Latest news with #cobalt
National Post
a day ago
- Business
- National Post
Leading Independent Proxy Advisor ISS Recommends Sherritt Shareholders Vote FOR All Resolutions and Director Nominees
Article content Article content Warning: Self-interested shareholder SC2 Inc., an affiliate of Seablinc Canada Inc., a supplier to the Moa JV, seeks control of Sherritt for its own gain, without a credible plan or a premium, risking the Corporation's financial stability and strategic goals Sherritt's Board urges shareholders to vote FOR all resolutions and nominees well in advance of the proxy voting deadline on Friday, June 6, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) For assistance voting, contact Kingsdale Advisors at 1-866-229-8263 (toll-free in North America) or (437) 561-5030 (text and collect calls outside of North America) or at contactus@ For more detailed information, including a letter to shareholders from Sherritt's Board Chairman, please visit TORONTO — Sherritt International Corporation ('Sherritt' or the 'Corporation') (TSX:S), a world leader in using hydrometallurgical processes to mine and refine nickel and cobalt – metals deemed critical for the energy transition – today reported that Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. ('ISS') has recommended that shareholders vote FOR all resolutions and director nominees ahead of the upcoming Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders. Article content ISS is a leading independent proxy advisor, who carefully reviews the information regarding upcoming shareholder meetings and then makes a voting recommendation. ISS is the second leading independent proxy advisor to recommend that shareholders vote FOR all resolutions. Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC previously recommended shareholders vote FOR all resolutions, recognizing the significant progress Sherritt has made under its current Board and management team. Article content SC2 Inc. ('SC2') has publicly stated its intent to withhold support for all incumbent director nominees. However, SC2 is far from a typical shareholder. It was created to obscure the fact that Seablinc Canada Inc. ('Seablinc'), a significant supplier to Sherritt's Moa Joint Venture, is behind its campaign to remove and replace the Corporation's incumbent directors. SC2's actions appear to be the first step in Seablinc's broader agenda to secure a more lucrative supplier arrangement with the Moa Joint Venture, prioritizing its own commercial interests over the long-term success of the Corporation. Article content Adding to the concern, SC2 has entered into an agreement with a third party that has the effect of limiting its upside on nearly 75% of its Sherritt shares. Under this agreement, SC2 granted an irrevocable option for a third party to acquire up to 30,000,000 of its Sherritt shares at a fixed price of $0.17 per share between August 1, 2025, and May 1, 2026. This arrangement demonstrates that SC2 has effectively borrowed shares to gain influence without a long-term commitment to Sherritt. Article content Such short-term, opportunistic behavior is misaligned with the interests of Sherritt's broader shareholder base and is a risk to the Corporation's financial stability and strategic goals. In a detailed letter, Sherritt exposes SC2's motives and underscores the critical importance of voting FOR all resolutions to protect the Corporation's future and sustain its strategic momentum. Shareholders can access the full letter at Article content Time is short. Sherritt's Board urges shareholders to vote FOR all resolutions and nominees in advance of the proxy voting deadline on Friday, June 6, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). Article content Shareholders requiring assistance with voting are encouraged to contact Sherritt's strategic shareholder advisor and proxy solicitation agent, Kingsdale Advisors, at: Article content Sherritt is a world leader in using hydrometallurgical processes to mine and refine nickel and cobalt – metals deemed critical for the energy transition. Sherritt's Moa Joint Venture has an estimated mine life of approximately 25 years and is advancing an expansion program focused on increasing annual MSP production by 20% of contained nickel and cobalt. The Corporation's Power division, through its ownership in Energas, is the largest independent energy producer in Cuba with installed electrical generating capacity of 506 MW, representing approximately 10% of the national electrical generating capacity in Cuba. The Energas facilities are comprised of two combined cycle plants that produce low-cost electricity from one of the lowest carbon emitting sources of power in Cuba. Sherritt's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'S'. Article content This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of statements that include such words as 'believe', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'intend', 'plan', 'forecast', 'likely', 'may', 'will', 'could', 'should', 'suspect', 'outlook', 'potential', 'projected', 'continue' or other similar words or phrases. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements regarding strategies, plans and estimated production amounts resulting from expansion of mining operations at the Moa JV and dividend growth from the Power division. Article content Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations, assumptions and projections about future events, including commodity and product prices and demand; the level of liquidity and access to funding; share price volatility; nickel, cobalt and fertilizer production results and realized prices; current and future demand products produced by Sherritt; global demand for electric vehicles and the anticipated corresponding demand for cobalt and nickel; revenues and net operating results; environmental risks and liabilities; compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations; advancements in environmental and greenhouse gas ('GHG') reduction technology; GHG emissions reduction goals and the anticipated timing of achieving such goals, if at all; statistics and metrics relating to Environmental, Social and Governance ('ESG') matters which are based on assumptions or developing standards; environmental rehabilitation provisions; risks related to the U.S. government policy toward Cuba; current and future economic conditions in Cuba; the level of liquidity and access to funding; Sherritt share price volatility; and certain corporate objectives, goals and plans for 2025. