China’s huge deal to secure the lion’s share of global cobalt could have a big impact on ASX-listed cobalt producers.
The deal will see GEM — a $4.6 billion company listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange — buy 50,000 tonnes of cobalt from Swiss miner Glencore over the next three years. HEAR IT FIRST WITH OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER
Subscribe
We don't spam. Learn more about our Privacy Policy
The deal had “massive real-world implications for the availability of cobalt and for pricing”, according to an analysis by InvestorIntel.com. Scroll down for a list of 50 ASX stocks with exposure to cobalt.
“Even 52,000 tonnes over three years sucks about one-third of the world’s supply of cobalt out of the market, an amount that can’t help but drive up the price.
“Expect the multi-year bull market in cobalt to continue. Expect to see similar but smaller announcements from other multinationals.”
It’s good news for ASX-listed cobalt stocks if global supply comes under pressure.
Cobalt is in high demand because of its use in rechargeable batteries for electric cars. One billion electric cars are expected to be on the road by 2050 and cobalt demand is expected to grow eight-fold by 2025.
ASX cobalt stocks have performed strongly over the past 12 months — with some up as much as 700 or 800 per cent.
The standout has been NSW-focused nickel and cobalt miner Collerina Cobalt (ASX:CLL) — which has also benfitted from HPA production. Collerina is up 800 per cent over the past 12 months.
Jervois Mining is not far behind with a 736 per cent gain.
Other big cobalt winners include Australian Mines, Riedel Resources and Cobalt Blue.
White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) this week started an initial 3000m drilling program at its Coglia Well cobalt and nickel project 70km south-east of Laverton in Western Australia’s north-eastern goldfields. Here is a list of 50 ASX-listed stocks with exposure to cobalt:
Search:
ASX Code
Name
12-month price change
Price Mar 15, 2018
Price Mar 15, 2017*
52wk Low
52wk High
Market Cap
ASX Code
1
Name
2
12-month price change
3
Price Mar 15, 2018
4
Price Mar 15, 2017*
5
52wk Low
6
52wk High
7
Market Cap
8
AML
AEON METALS
51%
0.28
0.185
0.13
0.35
$155,281,984
9
ANW
AUS TIN MINING
120%
0.022
0.01
0.006
0.038
$45,152,928
10
ARL
ARDEA RESOURCES
200%
1.68
0.56
0.49
2.2
$147,288,912
11
AUZ
AUSTRALIAN MINES
317%
0.1
0.024
0.011
0.155
$281,169,376
12
AXE
ARCHER EXPLORATION
31%
0.097
0.074
0.036
0.19
$16,003,964
13
AYR
ALLOY RESOURCES
-14%
0.006
0.007
0.003
0.011
$8,499,301
14
BAR
BARRA RESOURCES
-38%
0.048
0.077
0.033
0.083
$21,792,402
15
BMT
BERKUT MINERALS
-51%
0.15
0.305
0.14
0.47
$7,875,917
16
BSX
BLACKSTONE MINERALS
95%
0.37
0.19
0.165
0.655
$35,595,764
17
CCZ
CASTILLO COPPER
139%
0.043
0.018
0.013
0.092
$26,104,252
18
CDU
CUDECO
-36%
0.235
0.365
0.2
0.48
$92,655,376
19
CFE
CAPE LAMBERT RESOURCES
45%
0.042
0.029
0.017
0.081
$34,363,328
20
CGM
COUGAR METALS
-50%
0.006
0.012
0.006
0.023
$6,424,619
21
CLA
CELSIUS RESOURCES
213%
0.1
0.032
0.028
0.165
$57,432,364
22
CLL
COLLERINA COBALT
800%
0.135
0.015
0.016
0.18
$71,158,184
23
CLQ
CLEAN TEQ
26%
1.29
1.025
0.54
1.78
$725,191,040
24
CNJ
CONICO
-35%
0.036
0.055
0.026
0.066
$11,322,269
25
COB
COBALT BLUE
226%
1.01
0.31
0.14
1.01
$108,238,880
26
CZN
CORAZON MINING
-59%
0.012
0.029
0.011
0.035
$13,918,117
27
EUC
EUROPEAN COBALT
139%
0.105
0.044
0.038
0.295
$76,169,736
28
FCC
FIRST COBALT (*listed Nov 30, 2017)
-24%
1.1
1.45
0.89
1.5
$116,601,560
