QUEBEC: NOUVEAU MONDE GRAPHITE SEEKS TO BUILD ALL-ELECTRIC MINE / 5 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
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Is tin the top technology metal?
Nemaska Lithium attracts financing for Whabouchi
METAL MARKETS
| Ranking from MIT bodes well for tin prospects
FINANCING
| Japan’s SoftBank and Orion Mine Finance back Quebec project
BY TRISH SAYWELL tsaywell@northernminer.com
R
ob Bruggeman, a former research analyst with more than a decade of experience at a boutique brokerage firm and a large bank-owned proprietary trading desk on Bay Street, has been blogging on his site Alpha Mining since 2017. He also invests his own capital and is a consultant to small-cap companies and investment funds. In a recent post, Bruggeman confesses that he had thought tin was a “boring metal” used “predominantly for solder (yawn!), and for applying a thin, corrosion-resistant layer on metal (a.k.a. tin plating) (double yawn!).” But no longer. Citing a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that examined which metals would be most impacted by new technologies — such as autonomous and electric vehicles, renewable energy, energy storage, and advanced computing and IT — tin headed the list. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected tin to come out at the top of that list, edging out lithium and cobalt,” Bruggeman writes on his blog. “This is the first time I’ve seen or heard anything about tin possibly becoming a hot metal.” After tin, the MIT study listed See TIN / 6
The concentrator building and the electricity hookup at Nemaska Lithium’s Whabouchi lithium project in Quebec. NEMASKA LITHIUM BY TRISH SAYWELL tsaywell@northernminer.com
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emaska Lithium (TSX: NMX; US-OTC: NMKEF) has landed two big financing deals in as many weeks with Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. and private equity firm Orion Mine Finance. The two companies agreed this April to put their shoulders to the wheel and help Nemaska turn its
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spodumene lithium hard-rock deposit in Quebec into a mine, along with a processing plant that will transform the mine’s spodumene concentrate into lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate for use in the lithium battery market. The SoftBank Group — a global technology player with a portfolio of companies in advanced telecoms, Internet services, robotics and clean energy — is taking up to a 9.9% stake in Nemaska Lithium’s outstanding common shares at a price of $1.12 each for gross proceeds of up to $99.08 million. If after the private placement SoftBank holds less than 9.9%, it will be entitled to buy more shares on the same terms to keep its holdings at that level. As long as SoftBank holds at least 5% of Nemaska Lithium’s shares, it has the right of first refusal to acquire up to 20% of the company’s lithium hydroxide and carbonate. The Japanese conglomerate can also nominate one person to Nemaska’s board of directors, and, as long as its equity holding is 5%, has a preemptive right to participate in any future equity offerings. Guy Bourassa, Nemaska’s presi-
dent and CEO, says SoftBank “has the same mindset as us about electrification, green energy and storage,” and makes “a very good partner. “They came across us while they were studying the chain of supply — it’s not worth investing millions of dollars into storage if you don’t have batteries, and you can’t build batteries if you don’t have lithium,” Bourassa says, noting that the deal took just six months to negotiate. In March, SoftBank announced a US$200-billion investment to build the world’s largest solar power project in Saudi Arabia. The investment was made through the company’s Vision Fund private equity arm, and SoftBank says the solar farm could generate up to 200 gigawatts of energy by 2030. The Japanese company also looks to turn one of its portfolio companies, Ola — a cab-hailing and ride-sharing app popular in India — into an electric carmaker. The second f inancing — a US$150-million streaming deal with Orion Mine Finance, a mining-focused investment business
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See NEMASKA / 2
OREFINDERS: PICKS UP A NEW ABITIBI GOLD PROJECT / 7
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