Cruz Cobalt clarifies cobalt grades as historical
Cruz Cobalt clarifies cobalt grades as historical
– Momentum Public Relations –
Press Release: February 23, 2017
Mr. James Nelson reports
CRUZ CHANGES NAME TO CRUZ COBALT CORP. AND CLARIFIES PREVIOUS DISCLOSURE
Cruz Cobalt Corp. has received TSX Venture Exchange approval for its name change to Cruz Cobalt Corp., as previously announced on Feb. 9, 2017. Effective at the opening on Feb. 23, 2017, the common shares of Cruz will commence trading on the TSX-V and the common shares of Cruz Capital Corp. will be delisted. There is no consolidation of capital. The name change was approved by the board of directors on Feb. 2, 2017. Changing the name accurately reflects Cruz’s focus on high-quality, ethically located cobalt assets.
At the request of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), the company wishes to clarify certain disclosure with respect to previously reported samples.
President James Nelson stated: “Cruz currently has seven cobalt projects located in Canada and one in Idaho. Cruz’s four separate Ontario cobalt prospects are all located in the vicinity of the city of Cobalt. According to government mineral files, the 900-acre Coleman cobalt prospect returned cobalt grades of 13 per cent, the 900-acre Johnson cobalt prospect returned grades of 10.5 per cent cobalt and the 1,480-acre Bucke cobalt prospect returned cobalt grades of 13 per cent. The 5,500-acre Hector cobalt prospect covers multiple cobalt occurrences. Our War Eagle cobalt prospect in British Columbia covers a past-producing mine as well, and returned assays of 6.5 per cent cobalt.”
The historical data referred to above were taken directly from government mineral files. These data are historical in nature. The company is planning to commence operations on these projects to attempt to reconfirm the data stated herein. Assay results from the War Eagle prospect came from surface samples. The Johnson prospect assays were reported as grab samples. The Coleman prospect was reported as assays of veins. The Bucke prospect was reported as assays of unknown source. The three Ontario projects are all located in proximity to the town of Cobalt. This region has been historically one of the most active and productive silver-cobalt regions in Canada. However, until the company can carry out a geologic assessment on the properties in the coming weeks, it cannot be assured that the geology on the claims will prove economic.
The technical contents of this release were approved by Greg Thomson, PGeo, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. All of the historical grades referred to in this release have not yet been verified. All of the data referenced in this release were taken directly from historical government mineral files and remain to be confirmed.
© 2017 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Published in Cruz Cobalt, Mining, News Home
Cobalt gets ready to shine from Tesla, Apple, Samsung demand
Cobalt gets ready to shine from Tesla, Apple, Samsung demand
The lesser known mineral component of batteries, cobalt, is gearing up to have its year in the sun, with hedge funds stockpiling the commodity in preparation for the “Tesla boost”, ethical dilemmas tainting existing supply and miners exploring the developed world.
Prices for the mineral are starting to see a conspicuous recovery; low-grade cobalt was at a high of $US16.50 ($21.84) a pound on the spot market on Thursday, up more than 80 per cent from lows in December 2015, according to Bloomberg data.
“If last year was lithium’s time, for 2017 its battery peer cobalt may be the one receiving more attention,” a Macquarie analysts wrote in a recent note to clients.
“Prices have accelerated to levels last seen in 2011, and with demand from the core portable electronics sector recovering and supply growth relatively stagnant, this can be fundamentally justified.”
The hard, grey mineral has piqued interest in recent years for its potential widespread use in smartphones and the lithium-ion batteries used in Tesla vehicles. As an efficient electrode, cobalt can help store power for longer.
Analysts expect the likes of General Motors and Volkswagon, in addition to smartphone makers Apple and Samsung, to soon crank up demand as they experiment with their own electric cars.
According to commodity researcher CRU Group, this is set to boost demand for the nickel byproduct on average by 16 per cent annually through to 2022.
The supply issue
Cobalt is particularly contentious, however, given it is largely mined in the strife-riddled region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to an Amnesty International report released last year, a fifth of the DRC’s cobalt is derived from small-scale operations that rely on child labour.
China is the main refiner of cobalt, buying up the commodity from both ethical and conflict zones, refining it and then on-selling it to the likes of Apple, Samsung and Tesla.
