple of months.
**
NOTES ON THREAD AND TOPIC OVERLAPS
Our assumption is that Li-NCM, VRBโs, and zinc batteries are going to be the main battery formats purchased,
installed or contracted for in the near-term, hence the commodities needed for them are of interest.
New battery technologies are better discussed on the #batteries thread ,
unless they involve a vertical commodity/battery producer.
We are interested in what is going to have an impact in five years.
For example, if you are convinced that Google is about to conquer the world with a molten salt battery,
then come on over here and recommend Morton Salt as a buy-out candidate.
But debate whether molten salt batteries have a future, and when, on the #batteries thread.
News that shows increasing penetration on solar are relevant,
as they confirm the importance of large-scale energy storage.
But we would like to know who is getting the contracts and what type of battery they are using.
There is going to be some unavoidable overlap. Nickel and manganese sources are swing metals,
sometimes they may be better discussed on the Hard Asset thread as base metals.
If you make a post on the wrong thread, donโt worry too much, there are
no fines or jail time. I do it myself all the time and I understand it can be confusing.
You can also use Travisโ new cross-reference gizmo.
Long $CTEQF $CLQ Clean Teq Holdings
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.
I just noticed this on Hot Copper but I don’t have a link to the original report.
“Australian Mines gets South Korean giant onside.
by Stuart McKinnon.
The binding deal covers 12,000tpa of cobalt sulphate and 60,000tpa of nickel sulphate with prices to be linked to London Metal Exchange.
The West understands the agreement provides an option for SK to buy 19.9% stake in Australian Mines for an investment of 65 Million dollars.
Auz products destined for SK’s newly developed electric vehicle plants in Hungary and Korea.”
The “West” here probably refers to The West Australian.
Apologies if this info turns out to be incorrect.
Stuart McKinnon is a mining reporter for The West Australian. We’ll probably have more info soon. Details of the deal may be being checked out by ASX and authorities.
Here is the newspaper report.
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/auz-announcement.4021921/page-146?post_id=31098958#.WoYg0iOZNsM
SK Innovation is the South Korean partner. They are a chemical company and a refiner, which raises the possibility that AUZ’s soft ore could be sent directly to them for refining. This is just speculation on my part.
http://eng.skinnovation.com
This is what I mean about AUZ news management. A situation has been created that makes the frenzy out of control. AUZ goes into a trading halt, to be lifted Feb 16. Then a “leak” outlines the deal a day or two before trading is to resume. AUZ says they will make an announcement or resume trading Friday. Friday comes, no announcement, no trading. Late in the day instead of an announcement, AUZ posts a presentation of their “Korean partner” on their website. Resumption of trading is scheduled for Tuesday 2/20. Meanwhile everyone on Ozland is going nuts with suspense.… Read more ยป
“The deal is good for AUZ but my god the frenzy around the thing is off the charts.” To me sounds like good PR, but then again I’m far from certain any of it was planned. Sometimes things unfold and you wing it from there. I’m just going with the flow, letting it unfold. I think it’s good news for CLQ and other mines, after the DRC which few companies will really put their business through as to unreliable now, never mind later. So best to lock in supply now while you can. CLQ has its own plans for the… Read more ยป
The article was a leak during the first halt. It proved to be substantially true. The deal is very helpful to AUZ but there are some questions about the deal than cannot be answered, and SK has not yet committed any cash to build the mine. AUZ has to parlay a $5 billion dollar offtake to hard finance, since cash from the offtake does not come to them until after the mine is operating. Still some hoops to jump through for AUZ: samples, finance by 2018, construction by end 2020 or SK can walk. No downplaying the importance of the… Read more ยป
For a year I’ve been saying anybody in Australia producing nickel and cobalt sulphate will basically sell out the stuff long before the first salt precipitates out from their mud circuits. Now you have a company selling out 7 years in advance who haven’t even started building their mine. LOL. That’s why 3/4 of my portfolio is in clean teq and ardea. If you just project the numbers, what the market cap of these stocks are vs the value of what they have in the ground, under conditions of exponentially increasing demand starting about…… now.
