TSX-V: EDDY
OTCBB: PWMRF
FRANKFURT: VV0
AT OUR CORE
Strategy:
Edison Cobalt Corp is a Canada-based junior mining exploration company focused on the procurement, exploration, and development of cobalt and other energy metals in North and South America. Edison Cobalt’s acquisition strategy focuses on acquiring affordable, cost-effective, and highly regarded mineral properties in areas with proven geological potential.
Risk Mitigation and Value:
Target mining areas include historical and currently producing mines with existing infrastructure. This strategy includes acquiring 100% interest in mineral properties, with no payment terms or work program commitments that would threaten a junior mining company’s financial stability. The Company believes it can create maximum shareholder value efficiently and cost effectively by implementing this acquisition strategy.
Economics
The company believes that the demand for Cobalt, and other essential power related materials will be fundamentally led by the growing adaptation of electric vehicles, renewable energy, and increased production of super alloys. With a focus on identifying and developing ethically sourced materials within the Americas, the Company intends to address the growing demand for energy metals that are being driven by innovation and the introduction of new technologies.
A Historic Property Comes Full Circle
The Thomas Edison mine, as the name implies, was developed by the famous inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison. While Edison is better known for inventions such as the first practical light bulb, he was also very involved in the mining industry. Edison pioneered new geophysical techniques, mineral extraction technologies, and developed the battery powered miners’ head lamp. He was instrumental in the discovery of nickel at Falconbridge, Ontario and also had interests in iron ore in New Jersey, and gold in New Mexico. Edison was heavily involved with the original Cobalt, Ontario silver rush, however it was not the silver he was after. At the turn of the 20th century, Edison was developing a new cobalt-Iron battery (US patent No. US678722A). Similar to today, Edison had difficulty sourcing sufficient supplies of cobalt. In order to keep the price down, Edison sent undercover representatives to Cobalt, Ontario to buy cobalt bearing minerals, which were produced as a by-products from silver mining in the area, for his battery manufacturing facility in New Jersey. He also used these representatives to attempt to buy high-grade cobalt silver mines and prospects. Eventually Edison acquired the Darby property (now the Thomas Edison Mine) in 1905. From 1905 to 1907 Edison remotely directed operations at the mine which included sinking two shafts to 150 feet, which were connected by an adit, as well as several exploration drifts and crosscuts. Between 6 and 8 tons of ore of unknown grade are reported to have been extracted, but no commercial production is recorded.
Past Producing Mines
Hectares
WHY COBALT?
Price is up 145% in a Year
Much like lithium, the cobalt metal market is in the midst of a financial mania. Only a year ago, leading analysts projected that cobalt would hit $16 per pound by 2020. Fast-forward to today, and the price of cobalt has soared over 145% to rise from about $11 per pound to $27 per pound in just over the past 12 months.
What is Cobalt?
The word “Cobalt” comes from “Kobold” — the German word for goblin. Kobolds were spirits that haunted the depths of mine shafts and often caused deadly respiratory problems for miners. Cobalt today is a metal used for a diverse range of commercial, industrial and military applications. Most relevantly for investors, the principal use of cobalt has become electrodes in rechargeable batteries. Cobalt is the red-headed stepchild of metals mining. A mere 6% of cobalt comes from mines focused on mining cobalt. The remaining 94% is the byproduct of nickel and copper mining. That’s why cobalt production is linked closely to the mining of these major metals. No mine in the world would increase nickel or copper production just to obtain cobalt.
Demand is Exploding
Lithium batteries are used in electronic devices, electric vehicles and energy storage. With today’s technology, 75% of lithium batteries use cobalt. Although lithium has grabbed the headlines, cobalt is actually the tougher challenge for battery suppliers. The latest technology is also shifting in favor of using cobalt. If Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese and Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminium chemistries are set to dominate for all-electric vehicles (EVs), then cobalt will become even more critical than before. The big driver of demand for lithium batteries is, unsurprisingly, electrical vehicles. CRU Group expects global electric car and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales to top 17 million in 2030. That compares with sales of 778,000 EVs in 2016. The World Energy Council expects that every sixth car sold in 2020 will be electric. Volkswagen (VLKAY) believes that EVs will make up 25% of vehicles sold from its own line in 2025. Norway already has announced a ban on the sale of fossil fuel-powered cars by the same year.
Supply Challenges.
This explosion in demand explains why battery producers are facing a shortage of cobalt. Several cobalt producers have limited deliveries already because they simply cannot supply enough cobalt. Australia’s Macquarie Bank forecasts a deficit of 885 tons of cobalt this year. Next year, that deficit will jump to 3,205 tons and to 5,340 tons by 2019. Cobalt has an odd production profile. On the one hand, cobalt is everywhere on earth. On the other, its low concentrations mean that there are few primary cobalt mines. And as bad luck would have it, most of the world’s supply of cobalt comes from the politically unstable West African countries. In fact, 65% of the world’s cobalt production originates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) alone — one of the most challenging places on earth to do business. Even as demand for cobalt is exploding, the major superpowers are jockeying to control cobalt supply. The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency has started to stockpile cobalt, which it has designated “strategic and critical.
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Warrants have exercise prices ranging from $0.10 – $0.25 with expiry dates ranging from July 25th, 2018 – May 4, 2021
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