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Cobalt Town

Cobalt 27 faces investor outcry amid accusations it’s selling ‘crown jewel’ assets at a loss – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – September 7, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Proposed buyout has some shareholders feeling like the company bought high and sold low as it tries to steer investors from cobalt to nickel

Toronto-based Cobalt 27 Capital Corp., which billed itself as an investment in the electric vehicle revolution, is facing outcries from some of its largest shareholders as it tries to sell its most valuable assets during a market low-point.

The company roared into the market in mid-2017 with an initial public offering, ultimately raising hundreds of millions of dollars to stockpile and acquire royalties on cobalt, an essential metal used in lithium-ion batteries. Within about a year the price of cobalt had hit a five-year peak, only to crash in the latter half of 2018 and never fully recover.

Now the company wants to steer its investors into nickel and to sell its main cobalt assets to its largest shareholder, Pala Investments. Other shareholders would receive $3.57 in cash, plus equity in Nickel 28, a new company that would hold the remaining assets including a stake in a nickel mine in Papua New Guinea.

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Glencore to support First Cobalt’s refinery in Ontario – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – June 25, 2019)

Northern Miner

First Cobalt (TSXV: FCC; US-OTC: FTSSF) has taken a major step toward becoming the only producer of refined cobalt in North America.

The company, which plans to restart its hydrometallurgical cobalt refinery near Cobalt, Ont., has signed an agreement with Glencore (LON: GLEN) that will see the metals giant supply the junior’s refinery with cobalt feedstock.

Under a memorandum of understanding, Glencore will also provide a loan to cover the estimated cost of re-commissioning the refinery, and collaborate on its final flow-sheet design.

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North America’s first cobalt refinery inches closer to production — but obstacles remain – by James Snell (Financial Post – April 11, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

CEO Trent Mell remains optimistic about the refinery’s prospects

First Cobalt Corp., the $50-million company, is inching closer to becoming the first producer of battery-grade cobalt to feed the nascent North American electric vehicle market, but there are still plenty of roadblocks in its way.

The Toronto-based company achieved a breakthrough when it announced earlier this month that it successfully produced battery-grade cobalt sulfate using its refinery’s own processes, or flowsheet, — but the problem is, it was done in a lab using a small sample.

CEO Trent Mell, who is currently in Shanghai meeting with investors at the Fastmarkets MB Battery Materials Conference, remains optimistic about the refinery, which is in the midst of a $30-million refurbishment.

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THE DRIFT: The King of Cobalt: Gino Chitaroni is the go-to pathfinder in the Cobalt exploration camp – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 14, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Like generations of his family before him, Gino Chitaroni is a jack-of-all-trades. He’s a prospector, developer, business owner, tourist camp operator, and staunch advocate for the mineral exploration industry.

The third-generation resident of Cobalt (population 1,100) comes from a proud and tough stock of miners, mechanics, contractors and equipment suppliers on both sides of his family dating back to the Silver Rush days of the early 1900s.

During the 2016-2017 cobalt-staking rush in northeastern Ontario, Chitaroni became the to-go guy for industry and media types who trekked up Highway 11 and stopped at in PolyMet Labs to talk to the colourful and outspoken president of what was happening on the ground.

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Abandoned Canadian silver mines could boom again as battery demand prompts gold rush in cobalt – by Peter Armstrong (CBC News Business – November 15, 2018)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/

Cobalt, Ont., could could be sitting on a gold mine — of cobalt — to help power electric cars, phones

The flooded bottom of an abandoned silver mine is an unlikely source of hope. But down there in the flickering light, a once worthless metal known as cobalt has sat idle for decades. Now it’s one of the most sought after metals in the world and that has many in this town in northern Ontario dreaming of boom times once again.

A century ago, prospectors came to Cobalt, Ont., in search of silver. They found it, and the town boomed. Amid all the silver, miners also found cobalt. So much that they named the town after it. Back then though, it was a mere indicator, a sign that something of actual value was nearby.

Now, all that ignored and discarded cobalt is the town’s best hope. “The potential here is huge,” says Frank Basa, chief executive officer of Canada Cobalt Works. Cobalt the metal has had a spectacular run over the past few years. And now Cobalt the town is poised to cash in.

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Cobalt refinery edges closer to restart: First Cobalt puts out the mill feed call to North American, international suppliers – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 11, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Securing outside feedstock is the key to a faster restart of a cobalt refinery in northeastern Ontario. First Cobalt announced Oct. 10 that it’s in discussions with “several parties” to obtain an outside supply of feedstock that could help finance the restart of its mill near the town of Cobalt.

The Toronto junior miner is evaluating all aspects of how soon to reopen the shuttered operation it purchased in 2017, and position it as a toll milling facility. How soon it reopens depends on the outcome of those talks with suppliers.

The company acquired the 22-year-old facility when it began assembling its sizeable land holdings of more than 11,700 hectares in the Cobalt camp, which includes 50 former silver mines containing cobalt material.

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Cobalt mining conference taking shape – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 10, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Land rehabilitation, mining legacy and cobalt exploration are featured topics at September event

There’s definitely a dual meaning that applies to the inaugural Green Mining Conference being held in the Town of Cobalt this September.

For decades, the northeastern Ontario community of 1,100 endured the environmental legacy issues left behind by the town’s famed Silver Rush at the turn of the last century; something Agnico Eagle Mines has spent considerable time and money on to clean up old mine workings.

At the same time, Cobalt is back on the world stage as an exploration hotspot for its namesake metal that’s powering the expanding electric vehicle battery market.