Yes, and what do you think of the idea of AUZ selling their soft ore directly. It is certainly very easy to dig up judging from their photo of operations at their aptly-named Sconi Project.
https://australianmines.com.au/sconi
I don’t think they will sell the Sconi ore; I think they will use the off-take to secure financing.
I think you’re right HN as long as the situation in the DRC doesn’t get completely out of hand. If there is a serious disruption in cobalt sourced from the DRC, then automakers and battery companies would need to greatly accelerate the flow of battery metal compounds from non-DRC suppliers, perhaps by refining the ore in their own jurisdictions, especially if it is friable and easy to manipulate.
& eagerbeaver just don,t believe for a minute DRC will stop exporting its Oil, Cobalt, Copper etc. Having worked all over africa that is just not a realistic scenario. Even during the Biafra war( Nigeria) the oilbusiness continued to work. The military are not a fools they will protect their assets and the flow of income you can be sure. Btw there is no subsitute for DRC Cobalt they have already cornered this market by the size of cobalt deposits where they are sitting up.
pieter132…a realist. I think there will be a lot of leakage out of DRC and a two-tier cobalt market could come…cobalt for people who don’t care, and “ethically sourced” cobalt for people who care. The Chinese could use dirty cobalt for domestic production, bought at cheap prices; and export ethical cobalt at high prices for the uppies who want the label on their cars that say “child labor free”. I also doubt that the Russians will care. Or the muslims. Suits certain parties well. The people buying dirty cobalt get low prices while the idealists pay high prices for labels… Read more ยป
Pieter…to your point there was a release today about an Oz explorer snapping up a high-grade cobalt project in DRC.
$AUZ…100% of Sconi production, 7 years out…with a six year extension.
If the newspaper report is accurate, it is a deal that will get them financed. They will use the off-take to persuade the lenders. But they gave up 20% of the company in an option at not much over today’s price.
$AUZ no position
“Introduction to SK Innovation โ AUZโs partner in Sconi Project”
This has now been posted for investors on AUZ’s website.
https://australianmines.com.au/application/third_party/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Introduction%20to%20SK%20Innovation.pdf
Instead of the announcement we get teased about the partner with no details about the deal. It is a great partner but the details of the deal are important, and they failed to make the announcement as promised. Extension on the trading halt until Feb 20.
It was for 100% of their product for 7 years at the going product price [and with an option to renew]. 20% buy in option for something reasonably close to 20% of present market cap value. In other words, Sconi is now off the table for anyone else, closed for business til 2025, and 2032 if they pick up their option. So the music is playing, one seat has now been taken, I don’t know how many seats are left, but there seem to be a lot more car and battery companies then significant cobalt suppliers.
Iโm so impressed with the simplicity of AUZโs Sconi operation.
https://australianmines.com.au/sconi
1. Dig up rich, orange-brown Queensland earth.
2. Load into hopper.
3. Fill bag at base of hopper.
4. Load onto truck.
5. Repeat multiple times.
6. Drive off.
Now the question is where to? It is not clear where AUZ’s full production plant will be built but it will certainly take years to complete and they may have to truck their ore long distances to be processed. Meanwhile, they could head to the nearest port and a South Korean bulk carrier. Either way, they have hit paydirt.
Where is the autoclave. Digging is simple but it is inefficient to ship dirt and rock. Clean Teq will shovel the dirt onto a conveyer that goes to the plant.
$AUZ.asx $CLQ.asx etc. #Autoclaves
Don’t you think these multi-BILLION dollar automobile and or battery companies can come up with a used autoclave and have it sent where they want it, when they want it?
Yep, in answer to HN below. ๐
There is no need for them at this time.
This whole tsunami is just beginning, imho.
Sure. They COULD. Clean Teq did it.
But would you bet on that happening ?
Now I know nothing about autoclaves but found this interesting –
Fabrication of the first Autoclave was completed in the record time of 5 months and the second followed 3 months later
http://www.accesspetrotec.com/2017-kwinana-nickel-refinery-nickel-reduction-autoclaves/
If you have enough muscle you can move mountains, this all of course assuming the SK innovations deal is a done deal.
