Lithium-Gigant SQM: Produktion schwächelt, Nachfrage übertrifft Erwartungen

Sehr gute Nachrichten für das Gesamtbild im Lithiumsektor kamen zuletzt erneut von SQM. Der chilenische Konzern ist nach der amerikanischen Albemarle der größte Lithiumproduzent der Welt und der führende Spezialist für die Lithiumförderung aus Salzseen. Bei SQM sind die Lithium-Verkäufe im 3. Quartal aufgrund diverser Probleme in Chile (u.a. Produktionsprobleme und Expansionsverzögerungen) um satte 16% gegenüber dem 2. Quartal eingebrochen.

Dieses Vorkommnis bestätigt erneut die Schwierigkeiten der großen Spieler die Lithium-Produktion signifikant zu erhöhen und führt zu positiven Effekten auf die Angebots- und Nachfragebilanz im Lithiummarkt. So bleiben die wichtigsten Lithiumpreise wegen des enormen Nachfragehungers auf hohem Niveau, wie Sie auf dem Chart unten sehen. Zudem dürften die problematische Produktionsexpansionen bei SQM und Albemarle die Sorgen um eine größere Angebotsflut senken.

Lesen Sie hierzu die erfreulichen Kommentare von SQM-Chef Patricio de Solminihac über die reale Lage am Lithiummarkt: "Zum Ende des Jahres sind wir vom Nachfragewachstum im Lithiummarkt positiv überrascht. Wir glauben nun, dass die globale Lithiumnachfrage um über 25% in 2018 wächst." Das sind eindeutige Worte von einem der führenden Insider.

Quelle: bloomberg.com, benchmarkminerals.com

Lithium-Produzent SQM: Verkaufspreise erreichen neues Rekordniveau

SQM erlöste für eine Tonne Lithium-Karbonat (LCE) im 1. Quartal 018 im Durchschnitt satte 16.420 USD - ein neuer Rekord:

Quelle: SQM

Wegen Streik: Produktion in der weltgrößten Kupfermine fällt drastisch

Nach einem besonders heftigen Streik müssen BHP, Rio Tinto und Mitsubishi im 1. Quartal 2017 kräftige Einbußen in der Kupferproduktion auf Escondida verkraften. Dies führte bekanntlich zu einer temporären Belastung für die Minenkonzerne. Jedoch war die gravierende Auseinandersetzung die nächste gute Nachricht hinsichtlich der angespannten Angebotslage am Kupfermarkt, die sich damit weiter verschärfte:

Copper production at BHP's Escondida mine fell 63% in Q1

Jun. 30, 2017 9:29 AM ET|About: BHP Billiton Limited (BHP)|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

• Q1 copper production at Chile's Escondida copper mine, the world's largest, fell 63% Y/Y amid the 43-day strike that reportedly left majority owner BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) with an estimated $1B loss.
• The mine produced 97.1K metric tons of copper between January and March, down from more than 265K tons in the year-earlier period.
• Escondida is controlled by BHP, with minority interests held by Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) and Japanese companies including Mitsubishi.

Quelle: seekingalpha.com

Quelle: mining.com

Goldcorp und Barrick Gold finalisieren Partnerschaftsabkommen in Chile

Das neue JV kontrolliert eine gigantische Ressourcen-Basis von über 50 Mio. Goldunzen und mehr als 15 Mrd. Pfund Kupfer im rohstoffreichen Maricunga-Minenbezirk in Chile:

Goldcorp Announces Completion of the Formation of a 50/50 Joint Venture With Barrick

June 09, 2017

VANCOUVER, June 9, 2017 /CNW/ - GOLDCORP INC. (TSX: G, NYSE: GG) ("Goldcorp") today announced that it has closed the previously announced transactions that resulted in the formation of a 50/50 joint venture with Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") in the Maricunga District in Chile.

Under the terms of the transactions and the previously announced offer to acquire Exeter Resource Corporation("Exeter"), Goldcorp and Barrick will jointly control more than 20,000 hectares of mineral properties in the Maricunga District with the Cerro Casale and Caspiche deposits..

Link: http://www.goldcorp.com/English/Investor-Resources/News/News-Details/2017/Goldcorp-Announces-Completion-of-the-Formation-of-a-5050-Joint-Venture-With-Barrick/default.aspx

Quelle: goldcorp.com

Lithium-Gigant Albemarle: Starke Fundamentaldaten und glänzende Aussichten

Die Outperformance der Albemarle-Aktie in den letzten Monaten spricht für sich..

