@ Aussie conference: Seeking plays on lithium, cobalt, nickel ....

There's a lot of certain minerals that the world needs to power the electric vehicle era that is dawning. The "right" explorers will prosper hugely and, tantalised by that prospect, we set out for Fremantle, Western Australia last month to hear presentations of some 60 mining companies listed on ASX. At the Feb 20-22 event -- RIU Explorers Conference 2018 -- we looked out in particular for explorers of minerals for use in electric vehicles, especially their lithium-ion batteries: lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper.

The market prices of these minerals have been on an upswing, spurring investor interest.

Cobalt, in particular, is in short supply and has surged in price: It traded at US$33,000 at the start of 2017 and has surged to US$84,000 currently on the London Metal Exchange.

Lithium prices are not readily available as it is not traded on any exchange.

But just as an indication, a March 2018 article ("Rush for cobalt, lithium as prices stay on the boil") in Mining.com says lithium carbonate prices remain comfortably above US$20,000 a tonne from US$6,450 per tonne at the beginning of 2015.

And Australia is blessed with these battery minerals.

(See Nov 2017 article in The Economist: "Australia is the new frontier for battery minerals")

Watch this video coverage of day one of the conference --> 


As it turned out, our interest -- and surely that of many attendees at the annual conference -- was aroused by explorers of other minerals also, such as gold.

After sitting through the majority of the 60 presentations, most of which offered compelling prospects, I have shortlisted 12 explorers which struck me as being especially interesting and worth investigating further. 

(Note that they are very small caps -- except for Australian Mines. There are high risks associated with such stocks, including the very strong likelihood of dilutive fund-raising to finance exploration and development of the mines. And that's assuming commercially viable deposits are found!)

 
I can't go into detail about each company, and there is already a tonne of information at their respective websites and elsewhere on the Internet.

Just to illustrate why they are striking: 

Investors Teo Luan Boo (left) and Leong Chan Teik with Simon Attwell (centre), exploration manager of Sayona Mining.♦ Sayona Mining: A Pre-Feasibility Study of its Authier mine in Canada estimates a pre-tax net present value of about A$227 million based on a capital expenditure of about A$67 million.

The study yields attractive financial metrics: an internal rate of return of 56% and capital payback period of 2.5 years with life of mine revenue estimated at C$1.322 billion.

♦ Azure Minerals: It says its first drilling program at Sara Alicia in Mexico found "one of the thickest and highest-grade cobalt drill intersections reported from anywhere in the world in 2017."

Watch video of Azure Mineral's CEO interview on the sidelines of the conference -->


♦ Cobalt Blue: Its stock (+46%) is the best performer among the 12 in the table above, post-RIU Conference.

It says it aspires to be among the top 5 global cobalt suppliers, delivering 20,000 tonnes per annum of cobalt sulphate over a mine life of >20 years. 

Watch video of Cobalt Blue CEO's presentation --> 

Related stories: 
SAYONA MINING: 10 reasons why I am invested in this lithium play

Lithium plays: Where to look and what are the risks?