Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:07 AM on Tuesday, September 1st, 2020
Investment Highlights
Kenbridge property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper
The deepest hole extends to 838.4 metres, intersecting mineralization grading 4.25% nickel and 1.38% copper over 10.7 metres
The deposit remains open at depth
Tartisan completed a Spectral Analysis Survey that identified the Kenbridge Deposit, and has shown a possible extension and three additional trends
Owns 17.5 (21.8 fully diluted) percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property and are drilling their Iska Iska Pollymetallic project in Bolivia
Tartisan currently owns close to 4 million ELO shares
Tartisan owns close to 1,700,000 shares in Class 1 Nickel (CSE:NICO)
Tartisan vended the Alexo- Kelex asset to Class 1 Nickel, who recently listed on CSE
Kenbridge Ni Project (ON, Canada)
Advanced stage deposit remains open in three directions, is equipped with a 623m deep shaft and has never been mined
Preliminary Economic Assessment completed and updated returned robust project economics and operating costs including a NPV of C$253M and cash costs of US$3.47/lb of nickel net of copper credits
Plans for Kenbridge include updating PEA, advancing the project through to feasibility and exploring the open mineralization at depth
Recent News
Company has completed a Spectral Analysis Survey
Survey covered the patented and single-cell mining claims that make up the historic land position which contains the Kenbridge Deposit and the surrounding area, identifying several new exploration targets not only for nickel, copper, cobalt, but also for potential gold occurrences
Analysis Survey shows the distribution and intensity of up to 304 minerals, with the first pass showing up to 16 minerals
Each mineral can be classified into an exploration relevance for base metals, precious metals and industrial metals
Tartisan CEO Mark Appleby said, “the survey picked out the Kenbridge Deposit, and has shown the possible extension to the Kenbridge Deposit and three additional trends that relate directly to underlying geology and structure implicit in the Kenbridge Deposit. Of significant interest, the survey found two gold trends as well, which include the Violet and Nina historic gold occurrences. One of the occurrences is almost 54 hectares in size and covers almost all of three of our staked claims on the border of the Kenbridge property.”
DISCLOSURE: Tartisan Nickel Corp. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 10:06 AM on Thursday, August 27th, 2020
SEOUL (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk has suggested the U.S. electric carmaker may be able to mass produce batteries with 50% more energy density in three to four years, which could even enable electric airplanes.
SEOUL (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk has suggested the U.S. electric carmaker may be able to mass produce batteries with 50% more energy density in three to four years, which could even enable electric airplanes.
His comments came as speculation is growing about announcements at Tesla’s anticipated “Battery Day” event where it is expected to reveal how it has improved its battery performance.
“400 Wh/kg *with* high cycle life, produced in volume (not just a lab) is not far. Probably 3 to 4 years,” Musk tweeted on Monday in response to a Twitter thread by Sam Korus, an analyst at ARK Investment Management LLC, about why Musk keeps hinting at a Tesla electric plane.
Researchers have said the energy density of Panasonic’s (6752.T) “2170” batteries used in Tesla’s Model 3 is around 260 Wh/kg, meaning a 50% jump from the current energy density which is key to achieving a longer driving range.
Musk said last year that for electric flight to work, the energy density of batteries needed to improve to over 400 Wh/kg, a threshold which may be achieved in five years.
The electric car manufacturer also showed an image where a number of dots are clustered in line formations, sparking speculation among media and fans about what it will reveal at the event. (here)
South Korean battery expert Park Chul-wan said the image may hint at “silicon nanowire anode,” a breakthrough technology which can potentially increase both battery energy density and battery life sharply.
Panasonic Corp (6752.T) earlier told Reuters that it plans to boost the energy density of the original “2170” battery cells it supplies to Tesla by 20% in five years.
Tesla is also working with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) (300750.SZ) to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next year, with the batteries designed to last for a million miles of use, Reuters reported in May.
Tesla has said its Battery Day will take place on the same day as its 2020 annual meeting of shareholders on Sept. 22.
A very “limited number of stockholders” will be able to attend both of the events due to pandemic-related restrictions, Tesla said, and a lottery will be held to select attendees.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 9:29 AM on Tuesday, August 25th, 2020
“I’d just like to re-emphasize, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel,” said Musk
Nickel is arguably the single most important metal component in EV batteries.