Albemarle (ALB) Scales New 52-Week High on Bright Prospects

Shares of chemicals maker Albemarle ALB scaled a fresh 52-week high of $112.82 yesterday, before pulling back to close the day at $112.05.

Albemarle has a market cap of roughly $12.4 billion and average volume of shares traded in the last three months is around 1,053.7K. The company has an expected long-term EPS growth of around 14.5%.

Albemarle has significantly outperformed the Zacks categorized Chemicals-Diversified industry over a year, partly reflecting its forecast-topping earnings performance and its strategic growth initiatives. The company’s shares have gained around 47.1% over this period, compared with roughly 17.5% gain recorded by the industry.

Driving Factors

Albemarle's adjusted earnings of $1.05 per share for first-quarter 2017 topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 95 cents. Revenues of $722.1 million also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $678.7 million..

Link: https://mrtopstep.com/albemarle-alb-scales-new-52-week-high-on-bright-prospects/

Quelle: stockcharts.com

Quelle: stockcharts.com

Chinesisch-koreanische Investoren-Gruppe plant Gigafabrik für Lithium-Ionen-Batterien in Chile

Sehr spannende News und Entwicklungen im Lithium-Sektor in Chile:

Chinese-Korean group to build $2 billion lithium batteries plant in Chile

Chinese and Korean investors are said to be in advanced talks with the Chilean government to open up a $2 billion mega-lithium batteries plant in the country’s north, known for its vast salt flats under which experts say there is enough of the commodity to supply the world for decades..

Link: http://www.mining.com/chinese-korean-group-to-build-2-billion-lithium-batteries-plant-in-chile/

Chile contains half of the world’s most “economically extractable” reserves of lithium. (Image courtesy of University of Chile)

Wealth Minerals: CEO Henk Van Alphen im Interview bei BBC über die große Bedeutung von Chile im Lithium-Markt

Wealth Minerals' (V.WML) CEO Henk Van Alphen ergattert erneut einen begehrten Medien-Platz bei Gigant BBC. Folgend sehen Sie das Video-Interview, welches gestern in London aufgezeichnet wurde:

Quelle: Wealth Minerals

Größte Abhängigkeit vom Rohstoffmarkt unter den Entwicklungsländern

Die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (Öl+Gas), Saudi-Arabien (Öl+Gas) und Kasachstan (Öl+Gas, Uran) nehmen die Spitzenplätze ein. Hierzu eine spannende Übersicht:

Quelle: Thomson Reuters, HSBC

Folgen der historischen Baisse: Kupfer-Gigant Codelco streicht Milliarden-Investitionen zusammen

Gute News für die zukünftige Angebotslage in der angeschlagene Kupferbranche:

Chile's Codelco delays $2.25 billion in investments on copper prices slump

Chile’s Codelco, the world's top copper miner, has once again made drastic changes to its ambitious five-year investment plan as falling copper prices continue to dry up the company’s earnings.

The state-owned miner, which faces what its chief executive Nelson Pizarro recently called its “worst crisis ever” since created in 1976, has decided to reduce its investment budget by $2.25 billion, local news site El Pulso reports (in Spanish)..

Link: http://www.mining.com/chiles-codelco-delays-2-25-billion-in-investments-on-copper-prices-slump/?utm_source=digest-en-mining-161005&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest

Lithium: Russischer Nuklear-Gigant Rosatom visiert Investitionen in Chile an

Sehr interessante Entwicklung:

Russian nuclear firm Rosatom eyes Chilean lithium

By Rosalba O'Brien | SANTIAGO

Russian state nuclear power plant giant Rosatom sent lobbyists to meet with the Chilean government and discuss "collaboration in possible lithium projects," a government website revealed at the weekend.
Four representatives of the company met with Mining Deputy Minister Igancio Moreno in September, according to information published on the government's lobbying transparent website.

Rosatom has signed billions of dollars worth of overseas contracts and is seen as a tool for Russia to wield political influence abroad..

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-rosatom-chile-idUSKCN1220LO

Lithium-Boom rückt Chile ins Rampenlicht

Informativer Beitrag über die bedeutendste Lithium-Förderregion der Welt. Natürlich wird auch Lithium-Highflyer Wealth Minerals (V.WML) erwähnt:

Lithium boom puts spotlight on Chile

30 September 2016 by Sara Ver-Bruggen

CHILE: As growing interest in electric cars and energy-storage drives up global demand for lithium, companies with concessions to exploit Chile's vast resources could find themselves in an enviable position if the government loosens restrictions.