29
FEL
FE
60%
0.04
0.025
0.019
0.082
$14,722,619
30
GME
GME RESOURCES
129%
0.16
0.07
0.057
0.19
$76,493,400
31
HAV
HAVILAH RESOURCES
-59%
0.26
0.6394
0.17
0.6984
$57,836,000
32
HIG
HIGHLANDS PACIFIC
22%
0.082
0.067
0.055
0.12
$77,916,672
33
HMX
HAMMER METALS
-10%
0.045
0.05
0.03
0.059
$11,832,715
34
JRV
JERVOIS MINING
736%
0.48
0.0574
0.047
0.73
$99,526,736
35
KOR
KORAB RESOURCES
43%
0.03
0.021
0.016
0.04
$8,905,679
36
LFR
LONGFORD RESOURCES
59%
0.094
0.059
0.025
0.185
$41,577,480
37
LRS
LATIN RESOURCES
-27%
0.011
0.015
0.003
0.018
$28,846,028
38
MEI
METEORIC RESOURCES
207%
0.043
0.014
0.012
0.095
$23,316,936
39
MLM
METALLICA MINERALS
-17%
0.05
0.06
0.035
0.076
$14,832,576
40
MQR
MARQUEE RESOURCES
80%
0.395
0.22
0.13
0.605
$14,000,000
41
MTC
METALSTECH
-14%
0.19
0.22
0.088
0.4
$17,180,172
42
MTH
MITHRIL RESOURCES
-25%
0.045
0.06
0.02
0.064
$6,042,252
43
N27
NORTHERN COBALT (*listed Sep 22, 2017)
95%
0.39
0.2
0.19
0.81
$15,182,080
44
NZC
NZURI COPPER
31%
0.32
0.245
0.14
0.48
$78,354,472
45
PAN
PANORAMIC RESOURCES
59%
0.51
0.3216
0.1824
0.495
$243,338,480
46
PGM
PLATINA RESOURCES
-11%
0.125
0.14
0.077
0.265
$31,695,148
47
PIO
PIONEER RESOURCES
19%
0.025
0.021
0.014
0.046
$38,601,056
48
RIE
RIEDEL RESOURCES
267%
0.066
0.018
0.0095
0.105
$28,846,810
49
RIR
RIVA RESOURCES
-47%
0.01
0.019
0.003
0.0198
$28,038,736
50
RMX
RED MOUNTAIN MINING
-72%
0.009
0.032
0.008
0.041
$6,224,812
51
SGQ
ST GEORGE MINING
42%
0.22
0.155
0.078
0.485
$51,361,948
52
THX
THUNDELARRA
-57%
0.023
0.0534
0.02
0.06
$14,607,205
53
TKM
TREK METALS
-60%
0.021
0.053
0.02
0.051
$7,182,983
54
VIC
VICTORY MINES
-6%
0.016
0.017
0.005
0.03
$13,900,374
55
WFE
WINMAR RESOURCES
20%
0.006
0.005
0.001
0.008
$11,986,166
The Glencore deal locks in China’s position as a market leader in the manufacturing of electric car batteries globally — given that it already produces more than 80 per cent of the world’s refined cobalt.
Prices for the metal have doubled over the past two years as electric vehicle manufacturers scramble to secure adequate supplies.
There’s a similar race to lock in supply for lithium — Australia is one of the world’s biggest suppliers — although a recent report by Morgan Stanley said increased global lithium supply will see prices fall by 45% by 2021.
GEM said increasing levels of demand meant the use of recycled cobalt metal in battery production was no longer adequate.
The company is the main cobalt supplier to Chinese batter maker CAML, which recently announced that it’s now the largest battery supplier in the world.
The total value of deal was not disclosed, but GEM will receive 13,800 tonnes in year one — increasing to 21,000 in 2020. The FT reports that more than half of the world’s cobalt supply is mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Glencore is the world’s biggest producer.
The second largest is China Molybdenum — dual-listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai — which purchased the Tenke Fungurume mine in the DRC for $US2.65 billion in 2016.
Glencore’s cobalt mining capacity in the DRC will increase from in around 40,000 tonnes in 2018 to more than 60,000 tonnes next year.
Around 10 kilograms of cobalt is used in the production of an electric car battery — compared to around 10 grams for an iPhone. Additional reporting from Business Insider Australia.
Content from this article first appeared on Business Insider Australia, Australia’s most popular business news website. Read the original article. Follow Business Insider on Facebook or Twitter.