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the Corporation to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove to be accurate, that the assumptions may not be correct and that actual results may differ materially from such predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections. Article content The Corporation cautions readers of this press release not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement as a number of factors could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, commodity risks related to the production and sale of nickel cobalt and fertilizers; security market fluctuations and price volatility; level of liquidity of Sherritt, including access to capital and financing; the ability of the Moa JV to pay dividends; the risk to Sherritt's entitlements to future distributions (including pursuant to the Cobalt Swap) from the Moa JV; risks related to Sherritt's operations in Cuba; risks related to the U.S. government policy toward Cuba, including the U.S. embargo on Cuba and the Helms-Burton legislation; political, economic and other risks of foreign operations, including the impact of geopolitical events on global prices for nickel, cobalt, fertilizers, or certain other commodities; uncertainty in the ability of the Corporation to enforce legal rights in foreign jurisdictions; uncertainty regarding the interpretation and/or application of the applicable laws in foreign jurisdictions; risk of future non-compliance with debt restrictions and covenants; risks related to environmental liabilities including liability for reclamation costs, tailings facility failures and toxic gas releases; compliance with applicable environment, health and safety legislation and other associated matters; risks associated with governmental regulations regarding climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; risks relating to community relations; maintaining social license to grow and operate; uncertainty about the pace of technological advancements required in relation to achieving ESG targets; risks to information technologies systems and cybersecurity; risks associated with the operation of large projects generally; risks related to the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates; the possibility of equipment and other failure; potential interruptions in transportation; identification and management of growth opportunities; the ability to replace depleted mineral reserves; risks associated with the Corporation's joint venture partners; variability in production at Sherritt's operations in Cuba; risks associated with mining, processing and refining activities; risks associated with the operation of large projects generally; risks related to the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates; the possibility of equipment and other failures; uncertainty of gas supply for electrical generation; reliance on key personnel and skilled workers; growth opportunity risks; uncertainty of resources and reserve estimates; the potential for shortages of equipment and supplies, including diesel; supplies quality issues; risks related to the Corporation's corporate structure; foreign exchange and pricing risks; credit risks; competition in product markets; future market access; interest rate changes; risks in obtaining insurance; uncertainties in labour relations; legal contingencies; risks related to the Corporation's accounting policies; uncertainty in the ability of the Corporation to obtain government permits; failure to comply with, or changes to, applicable government regulations; bribery and corruption risks, including failure to comply with the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act or applicable local anti-corruption law; the ability to accomplish corporate objectives, goals and plans for 2025; and the ability to meet other factors listed from time to time in the Corporation's continuous disclosure documents. Article content The Corporation, together with its Moa JV, is pursuing a range of growth and expansion opportunities, including without limitation, process technology solutions, development projects, commercial implementation opportunities, life of mine extension opportunities and the conversion of mineral resources to reserves. In addition to the risks noted above, factors that could, alone or in combination, prevent the Corporation from successfully achieving these opportunities may include, without limitation: identifying suitable commercialization and other partners; successfully advancing discussions and successfully concluding applicable agreements with external parties and/or partners; successfully attracting required financing; successfully developing and proving technology required for the potential opportunity; successfully overcoming technical and technological challenges; successful environmental assessment and stakeholder engagement; successfully obtaining intellectual property protection; successfully completing test work and engineering studies, prefeasibility and feasibility studies, piloting, scaling from small scale to large scale production, procurement, construction, commissioning, ramp-up to commercial scale production and completion; and securing regulatory and government approvals. There can be no assurance that any opportunity will be successful, commercially viable, completed on time or on budget, or will generate any meaningful revenues, savings or earnings, as the case may be, for the Corporation. In addition, the Corporation will incur costs in pursuing any particular opportunity, which may be significant. Article content Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and should