Natural gas is too "unstable" to use on our roads and highways where
millions of cars and trucks are subject to the millions of traffic
accidents. From a safety perspective alone, natural gas vehicles should
not and cannot be allowed on our roads. There are simply too many
uncontrollable variables.
Natural gas can however, power the
transportation of the future as feed stock for electrical power
generation. Because natural gas is so abundant, it only makes commons
sense that electric power plants will use more and more natural gas as
their feed stock over time. As this abundant source of power generation
comes on stream, look to invest in the companies that stand to benefit
from this game changer.
Duke Energy (DUK), Progress Energy (PREX.PK) and others are all good bets as is laid out by theStreet.com (See their top ten list for 2012)
Electric power storage is also a great place to take a long term view.
There companies in that space looking for fuel cell solutions (large
fuel cell stacks that can burn nat gas) Ballard Power (BLDP), Plug Power (PLUG), and Hydrogenics (HYGS)
are all pursuing such a solution. However, it is the feed stock of the
future electric car that interests me most, and that is Lithium.
As
Lithium becomes more and more the "go to" source for new battery
technologies, from your iphone and laptop, to golf carts, electric motor
cycles, cars and large storage facilities, look to the miners who
produce, or will produce, lithium carbonate from two different sources,
hard rock (pegmatite) and lithium brines or clays. Let me explain.
The largest supplier of Lithium today is Sociedad Qumica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM)
which produces Lithium as a byproduct of its massive Potash operations.
As with other large miners, SQM sells it's lithium on a spot market
(there is currently no futures market for lithium, however this could
change in the coming years)
Now electric battery manufacturers and
car makers require a steady stream of lithium carbonate for their
manufacturing processes so as not to interrupt production. To date,
suppliers such as SQM, FMC et al have refused to sign
contracts to supply a continuous, uninterrupted supply of product to
manufacturers. This is mainly because, even though brine production is
the most economical way to produce lithium, it is more sporadic than
spodomen production, due to the natural drying out process supplied by
the sun, that makes it more economical in the first place.
Australian producer Talison Lithium (TLTHF.PK)
(TLH-T) is the largest, pure lithium producer on the planet, and its
spodomen production from its Greenbushes operation in Western Australia,
is the richest hard rock deposit on the planet. Talison supplies over
300 customers with product and is the largest supplier to the growing
Chinese market, due to its ability for continuous production and its
proximity China. Talison also boasts a very large brine deposit in South
America due to its purchase of Salares Lithium in 2010. In 2012 Talison
reports a 25% increase in the price of lithium this year alone (2012). (click to enlarge) FMC Corporation (FMC)
is another large producer based in South America, with brine production
as a byproduct of other operations such as potash. As with SQM, lithium
is only a part of its total operations and as potash becomes more
important as agriculture attempts to feed a hungry world, its share
price looks attractive as well.
As the lithium market grows, you should not ignore the juniors
who have popped up over the past five years to take advantage of large
deposits which may at some point, be quite productive or gain the notice
of larger producers as consolidation takes place, as it so often does
in young, growing markets.
In this space I like both Western Lithium (WLCDF.PK)(WLC-T) for its large, Kings Valley clay deposit in mining friendly Nevada and Rodinia Lithium (RDNAF.PK)
(RM-T) as it owns three of the top 20 lithium brine deposits on the
planet. If there is a future consolidation in the industry, these two
should be tops on the majors lists.
In the "Battery" tech area I like A123 Systems (AONE).
At only .50c per share this high tech battery maker has been hammered
this year, well below where I think it should trade. At .50c per share,
it is one of the best speculative penny stocks out there.
The
above chart shows some of the other companies working in this field and
as you can see from the chart, Lithium is a common denominator in
battery development.
UPDATE: Aug 24th 2012
Rockwood Holdings (ROC) made an offer for Talison Lithium of $724 Million driving Talison shares up by 53% since yesterdayès close. We have cashed out our position in Talison with 110% gain. Looking for an entry point into ROC now as it strengthens itès already substantial position as a world leader in the production of Lithium!
Image by redgoober4life via FlickrCold weather is the bane of electric cars, or so I've heard from many naysayers (those that don't believe the EV is here to stay). You've heard the arguments! They range from range anxiety to cold weather performance to excessive recharge time etc. etc. These arguments are falling like dominos as the onslaught of electric car manufacturing spreads from California, to China, from Japan to Sweden. Now Volvo, known for making the safest cars in the world, has blasted the cold temperature argument of the naysayers.