Dubbed "white petroleum", lithium is critical to the global switch to cleaner energy and transport, so exploiting new reserves of the mineral with low extraction costs is becoming imperative..
Link: http://www.windpowermonthly.com/article/1409915/lithium-boom-puts-spotlight-chile

Atacama Salar… The salt flat in Northern Chile (right) is home to the world’s highest grade lithium-brine deposit (pic: Francesco-Mocellin)

Quelle: stockcharts.com

Quelle: stockcharts.com

Wealth Minerals: Interview mit den Firmen-Chefs über das lukrative "Lithium Triangle" in Südamerika

Informatives Interview @ Mining.com mit den Chefs bei Junior-Miner und Lithium-Highflyer Wealth Minerals (V.WML), Mr. Henk van Alphen (CEO) und Mr. Marcelo Awad (Executive Director, Chile):

Investors can't get enough of South America's 'lithium triangle'

Lithium, commonly called "white petroleum", drives much of the modern world. It forms a small but essentially irreplaceable component of rechargeable batteries, used in consumer devices like mobile phones and electric cars. It also has pharmaceutical and other applications.

More than half of the world’s identified resources of the mineral are found in South America's "lithium triangle", a unique stripe of high-altitude land covered with lakes and white salt flats that straddles Chile, Argentina and Bolivia..

Link: http://www.mining.com/web/investors-cant-get-enough-of-south-americas-lithium-triangle/

Quelle: stockcharts.com

Wealth Minerals: CEO Henk Van Alphen im Interview bei BBC über den Lithium-Markt

Wealth Minerals's (V.WML) CEO Henk Van Alphen ergattert einen weiteren, sehr begehrten Medien-Platz. Folgend das Interview bei BBC, welches heute in London aufgezeichnet wurde:

Wealth Minerals: CEO Henk Van Alphen spricht bei CNBC über den Lithium-Markt

Hier der Link zum Interview: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/video/future-benefits-lithium-ion-batteries-062400138.html

Quelle: CNBC

Quelle: stockcharts.com

Wealth Minerals: Interview mit Chile-Geschäftsführer Marcelo Awad bei MiningWeekly

Lesenswerter Bericht über die aufstrebende Lithium-Firma Wealth Minerals (V.WML) in Chile:

Wealth Minerals aggressively advances Chile lithium asset acquisitions

26TH AUGUST 2016 - BY: HENRY LAZENBY - CREAMER MEDIA DEPUTY EDITOR: NORTH AMERICA

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The Vancouver- and Santiago-based teams of junior explorer Wealth Minerals have since February put together the largest brine property package in Chile of any junior miningcompany, in the hopes of capitalising on the rising tide of the energy metal.

On Wealth’s team is Marcelo Awad, a former Antofagasta CEO and VP at Codelco. The team also includes Henk Van Alphen and Tim McCutcheon, who have successfully operated junior mining companies in many jurisdictions.

Since Awad joined Wealth in April as executive director, the company has entered a string of option agreements in Chile’s lithium sector.

Speaking to Mining Weekly Online from Santiago, Chile, Awad stated that he and Van Alphen had a history going back several years, and his interest was piqued when he heard that Van Alphen wanted to broach the lithium industry in Chile.

According to Awad, over half of the earth’s identified lithium resources are found in South America’s lithium triangle, which comprises Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.

“When I heard about the opportunity to become involved in the lithium industry I became very interested because I could see the growth potential in acquiring multiple high-quality lithium assets at a time when the lithium market is just beginning to realise its full potential,” he stated..

Link: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/wealth-minerals-aggressively-advances-chile-lithium-asset-acquisitions-2016-08-26/rep_id:3650

Quelle: stockcharts.com

Quote:

Wealth Minerals mit Meilenstein-Deal: Akquisition im führenden Lithium-Salar in Chile

Wealth Minerals (V.WML) sichert sich ein signifikantes Landpaket in der renommiertesten Lithium-Förderregion in Chile. Wealth's neue Konzessionen werden direkt an SQM und Rockwood angrenzen, welche in dieser Top-Region sehr profitabel 100% des Lithium-Angebots in Chile bereitstellen..

Link: http://rohstoffaktien.blogspot.de/2016/08/wealth-minerals-mit-meilenstein-deal.html

Figure 1: Wealth’s newly acquired Atacama Project. SQM and Albemarle
both produce lithium carbonate from concessions held by CORFO.

