Column: BHP joins the lengthening list of nickel price casualties
Indonesia's nickel production surge is challenging the West's ambitions of diversifying its critical metals supply chains.
Australian lithium developer Prospect Resources Ltd said on Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with a unit of Russia’s Rosatom that could see the latter buy a stake in Prospect as well as supplies of the sought-after metal.
The discussions are with Uranium One, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear energy firm, and are incomplete and ongoing, Perth-based Prospect said in a stock exchange filing.
It didn’t disclose the size of the stake Uranium One might buy in Prospect, worth about A$26 million ($18 million) by market value before the accord was announced, nor financial terms of the potential lithium supply deal. Prospect shares jumped 14% on Wednesday following the company’s statement.
Though prices for lithium, a key component of batteries used in cell phones and electric vehicles, have seen a 50% drop since 2018, industry players see this as a buying opportunity to invest in companies associated with the white metal. Demand for lithium is widely expected to spike by 2025.
After a 90-day period to complete due diligence, Prospect said the agreement would allow Uranium One to negotiate acquiring at least 51% of Prospect’s future lithium production from its flagship Arcadia Lithium Mine in Zimbabwe.
($1 = 1.4736 Australian dollars)
(By Nikhil Subba; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
Comments
John Smith
In the status quo, Bolivia- Chile’s neighbor, signed an MoU with the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation (Russia) to develop an in-situ lithium industry. Not just the global-economies the lithium-based battery manufacturers and EV players such as Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, etc., are also securing the lithium supply, while the prices remain soft. The price-performance of the ETF, which is holding exposure to battery tech, that the exposure to the battery tech stocks could provide some diversification advantage over pure lithium stocks, and the market is currently developing an interest in such stocks.
Source: Kalkinemedia.com