In the popular imagination, lithium is the element that powers EVs. However, as Elon Musk has pointed out, the term “lithium-ion batteries” is something of a misnomer, because they don’t really contain that much lithium. “Although [they’re] called lithium-ion, the actual percentage of lithium in a lithium-ion cell is approximately 2%,” Musk explained at Tesla’s 2016 shareholder meeting. “Technically, our cells should be called nickel-graphite, because the primary constituent in the cell as a whole is nickel.”
More recently, Musk reiterated the importance of nickel, and made what sounded to some like an urgent plea for more of the stuff. “I’d just like to re-emphasise, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel,” said Musk during Tesla’s latest quarterly conference call. “Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and…go for efficiency, obviously environmentally-friendly nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”
However, meeting the expected surge in demand for element #28 may not be so easy, because of various supply-side issues. In a recent interview with Kitco News, Michael Beck, Managing Director at Regent Advisors, said he sees something of a “perfect storm” brewing in the nickel trade.
A Tesla Model 3 contains around 30 kilograms of nickel, Beck told Kitco’s Michael McCrae. “Nickel is probably the single most important metal component in battery fabrication. It’s where all of the energy is stored, and increasingly battery chemistries are being refined to allow the inclusion of as much nickel as possible. The more nickel, the higher the energy density of the battery.”
The spotlight on nickel is a recent development. Nickel prices collapsed in 2007, and there’s been little development of new capacity since then, says Beck. “In this intervening almost 12 years there was no material investment in new nickel capacity. The last 12 years has been a drawdown of excess inventory, and that’s coming to an end. The ramp-up of demand is just beginning.”
The long lead time for bringing new nickel mines into production is another constraining factor. “It takes 7 to 10 years to bring on new nickel projects,” says Beck. “So, you have the makings of a perfect storm. You have a baked-in structural deficit for the next 12 years…you have inventories in the next 18 months going down to almost zero. You also have this new demand source that never existed for nickel.”
Above: Ken Hoffman, senior expert at McKinsey, weighs in on Tesla’s need for nickel in order to expedite the EV revolution (YouTube: Kitco NEWS)
All that would seem to add up to an investment opportunity for somebody. “In the universe of metals, [nickel is] our favorite,” says Beck. “We think in the next two to three years you’re going to see a major up-tick of the nickel price…as shortages emerge, and that’s what’s going to be required to get new investment in the sector.”
So, what companies are poised to take advantage of the coming nickel rush? “Maybe the most interesting in the larger cap of established players is Norilsk,” says Beck. “They’re the number-two nickel producer, and they’re based in Russia. That’s probably the single best large-cap way to get exposure to nickel. It’s a major producer of the metal, and when nickel goes up, their share price goes up accordingly. At the smaller cap end of the spectrum, there are a bunch of smallish nickel explorers and emerging developers.”
Over the next few years, Beck believes that nickel shortages will emerge, and most companies with nickel exposure will benefit. However, there’s another factor in play. Tesla and other EV-makers are naturally eager to get their raw materials from sustainable sources. The industry has invested much effort and cash in cleaning up its supply chain for cobalt. Elon’s recent plea for nickel specified that it needed to be mined in an environmentally sensitive way. (Norilsk, by the way, has recently been involved in not one but two oil spills in Russia’s Arctic region.)
Vancouver-based Giga Metals quickly responded to Elon’s appeal, saying that it has a source of environmentally-responsible nickel in development. As Matthew Hall reports in Mining Technology, Giga Metals owns a property called Turnagain in north-central British Columbia, which it says is one of the largest undeveloped sulphide nickel projects in the world, and also contains cobalt.
Canada has plenty of nickel mines, but Giga Metals has a unique vision for the Turnagain mine. “Our goal is to be the world’s first carbon-neutral mine,” said Giga Metals President Martin Vydra. “We plan to use power from BC Hydro’s clean energy grid, which will involve more capital expenditure than the alternatives, but is the right thing to do.”
Above: Tesla’s Model 3 (Source: EVANNEX; Photo by Casey Murphy)
“If you want environmentally-responsible nickel, I really think you have to look at sulphide deposits in first-world jurisdictions such as Canada and Australia,” said Giga Metals CEO Mark Jarvis. “Canada has several very large, low-grade, open-pittable sulphide nickel deposits waiting to be developed, including Canada Nickel’s Crawford deposit, Waterton’s Dumont deposit and our own Turnagain deposit. Canada has some of the toughest environmental regulations in the world, so if you buy your nickel from Canada, you can be assured that this part of your supply chain is ethically sourced.”
Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:23 AM on Monday, August 24th, 2020
St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE:SX) (CNSX:SX.CN) (OTC:SXOOF) (FSE:85G1)is pleased to release the initial fire assays results from the preliminary surface exploration campaign conducted on the Thor Gold Project in order to prepare this summer’s shallow drilling campaign.
The Company’s exploration team collected grab samples from the dry riverbed on both sides of the river running to the west of the historical work areas (See Fig 1.) A total of eight samples were cut from the outcrops.
Figure 1. Project historical work locations and current targeted area in Red.
All grab samples have shown the presence of gold with assays results ranging from 0.001 g/t to 37.4 g/t.
The grab samples collected from the outcrop are, by nature, selected samples and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property.
Three of the grab samples located between 50 and 150 meters of the historical workings are deemed significant enough to warrant some adjustment to the previously planned shallow drilling grid for this summer’s campaign. These grab samples yielded the following results (Table 1):
Silver g/t
Copper %
Gold g/t
Lead
Sample 003
5.9 g/t
0.015%
11.75 g/t
Not significant
Sample 007
0.6 g/t
0.014%
2.47 g/t
Not significant
Sample 008
69.3 g/t
0.216%
37.4 g/t
4.37%
Table 1. Fire Assays Results
Quality Control
Samples were collected and bagged by the SX geological team and transported in secure bags directly from the site to Iceland Resources’ secured warehouse facilities in Keflavik. From there, two Q/C blank samples were added to the other eight samples, and the batch traveled by plane to ALS Global Laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025 accredited) in Loughrea, Ireland. All samples were tested using four acid trace analysis (ME-ICP61). Samples that yielded precious metals content in excess of 10 ppm were analyzed a second time via gravity separation and fire assay finish.
About Thor Gold
The Thormodsdalur Gold Project is located about 20km east of the city center of Reykjavik and south-east of Lake Hafravatn. The project was discovered in 1908. The property produced a gold concentrate from 1911 to 1925, which was shipped to Germany for processing. Over 300 meters of tunnels explored and mined one or more quartz veins and wall rock below open cuts at the surface.
Studies between 1996 and 2013 identified the project mineralization as a low sulfidation system hosted by basic to intermediate flows of Pliocene to Miocene age. The host contains banded chalcedony and ginguro within a fault zone up to five meters in width. To date, the identified gold trend has a known strike length of 700 meters determined by drill intercepts. Petrographic analysis of the vein material identified gold occurring in its free form and as part of an assemblage with pyrite and chalcopyrite. Petrographic and XRD studies show an evolution of the vein system from the zeolite assemblage to quartz-adularia and, lastly, to minor calcite.
Thirty-two holes have been drilled within the license area, for a total of 2439 meters. Gold values vary from less than 0.5 g/t to a maximum of 415 g/t. (These values were obtained from selected random intervals and cannot be construed to be representative of any particular thickness or overall length.) The best intercepts from the diamond drilling are 33.5m of 8.0 g/t Au (true thickness) and 5.2m of 35.4 g/t Au (true thickness).
Gary McLearn, A professional geoscientist (Ontario APGO #2900) and an Independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has prepared and supervised the preparation and has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release.
Mr. Herb Duerr, P. Geo. (AIPG, CPG #11498), a St-Georges’ director, has also reviewed the scientific and technical content of this release. Mr. Duerr is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson”
Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson
President and CEO
About St-Georges
St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry.
The Company controls directly or indirectly, through rights of first refusal, all of the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel on the Julie Nickel Project & for industrial minerals on Quebec’s North Shore and for lithium and rare metals in Northern Quebec and in the Abitibi region. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol SXOOF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1
Posted by AGORACOM
at 10:57 AM on Monday, August 24th, 2020
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE) Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
Tesla is hands down the biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs) in the world’s largest economy, accounting for 81 per cent of the 87,398 EVs sold in the US in the first quarter.The Model 3 was the most popular, racking up sales of 38,314 for the three-month period.Second and third in the EV sales race were Tesla’s Model Y and Model X, with sales of 18,861 and 9,500 respectively, according to data from UK investor website Buy Shares.
America’s best-selling EVs in the first half of 2020. Source: Buy Shares
But just which other metals is the billionaire tech icon going to need more of?
EVs drive consumption of copper, cobalt and nickel
The Model 3 is Tesla’s most affordable EV at a retail price of $73,900 and requires 50kg of nickel, 4.5kg of cobalt, and approximately 130lbs of copper, according to reports.
Model 3 sales in Q1 for the US market would have accounted for 172 tonnes of cobalt, 2,260 tonnes of copper, and 1,915 tonnes of nickel.
