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New Age Metals $NAM.ca $NMTLF Initiates Pre-Feasibility Study for the River Valley Palladium Project, $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $PGM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:50 AM on Monday, April 12th, 2021
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  • Will take 8 to 12 months
  • Completion early 2022

New Age Metals Inc. (TSXV:NAM); (OTC:NMTLF); (FSE:P7J.F) (“NAM” or “Company”) is pleased to announce agreements with leading engineering firms to complete a Pre-Feasibility Study of its 100% owned River Valley Palladium Project near Sudbury, Ontario (Canada). The Pre-Feasibility Study will be undertaken over the next 8 to 12 months, with completion slated for early 2022.  

The Pre-Feasibility Study will be completed by four engineering firms: P&E Mining Consultants Inc. for Initial Mineral Reserve estimation, mine planning, economic analysis and Project Lead; SGS Canada Inc. and D.E.N.M. Engineering Ltd. for mineral processing and metallurgical test work; Knight-Piésold Consulting for design of the tailings facility and open pit geotechnical engineering; and Story Environmental for environmental and community impact interactions and permitting. P&E Mining Consultants Inc. will be updating the Mineral Resource Estimate and leading the preparation of the Pre-Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report.

Harry Barr, Chairman and CEO, said, “We are extremely pleased to have assembled such an impressive team for our Pre-Feasibility Study. These firms will work together with NAM to optimize the value of the River Valley Palladium Project, by maximizing the economic aspects while minimizing the environmental impacts and benefitting the local communities. The River Valley Project will be very well-timed for the green metal revolution.”

Work for the Pre-Feasibility Study is planned to commence this month. Four new holes will be drilled by NAM to recover fresh material for new mineral processing and metallurgical testwork. The SGS Canada Inc. and D.E.N.M team will work on the material to optimize recovery of palladium, platinum, gold, copper, nickel, rhodium and cobalt. This work will build on previous studies by SGS Lakefield in 2012 and include, for the first time, systematic rhodium recovery determinations. Knight-Piésold Consulting will complete the first geotechnical and geomechanical studies of the Project, based on new drilling and excavations by NAM in the areas of the open pit mines, processing plant, waste dumps and tailings facilities, as outlined in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) of June 2019 (Figure 1). Story Environmental will continue baseline environmental studies and build effective relationships with local government agencies and communities, including First Nations, for future permit applications and approvals.

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New Age Metals $NAM.ca $NMTLF Drone Magnetic Survey to be Completed on Several Lithium Projects in Southeast Manitoba $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $PGM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:25 AM on Tuesday, April 6th, 2021
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  • NAM has contracted EarthEx Geophysical Solutions (EarthEx) to conduct several UAV-Borne Magnetometry Surveys on the Company’s Lithium Projects in southeast (SE) Manitoba
  • The program is being co-funded by the Company and the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF) which is administered by the Chamber of Commerce
  • NAM has 100% ownership of seven pegmatite hosted Lithium and Rare Element Projects in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field, located in SE Manitoba
  • NAM’s exploration focus on SE Manitoba is on Lithium-bearing pegmatites – The seven projects are strategically situated within the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field

New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) (TSXV:NAM); (OTC:NMTLF); (FSE:P7J) (“NAM” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that a Drone Magnetic Survey is being initiated on their Lithium Projects in SE Manitoba through their wholly owned subsidiary, Lithium Canada Development.

The Drone Magnetic Survey is a UAV-Borne Magnetometry survey. The present system being used by EarthEx is the highest resolution drone magnetics system on the market today. EarthEx is a Manitoba-based geophysical consulting company. Daniel Card, Chief Geophysicist and President of EarthEx said “We are excited to be working with such a highly reputable company as New Age Metals, in this prolific pegmatite district, providing services which will accelerate the path to new discoveries.” The EarthEx airborne magnetic geophysical survey technology will be used to further define future drill targets for the Company’s Lithium Two, Lithman West and Cat Lake Lithium Projects, Figure 1.

Harry Barr, Chairman and CEO stated, “Our team is busy advancing the Lithium Projects in SE Manitoba. Drilling is occurring in the next few weeks on one of our Lithium Projects and the Drone Magnetic Survey will help us better determine other drill targets. The potential for economic Lithium Deposits in Manitoba is strong and New Age with its Lithium Division, Lithium Canada Development are pleased to be fully funded and active in the Lithium space in Manitoba. We are also very fortunate to be partnering with the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund again on this work program to help develop this underexplored lithium region.”

