India madating Cobalt and Lithium asset purchases.

This new demand will heap more pressure on Cobalt security. India's an EV sleeping giant and the mandate should impact cobalt before COB's DFS is due.


Indian State-owned firms mandated to acquire overseas lithium and cobalt assets

22nd June 2018 BY: AJOY K DAS
CREAMER MEDIA CORRESPONDENT
KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – The Indian government has mandated all State-owned mineral-based companies to pool their resources to acquire lithium and cobalt assets overseas.
A rough deadline of March 2019 has been set for these companies to complete all formalities, such as leveraging their balance sheets jointly, form joint ventures (JVs), consortiums or any such suitable corporate structures so that process of scouting and acquiring lithium and cobalt assets could get under way next financial year.


“The mandate for these companies is to acquire and source strategic minerals, lithium and cobalt from abroad,” joint secretary of the Mines Ministry, Anil Kumar Nayak, said.
“Joint ventures of government companies will acquire assets overseas and do the mining operations jointly with entitled agencies in host countries. We will also invite Indian private companies to join in the proposed ventures,” he added.
The model to be followed would be the JV of State-owned National Aluminium Company Limited, Hindustan Copper Limited and Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited, formed last year.
The venture, christened Khanij Bidesh India Limited, has been directed to complete all internal corporate formalities and start acquiring assets overseas in the next financial year.

With India aiming to have at least 30% of vehicles in the country powered by batteries, the government reckons that building domestic electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing capacity backed by raw materials – lithium and cobalt – sourcing will hold the key to success of achieving the target and reducing crude oil import bill, a Mines Ministry official said.
Towards this end, government-run Central Electro Chemical Research Institute and the RAASI Group last week signed an agreement to set up the first domestic EV battery manufacturing facility in the country based on indigenous technology developed by government’s Council for Scientific Research Institute.
However, the success of building optimal domestic battery manufacturing capacities would hinge of ensuring stable raw material security for these ventures and hence the mandate to government mineral companies to come together and acquire such raw material assets overseas, the Ministry official said.

Full ref link:
http://m.miningweekly.com/article/i...hium-and-cobalt-assets-2018-06-22/rep_id:3861.


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CRU group is the company most rely upon for independent long-term cobalt price in studies. They have recently raised their long-term cobalt price. A PFS NPV of over 500m is likely IMO with loads of upside for the DFS.

Assumung COB can keep the CAPEX under US350-400m, and the C1 cash costs at $12/lb on the PFS, the current share price is looking crazy - for a mine which is one of the few that will almost certainly be built, and a company that has LG (and likely others) circling. I maintain a price towards $2 is more suitable as a risked valuation.

Bring on the PFS!