PALM BEACH, Florida, April 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

MarketNewsUpdates.com News Commentary 

Mining professionals are believing global cobalt production is set to spike in the coming months as rising prices and increasing demand from the electric vehicles sector encourage project development. Output is hopeful to rise as number of major projects come online across a growing number of industries. Trends in the precious metal landscape include vertical integration, evidenced by tech giant Apple which has been rumored to be interested in joining the cobalt mining race to aid its production of smartphone batteries. Cobalt has become one of the most sought after metals for its applications in energy storage (batteries) and electric vehicles. According to some analysts, by 2020 fully 75% of all lithium-ion batteries will contain cobalt in some chemical form. As demand soars, supply has not. The shortage led to the price more than doubling last year to US$36 from US$15 per lb. Today's active miners with current developments in the market include: LiCo Energy Metals Inc. WCTXF (TSX-V: LIC), First Cobalt Corp. FTSSF (TSX-V: FCC), Glencore plc GLNCY GLEN, Freeport McMoRan Inc. FCX, Katanga Mining Limited KATFF KAT.

LiCo Energy Metals Inc. WCTXF (TSX-V: LIC.V) BREAKING NEWS: LiCo Energy Metals announces its proposed Exploration Programs for both its Teledyne & Glencore Bucke Cobalt Properties located in Ontario Canada situated in Bucke & Lorraine Townships, 6 km east-northeast of Cobalt, Ontario.  

Glencore Bucke Cobalt Property - A surface exploration work program including geological mapping and prospecting is recommended to further evaluate the geological potential of the Property. Management believes that potential remains on the Property for the discovery of parallel mineralized zones to that of the Northwest and Main zones.

A two-phase drilling program of up to 4,000 m of diamond drilling program has been planned by LiCo to continue to test the mineralization along strike of the Northwest and Main zones along strike to the south, with the intent of completing a 43-101 compliant resource estimate upon its completion, as well as testing any other targets that may be generated from the surface mapping and prospecting programs.  

Teledyne Cobalt Property - A surface exploration work program including geological mapping, prospecting, and mechanized stripping is recommended for the Property. Planned work will compile and evaluate historical showings and past exploration work to generate exploration targets on both the unpatented and patented mining claims. As at Glencore Bucke, management believes that potential remains the west of the Teledyne Main Zone for the discovery of parallel mineralized zones.

A two-phase drilling program of up to 1500 m has been planned to extend the known mineralization on the Main Zone and follow up on targets generated from the Phase 2 surface exploration program.

Mr. Tim Fernback, President & CEO of LiCo comments, "Now that we have all the results tabulated from our successful Phase 1 exploration programs at Glencore Bucke and Teledyne Cobalt, LiCo has prepared additional drilling exploration programs on both Properties that assist LiCo in progressing towards completing a a 43-101 Compliant resource estimation on both Properties. LiCo's Phase 1 diamond drill programs were designed to confirm and extend the existing known mineralization along strike and up and down dip, and LiCo was successful in completing this objective. We are very excited about commencing our multi-phase phase diamond drilling on both the Teledyne and Glencore Bucke properties for 2018 and 2019."Read this release in its entirety along with other LiCo news and developments at: http://www.marketnewsupdates.com/news/wctxf.html

In other mining industry news and developments:

Katanga Mining Limited KATFF KAT released its financial results for the fourth quarter and 2017 fiscal year. Katanga's financial statements and management's discussion and analysis will be filed on SEDAR. Read the full report here. Katanga Mining Limited, through its subsidiary, Kamoto Copper Company SA, engages in the copper and cobalt mining and related activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is involved in the exploration, mining, refurbishment, rehabilitation, development, and operation of the Kamoto/Mashamba East mining complex; the Kamoto Oliveira Virgule copper and cobalt mine; T17 open pit and T17 underground mines; various oxide open pit resources; the Kamoto concentrator; and the Luilu metallurgical plant.

Glencore Plc GLNCY GLEN is considering a bid for the Optimum coal operations in South Africa, which it sold in 2015 to a company part-owned by the politically connected Gupta family, according to two people familiar with the matter. Optimum supplies fuel to state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and became a lightning rod issue for critics of the Gupta family members and their friendship with former president Jacob Zuma. Glencore is interested in reacquiring the mine and the government has indicated it wouldn't oppose the deal, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the information is not public. Optimum, which is undergoing business-rescue proceedings, the local equivalent of bankruptcy protection, is among businesses linked to the Guptas that are struggling as banks refuse to work with them. Read more here

 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-27/glencore-is-said-to-mull-buying-back-gupta-linked-coal-mine

Freeport McMoRan Inc. FCX closed up 1.40% on Tuesday with over 12.2 million shares traded. According to an article recently published on Reuters.com, several parties were interested in buying Freeport-McMoRan Inc's cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo but not at a price that would interest the miner and so it is not planning a sale, Freeport's chief executive officer said. As a result, Freeport is looking at other options for the asset, including possibly a joint venture to develop the large cobalt project, CEO Richard Adkerson said. Freeport last year tried to sell its cobalt assets, including the Kisanfu exploration project in Congo and the Kokkola cobalt refinery in Finland, to China Molybdenum Co Ltd, as part of its sale of a stake in its Tenke Fungurume copper mine in the Congo. But the discussions on the cobalt assets ended without a deal in June.

First Cobalt Corp. FTSSF (TSX-V: FCC.V) recently announced positive assay results from the first drill holes from near the Kerr Mine in the Cobalt North area of the Cobalt Camp in Ontario, Canada . Results from these holes indicate a potential zone of cobalt mineralization that can be tracked across more than 100 metres. Trent Mell, President & Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Cobalt North showed significant promise during the 2017 surface sampling and mapping work. These initial results confirm some of the early ideas we have for the structural setting for this area that make it highly prospective. Indications of both disseminated and vein styles of mineralization across a network for more than 100 metres make this an attractive target for a future bulk tonnage operation. With zones of mineralization now identified in Cobalt South and Cobalt North, we are seeing multiple opportunities in the Cobalt Camp for future primary cobalt sources to supply the North American battery market."

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