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New Age Metals $NAM.ca $NMTLF Closes First Tranche of $2,975,000 with Lead Order from Eric Sprott $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $PGM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 11:30 AM on Wednesday, March 31st, 2021
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  • Gross proceeds of $2,975,000
  • 1st of 2 Tranches

New Age Metals Inc. (TSXV:NAM) (OTC:NMTLF) (FSE:P7J) (“NAM” or the “Company“), is pleased to announce that further to the news release of March 26, 2021, the Company has completed the first tranche of its private placement (“Private Placement”) raising gross proceeds of $2,975,000.

The Company has issued an aggregate of 18,593,750 units (“Units”) at a purchase price of $0.16 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $2,975,000.  Eric Sprott has closed 18,281,250 of the Units for $2,925,000.

Each Unit consisted of one common share and one half of one share purchase warrant, whereby each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share at a purchase price of $0.20 per share at any time up to March 31, 2023.

Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation which is beneficially owned by him, acquired 18,281,250 Units pursuant to the Private Placement for total consideration of $2,925,000. Prior to the Private Placement, Mr. Sprott beneficially owned or controlled 20,250,000 Common Shares and 17,125,000 Warrants of the Company.  As a result of the Private Placement, Mr. Sprott beneficially owns and controls 38,531,250 Common Shares and 26,265,625 Warrants representing approximately 19.9% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis and approximately 29.5% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company on a partially diluted basis assuming the exercise of Warrants.

The Units were acquired by Mr. Sprott for investment purposes.  Mr. Sprott has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities of the Company including on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell securities of Company including on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other factors that Mr. Sprott considers relevant from time to time. 

A copy of the applicable early warning report will appear on the Company’s profile on SEDAR and may also be obtained by calling Mr. Sprott’s office at (416) 945-3294 (200 Bay Street, Suite 2600, Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2J1).

The second tranche of 12,968,750 Units is to be completed five business days after the Company has obtained shareholder approval (from disinterested shareholders) for the new control person that would be created once Mr. Sprott’s beneficial ownership exceeds 20%.  The completion of the second tranche is conditional upon such shareholder approval being obtained by August 30, 2021.  Mr. Sprott will provide an undertaking not to exercise his warrants (if doing so would result in his non-diluted ownership interest exceeding 20%) until the Company has obtained such shareholder approval.

Mr. Sprott is an insider of the Company and, as such, his participation in the Private Placement is a related-party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”) and TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 (which incorporates by reference MI 61-101). The Company is relying on exemptions from the minority shareholder approval and formal valuation requirements applicable to related party transactions under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a), respectively, of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the Units to be purchased on behalf of Mr. Sprott nor the consideration to be paid by him exceeds 25% of the Company’s market capitalization.

In connection with the first tranche of the Private Placement, the Company has paid finder fees to Mackie Research Capital Corporation of $193,375 in cash and issued 1,208,594 warrants.  Each such warrant will be exercisable for two years at an exercise price of $0.16 per Unit (being the same as the per Unit price under the Private Placement).

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New Age Metals $NAM.ca $NMTLF Announces First Tranche Closing of $3,621,680 Private Placement, with Participation by Eric Sprott $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $PGM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:44 PM on Thursday, March 18th, 2021
  • Gross Proceeds of $3,621,680
  • Lead order of $1,000,000 from Eric Sprott
  • Proceeds for Prefeasibility Study on River Valley Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Project, one of North America’s largest undeveloped primary palladium projects

New Age Metals Inc. (TSXV:NAM) (OTC:NMTLF) (FSE:P7J) (“NAM” or the “Company“), is pleased to announce that it has completed a first tranche closing of its non-brokered private placement offering (the “Private Placement”) raising gross proceeds of $3,621,680, with lead order of $1,000,000 from Mr. Eric Sprott.

The Company has issued an aggregate of 22,260,500 units consisting of 20,760,500 non-flow through units (“NFT Units”) at a price of $0.16 per NFT Unit and 1,500,000 flow-through units of the Company (the “FT Units”) at a price of $0.20 per FT Unit.

Each NFT Unit consisted of one common share and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one additional Common Share at an exercise price equal to $0.20 per share at any time up to 24 months from closing.