Testing it's beautiful, brand new, all electric C30 in artic conditions, Volvo has already knocked down the biggest domino. After this everyone will know that electric cars will no longer be considered the domain of warmer climes. The Artic is a cruel teacher, as this writer can attest from his time spent in the north, but the students at Volvo have learned their lessons very well. 80 to 90 km distance in artic conditions, and that is just the first model.
Click here to watch this northern beauty in action!
All this, and on Friday, it was trading at a measley .17 per share.
Yes it is a penny stock. Yes it is a junior. Yes it is speculative.
However, at only .17 per share this stock has enormous potential.
NEWS RELEASE
VANCOUVER, August 13, 2010 – Salares Lithium Inc. (TSXV: LIT) (“Salares”) and Talison Lithium Limited (“Talison”) are pleased to announce the completion of due diligence and execution of a definitive Arrangement Agreement (“Agreement”) for the merger of their respective lithium assets. For details of the proposed merger please see the joint news releases dated August 9, 2010 and July 15, 2010 which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The execution of the Agreement clears the way for Salares shareholders to vote on and
approve the merger at a special meeting of shareholders to be held on September 16, 2010.
The completion of the proposed merger is anticipated to be implemented by the end of
September, 2010, subject to the parties obtaining all necessary approvals and satisfaction of
other conditions.
A presentation of the transaction highlights can be accessed at the Salares and Talison
websites.
For further information please contact:
Investors
Todd Hilditch
President and CEO
Salares Lithium Inc.
Tel: (604) 443-3831
www.salareslithium.com
Peter Oliver
CEO
Talison Lithium Limited
Tel: +61 8 9263 5555
www.talisonlithium.com
Media
Kim O’Halloran
Vice President, Corporation Communication
FD
kim.ohalloran@fd.com
Tel: (312) 553-6733
Recent articles: Salares shares will double on merger with Talison Conviction stock pick - Salares Lithium Electric metals heat up - 5 stocks to consider.
The United States Department of Energy announced in January 2010, that 24 million hours of supercomputing time at Argonne National Laboratories and Oak Ridge National Laboratories were awarded to investigate materials to develop advanced lithium-air batteries.
This effort, which is utilizing two of the most powerful super computers on the planet to construct a battery that will power electric vehicles over 500 miles on a single charge, is a classic example of how government and private enterprise can work together for the betterment of everyone.
This partnership between government's "super computing" ability, and the private sector, occurred as a direct result of two visits to these Labs by IBM's VP of Research in 2009. A consortium of scientists from IBM, Argonne National Laboratories and Oak Ridge have, at this writing, have developed a break through in Lithium-air technology that is said to increase energy storage by tenfold over today's more ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries. In other words, electric cars will be able to travel farther on one battery charge than most current vehicles, whether hybrid of gasoline powered, can today.
This is only one of the many projects underway to enhance lithium batteries for the coming boom in electric vehicles. At this writing, there are hundreds of scientists, electrical engineers, technicians and lab rats all over the world, from China to Chile, racing to bring their own inventions in energy storage to market, however they all have one element in common, and that is lithium. Whether it is lithium-air batteries, lithium-ion, lithium metal, or whatever catalyst is used, the common denominator is lithium carbonate.
The mining of lithium carbonate, and the rush to secure deposits of lithium brine in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and China, is the reason that the electric metals market is heating up. Junior miners are getting swallowed by bigger players. Auto companies such as Toyota, Honda and Ford, and auto parts manufacturer Magna International, have all bought in to lithium miners in the past year, so as to secure a future supply of this vital metal.
Isn't it time you considered these investments for your retirefund?
HP
Oil circa 1909, plastics circa 1955 and Lithium in 2010. Lithium will store our power generated from wind and solar. It will power electric vehicles and improve hybrid plug-in vehicles. It is starting to power the mobile web (smart phones, iphones, ipads, note books and laptops). Every battery used for electric vehicles will require 8 pounds of lithium! We are now invested in six lithium mining stocks. Here are some of them, and the reasons why!
From Ford to Toyota, GM to Honda, and Nissan to BYD , from China to Chile and everywhere in between, auto companies are searching the globe and scrambling to secure their future supply of this commodity as the electric car is about to re-emerge after a 100 year hiatus.