be considered in conjunction with the risk factors described in the Corporation's other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities, including without limitation the 'Managing Risk' section of the Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the Annual Information Form of the Corporation dated March 24, 2025 for the period ending December 31, 2024, which is available on SEDAR+ at Article content The Corporation may, from time to time, make oral forward-looking statements. The Corporation advises that the above paragraph and the risk factors described in this press release and in the Corporation's other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities should be read for a description of certain factors that could cause the actual results of the Corporation to differ materially from those in the oral forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any oral or written forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information and statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content For more information, please contact: Article content FGS Longview (Media Contact) Email: sherritt@ Article content Article content Article content
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
African Mining Week 2025 to unpack the DRC cobalt market prospects, global significance
CAPE TOWN, South Africa/ -- As the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) seeks to maximize the financial and economic returns from its cobalt reserves – considered some of the largest worldwide -, the upcoming African Mining Week will spotlight the country's expanding investment opportunities across the cobalt value chain. Taking place October 1-3, 2025, in Cape Town, the event is Africa's premier gathering of mining stakeholders. A dedicated panel discussion, titled Cobalt Opportunity: DRC's Strategic Position in the EV Revolution, will unpack the DRC's pivotal role in the global cobalt market, detailing how the nation is boosting value addition, addressing global demand while creating lucrative prospects for international investors. African Mining Week serves as a premier platform for exploring the full spectrum of mining opportunities across Africa. The event is held alongside the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2025 conference from October 1-3 in Cape Town. Sponsors, exhibitors and delegates can learn more by contacting sales@ A key ingredient for lithium-ion batteries, cobalt is witnessing a surge in demand as countries worldwide accelerate the deployment of energy transition technologies such as renewable energy, electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage. The World Bank posits that global cobalt consumption could increase to 344,000 tons in 2030, representing a 9.6% annual increase between 2017 and 2030. Accounting for 70% of global cobalt production, the DRC is strategically positioned to leverage its comparative advantage in the industry to increase revenue, drive development and consolidate its position as a global cobalt supplier. Given this potential, the country is enhancing its role in the global EV value chain by promoting local value addition and establishing direct supply agreements. The country partnered with Zambia and the African Export-Import Bank to develop regional Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for EV manufacturing, leveraging local cobalt resources to build a competitive industrial base. Supporting this vision is the creation of the Congolese Battery Council, which facilitates SEZ development, and a $350 million cobalt smelting plant under development in partnership with U.S.-based Delphos International. Similarly, Congolese firm Buenassa - backed by $3.5 million in initial funding from the government – is also constructing a hydrometallurgical plant in Lualaba province, set to produce 30,000 tons of copper cathode and 5,000 tons of cobalt sulphate annually by 2027. In addition to infrastructure advancements, the DRC is proving an attractive environment for foreign investment. Ivanhoe Mines reported revenues of $973 million in Q1, 2025 - a 57% year-on-year increase - at its Kamoa-Kakula Copper-Cobalt mine, demonstrating the potential for strong returns within the country. Meanwhile, China's CMOC Group, the world's top cobalt producer, achieved record-breaking production in 2024 from its Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu mines and is on track to exceed those volumes in 2025, further strengthening the DRC's global footprint in the EV revolution. Amid these developments, African Mining Week will connect global investors with the DRC's rapidly evolving cobalt sector and its broad array of high-return opportunities. The panel discussion will outline investment opportunities, challenges and upcoming initiatives. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power. SOURCE Energy Capital & Power
Zawya
2 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
African Mining Week (AMW) 2025 to Unpack the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) Cobalt Market Prospects, Global Significance
As the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) seeks to maximize the financial and economic returns from its cobalt reserves – considered some of the largest worldwide -, the upcoming African Mining Week will spotlight the country's expanding investment opportunities across the cobalt value chain. Taking place October 1-3, 2025, in Cape Town, the event is Africa's premier gathering of mining stakeholders. A dedicated panel discussion, titled Cobalt Opportunity: DRC's Strategic Position in the EV Revolution, will unpack the DRC's pivotal role in the global cobalt market, detailing how the nation is boosting value addition, addressing global demand while creating lucrative prospects for international investors. African Mining Week serves as a premier platform for exploring the full spectrum of mining opportunities across Africa. The event is held alongside the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2025 conference from October 1-3 in Cape Town. Sponsors, exhibitors and