Each FT Unit consisted of one flow-through share of the Company that will qualify within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (“FT Common Share”) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a “FT Warrant”). Each FT Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price equal to $0.25 at any time up to 24 months closing.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of Units towards its exploration and development work on its projects. The primary use of proceeds from this financing will be for the completion of a Prefeasibility Study for the Company’s flagship River Valley Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Project, one of North America’s largest undeveloped primary palladium projects, and for general corporate and working capital purposes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of FT Units towards its exploration work on both the Company’s PGM and Lithium divisions. This will include a maiden drill program on the Company’s Lithium Two Project in Manitoba and continued drilling at River Valley.

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New Age Metals $NAM.ca $NMTLF River Valley Prefeasibility Study Update and Drilling on PGM and Lithium Divisions in 2021 $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $PGM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:44 AM on Monday, March 8th, 2021
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  • Subject to closing a recently announced financing, this release will outline our 2021 objectives including;
  • NAM intends to engage third party engineering companies to complete the River Valley Palladium Project’s first Prefeasibility Study before the end of the first quarter of 2022.
  • NAM technical teams are finalizing plans for additional exploration drilling of up to 5,000 metres at the River Valley Project to further delineate the northernmost mineralized zones, expand the known mineralization boundaries and for resource classification.
  • NAM has received notice that a drill permit for its Lithium One Project in southeast Manitoba has been approved and is extending its permit for the Lithium Two Project. A minimum 2,000 metre drill program on the Lithium Two Project is scheduled for the second quarter of this year.
  • NAM has submitted a second application to the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce’s, Mineral Development Fund (MMDF). The Company hopes to co-fund the program with the MMDF to conduct a drone magnetometry survey on its Lithium Two, Lithman West and Cat Lake Lithium projects.
  • The River Valley Palladium Project is one of North America’s largest undeveloped primary Platinum Group Metal (PGM) projects. The Project has excellent infrastructure and is within 100 kilometres of the Sudbury Metallurgical Complex. The Project is 100% owned by New Age Metals.
  • The spot price of an ounce of palladium, platinum, and rhodium as of March 4, 2021 was $US2,285/oz, $US1,160/oz, and $US26,000/ oz respectively (Kitco, 2021)

New Age Metals Inc. (TSXV:NAM); (OTC:NMTLF); (FSE:P7J.F) Harry Barr, Chairman & CEO, stated; “We are pleased to provide shareholders with a corporate update to detail our planned exploration and development activities for our portfolio of North American green metal projects in 2021.”

NAM is focused on advancing River Valley to a Prefeasibility study. This study would be based on completion of metallurgy, hydrogeology, geotechnical surveys, an updated mineral resource estimate, environmental baseline, infill and exploration drilling. Management has received quotes from third party engineering and environmental firms and confirmed a budget for the study. Subject to the completion of the recently announced financing, management plans to initiate this study in the first half of 2021. Our objective is to complete the Prefeasibility study on or before the end of the first quarter of 2022.

NAM’s technical team is finalizing a phase one drill program for up to 5,000 metres for the northern portion of the River Valley Project. Next phases of drilling will focus on the Dana North, Dana South, Pine, Banshee, Lismer and Pardo Zones (Figure 1) given their fundamental importance to any potential mining operation at River Valley. The occurrence of surface mineralization in the River Valley Intrusion, drill hole mineralization and geophysical chargeability east of the footwall boundary of the current resource model are all strong indicators of mineralization that could be added to a future resource model. Proposed drill targets are illustrated in Figure 1 below.

 Figure 1: Northern area of the River Valley Project.The image shows numerous IP anomalies similar to Pine Zone extend northeast (externally) and southwest (internally) of the footwall contact of the River Valley Intrusion. Those IP anomalies remain to be drill tested.