Tesla Gigafactory 1, where Model 3 battery cells are produced. Source: Tesla
Tesla’s total EV sales in the three-month period would require 321 tonnes of cobalt, 4,208 tonnes of copper, and 3,568 tonnes of nickel.
With the push for a “circular economy” to reduce the waste going to landfill and a shortage of supply of critical minerals, major car and battery makers are turning to recycled material.
Tesla recycled 1,000 short tons of nickel, 320 tons of copper, and 110 tons of cobalt in 2019, according to Tesla’s impact report.
“None of our scrapped lithium-ion batteries go to landfilling, and 100 per cent are recycled,” Tesla said.
Tesla is building a battery recycling system at its Gigafactory in Nevada that will process end-of-life batteries.
“Through this system, the recovery of critical minerals will be maximised along with the recovery of all metals used in Tesla battery cells, such as copper, aluminium and steel,” the company said.
EcoGraf, meanwhile, recovered graphite from a range of ‘black mass’ material from recycled batteries.
Black mass is the residual graphite material remaining after hydrometallurgical processes have recovered the high-value cathode metals from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and is typically relegated to landfill.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:35 PM on Friday, August 21st, 2020
Announced that the Company has entered into a conditional binding agreement with BWA Group Plc of London to acquire all the outstanding shares of King of the North (KOTN), sold by St-Georges to BWA in September 2019
At the time of the transaction in 2019, St-Georges held 50.18% of KOTN
The proposed transaction with BWA and subsequently with the third-party arm-length other holders of the BWA securities will make St-Georges 100% owners of KOTN, that will be, once again, a wholly-owned subsidiary
Montreal – August 21, 2020 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE:SX) (CNSX:SX.CN)(OTC:SXOOF) (FSE:85G1) announces that the Company has entered into a conditional binding agreement with BWA Group Plc of London to acquire all the outstanding shares of King of the North (KOTN), sold by St-Georges to BWA in September 2019.
At the time of the transaction in 2019, St-Georges held 50.18% of KOTN. The proposed transaction with BWA and subsequently with the third-party arm-length other holders of the BWA securities will make St-Georges 100% owners of KOTN, that will be, once again, a wholly-owned subsidiary.
KOTN was acquired from St-Georges and other related parties by BWA in October 2019 for a consideration of GBP4.66 million. Unfortunately, primarily arising from the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions, it has proved impossible to manage and effectively develop the investment in KOTN from the UK.
As a result, it has been agreed between the parties that St-Georges and the related parties to the original transaction will acquire the BWA’s 100 percent interest in KOTN by means of the cancellation of unconverted elements of the Convertible Unsecured Loan Notes issued as the original purchase consideration, amounting to a total of GBP4.3 million, of which GBP2,281,580 is coming from St-Georges. In addition, St-Georges will issue 1,500,000 common shares in favor of BWA. These shares will be subject to a standard 4 months regulatory hold. After closing the transaction, St-Georges is expected to retain its equity interest in BWA, amounting to approximately 21%.
The transaction is conditional to St-Georges and BWA’s ability to enter into a separate agreement with the related third parties that were part of the 2019 transaction.
The parties expect this transaction will be completed by August 31, 2020. Further information will be disclosed in the coming weeks.
Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson, President and CEO of St-Georges, commented, “(…) It is unfortunate that BWA Group has been restricted in its efforts to develop these assets due to the impact of the pandemic on their operations. (…) We wish them all the best in the new direction they are taking, and we will be a supportive shareholder in their future successes (…) we will review the strategy and work program of these assets and divulge our intentions in a follow-up press release in the coming days(…).“
The Company expects to disseminate a press release pertaining to its surface work campaign on the Iceland Thor Gold Project before common share transactions resume on the CSE.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Vilhjalmur T. Vilhjalmsson”
VILHJALMUR THOR VILHJALMSSON
President & CEO
About St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp.