Lithium is used in lithium-ion batteries, (and many new forms of Lithium batteries such as Lithium air, Lithium sulfur etc) glass ceramics, greases, steel, nuclear energy and pharmaceuticals, however, it is the advent of Lithium use as the best material for energy storage in batteries made for the Hybrid and electric vehicle market, that is causing one of the big bull markets of this decade. From Buses to cars and trucks, and every type of vehicle in between including vehicles such as fork lifts, ATV's, motorized bicycles (as in the billion or so made in China and India) skidoo's, seadoos, and everything else that moves, companies are building better electric batteries for these vehicles, and the overwhelming winner of the commodity race is, you guessed it, LITHIUM!!
Buying into a good Lithium play today would be like investing in oil at the turn of the 20th century, or plastics in the 1950's. It will have that much of an impact as the electric car and hybrid plug-ins become more and more common. The explosion in batteries using Lithium Ion technology, Lithium air technology, lithium sulfur or any number of other Lithium based materials currently being researched and produced is occurring so fast, that fortunes will be made, and indead, are already being made.
Scientists, technicians, engineers and lab rats all over the world, are developing lithium energy storage products at this writing. Lithium carbonate is the best element for storing electricity, period. When compared to current technology such as nickel metal hydride batteries, Lithium is twice as light, produces 3 times the power and keeps it's charge up to 5 times longer. Lithium won't just be used for electric vehicles, hybrids, cellphones and laptops including tablet computers, but also on a larger scale, for wind farms and solar farms where energy storage is absolutely crucial to the future of electrical grid technology.
China, recently announced it will stop shipping Lithium and rare earth enements (REE's) to other countries. China sees an opportunity to try and corner the Lithium market while America and Europe are still fending off financial problems and to this end, it has been trying to butter up the left wing government in Bolivia which may hold 50% of the Lithium deposits on the planet. Problem is, Bolivia is a quagmire of political problems for anyone trying to enter the Lithium market there as the president is not receptive to international companies. He wants to develop Bolivia's Lithium deposits "in country". another problem is that this Lithium deposit, while very large, will be expensive to develop because of the large amounts of magnesium and other compounds in the brine.
Other locations for Lithium mining are in hard rock formations(Canada-Quebec), clay formations (Nevada) and in Salars or salt Lakes. (Besides the big deposits in Bolivia, Chile (which currently supplies 60% of the worlds Lithium), as well as Argentina) It is the extraction of Lithium and Potash fromSalars that is the easiest, and cheapest way to mine this very "in-demand" resource.
Today, 60% of all Lithium is produced in the country of Chile!
Chile is really the epicenter of the Lithium boom notwithstanding Bolivia and Argentina, the two other countries that share the Puna Plateau.
The Salar flats of the Andes on the Puna Plateau, contain millions of tons of Lithium carbonate totaling 84% of the worlds known reserves.This Lithium is also the easiest, and cheapest Lithium to extract, as the sun does most of the work, in this, the driest area on the planet.
According to one of the foremost Lithium experts, R. Keith Evans, "Because Mother Nature does most of the work in producing lithium carbonate in this region, it is the greenest source of lithium we know of".
Any other source requires significantly more energy for processing, thus increasing the price." (read hard rock sources) Add to that the fact that Chile recently elected a conservative government that is very friendly to the mining community, and you have the making of a full blown, 5 alarm, bull rush into the Chilean Salar flats by a number of Juniors. Nevada also has similar, but smaller, lithium resources.
Canadian Juniors are leading the way in this boomand they offer the best investment "bang for your buck" so to speak, as investors wake up to the fact that Lithium will power the future of most automobiles. Currently, the top producer of Lithium from the Chilean "Puna Plateau" is Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM). To date, their Lithium production has been a by product of the potash which they mine there, and their stock price is already through the roof. In 2010 they are increasing their production of Lithium to meet increased demand worldwide.
Here are our picks in the Lithium junior miner sector, in order, based on the size of deposits identified, and the purity of the Lithium carbonate to be mined.
PURE LITHIUM PLAYS
1.Salares Lithium (LIT-TSX)owns over 117,000 hectares (288,990 acres approx) in the Atacama region of Chile, encompassing 7 Salars (brine lakes). It is one of the best, pure play Lithium ventures anywhere today with a depth of resource between 170 meters and 300 meters in a region that already produces 50% of the worlds current lithium supply. In fact, SQM, the largest producer of lithium in the world today, may actually be interested in some or all of Salares Lithiums concessions due to their close proximity and the purity of the resource.