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NAM Further Demonstrates Presence of Rhodium at the River Valley Palladium Project Near Sudbury, Ontario $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $PGM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:20 AM on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021

Highlights:

  • Rhodium (Rh) is the most valuable platinum group metal (PGM), with recent spot price highs of over $US24,000/oz Rh, nearly 18 times higher than Pt
  • 303 Rh assay results reported for the Pine Zone of the River Valley Deposit
  • Highest assay result is 0.177 g/t Rh, with 9 other samples returned assays at or greater than 0.100 g/t Rh and a total of 50 samples returned assays higher than 0.050 g/t Rh
  • The highest Rh concentrations coincide with the highest palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt) grades – Rh concentrations in the River Valley Deposit are equivalent to 12% of the Pt grades
  • Based on encouraging results from phase 1, subsequent phases of the multi-phase Rh evaluation program will take samples of PGM mineralized intervals from the Dana South and Lismer zones
  • The River Valley Deposit is one of North Americas largest undeveloped primary platinum-group metal projects with 2.867 Moz Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) in the Measured + Indicated classifications and 1.059 Moz Pd Eq in the Inferred classification

New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) (TSXV:NAM); (OTC:NMTLF); (FSE:P7J) (“NAM” or the “Company”) announces completion of Phase 1 of an ongoing Rh assay program on the River Valley Palladium Deposit near Sudbury, Ontario (Figure 1). Phase 1 of the Rh assay program collected 303 pulp samples from 17 mineralized intervals in 14 drill holes through the Pine Zone. The samples were selected to provide Rh data for mineralization in two cross-sections spaced 50 metres apart through the Pine Zone, located near the north end of the 16 km long River Valley Deposit (Figure 1).  In addition to Rh, the samples were also assayed for gold (Au), iridium (Ir), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and ruthenium (Ru). The assays were completed on 2015-2020 drill core sample pulps at the Geoscience Laboratories in Sudbury.

The new Rh data reported herein are in addition to historical data generated from drill core, channel and surface grab samples from the River Valley Deposit (Figure 2) (see also Pacific North West Capital Corp. press release dated July 26, 2011). Rh is the most valuable platinum group metal (PGM), with recent spot price highs of over $US24,000/oz Rh, nearly 18 times higher than Pt. However, Rh analyses are too costly to be performed on every drill core assay sample. Rh is reported in the current Mineral Resource Estimate for the River Valley Deposit (see NAM press release dated August 8, 2019), based on regression analysis of historical drill core and channel sample assay data for the Dana North, Dana South and Lismer Zones.
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New Age Metals $NAM $ NMTLF Announces Upsize of Private Placement to $5.25 Million $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:38 AM on Friday, February 26th, 2021
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New Age Metals Inc. (TSXV:NAM) (OTC:NMTLF) (FSE:P7J) (“NAM” or the “Company“), is pleased to announce that, due to strong investor demand, it has increased its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering (the “Private Placement”) to up to $5,250,000, consisting of: (i) up to $3,500,000 in units of the Company (the “Units”) at a price of $0.16 per Unit and (ii) up to $1,750,000 in flow-through units of the Company (the “FT Units”) at a price of $0.20 per FT Unit.

Each Unit shall be comprised of one common share (a “Common Share“) of the Company and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a “Warrant“). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one additional Common Share at an exercise price equal to $0.20 at any time up to 24 months from closing of the Private Placement.

Each FT Unit will consist of one common share of the Company that will qualify as a “flow-through share” within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (“FT Common Share”) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a “FT Unit Warrant”). Each FT Unit Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price equal to $0.25 at any time up to 24 months closing of the Private Placement.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of Units towards its exploration and development work on its projects. The primary use of proceeds from this financing will be for the completion of a Prefeasibility Study for the Company’s flagship River Valley Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Project, one of North America’s largest undeveloped primary palladium projects, and for general corporate and working capital purposes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of FT Units towards its exploration work on both the Company’s PGM and Lithium divisions. This will include a maiden drill program on the Company’s Lithium Two Project in Manitoba and continued drilling at River Valley.

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VIDEO – New Age Metals Has 2.9Moz of #Palladium Equivalent (M&I), 7 #Lithium Projects And Eric #Sprott As An Investor To Win The Green Metal Revolution $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:33 PM on Wednesday, January 27th, 2021

Harry Barr / Chairman, CEO & Director of New Age Metals Inc. / (TSXV:NAM); (OTC:NMTLF); (FSE:P7J) discusses the River Valley PGM deposit, as well as their Lithium holdings.  Advancement of the River Valley PGM deposit is ongoing studies conducted continue to solidify the value of the 2.9Moz Palladium Equivalent (Measured & Indicated) resource.

With Palladium increasing 25%, the $2300 threshold for Palladium has been breached, and investors are starting to take notice; as they should.  One of mining’s great investors, Eric Sprott is already a strategic shareholder. 