SK innovations is a 120 billion company with even bigger ambitions.
http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/industry/19978-ready-competing-global-players-sk-innovation-invest-1-trillion-won-ev-battery
Long AUZ.
Great info. Access Petrotec gives a road map of how to get decent-sized stainless steel autoclaves fabricated in a hurry.
Don’t get too excited. Look at the size of the ones that took five and eight months. They are nowhere near the size of the equipment needed for the volumes being talked about.
When AUZ says they are on order and they give a delivery date, I will pay attention.
The autoclaves are a very valid point hn, maybe they can use the CLQ on the weekends or ship the raw ingredients. Seriously if SK wants the goods it surely would help in getting them.That or BB already has them ordered as a priority from Korea/China or are there perhaps others around like CLQ got through I believe RF’s network.
You got to think this is being dealt with, would it not be addressed in the O/T deal?
Squirrel, I doubt very seriously whether anything has been ordered yet. They are months away from financing, and they are not going to make commitments on long lead time items for a theoretical mine. Only a guy like RF would do that. They can go with smaller autoclaves but it still takes a while. Bell is working full-time on the Big Deal. He has his hands full. I am not being critical. It is just that I think time frames for earliest production will slip with AUZ, and be fulfilled with Clean Teq. Whatever else you want to say about… Read more ยป
Squirrel believes in AUZ as he has stated, and I believe they will do OK and be a good investment. I saw the acrimony over AUZ on the HC site and debating AUZ and CLQ, hope we don’t get that here. There are only a few top cobalt projects and AUZ is sure one of them. Squirrel, best to you; and you know I am sincere. Perfectly willing to take a position in AUZ if the price is right…but the thing is still on halt. There is a chance of all hell breaking loose on the cobalt supply front any… Read more ยป
Thanks hn, appreciated and know you mean it.
With the help of SK I think AUZ should be a good one. Locking down supply will be the issue with others now in safe territories.
I have my cobalt covered and moved onto vanadium with AEE and KRC, both on the ASX. Lots of info on HC for anyone interested. Of note was KRC just came out of a halt and jumped afterwards by 28%.
HN, The two autoclaves in question were ordered for BHP Billiton’s Kwinana Nickel Refinery that refines Nickel Matte from their Kalgoorlie Smelter. The Kwinana plant uses an ammonia-leach process and has a capacity to manufacture 65,000 tonnes of nickel metal a year. I’m assuming that someone has done the Math to determine the ideal size of an autoclave for a particular project, in order to maximize the overall efficiency of the operation. It may be the case that an autoclave could be either too small or possibly too big for a particular project. Does anyone have figures for this?
eager—which two autoclaves ? The Clean Teq ones were taken from a Vale project in the Pacific. Each one by itself is sufficient to produce the volumes specified in the Sunrise projections.
Take a look. Clean Teq autoclaves:
http://www.mining-journal.com/feasibility/news/1178012/clean-teq-jumps-goro-autoclaves
BHP little autoclaves…took 5 and 8 months:
http://www.accesspetrotec.com/2017-kwinana-nickel-refinery-nickel-reduction-autoclaves/
BHP autoclave
http://www.accesspetrotec.com/2017-kwinana-nickel-refinery-nickel-reduction-autoclaves/
HN. I was referring to the two autoclaves fabricated in India in a rush order by Access Petrotec for BHP Billiton’s Kwinana Nickel Refinery. Sorry, I should have been clearer.