“The problem is it all gets mixed together, so you don’t really have an option to buy clean cobalt,” said Matthew Langsford, portfolio manager of the natural resources fund at Terra Capital.
At this year’s African Mining Indaba, which finished up last week in Cape Town, cobalt sprung up at numerous booths, with companies turning their exploration sights towards the commodity which is usually found as a byproduct of nickel.
However, investors seem to be leaning towards more transparent sources of cobalt.
“It’s a chilling fact for a lot of people that the smartphone in the pocket probably contains cobalt produced through child labour,” Edward Lauer, head of portfolio optimisation at Eurasian Resources Group, told a panel during the conference.
“It’s a complex supply chain and a challenging issue; thankfully, a lot of groups are bringing various stakeholders together.”
Opportunists
Investors could once get exposure to cobalt through nickel and copper shares, but there are more companies popping up exploring in developed countries.
ASX-listed Clean TeQ, backed by Regal Funds Management, has a scandium deposit in central New South Wales, with high-grade nickel and cobalt features. Billionaire Canadian investor Robert Friedman has taken an almost 20 per cent slab of the company’s stock and is a vocal proponent of the cobalt story.
Another high-profile investor, Paul Matysek, recently joined the board of Equator Resources and is in the process of renaming the company Cobalt One. The microcap stock hopes to exploit Mr Matysek’s track record of finding difficult deposits and is in the process of raising capital.
“These kinds of companies are looking to add to the cobalt supply from developed countries which will take some of the pressure out of the DRC,” says Mr Langford. “While the deposits there are so rich it’s unlikely cobalt will stop coming out of there, these other plays give investors more options.”
But there are also other methods of gaining cobalt exposure. In readiness for this spike in demand, some fund managers have begun to stock pile the commodity in preparation for the price hike.
“By buying physical stock, you actually own the metal that’s going into the batteries,” Anthony Milewski, a managing director at Pala Investments, told Bloomberg recently. “It’s a much more attractive option, and we’re not the only fund out there doing this.”
But getting one’s hands on the commodity is not easy. About 100,000 metric tons is produced annually, though 65 per cent of refined supply comes in a non-metal form, like the chemicals used in jet engines, drilling tools, pigments and smartphones.
As such, only around 35,000 tonnes comes in metal form, worth around $US550 million ($713 million).
Traders haven’t had it much easier, struggling with the lack of liquidity in markets like the London Metals Exchange.
Before November last year, the average volume was just 24 contracts a day; by comparison, copper trades around 140,000 contracts a day. But increased market attention has seen these contracts jump to an average of 162 a day, with some sessions reaching 600.
By Jessica Sier
- Published in Blog, Cruz Cobalt, Mining
Cruz Capital to change name to Cruz Cobalt
Cruz Capital to change name to Cruz Cobalt
Mr. James Nelson reports
CRUZ PROPOSES NAME CHANGE TO CRUZ COBALT CORP.
Cruz Capital Corp. is proposing to change the company’s name to Cruz Cobalt Corp. to accurately reflect the company’s focus on high-grade North American cobalt prospects. The name change is pending exchange approval.
Cruz president James Nelson stated: “By changing the name to Cruz Cobalt Corp., management feels it will accurately reflect the company’s focus on cobalt. Cruz’s advantage is that we have multiple high-grade cobalt projects in North America and have been enjoying first mover status in the space by being able to acquire these high historical grade cobalt projects before the recent rush into the sector. We have cash on hand and plan to have a very active work season commencing shortly. Management feels that cobalt prices are starting a significant price climb, similar to the move that lithium enjoyed over the past two years. Cobalt prices closed at a new five-year high yesterday and we are extremely optimistic about the short- and long-term growth drivers on Cruz Cobalt Corp.”
On Feb. 7, 2017, the company also reported it is now fully DTC eligible on the U.S. markets. Being fully DTC eligible will now enable U.S. brokerage firms to clear Cruz shares in their home market not via the Canadian market therefore creating a much more transparent and easily accessible trading situation for the U.S. market.