River Valley Highlights 

  • 100% ownership of a multi-million-ounce district scale North American Palladium asset
  • 100 km north east of Sudbury, $40M of expenditures at River Valley Palladium Project
  • Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)complete, working towards Prefeasibility (PFS)
  • Excellent exploration upside across the Company’s project portfolio
  • River Valley Project payable metal suite hosts other battery metals  including copper, nickel, cobalt

Have a seat and find out why New Age Metals is a leader of Green Metal Projects in North America.

New Age Metals $NAM.ca Provides Lithium One Project Surface Exploration Results $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:49 AM on Tuesday, January 12th, 2021
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New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) (TSXV:NAM ) ; ( OTC:NMTLF ) ; ( FSE:P7J) (“NAM” or the “Company”) New Age Metals announces results from the surface prospecting activities at its 100% owned Lithium One Project near Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba.  The project was co-funded by the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce’s administered Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF).  Work completed on the Property in the fall months of 2020 consisted of field rock sampling and geological mapping. Reported herein are the assay results for grab samples testing the Silverleaf Pegmatite, Greer Lake Quarry, and other locations on the Lithium One Project (Table 1).  

Table 1: 2020 Silverleaf assay result highlights from grab samples.

 -----------------------------------
 |Sample|Li2O (%)|Rb2O (%)|Cs2O (%)|
 |---------------------------------|
 |171878|0.03    |0.13    |0.00    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171879|3.12    |0.13    |0.02    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171880|0.15    |0.11    |0.00    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171881|0.05    |0.02    |0.00    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171882|1.43    |1.06    |0.08    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171883|2.06    |0.87    |0.06    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171886|1.40    |0.47    |0.05    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171887|2.39    |1.81    |0.26    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171888|2.82    |2.15    |0.31    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171889|0.16    |0.17    |0.01    |
 |---------------------------------|
 |171890|1.93    |0.49    |0.04    |
 -----------------------------------

Figure 1:  Newer outcrop exposure of spectacular Spodumene-Lepidolite mineralization at Silverleaf.

Mineral prospecting activities in the fall of 2020 focused on Silverleaf Zone and Greer Lake Quarry (Figures 2, 3, and 4). The purpose of the field work was to examine possible extensions of the Silverleaf Pegmatite and the Greer Lake Pegmatite Quarry. A total of 75 field samples were collected.

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#Platinum and #palladium to run higher as industrial demand picks up in 2021 – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:53 AM on Thursday, December 31st, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposits in Sudbury, Canada. The company has an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate of 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

  • Some analysts expect that as the global economy returns to some normalcy, palladium will resume its sharp uptrend from 2019.
  • Before the pandemic decimated the global economy, palladium prices were rocketing higher, hitting an all-time high above $2,700.
  • The price of the precious industrial metal has been driven by a significant supply and demand imbalance.
  • Demand for palladium has risen sharply over the years as automakers use more of the metal to meet tightening emission standards; meanwhile, supply has dropped sharply.

By: Neils Christensen

(Kitco News) – Although gold attracted a lot of attention in 2020, especially after hitting an all-time high in August, investors should have been paying attention to platinum group metals (PGMs), according to some analysts.

Like all other assets, the PGM space has been extremely volatile this past year as investors have tried to navigate the massive uncertainty and economic destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, looking ahead, many analysts are fairly optimistic that platinum and palladium will attract new investor attention due to rising industrial demand as the global economy starts to recover from the effects of the coronavirus.

The two metals are primarily used in autocatalytic converters to reduce harmful exhaust emissions. Palladium is used in gasoline-powered engines, and platinum is used in diesel-powered vehicles. Platinum also has a slight advantage over palladium when it comes to physical demand as it also has a small jewelry market.

Some analysts expect that as the global economy returns to some normalcy, palladium will resume its sharp uptrend from 2019. Before the pandemic decimated the global economy, palladium prices were rocketing higher, hitting an all-time high above $2,700. The price of the precious industrial metal has been driven by a significant supply and demand imbalance. Demand for palladium has risen sharply over the years as automakers use more of the metal to meet tightening emission standards; meanwhile, supply has dropped sharply.

Platinum and palladium saw some renewed interest in November after Democratic candidate Joe Biden solidified his presidential win. Economists and market analysts expect that a Biden administration will lead to tighter environmental regulations and a renewed focus on developing green energy technology.

In a report published last month, Jonathan Butler, precious metals analyst at Mitsubishi, said that one of the first acts of the new government will bw to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.