Those BHP autoclaves are an order of magnitude smaller than the ones needed at CLQ or AUZ. We are talking 66 tons versus 600 tons. I don’t mean to be stubborn but this is a real concern of mine concerning a position in AUZ; and Clean Teq, whom I trust, has stated that they have a three year lead time. If AUZ can get the autoclaves in one or even two years, they will be in a virtual tie with CLQ for production; if it takes longer, they will be second. Many people do not think the time difference will… Read more ยป
HN.. It would be good if there was a simple formula for determining autoclave size needed for a particular project. Perhaps there is one. The Kwinana Refinery has the capacity to manufacture 65,000 tonnes of nickel a year but they may have more than the two relatively small autoclaves operating and the processing of nickel from nickel matte may be fairly straightforward. With respect to very soft ores that are basically earths, the extraction of salts by HPAL may proceed faster that it would from ground rock. So autoclave through-puts could vary considerably depending upon the nature of the ore… Read more ยป
You cannot size the ‘claves by metal production. They have to be sized by tons of ore processed per year.
They are available, you can do it by dimensions and weight but more impoortantly by volume of through-put per year. Offhand I think the ones needed for the volumes needed at Clean Teq’s are about 30,000 tpa, and are about 600 tons each. The AUZ figures imply something about that size.
The BHP autoclaves cited were 66 tons.
One thing I read about SK Innovations is that they have their own investment bank, whatever that means? Also I imagine any financing is within reach. AUZ’s BB was looking for partners, he stated that clearly, to take not just Sconi initially but the other 2 areas all the way in due course. On the personal level of seeing how BB has conducted him self to shareholders he replies quickly and is viewed in very high regard. I think his demeanour would have helped getting the deal in place. We dont know the actual deal details yet or how the… Read more ยป
Squirrel…I see the SK deal as mainly giving AUZ the wherwithal to get financing at reasonable terms. SK bank may or may not get involved; with SK promising to buy 100% of off-take, AUZ should be able to get financed from somebody. So their timetable on financing is greatly improved and I would be the first to concede that. But project financing does not solve the autoclave problem. For one thing, I do not yet see cash changing hands from SK to AUZ. AUZ has to order the stupid thing, it will not appear by magic and it takes cash.… Read more ยป
Thanks appreciate your response, with the autoclaves being essential would not SK be aware of this and not do a deal unless AUZ /BB had satisfied them or SK knew a way round this issue, assuming they cannot wait up to 3 years which seems very unlikely.
To me if I was doing the deal the lack of the autoclaves being sorted is a deal breaker unless I’m missing something here?
If anyone is long $AUZ they should ask:
“Is the autoclave for Sconi on order, and when will it be delivered ?”
**
I am not saying it cannot be done faster., ot that they cannot find one. I am saying that until proven otherwise, $AUZ cannot support a claim of production earlier than the delivery of the autoclaves.
#Autoclaves – I took your suggestion to go autoclave shopping in the summer. Even “spoke” with Arch1 a couple of times about it. Had two companies writing asking for dimensions, uses, etc. There are many such devices in all shapes and sizes. Have a look.
Bet there may be several in the DRC, of all places, that may be sitting idle for the time being. ๐ Have a great weekend and beyond ALL! ๐
Ben…the size needed is about 600 tons. Where could I find one for sale ?
There many sizes but one of a certain size is needed, and it is a very large one.
What are the advantages / disadvantages of processing in small vs. large batches?
Obviously the ore can be processed in a device the size of a microwave oven for samples…
Long both $CLQ.asx and $AUZ.asx
The demo plant that is running is pretty large and is working on Sunrise ore.
Flippa01 on HC is a very knowledgeable bloke in this area. 2 v recent post regards autoclaves. Including delivery time it would normally take 18 months min from design and ordering and 8-10 months to install and connect to systems. There is a “but” with that timeframe, SK is as many people are saying is a massive conglomerate. Part of this conglomerate has a construction arm that I would say may be able to build this autoclave/s. SK did all the pre-fab steam pipework and boiler build for the Inpex power station in Darwin. I dare say take they would… Read more ยป
Flippa is a real expert. His point was, that neither CLQ nor AUZ had any chance of being operational before end 2020, not just because of autoclaves but because of other construction issues that are always present in projects like this, and apply to both projects. He refused to give CLQ any time advantage at all in terms of speed to construction. While I greatly respect his expertise, on this point I do not think he is being objective. How can it be that they are even in time to production, when Clean Teq has been prepping and working on… Read more ยป
Any chance his opinions had a direct effect on recent downward pressure?