“Cruz employed early mover advantage as Cruz has been able to acquire, what we feel is one of the best collections of cobalt prospects in North America before the majority of the recent cobalt entrants were in the space. Cruz currently has seven cobalt projects located in Canada and one in Idaho. Cruz’s four separate Ontario cobalt prospects, according to government mineral files, returned cobalt grades of 13 per cent on the 900-acre Coleman cobalt prospect and 10.5 per cent cobalt on the 900-acre Johnson cobalt prospect. The 5,500-acre Hector cobalt prospect was a past-producing cobalt mine and the 1,480-acre Bucke cobalt prospect returned cobalt grades of 13 per cent. Our War Eagle cobalt prospect in British Columbia covers a past-producing mine as well and returned assays of 6.5 per cent cobalt. Based on these projects, management feels that Cruz has amassed a quality portfolio of cobalt assets that have some of the highest historic cobalt grades in North America, which sets Cruz apart from most cobalt companies in the junior space. We feel that 2017 will be a breakout year for cobalt prices and Cruz is well positioned to take full advantage of this. We plan to commence full operations on these projects with our goal to make Cruz the go-to North American cobalt project generator and developer. The first half of 2017 will be an extremely active period for Cruz and management is optimistic about what will be discovered by Cruz on our cobalt properties,” stated Mr. Nelson.
© 2017 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Published in Cruz Cobalt, Mining, News Home
Cruz Capital is DTC eligible on U.S. markets
Cruz Capital is DTC eligible on U.S. markets
Mr. James Nelson reports
CRUZ CAPITAL CORP IS NOW FULLY DTC ELIGIBLE
Cruz Capital Corp. is fully DTC (Depoitory Trust Company) eligible on the U.S. markets. Being fully DTC eligible will now enable U.S. brokerage firms to clear Cruz shares in the home market not via the Canadian market therefore creating a much more transparent and easily accessible trading situation for the U.S. market.
Cruz president James Nelson stated: “Having the DTC complete will enable our USA shareholders a much more efficient market to access. Cruz continues to expand our cobalt assets at a time when cobalt prices have moved to five-year highs. Cruz enjoyed early mover advantage as Cruz has been able to acquire what we feel is one of the best collections of cobalt prospects in North America, before the majority of the recent cobalt entrants were in the space. Cruz’s four separate Ontario cobalt prospects, according to government mineral files, returned cobalt grades of 13 per cent on the 900-acre Coleman cobalt prospect and 10.5 per cent cobalt on the 900-acre Johnson cobalt prospect. The 5,500-acre Hector cobalt prospect was a past-producing cobalt mine and the 1,480-acre Bucke cobalt prospect returned cobalt grades of 13 per cent. Our War Eagle cobalt prospect in British Columbia covers a past-producing mine as well and returned assays of 6.5 per cent cobalt. Based on these projects, management feels that Cruz has amassed a quality portfolio of cobalt assets that have some of the highest historic cobalt grades in North America, which sets Cruz apart from most cobalt companies in the junior space. We feel that 2017 will be a breakout year for cobalt prices and Cruz is well positioned to take full advantage of this. We plan to commence full operations on these projects with our goal to make Cruz the go-to North American cobalt project generator and developer. The first half of 2017 will be an extremely active period for Cruz and management is optimistic about what will be discovered by Cruz on our cobalt properties.”
About Cruz Capital Corp.
Cruz is actively engaged in acquiring and developing high-grade cobalt projects in politically stable, environmentally responsible and ethical mining jurisdictions. Cruz has already acquired several high-grade cobalt projects across North America. Seven cobalt projects are located in Canada and one in Idaho. The goal of the company is to make Cruz the foremost cobalt project generator and developer on the TSX Venture Exchange.
© 2017 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Published in Cruz Cobalt, Mining, News Home
Cruz Capital grants options to buy three million shares
Cruz Capital grants options to buy three million shares
Mr. James Nelson reports
CRUZ GRANTS STOCK OPTIONS
Cruz Capital Corp. has granted, pursuant to its 10-per-cent rolling stock option plan, three million incentive stock options to directors, officers and consultants at an exercise price of 20 cents per share for a term of four months. These shares are not subject to a hold period.
© 2017 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Published in Cruz Cobalt, Mining, News Home
- 1
- 2