TORONTO, June 5, 2018 /CNW/ - First Cobalt Corp. (TSX-V:
FCC; ASX: FCC; OTCQX: FTSSF) (the "Company") has today released a
letter to shareholders from the Company's President and CEO,
Trent Mell, to provide an update on
the Company's business activities for the remainder of
2018. This letter is available on our website at
www.firstcobalt.com.
Dear Investor:
I am excited to mark the beginning of a new chapter for First
Cobalt and I am delighted to welcome former US Cobalt shareholders
to the Company.
The global fleet of electric vehicles grew 54% in 2017, however
this only represents a little over 1% of global vehicle sales. The
EV revolution is still in its infancy, yet cobalt production is in
a deficit position and is projected to remain there for several
years.
Assertions that cobalt could soon be eliminated altogether from
electric vehicles are simply wrong. We are indeed moving towards an
era of lower cobalt content per vehicle, but this has
positive implications for cobalt producers as it lowers the price
of the battery packs which in turn will accelerate mass adoption of
EVs over combustion engines. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
forecasts that cobalt density in EVs will decrease by 60% from
2017-2026 and yet total cobalt EV demand will increase more than
300% as more people opt for electric vehicles.
Miners are now playing catch up and success will come to the
first movers who have the right team, in the right jurisdiction,
with the right assets.
Over the past year, four cobalt companies have come together
under the First Cobalt banner to create a vertically integrated,
North American pure play cobalt company with assets in two of the
best jurisdictions in the world – Idaho and Ontario. First Cobalt has demonstrated an
ability to act swiftly to build a company that can deliver
meaningful cobalt supply and shareholder value in this rapidly
moving cobalt environment.
As we move into the second half of 2018, some key milestones you
can look forward to include:
- Iron Creek Project (Idaho,
USA) – The Iron Creek Project has a historic mineral
resource estimate (non-compliant with NI 43-101*) of
1.3M tons grading 0.59% cobalt. A new
resource estimate is underway based on 2017 drilling and the
success of that drill campaign was key to our decision to acquire
US Cobalt. We have now commenced a more ambitious drill program
aimed at doubling the strike length of the known cobalt
mineralization to 900 metres by the end of 2018, which will support
an updated mineral resource estimate and provide us with a better
understanding of the size of potential future operations.
Mineralization identified to date is contained within patented
property, which is advantageous for permitting. As we continue to
build our team, we will share with you details of metallurgical
work and other critical path items.
- First Cobalt Refinery (Ontario,
Canada) – First Cobalt owns the only permitted cobalt
refinery in North America capable
of producing battery materials. This is significant because most
cobalt in North America is found
with high arsenic, which our refinery was designed to treat –
unlike cobalt refineries found elsewhere in the world. We recently
initiated a study for a restart and expansion of the facility,
which has been in a state of care and maintenance for three years.
The refinery has the potential to treat feed material from First
Cobalt's own projects, historic muckpile material in the Cobalt
Camp, third party concentrates and recycled material – creating a
North American supply of cobalt sulfate for the electric vehicle
market.
- Cobalt Camp (Ontario,
Canada) – First Cobalt controls almost half of the
historic Canadian Cobalt Camp, with more than 50 past producing
mines over 100 km2. Early in our 2018 drill program, we
identified a mineralized zone near Kerr
Lake that now extends for over 350m. The goal is to assess near-surface
mineralization that could be amenable to open pit mining. These are
early days for a mining camp that has been largely forgotten for
over 60 years and the upside potential from this camp is
significant.
The strategy heading into 2018 was to (1) grow through strategic
acquisition, (2) create shareholder value through exploration and
(3) capitalize on early cash flow opportunities. We have certainly
achieved meaningful growth through the acquisition of Iron Creek
and we continue to have exploration success in both jurisdictions.
The refinery is key to realizing early cash flow opportunities and
we continue to assess our options for this asset.
First Cobalt is well positioned to benefit from the strong
cobalt market as it builds a vertically integrated, North American
cobalt company. As a shareholder, my goal is to make First Cobalt
the "go to" name for exposure to the cobalt space. I believe we
offer everything that investors are looking for:
- Industry Leading Team
- Vertically Integrated, North American Cobalt Assets
- Pathway to Primary Cobalt Production
On behalf of the First Cobalt team, I would like to thank you
for your support. I will continue to work tirelessly for your
interests, as I truly believe that our best days are ahead of
us.
Regards,
Trent Mell
President & CEO
About First Cobalt
First Cobalt is a vertically integrated North America pure-play cobalt company. First
Cobalt has three significant North American assets: the Iron Creek
Project in Idaho, which has a
historic mineral resource estimate (non-compliant with NI 43-101)
of 1.3M tons grading 0.59% cobalt;
the Canadian Cobalt Camp, with more than 50 past producing mines;
and the only permitted cobalt refinery in North America capable of producing battery
materials.
On behalf of First Cobalt Corp.
Trent Mell
President & Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy
of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws and
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are
forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements
can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans",
"expects', "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or
variations of such words, or statements that certain actions,
events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "occur" or "be
achieved". Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties
and other factors that could cause actual results, performance and
opportunities to differ materially from those implied by such
forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from these forward-looking statements are set
forth in the management discussion and analysis and other
disclosures of risk factors for First Cobalt, filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. Although First Cobalt believes that the information
and assumptions used in preparing the forward-looking statements
are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these
statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release,
and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the
disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by
applicable law, First Cobalt disclaims any intention or obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Historic Estimates
First Cobalt considers the cobalt and copper tonnage and
grade estimates above as historical estimates. The historical
estimates do not use categories that conform to current CIM
Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves as
outlined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and have not been redefined to
conform to current CIM Definition Standards. They were prepared in
the 1980s prior to the adoption and implementation of NI 43-101. A
qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the
historical estimates as current mineral resources and First Cobalt
is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral
resources. More work, including, but not limited to, drilling, will
be required to conform the estimates to current CIM Definition
Standards. Investors are cautioned that the historical estimates do
not mean or imply that economic deposits exist on the Iron Creek
property. First Cobalt has not undertaken any independent
investigation of the historical estimates nor has it independently
analyzed the results of the previous exploration work in order to
verify the accuracy of the information. First Cobalt believes that
the historical estimates are relevant to continuing exploration on
the Iron Creek property.
SOURCE First Cobalt Corp.