St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry. The Company controls all the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel on the Julie Nickel Project & the Manicouagan Palladium Project on Quebec’s North Shore. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol SXOOF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, August 19th, 2020
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE) Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including an equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
Interview with Thomas Larsen, CEO of Eloro Resources (TSX-V: ELO)
Tartisan owns 4 million share of Eloro
ISKA ISKA, in Bolivia, is 99%-owned by Eloro and has never been drilled
Eloro Resources is a mineral exploration company with assets in Bolivia, Peru and Canada. ISKA ISKA, in Bolivia, is 99%-owned by Eloro and has never been drilled. It is the core focus for the company and is a gold, silver, zinc and lead prospect in the South Mineral Belt. Encouragingly, it is aligned with Cerro Rico along the same corridor structure. La Victoria, a Peruvian gold-silver project, is 82% owned by Eloro. It is in Peru’s North-Central Mineral Belt and is situated in close proximity to gold and silver majors like Pan American Silver and Barrick Gold. La Victoria is being farmed into by an Australian mining company and a 2,000m diamond drilling program is planned with the aim of confirming high-value, high-grade gold-silver veins. Dr. Quinton Hennigh of Novo Resources recently helped the company raise capital to finance this. In terms of an exit, Larsen is pragmatic; he has a track record of taking projects through to a PFS, and he doesn’t want to kid anyone into thinking he and his team are necessarily mine builders. What did you make of Thomas Larsen and the gold, silver, zinc and lead story that is Eloro Resources
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 5:48 PM on Monday, August 17th, 2020
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE) Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including an equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
Nickel hits highest in nearly 9 months on Philippine supply concerns
Nickel prices surged to their highest in nearly nine months on Monday on concern over supply from the Philippines, the leading exporter of the stainless steel raw material
Copper and most other industrial metals also pushed higher after the central bank of top commodities consumer China injected fresh funds into the financial system
(Updates with official prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Nickel prices surged to their highest in nearly nine months on Monday on concern over supply from the Philippines, the leading exporter of the stainless steel raw material. Copper and most other industrial metals also pushed higher after the central bank of top commodities consumer China injected fresh funds into the financial system. “This remains a liquidity-driven market. Most investors are still expecting the Chinese economy to perform well in the future, so they see good reason to stick to the bullish side of the market,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, a partner at Milan consultancy T-Commodity. Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) climbed 1.6% to $14,602 a tonne in official trading after hitting $14,665, its strongest since Nov. 25. Nickel ore output from the Philippines, the world’s biggest exporter of the material, dropped 28% year on year to 102,310 tonnes by metal content over January-June, data showed. * Also supporting nickel were strong ShFE stainless steel futures , which climbed as much as 4.2% to 14,775 yuan a tonne. Most nickel is used as an alloy to make stainless steel. * Nickel ore prices at Philippine ports were hovering at their highest in eight and a half months at $10.25 a tonne, data from metals prices provider SMM showed. * LME copper advanced 1% to $6,428 a tonne, though T-Commodity’s Torlizzi was wary of the strong recent gains that have lifted the price by 47% since March and prompted him to take a short position. “We think the risk of being long here is high and is very vulnerable to disappointment.” * LME copper stocks sank to their lowest levels in more than 12 years to 110,000 tonnes.
* LME zinc jumped 2.4% in official activity to its highest in nearly seven months at $2,423.50 a tonne as aluminium rose 0.6% to $1,757. Lead gained 1.2% to $1,973.50, its strongest since Jan. 23, but tin shed 1% to $17,426. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or . ($1 = 6.9382 yuan) (Additional reporting by Mai Nguyen Editing by Jan Harvey and David Goodman)
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:38 PM on Thursday, June 18th, 2020
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE) Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
Nickel in batteries to take ‘significant’ market share from 2023
“We see total nickel demand from the battery market (all end-uses) much higher than that with the ongoing trend towards higher nickel cathode technology in EVs,†Miller said.
The rapidly growing demand for more nickel in electric vehicle (EV) batteries is expected to see the base metal take a much bigger market share in just three years.
“In terms of when the shift towards nickel intense cathodes starts to take effect, we expect batteries using high nickel cathodes (namely NCM 811) start to really develop significant market share from 2023 onwards,†Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analyst Gregory Miller told Stockhead.
NCM 811 has a chemistry make-up of 80 per cent nickel, 10 per cent cobalt and 10 per cent manganese.
For some time now, car and battery makers have been working to reduce the amount of cobalt that goes into their batteries because it is one of the most expensive parts and there is a shortage of the commodity.
“Some of this technology is just starting to filter into the industry now following many years of development yet it still faces technical challenges in being able to deploy into the EV market,†Miller explained.
“By increasing nickel in the cathode, you decrease the life of the battery (i.e. how many cycles you can put it through) and increase safety issues linked to thermal stability.
“This transition will be significant for the industry as demand grows, by 2035 demand could be roughly as big as the industry was in 2019.â€
A recently completed 25,000-tonne-per-year plant expansion will mass produce cathodes with 65 per cent nickel content, Posco says.