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These battery skeptics think cobalt and lithium prices are overcooked – by Luzi Ann Javier (Financial Post/Bloomberg – July 2018)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Tesla boss Elon Musk says the amount of cobalt his company will use to make electric cars is headed toward ‘almost nothing’

Call them battery skeptics. Bets on surging demand for electric vehicles have made cobalt and lithium hot commodities, but some investors say the outlook is leaving them cold.

While prices have more than doubled in the past three years on worries over shortages of the metals used in batteries, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is predicting “severe oversupplies” in the lithium market, and Subaru Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. are for now keeping their focus on conventionally powered vehicles.

“The craziness that you see in cobalt will in many ways actually be corrected,” Christoph Eibl, the chief executive officer of asset manager Tiberius Group, said in an interview. “There’s so much uncertainty about how future technologies will be applied and how much replacement and substitution will actually occur. There will be batteries that will use much less lithium.

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How dreams of ‘Mount Cobalt’ are dividing an old mining town – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 24, 2018)

 

http://business.financialpost.com/

As cobalt prices spike, some support levelling and gutting Cobalt, Ont., for mining’s return and economic prosperity, but others find the prospect ‘heartbreaking’

Gino Chitaroni keeps five different business cards arrayed at the front of his desk: He’s a geologist, prospector, land manager, salesman and, for many people, a go-to source of information for anything related to mining in Cobalt, Ont.

Until recently, as far as mining is concerned, there hasn’t been much happening around Cobalt. Located about five hours north of Toronto, it experienced a historic and prolific silver rush at the turn of the last century that sustained decades of mining. By the late 1980s, things had petered out.

Then, last year, in a welcome turn of events for a town that has struggled economically since mining disappeared, prospectors started flocking to the area in droves.

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Meteoric landing for Australian cobalt hunter: Junior miner does the groundwork to go drilling in the Cobalt camp – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 9, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Meteoric Resources, a western Australian cobalt explorer, is gaining ground in the cobalt country of northeastern Ontario.

The Perth-headquartered outfit has been on a staking binge this spring to enlarge its holdings and fast-track its exploration efforts. In early May, Meteoric grabbed more than 33-square-kilometres of prospective ground, about 40 kilometres northwest of the Town of Cobalt.

Dubbed the Beauchamp Cobalt Project, the company said the property “has all the right rock types combined with great geological structure, and we look forward to fast-tracking exploration at the property.”

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Cobalt Firm Says Chinese Car Companies Keen to Secure Supplies (Bloomberg News – April 16, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Cobalt 27 Capital Corp., owner of the world’s largest private stockpile of cobalt, said it is in talks for potential tie-ups with major Chinese companies seeking to secure supplies of the key metal in batteries powering electric vehicles.

Car and battery makers from China have approached Cobalt 27 to discuss long-term partnerships and supply contracts, Anthony Milewski, chief executive officer of the Canadian firm, said in an interview in Beijing on Monday. Milewski said he has at least 17 such meetings lined up in major Chinese cities over the next three days.

“There’s a lot of interest and it is natural because it is where all this will happen,” Milewski said, declining to identify the companies. “China is going to be the world leader of electric vehicles.”

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Orefinders gets into the cobalt game – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Power Ore is the name of the spinoff company being created by Orefinders Resources to work its cobalt properties in northeastern Ontario.

By way of a court-approved plan of arrangement, Power Ore picks up Orefinders’ silver-cobalt assets, the former Mann silver-cobalt mines, and MacMurchy nickel property in the Gowganda district.

The arrangement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. Power Ore is targeting to list on the exchange soon after receiving approval from Orefinders’ shareholders at a special meeting on May 4.

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RNC mulls selling Aussie mine to focus on massive cobalt-nickel project in Quebec – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – March 22, 2018)

http://www.mining.com/

Canada’s RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX) said Thursday it might sell all or part of its Beta Hunt gold and nickel mine in Western Australia to focus instead on its Dumont cobalt and nickel project in Quebec, the world’s largest undeveloped reserve of both metals.

The Toronto-based miner, which acquire Beta Hunt in 2016, said while it has grew the scale of the operation ever since, such asset is now considered to be non-core to RNC, particularly since Dumont’s potential value is significantly greater than the Australian mine’s current worth.

The company, however, did say it would consider other strategic alternatives for Beta Hunt, adding that no decision about the mine future has been made at the time.

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EV adoption rate reaching critical mass as search for ethical cobalt heats up – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 20, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Cobalt company Cobalt 27 is seeing an ideal storm brewing for its key commodity as the adoption rate of electric vehicles (EVs) accelerates faster than even optimistic forecasts had speculated.

“Cobalt 27 is a proxy for the adoption of the EV,” executive chairperson Anthony Milewski told Mining Weekly Online in an interview. “What our most recent raise tells one is that the thematic is picking up pace.”

He pointed to the EV adoption rate hitting 1.8% at the end of 2017. “Currently, Wall Street has projections for 2025 of an EV penetration rate of 15%.

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Battery makers descend on Australia, Canada cobalt developers – by Melanie Burton and Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – March 19, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE/VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Nervous Asian battery makers are turning to early-stage cobalt projects in Australia and Canada to lock in supplies of the critical battery ingredient ahead of expected shortages as demand for electric vehicles revs up.

Mine developers say interest from Japanese and Korean firms is particularly strong as they compete with rivals from China, which has built deep supply chain ties with the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s top producer.

The central African country accounts for nearly two-thirds of global cobalt output and production is set to rise despite concerns over the use of child miners and rising royalties. “We are starting to see the first signs of an arms race to secure long term cobalt supplies,” said Joe Kaderavek, chief executive of Australia’s Cobalt Blue (COB.AX).

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