Mining
How Junior Mining Companies Hit the Reset Button
How Junior Mining Companies Hit the Reset Button
Special thanks to Dajin Resources for sponsoring.
There is a saying in junior mining that “a rising tide floats all boats”. Basically what this implies is that when the market is doing well, all speculative companies benefit from a booming market at the same time. In other words, an investor can hold a position in any of these companies and receive a payoff.
However, what they don’t tell you is that a falling tide can make it a pretty rocky environment for even many of the best boats and navigators. In this type of environment, many companies can face dire circumstances in which they may need to get creative to survive. This is analogous to our current situation where junior mining stocks have been in a bear market for over four years.
If push comes to shove and a company’s situation becomes troubling enough, one answer is to hit the “reset” button. Management teams that cannot raise money may use this type of solution to rejig their share structure, pay off debt obligations, and eventually reposition their company to raise money again.
How does this work? First, the troubled company would roll back the stock such that multiple shares would be exchanged for one new share (for example, a 6:1 rollback would mean 6 old shares are turned into 1 new share). Note that such a rollback also changes the stock price by the same ratio, so a $0.01 stock would then be trading at $0.06.
Then, the company would issue new stock to settle any debt that is on the books and then raise money again. Ultimately, in order to be successful at any of this, the company needs to also shift their direction in some meaningful way. Changing the management team, switching focuses, or acquiring a new project may be ways to give a company new life.
While it is never fun to admit defeat for management teams or investors, ultimately this “reset” button is something that is a unique part of this sector and for good reason. It gives a clean slate, and creates a share structure and situation which can possibly be turned around.
Mining
White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines
In this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnerered with EnergyX to explore the size and location of U.S. lithium mines.
White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines
The U.S. doubled imports of lithium-ion batteries for the third consecutive year in 2022, and with EV demand growing yearly, U.S. lithium mines must ramp up production or rely on other nations for their supply of refined lithium.
To determine if the domestic U.S. lithium opportunity can meet demand, we partnered with EnergyX to determine how much lithium sits within U.S. borders.
U.S. Lithium Projects
The most crucial measure of a lithium mine’s potential is the quantity that can be extracted from the source.
For each lithium resource, the potential volume of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) was calculated with a ratio of one metric ton of lithium producing 5.32 metric tons of LCE. Cumulatively, existing U.S. lithium projects contain 94.8 million metric tons of LCE.
Rank | Project Name | LCE, million metric tons (est.) |
---|---|---|
1 | McDermitt Caldera | 21.5 |
2 | Thacker Pass | 19.1 |
3 | Tonopah Flats | 18.0 |
4 | TLC Lithium | 10.7 |
5 | Clayton Valley (Century Lithium) | 6.3 |
6 | Zeus Lithium | 6.3 |
7 | Rhyolite Ridge | 3.4 |
8 | Arkansas Smackover (Phase 1A) | 2.8 |
9 | Basin Project | 2.2 |
10 | McGee Deposit | 2.1 |
11 | Arkansas Smackover (South West) | 1.8 |
12 | Clayton Valley (Lithium-X, Pure Energy) | 0.8 |
13 | Big Sandy | 0.3 |
14 | Imperial Valley/Salton Sea | 0.3 |
U.S. Lithium Opportunities, By State
U.S. lithium projects mainly exist in western states, with comparatively minor opportunities in central or eastern states.
State | LCE, million metric tons (est.) |
---|---|
Nevada | 88.2 |
Arkansas | 4.6 |
Arizona | 2.5 |
California | 0.3 |
Currently, the U.S. is sitting on a wealth of lithium that it is underutilizing. For context, in 2022, the U.S. only produced about 5,000 metric tons of LCE and imported a projected 19,000 metric tons of LCE, showing that the demand for the mineral is healthy.
The Next Gold Rush?
U.S. lithium companies have the opportunity to become global leaders in lithium production and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy sources. This is particularly important as the demand for lithium is increasing every year.
EnergyX is on a mission to meet U.S. lithium demands using groundbreaking technology that can extract 300% more lithium from a source than traditional methods.
You can take advantage of this opportunity by investing in EnergyX and joining other significant players like GM in becoming a shareholder.
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