- Only permitted cobalt extraction refinery in North America for producing battery materials
- Electric vehicle market driving demand for cobalt
- Over 10,000 hectares (nearly 25,000 acres) of cobalt-rich properties
Now that the Paris Climate Accord is in effect (since November 4, 2016), its signatories, which now include 195 nations, are ramping up their efforts to slow global warming by reducing carbon emissions. The U.S. has signaled its intention to leave but can only do so on November 4, 2020, or thereafter. One obvious way to cool the planet is by changing gears in the transportation sector, estimated by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to contribute some 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, across the globe, governments are supporting the electric vehicle (EV) industry with incentives and with restrictions on competitive gasoline and diesel vehicles. The blossoming EV industry is driving demand for battery grade lithium and cobalt, placing First Cobalt Corp. (OTCQB: FTSSF) (TSX.V: FCC) in an enviable position. The Canadian company is not just the largest cobalt explorer in the world; it also owns the only permitted cobalt extraction refinery in North America capable of producing battery materials.
Discovered in 1739 by the Swedish chemist Georg Brandt, cobalt gained prominence in 1980 after its employment in ‘the cobalt-oxide cathode, the single most important component of every lithium-ion battery’, according to Quartz (http://nnw.fm/dK3dH). The hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal, extracted as a by-product of nickel and copper mining, is now in demand for Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LiCoO2) batteries, widely used in mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and EVs because of its high energy density.
Satisfying this rising demand has been problematic. ‘About 90 percent of China’s cobalt originates in Congo, where Chinese firms dominate the mining industry’, writes the Washington Post (http://nnw.fm/L0Szq). The largest of these, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, supplies ‘some of the world’s largest battery makers.’ However, for over a decade, reports have been surfacing of widespread human rights abuses in its operations and in cobalt mining generally. Moreover, the U.S. Labor Department has listed Congolese cobalt as a product that it suspects is produced by child labor.
Such issues do not affect First Cobalt. The company’s extensive properties are located in Ontario, Canada. First Cobalt is the largest landowner in the Cobalt Camp in Ontario with control of over 10,000 hectares (nearly 25,000 acres) of prospective land and 50 historic cobalt/silver mines. In addition, its assets include a mill and the only permitted cobalt extraction refinery in North America capable of producing battery grade material. This puts the company in an unrivalled position regarding future production of top grade, ethically sourced cobalt, a position that has been buttressed recently by fortuitous finds on its properties.
The company recently announced positive drill results, which confirm the presence of high-grade cobalt and nickel along the known Bellellen vein system south of the historic mine workings. These happy outcomes coincide with increasing demand for cobalt as EV production accelerates. Bloomberg has estimated that EVs will enjoy a two percent share of the auto market by 2020. This figure is expected to rise to eight percent by 2025, to 20 percent by 2030, and to 35 percent by 2040. Demand is causing a tight global cobalt market, with orders for cobalt expected to surge from 2,000 tonnes in 2017 to over 300,000 tonnes by 2030, a stupendous 14,900 percent increase that will likely see prices reach record levels. The battery industry currently uses 42 percent of global cobalt production. With an integrated approach that encompasses exploration and refining, First Cobalt has become the largest pure play cobalt company in the world.
For more information, visit the company’s website at http://nnw.fm/FTSSF
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