delegates can learn more by contacting sales@ A key ingredient for lithium-ion batteries, cobalt is witnessing a surge in demand as countries worldwide accelerate the deployment of energy transition technologies such as renewable energy, electric vehicles (EV) and energy storage. The World Bank posits that global cobalt consumption could increase to 344,000 tons in 2030, representing a 9.6% annual increase between 2017 and 2030. Accounting for 70% of global cobalt production, the DRC is strategically positioned to leverage its comparative advantage in the industry to increase revenue, drive development and consolidate its position as a global cobalt supplier. Given this potential, the country is enhancing its role in the global EV value chain by promoting local value addition and establishing direct supply agreements. The country partnered with Zambia and the African Export-Import Bank to develop regional Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for EV manufacturing, leveraging local cobalt resources to build a competitive industrial base. Supporting this vision is the creation of the Congolese Battery Council, which facilitates SEZ development, and a $350 million cobalt smelting plant under development in partnership with U.S.-based Delphos International. Similarly, Congolese firm Buenassa - backed by $3.5 million in initial funding from the government – is also constructing a hydrometallurgical plant in Lualaba province, set to produce 30,000 tons of copper cathode and 5,000 tons of cobalt sulphate annually by 2027. In addition to infrastructure advancements, the DRC is proving an attractive environment for foreign investment. Ivanhoe Mines reported revenues of $973 million in Q1, 2025 - a 57% year-on-year increase - at its Kamoa-Kakula Copper-Cobalt mine, demonstrating the potential for strong returns within the country. Meanwhile, China's CMOC Group, the world's top cobalt producer, achieved record-breaking production in 2024 from its Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu mines and is on track to exceed those volumes in 2025, further strengthening the DRC's global footprint in the EV revolution. Amid these developments, African Mining Week will connect global investors with the DRC's rapidly evolving cobalt sector and its broad array of high-return opportunities. The panel discussion will outline investment opportunities, challenges and upcoming initiatives. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital&Power.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Cobalt Holdings bets the battery metal's fortunes have turned: Andy Home
LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - The price of cobalt has fallen so far over the last couple of years that even Congo's artisanal miners have given up on the battery metal. They have been swept aside by a wave of production from the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) formal sector and a secondary flood of metal from Indonesia. The market was over-supplied for the third consecutive year in 2024 even though global demand exceeded 200,000 metric tons for the first time. Metals investor Cobalt Holdings is betting that the worst is over. The company is aiming to raise $230 million from an initial public offering in London the majority of which it will use to buy 6,000 tons of physical cobalt from Glencore (GLEN.L), opens new tab. Chief Executive Jake Greenberg believes the purchase from Glencore, the first of several, will be "at or near a low point in the cycle", according to the company's registration filing. Greenberg helped launch Yellow Cake (YCA.L), opens new tab, which offers investors a physical uranium play, and Cobalt Holdings is a similar vehicle for punters wanting to ride the cobalt cycle. It's likely to be a bumpy ride and the longer-term bull thesis hinges both on whether the Congo, and to a lesser extent Indonesia, can restrain supply and on whether cobalt can maintain its position as a critical new energy input. The DRC government's imposition of a four-month export ban in February is a positive sign that the world's largest cobalt producer has woken up to the fact it is producing too much. Cobalt has a history of boom-and-bust pricing as super-strong rallies such as those in 2018 and 2022 generated an artisanal supply response. Not this time. Congo's informal sector saw output drop to a historic low last year, both in absolute and relative terms, according to analysts at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI). Rather, it was China's CMOC Group ( opens new tab which caused the supply shock, more than doubling production to 114,000 tons, above both guidance and assumed nameplate capacity at its TFM and KFM mines in the DRC. The output surge continues unabated. The company reported first-quarter output of 30,414 tons, up 21% year-on-year. That material is stuck for now as the government decides what it will do when the export ban expires in June. But any decision "will inevitably imply a strict limitation of exports in whole or in part until market balance is reached with regard to the supply and demand of cobalt", according to Patrick Luabeya, head of the government's strategic metals authority. Congo's apparent readiness to address its over-production has dispelled some of the cobalt blues, boosting the price to $16 per pound from a 10-year low of $10. The market is now on tenterhooks as it awaits Kinshasa's next move. But if the world's largest producer is prepared to limit exports or production, the market may have found a price floor, an elusive concept for a metal that is largely produced as a by-product of either copper or nickel. Cobalt demand grew by a robust 14% year-on-year in 2024, driven by the metal's usage in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, according to BMI's annual market report commissioned by The Cobalt Institute. The bull case for the metal rests on EV battery demand continuing to expand to the point that cobalt usage starts outstripping production some time around the turn of the decade. BMI expects market surpluses to shrink going forwards, even