SMM, Jan. 16: shares in Canadian miner RNC Minerals rose more than 47 percent on Jan. 15 after the company said it was in talks with commodity traders, miners and investors. To raise $1 billion for next year's construction of the world's largest nickel-cobalt project, the Dumont mine in Quebec.
Mark Selby, president and chief executive of RNC Minerals, said the Dumont nickel-cobalt project has the world's largest undeveloped reserves of cobalt and nickel. According to S ≈ P global market intelligence data, Dumont has 3.15 million tons of nickel and 126000 tons of cobalt.
Demand for electric vehicles will grow sharply over the next decade, and demand for metals for batteries is expected to increase. So RNC Minerals hopes to benefit from it. Analysts at UBS (UBS) said 15 million electric vehicles would be sold by 2025, increasing demand for nickel by 300000 to 900000 tonnes, or about 10 to 40 per cent of the current market. Demand for cobalt will also increase from 48000 tons in 2016 to 180000 tons in 2026, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said.
As a result, many carmakers are looking for ways to ensure a long-term supply of battery metals by skipping the entire supply chain and negotiating directly with miners. Selby said RNC had not been in direct contact with battery makers or car companies, but was open to it. In addition, he said the company was currently in talks with large Japanese trading houses that offer streaming transactions.
The company is also seeking debt financing to cover half of the development costs of the Dumont mine. The company expects to complete the financing deal later this year and begin a two-year construction project (starting in 2019). Selby says there are clear ways to get financial support.
Note: Dumont is part of RNC Mining Company and Private Equity firm Waterton Global Resource (50 ≈ 50), and its feasibility study and license have been completed.
RNC shares closed up 47.6 per cent at C $0.25on Monday. The company's share price has been soaring since the start of the year and has risen 37.14 per cent since January.
Translation and collation of (SMM) Yan Cedar of Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Network
