Surge in Lithium Sector Brings Attention To Critical Elements’ Top Tier Property
Ariel Cobangbang
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at NorthIsle Copper and Gold Inc.
On May 20, 2016, Dundee Capital Markets mining analyst Dave Talbot published a desk note on the resurging state of the lithium sector which has been gaining a lot of traction and investor interest.
Led by TSX, TSX-Venture and ASX listed stocks; he attributes this surge to two main drivers – Tesla Financing and the Ontario Government incentives. Fueling this excitement is the 8th Annual Lithium Supply and Markets Conference. It is currently taking place in Las Vegas, NV from May 24 – 26, 2016 which will be attended by global industry players throughout the lithium value chain.
On May 18th, Critical Elements announced a $5 million bought deal with Canaccord. This along with the incredible attention ignited its share price, moving it from the high 30 cent range to over 60 cents, where it sits today. With a stronger balance sheet and a strategic partnership with a major global chemical company in place (see news release here), it’s no surprise that Critical Elements is included on Dundee’s list of Companies of Interest.
In his note, Mr. Talbot mentioned that the Ontario Government has set aside almost $300 B in electric vehicle (EV) incentives: $14,000 per car, $1,000 for chargers with the goal of having a 5% EV penetration by 2020 and 12% by 2025 for a total of 1.7 million cars. As for Tesla, the company intends to raise USD $1.4 billion – this is to fund the expansion of its vehicle production to 500,000 by 2018.
Also contributing to this surge is the fact that world batteries manufacturing is expected to triple by 2020. Brand name companies such as LG, FoxxConn, Boston Power, Panasonic, BYD, Samsung and others are building plants, seven of which are now under construction, and 12 are expected by 2020. Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) prices are approximately 40% higher year over year to over $10,000/t (according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence).
Click here to read Mr. Talbot’s desk note.
To view Critical Elements’ corporate presentation, click here.