Salares Lithium wholly owns 100% of 5 of those Salars, which is unique in the industry and very important in South American mining. Many others "share" deposits on the same properties. Salares now has a giant Lithium footprint, as large as anyone on the planet (read the article: Size matters ) They also have a very focused management team and institutional investors are in on this play.Now SQM may be interested. Analyst opinions on Salares Lithium!
2. Western Lithium (WLC-TSX)owns over 50,000 acres of proven, lithium reserves in Nevada. One of the only Lithium pure plays in the USA with proven reserves. This is one of the worlds largest, proven Lithium deposits at 47 million tons, mine ready, located in mining friendly Nevada with quick access to buyers in North America. Western Lithium should make any lithium investors portfolio. On May 31st Western Lithium will change it's name to Western Lithium USA to more reflect it's intention to supply Lithium to that market. (update- we recently sold our shares in WLC, at a profit of course, to free up cash for the purchase of more Salares Lithium shares)
LITHIUM,GOLD AND RARE EARTH METAL PLAYS
3. The biggest "sleeper" in the space is TNR Gold Corp (TNR-TSX) which is currently flying under the radar of most investors. TNR Owns 16 gold, copper, Lithium, and REE properties in Nevada, Canada, Argentina and Ireland. More importantly, TNR "owns 100% of International Lithium Corp" (ILC) which it will spin off next month in an IPO.
ILC own 9 Lithium brine properties in Argentina, Nevada and Canada, while TNR will retain it's gold, copper and rare earth deposits in Canada and Ireland as well as one Lithium play in Argentina. TNR may actually be the best "short term" play in the sector as it prepares the IPO for International Lithium Corp. as owners of TNR stock will automatically own stock and warrants in International Lithiumwhen it is spun out next month. (one share and one warrant for every 4 shares of TNR) Thereby owning "both" companies after the IPO next month. Institutional Holders of TNR stock include some serious players:
Barrick Gold, Pinetree Capital, Tocqueville Fund, Solitario, and NovaGold.
4. Latin American Minerals Inc. (LAT-TSX)Besides gold, copper and silver, LAT owns a 17.4% stake in Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC) which has a big stake in the Salars on the Argentina side. LAT also owns rare earth properties (REE's). Lithium Americas properties include over 100,000 Hectares encompassing 5 salars (salt lakes) on the Argentina side of the Puna Plateau.You can buy LAT now (currently .20 cents) to own 17.4% of Lithium Americas, (which we have done), or you can buy Lithium Americas (LAC) at the IPO price of $1.80 Strategic Investors in Lithium Americas already include:
Magna International Inc.
Mitsubishi Corporation
PineTree Capital corp.
5. Rodina Minerals (RM-TSX) Besides it's recent acquisitions of Diablillos, Centenario and Ratones in the Salars of Argentina on the Puna Plateau, RM owns a substantial lithium property in Clayton Valley Nevada Rodinia has 100% mineral rights to 50,440 acres in Nevada’s lithium-rich Clayton Valley in Esmeralda County and is currently in the process of assessing the size, quality and processing alternatives of its Lithium Brine Project. Early estimates put the valley’s lithium deposits as high as 700 million kg, ranking it second only in size to the deposits found in Chile.. RM is one of the top Lithium picks of Byron Capital Markets analyst, Dr. Jon Hykawy who is, arguably, one of the foremost Lithium experts in the market today! RM is also a favorite of the gold report.(theaureport.com)
At this writing, all of these stocks can be had for under $1 per share.
There is truly a "fire sale" on these market go-getters who have staked their claim in the Lithium rush of this decade and stand to reap huge rewards for their efforts.
You can invest in the battery companies, (who are battling it out in the technology department) the electric car companies, or the mobile web device makers like Apple, and they are indeed good bets. However, they all need the raw product, and that is Lithium, specifically it is lithium carbonate. The companies listed above with properties in Chile and Nevada, are in the drivers seat as these deposits are already known, are enormous, and will be processed at the lowest cost, because the sun provide most of the energy needed for production, in the driest, most arid places on earth.
The lithium boom will last for at least the next 10 years. As many investors make their fortunes from this 21st century boom, I hope that you are one of them. I certainly intend on being one. Here's to your retirefund!