without any production curbs in the DRC, with a structural supply deficit emerging "from at least the early 2030s". However, cobalt's share of the EV battery market is in flux as Chinese EV producers pivot to battery chemistries that don't use any cobalt at all. This is also true of the fast-growing energy storage sector, which is dominated by lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries. The good news is that Western automakers are still heavily committed to cobalt-chemistry batteries and may become more so as China tightens export controls on LFP technologies. But cobalt's fortunes remain in significant part dependent on the global battle to produce ever more efficient and powerful batteries. Some of them will contain cobalt, others will not. Cobalt Holdings is not the only entity looking to scoop up cobalt at bargain-basement prices. China's state stockpiler has been doing the same. BMI estimates the National Development and Reform Commission received around 16,600 tons of cobalt in 2024, up from 7,200 tons in 2023. That reduced last year's supply surplus from over 50,000 tons to a still substantial 36,000 tons. While China is well stocked, the West isn't, even though just about every country classifies cobalt as a strategically important metal, not just for its use in batteries but also in the form of super-alloys for aircraft manufacturing. Cobalt Holdings' plans to accumulate what amounts to a Western strategic stockpile is an interesting development in the broader competition between the West and China for access to critical minerals. It helps loosen China's mine-to-market grip on the cobalt supply chain and simultaneously offers a hedge against future disruption in a supply chain which is highly concentrated geographically. However, it remains to be seen how long investors will have to wait to see the cobalt cycle once again turn from bust to boom. There is a lot of cobalt around right now and there still will be even after Cobalt Holdings takes another 6,000 tons off the market. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Times
Cobalt prices IPO in bid to become biggest London listing in a year
A Glencore-backed cobalt group has priced its $230 million initial public offering at $2.56 a share as it aims to become the biggest stock market listing in London since early last year. Cobalt Holdings is seeking to capitalise on low prices for the battery metal by stockpiling it in anticipation of a recovery in the long-term, as demand for electric vehicles and energy storage facilities increases. The group announced its intention to float earlier this month, defying the trading turmoil unleashed by President Trump's tariff chaos. However, in a prospectus published on Tuesday it acknowledged that intensifying trade tensions between the US and China could affect the pricing and availability of cobalt and potentially have a 'material adverse effect' on its business. The prospectus confirmed that it intends to sell 90 million new shares priced at $2.56 a share, with unconditional trading to begin on the main market of the London Stock Exchange on June 10. Cobalt Holdings will then use $200 million of the proceeds to purchase 6,000 tonnes of cobalt at a slight discount to market prices from Glencore, the FTSE 100 commodities miner and trader. Glencore will take a 10 per cent stake in the company and the American investment firm Anchorage is taking a 9.5 per cent stake. The cobalt will be stockpiled at secure facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, Singapore and South Korea. Cobalt Holdings says it offers investors 'pure-play exposure to cobalt … without the direct risks and liabilities associated with cobalt exploration, development or mining operations'. The price of cobalt has fallen sharply in the past few years, losing about three quarters of its value from a recent peak in 2022 to the start of this year. In response to the supply glut, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which produces three-quarters of the world's cobalt, in February said it was suspending exports for four months. Prices have rallied by about 50 per cent since then but remain at less than half their 2022 high, with the DRC considering an extension of its ban in an attempt to further support prices. Global cobalt demand stood at about 239,000 tonnes last year while supply was nearer 254,000 tonnes, according to Benchmark Minerals. The surplus is forecast to continue this year and the 6,000 tonnes Cobalt Holdings plans to buy would account for about a third of excess supply volumes. Jake Greenberg, chief executive of Cobalt Holdings, argues that 'now is an opportune time to purchase cobalt when cobalt is trading below long-term average prices, providing investors with exposure to the cobalt price as the market is expected to turn from oversupply to deficit in the coming years'. The group says that demand is expected to increase to enable production of high-performance batteries for use in electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy storage systems. Its prospectus acknowledges that the bet may not pay off, with Trump's tariffs among the risks to demand. The cobalt price could be affected by 'any trade wars between the United States and China or other end users which may include the imposition of tariffs on EVs and consequently reduce the demand for cobalt in EV battery production'. 'In addition, the introduction of any US tariffs on cobalt produced or refined in China could impact the supply of cobalt available to the company and limit any resale market as a result of reduction in demand from the US,' it said. It noted that some big cobalt producers were stepping up production. 'Although the directors believe that cobalt is currently in oversupply, causing historically low pricing, there is no guarantee that cobalt production will not continue to increase or that global supply levels will not remain high. If supply continues to outpace demand, the market surplus could widen, further reducing cobalt prices,' it said. This could have a 'material adverse effect' on the business.