Quelle: wealthminerals.com

Figure 2: Wealth’s total current lithium project position in northern Chile: the Atacama and Trinity Projects

Quelle: wealthminerals.com

Wealth Minerals mit Meilenstein-Deal: Akquisition im führenden Lithium-Salar in Chile

Wealth Minerals (V.WML) sichert sich ein signifikantes Landpaket in der renommiertesten Lithium-Förderregion in Chile. Wealth's neue Konzessionen werden direkt an SQM und Rockwood angrenzen, welche in dieser Top-Region sehr profitabel 100% des Lithium-Angebots in Chile bereitstellen..

Wealth Signs LOI for Option to Acquire Atacama Project, Salar de Atacama, Chile

August 04, 2016

Increases Chilean Lithium Projects Area to Over 50,000 Hectares

Vancouver, British Columbia: Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the “Company” or “Wealth”) - (TSXV: WML; OTCQB: WMLLF; SSE: WMLCL; Frankfurt: EJZ), announces that it has executed a Letter of Intent (the “LOI”) dated August 2, 2016 to enter into an option agreement giving it the right to acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in 144 exploration concessions (the “Concessions”) referred to as the “Proyecto Atacama Lithium” and located in the Atacama Salar in Region II of Antofagasta, northern Chile.

Henk Van Alphen, Wealth’s CEO, commented “The Atacama Salar is a premier lithium asset, which accounts for about a third of annual global lithium production. Chile is a great mining jurisdiction and we are delighted to be a part of that country’s burgeoning lithium industry. Wealth’s position in Atacama will firmly place the Company in an exclusive peer group and the team looks forward to exciting times as we advance the Atacama and Trinity Projects..”

Link: http://www.wealthminerals.com/news/2016/08/04/wealth-signs-loi-for-option-to-acquire-atacama-project-salar-de-atacama-chile

Figure 1: Wealth’s newly acquired Atacama Project. SQM and Albemarle
both produce lithium carbonate from concessions held by CORFO.

Quelle: wealthminerals.com

Figure 2: Wealth’s total current lithium project position in northern Chile: the Atacama and Trinity Projects

Quelle: wealthminerals.com

Die 5 größten Kupfer-Minen der Welt

Nach wie vor steht die Mega-Mine Escondida (BHP, Rio Tinto, Mitsubishi, IFC) im größten Förder-Staat (Chile) auf dem Spitzenplatz.

Hierzu ein informativer Bericht von INN:

5 Largest Copper Mines in the World

Here's a look at the world's largest copper mines in terms of production.

By Karen Norton, Thomson Reuters GFMS

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), Chile is the top copper-producing country in the world by a long shot, so it’s no surprise that most of the world’s largest copper mines are also located in Chile. In fact, Chile took four of the five top five spots in terms of production last year..

Link: http://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/base-metals-investing/copper-investing/3-largest-copper-mines-in-the-world/?mqsc=e3842276

Quelle: mining.com

Big Picture: Förder-Kosten der größten Lithium-Produzenten der Welt

Bei den aktuellen Lithium-Preisen bleibt bei den meisten Produzenten schon ein schöner Gewinn hängen. Die in Chile aktiven SQM und Rockwood gehören zu den Kostenführern unter den größten Lithium-Produzenten und haben wesentlich geringere Kosten als die chinesischen Förderer..

Quelle: Roskill Estimates

Kupfer: Die 10 größten Förder-Nationen der Welt

Hierzu ein informativer Bericht von Mining.com:

Top 10 copper producing countries
Peru's production surges, Indonesia recovers.  North American producers slip down rankings, Chinese output shrinks..

Link: http://www.mining.com/top-10-copper-producing-countries/

Codelco: Größter Kupfer-Produzent der Welt vermeldet historischen Verlust

Die Krise am Kupfermarkt sorgt für einen ungewöhnlichen Verlust beim weltgrößten Produzenten:

World’s No.1 copper miner Codelco posts historic loss of $1.4bn in 2015

Chile’s Codelco, the world’s No.1 copper producer, posted Thursday (in Spanish) a net loss of $ 1.4 billion for 2015 related to asset impairments and a sharp fall of prices for the red metal.

The company, which produces nearly 11% of the total global copper supply, booked $2.4 billion in write-downs, and said the results were its worst bottom-line figures since it began issuing earnings reports in the early 1990s..

Link: http://www.mining.com/worlds-no-1-copper-miner-codelco-posts-historic-loss-of-1-4bn-in-2015/

Quelle: stockcharts.com