CLEAN ENERGY IS COMING, ARE YOUR INVESTMENTS READY FOR IT?
The global transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy has gathered pace.
Many of the world’s economies have recently made pledges to accelerate their uptake of clean energy and technologies to cut their greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions.
For instance, in September 2020 China pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060, and the US has unveiled a 2 trillion dollar clean energy transition plan.
This green energy revolution despite its inherent problems is good news for silver, the most industrial of all precious metals.
It’s also great news for base metals like copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium, which are key metals used in the manufacture of renewable energy infrastructure like solar panels, wind turbines, storage batteries, electric vehicles, etc.
Investors looking to profit from the green energy bandwagon can get into companies that mine these metals.
However, the sheer diversity of these metals makes it impossible to find one company that mines all of them.
Nonetheless, one company on a mission to strategically mine a collection of such metals is North American junior miner CAT Strategic Metals Corp. (CNSX: CAT; OTCPK: CATTF), formerly Chimata Gold Corp.
CAT STRATEGIC METALS CORP.: CAPITALIZING ON THE ACCELERATING DEMAND FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The Vancouver-based junior started out as a gold explorer in Quebec and Nevada.
Quebec is Canada’s second biggest gold-producing Province after Ontario.
In November 2018, CAT Strategic Metals sold its Troilus North gold exploration property in Quebec to Emgold Corp and took a 19% stake in the buyer to retain exposure to Quebec.
Then in December 2018 the company made a strategic decision to change its name and focus on exploring for metals used in the manufacture of electric vehicle (EV) batteries and solar infrastructure.
The company now owns two exploration stage properties in Nevada, one in New Brunswick, Canada, and a flagship joint venture (JV) Lithium tailings project in the Southern Africa country of Zimbabwe.
Lithium is a critical component for Lithium-ion (Li-on) batteries, which power EVs and store energy in solar power systems and grids.
Lithium prices have more than tripled in the past five years – though fell in 2019 and 2020.
Prices are forecast to steadily rise this decade as lithium demand – driven by an explosive demand for EVs – outgrows supplies.
Many junior lithium stocks have rallied alongside lithium prices.
For instance, junior lithium miner American Silver’s stock on the OTCQB (see chart below) has rallied from a low of about 8 cents in December 2019 to over three dollars today.
KAMATIVI LITHIUM PROJECT
According to the BP 2020 Statistical Review of World Energy, at the end of 2019 Zimbabwe had the world’s sixth biggest lithium reserves at 230,000 tonnes.
Currently, there’s only one lithium mine producing in the country while another is under development. Therefore, the new government is eager to fast-track lithium mining projects.
CAT Strategic Metals Corps’ most prominent project is the Kamativi lithium tailings project located in the Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe.
The project is a JV between the government, which holds 40 percent of the project, and Jimbata (Pvt) Ltd., the local partner of CAT Strategic Metals, which holds 60 percent.
The lithium tailings deposit is associated with the disused Kamativi tin mine, which closed in 1994 after tin prices collapsed.
In September 2018, a mineral resource statement released by the company indicated a resource of 26.32 million tonnes of lithium at 0.58 percent grading.
Commenting on the resource statement, John McTaggart, Managing Director of Jimbata said, “The maiden resource statement marks the completion of another key milestone in the development of the Kamativi Project. The results generated confirm our belief in the project and underscore the significant potential at Kamativi. The Company now looks forward to aggressively pursuing further metallurgical test work in the planned development of the beneficiation plant for the Kamativi Project in line with the Rapid Results Initiative set out by the Government of Zimbabwe”.
KAMATIVI LEGAL WRANGLES
The Kamativi JV partners had planned to build a USD10 million lithium beneficiation plant with construction starting towards the end of 2018 and production starting in the third quarter of 2019.
However, the project is currently embroiled in a legal wrangle that has delayed its advancement.
In April 2018, Chinese firm Beijing Pingchang Investments initiated an arbitration process against the JV partners, claiming it had the rights to the disused Kamativi tin mine through a 2015 JV agreement it signed with Kamativi Tin Mines Ltd., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.
After losing at the arbitration Beijing Pingchang filed a lawsuit at the High Court to pursue its claim.
The case only went before the court in January 2020 and the court ruled in favor of CAT Strategic Metals and its local partner.
Following the January 2020 court ruling, the JV partners planned to resume work on the project in 2020, but Beijing Pinchang approached the Zimbabwe Supreme Court to challenge the High Court ruling.
The project is now stalled until the Supreme Court issues a ruling.
Despite the legal setbacks, investors seem to still have confidence in the company, because the stock has held up well in the past year.
Buoyed by investor confidence, the company very recently started trading on the U.S. OTC pink sheets to attract more investors.
GOLD, SILVER, AND COPPER PLAYS
The execution of the Kamativi project is key to CAT Strategic Metals‘s growth prospects, especially as the demand for EVs grows.
Nonetheless, the company is still involved in gold, silver and copper prospecting via exploration properties in Nevada and Canada.
BURNTLAND MINERAL PROPERTY
In September 2020, the company optioned the Burntland mineral property, which is a 1,200-hectare property located in the county of Restigouche, New Brunswick, Canada.
This was a very strategic acquisition because it targeted silver and copper production from the property.
Silver and copper are both heavily used in clean energy infrastructure: silver in solar power generation equipment and copper as a cheaper but still highly efficient substitute for silver.
Furthermore, since the market frenzy in late January about the Reddit message board group WallStreetBets putting a short squeeze on SLV, the biggest silver ETF, silver mining stocks have attracted attention.
The company plans a diamond drilling program on the property in the third quarter of 2021.
RIMROCK GOLD PROPERTY
In November 2020, the company acquired the Rimrock gold-silver property, a 673-hectare prime land in the historic gold mining district of Elko County in northeastern Nevada.
Nevada is the leading gold-producing state in the U.S.
The Rimrock property is close to two previously highly-producing gold mines: Hecla Mining Company’s Hollister gold-silver mine and Hecla’s Midas gold-silver mine.
The Company believes that “Rimrock offers good potential to hold a large, high-grade, underground-mineable Midas-type gold-silver deposit.”
It plans a diamond drilling program on the property in the second quarter of 2021.
GOLD JACKPOT MINERAL PROPERTY
Recently, in January 2021, the company optioned the 535-hectare Gold Jackpot mineral property located 35 Km southeast of Jackpot, Nevada, in the Pequop gold-silver-copper Trend.
Gold Jackpot is a highly mineralized property that the company targets for gold, silver, copper, and tellurium exploration.
According to the USGS, “Tellurium’s primary use is for manufacturing films essential to photovoltaic solar cells.”
In February 2021, the company announced that it had expanded the size of the property.
The company plans to release a NI 43-101 Technical Report on the property this quarter.
CONCLUSION
CAT Strategic Metals Corp. (CNSX: CAT; OTCPK: CATTF) is a Canadian junior explorer on the cusp of significant growth with both advanced stage and exploration stage projects in North America and Africa.
Its highly experienced and cost-conscious management team is focused on capitalizing on the global transition to an alternative energy future by producing precious and base metals used in the manufacture of Electric Vehicles and solar power infrastructure.
It recently started to trade on the U.S. OTC pink sheets section.
Disclaimer:
Please read our full disclaimer by clicking here. Statements regarding the Company which are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe” and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements due to factors such as: (i) fluctuation of mineral prices; (ii) a change in market conditions; and (iii) the fact that future operational results may not be accurately predicted based on this limited information to date. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update any changes to such statements. Caddy Stocks believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included herein should not be unduly relied upon. This article shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.