Good work D04. You have pretty much hit the nail on the head.
- Minimal doubt about Life of mine increase
- Potential savings identified and earmarked to further improve economics
- Pure Cobalt and at scale (with added potential of COB's refining IP not priced in)
- Perhaps most importantly - Cobalt is a strategic necessity for battery manufacturers, which flips the PFS on its head.
The HUGE Chinese battery factories currently being built are going to require a massiveamount of Cobalt. Lucky Glencore came to the party with Katanga's Cobalt - that will be a thumb in the dam hole for 2-3 years. But what then? A universally predicted shortage in supply (without factoring in risks from the DRC) is going to lead to another jump in Co price leading into COB's first production.
Lets not forget Korea's LG, Samsung and Japan's Panasonic as these companies round out the remaining battery manufacturing giants. With almost all of the worlds Cobalt Sulfate being refined in China, do you think they will have a strategic interest in securing a long-term contract or stake in COB's ex-China battery-ready Cobalt Sulfate? 64c being cheap is an understatement.