“Regardless of the ease with which the new administration can pass climate-friendly legislation from next year, rejoining the Paris agreement will be a clear signal of intent and will likely be followed by moves to improve vehicle fuel efficiency and regulate other pollutants as well as promote green energy. This is likely to be generally favorable to PGMs in emissions control, coming at a time when the auto industry is in recovery phase and as the rest of the United States follow California’s lead in addressing regulated pollutants and lowering average vehicle CO2 emissions,” he said.

While analysts expected platinum and palladium to push higher next year, the sentiment is mixed as to what metal will outperform in 2021. 

Analysts at Metals Focus said that they see palladium prices pushing to $3,000 an ounce in 2021. The analysts said that the metal is expected to see its 10th annual supply deficit next year.

“Even though global light-duty vehicle production will only return to its 2019 level by 2022, palladium autocatalyst offtake could touch a new all-time high in 2021,” the analysts said. “This reflects the metal’s dominance in the gasoline segment and the trend towards higher metal loadings in response to tightening emission standards.”

Metals Focus is relatively neutral on platinum as it expects prices to average $1,000 an ounce next year.

“Jewelry demand will remain healthy due to platinum’s hefty discount to gold. Overall, the market is expected to become broadly balanced in 2021, keeping above-ground stocks near record levels,” the analysts said.

Analysts at TD Securities are also slightly more optimistic on palladium compared to platinum. The Canadian bank also sees palladium pushing closer to $3,000 an ounce by the end of next year. The bank is an average price forecast of $2,656 an ounce for 2021.

Meanwhile, the TD analysts see platinum prices averaging the year around $1,013 an ounce, with prices peaking in the fourth quarter.

“Overall, the pandemic aftershock’s will likely result in a primary market surplus for platinum, particularly driven by a strong recovery in South African production, yet we expect investment demand for the metal to balance the market when the dust settles. While speculative demand for platinum has not benefited from the surge in appetite for gold and silver, it will likely benefit from speculative interest in the reflationary tailwinds expected for next year as the vaccine deployment helps the global recovery,” the commodity analysts said in their 2021 forecast report.

“At the same time, given that palladium will remain in a deficit, and that expectations for substantial headwinds from substitution may still not materialize as quickly as some anticipate, periods of scarcity and higher prices may still ensue in the New Year.”

However, not all analysts are convinced that palladium will be the biggest winner among PGMs in 2021.

Analysts at Commerzbank gives platinum a slight edge in 2021. In its outlook forecast, the bank sees platinum prices averaging $1,250 an ounce in the fourth quarter of next year, up nearly 17% from current prices. At the same time, palladium is seeing averaging the fourth quarter around $2,500 an ounce, up only 5% from current prices.

For the year, the German bank sees platinum prices averaging around $1,1125 an ounce; they see palladium averaging 2021 around $2475 an ounce.

One major wild card that could have a significant impact on PGM metals and push platinum demand higher is the development of green hydrogen technology.

While many economists are expecting to see surging demand for electric vehicles in the coming years, battery technology has not been sufficient enough for heavy-duty vehicles. Many companies are looking at hydrogen fuel cells to fill the important void.

Platinum is the critical metal used in the process that separates water into hydrogen and oxygen.

“New demand for platinum is definitely creating a compelling investment story for the precious metal and could drive industrial demand.” Said Steve Dunn, head of exchange-traded products at Aberdeen Standard Investments, in a recent interview with Kitco News. “This story can’t be found in palladium.”

Trevor Raymond, head of research at the World Platinum Investment Council, said that he is watching the developing green hydrogen economy very closely.

“For many governments fighting climate change has become a major priority, but fewer funds are available to make broad sweeping changes. The development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source is one of the most cost-effective options we have,” he said in an interview with Kitco News.

“The COVID-19 pandemic gave the world a glimpse of what it could look like. There was clean air where there has never been clean air, and I don’t think we want to go back,” he added. “Green hydrogen gives you short-term cost-effectiveness and a long-term alternative energy solution.”

Not only is new demand from a growing sector increasing interest in platinum, but Dunn added that the precious metal could attract investor interest in 2021 as investors look for more value in the precious metal space.

Source: https://www.kitco.com/news/2020-12-31/Platinum-and-palladium-to-run-higher-as-industrial-demand-picks-up-in-2021.html