Fellow South Korean battery maker Samsung says that nickel will make up more than 80 per cent of the cathode materials in its fifth-generation EV batteries when commercial production begins in early 2021.
While Wood Mackenzie is predicting demand for nickel sulphate from the EV market to reach around 800,000 tonnes a year by 2035, Benchmark Minerals Intelligence is expecting it to far exceed that.
“We see total nickel demand from the battery market (all end-uses) much higher than that with the ongoing trend towards higher nickel cathode technology in EVs,†Miller said.
“In Benchmark Minerals most recent quarterly nickel forecast we see nickel demand from lithium-ion batteries reaching 2,250,000 tonnes by 2035.â€
Market could open up for multiple nickel products
Miller says it has been suggested that the rise of EV demand could result in a “bifurcation†of the nickel market, with a split between higher-grade nickel for the EV industry and lower-grade (mainly ferronickel and nickel pig iron) nickel to supply stainless steel mills.
But this all depends on the success of high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) operations being built in South East Asia.
“The history of HPAL operations is littered with technical and operational challenges, and if these projects fail to bring sufficient nickel units to market, a wider spectrum of nickel feedstocks may become economically viable in the production of nickel sulphate due to a higher price environment,†Miller explained.
However, the nickel sulphate market is expected to remain in oversupply for a few years yet.
“Benchmark Minerals forecasts the nickel sulphate market to remain in surplus until 2024, where we expect a deficit to emerge thereafter where rapid demand growth will set in as EV penetration rates rise quickly,†Miller said.
“This is likely to be exacerbated by increasing use of high nickel cathodes (NCM 811).â€
Spurring a price rise
Although the nickel price is on an upward trend, it is still off the five-and-a-half-year high of $US18,620 ($27,097) per tonne it reached in September last year.
It currently sits at $US12,930 per tonne, only about 17 per cent higher than its recent bottom in March.
However, longer term Benchmark sees prices rising to between $US15,000 and $US20,000 per tonne as supply struggles to match the significant ramp up in demand from EV’s over the coming decade.
“Indeed, with the next generation of supply suitable for use in batteries set to come from capital intensive HPAL projects in South East Asia, a higher pricing environment will be necessary to incentivise both the development and operation of these projects.â€
Tags: CSE, nickel, nickel demand, small cap stocks Posted in Tartisan Nickel | Comments Off on Nickel in batteries to take ‘significant’ market share – SPONSOR Tartisan #Nickel $TN.ca – $ROX.ca $FF.ca $EDG.ca $AGL.ca $ANZ.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 6:10 PM on Tuesday, June 16th, 2020
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE) Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
Nickel will continue to outperform the base metals complex over the coming months, said Fitch Solutions in a report released last week.
“Speculative buying driven by nickel’s bright EV demand outlook has been the key driver of the metal’s positive price performance in recent months, while the breaching of a key resistance level this week suggests prices have further room to run over H219,” writes the reports authors.
(Kitco News)Â – Nickel will continue to outperform the base metals complex over the coming months, said Fitch Solutions in a report released last week.
“Speculative buying driven by nickel’s bright EV demand outlook has been the key driver of the metal’s positive price performance in recent months, while the breaching of a key resistance level this week suggests prices have further room to run over H219,” writes the reports authors.
Fitch noted that nickel prices have rallied over 20% year-to-date, while its base metals peers have all lost in value, placing the former as the only base metal in positive territory so far this year.
“As we pass the mid-point of the year, below we analyse why nickel prices have been significantly outperforming other base metals, despite a number of challenges in terms of fundamentals and on the macroeconomic front.”
Fitch says the price run up is due to antcipated electric vehicle adoption.
“We believe the main driver of the nickel price rally has been the sustained level of speculative buying – with non-commercial long positions on the rise so far this year – due to the metal’s ongoing allure as key demand-beneficiary among metals used in the growing EV battery market. While electric vehicle batteries still only account for less than 5% of total refined nickel demand, this figure is set to grow considerably over the coming years and investors are already placing bullish bets in anticipation.”
Fitch estimates that nickel will be in a deficit of 23kt this year, down from 51kt last year.
The authors caution that the larger macroeconomic environment could hamper a break out.
“The global macroeconomic environment has also worsened so far this year, which has led to negative sentiment for base metals generally. This deterioration is primarily down to the escalation of the US-China trade dispute and slowing growth in China, where manufacturing PMI’s have dropped below the all-important 50 mark in recent months. Were the conflict to escalate further in the coming months, nickel prices could be dragged lower in line with other base metals.”
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