Straws are discrete research notes that relate to a particular aspect of the company. Grouped under #hashtags, they are ranked by votes.
A good Straw offers a clear and concise perspective on the company and its prospects.
Please visit the forums tab for general discussion.
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17-Nov-2020: Phoenix Platinum Drilling Update
[I have a very small position in CLQ in my CBUS industry super fund, from back when they were an ASX300 company. Very speculative.]
15-Oct-2020: AGM Presentation plus Phoenix Platinum Zone Drilling Commences
Also, yesterday afternoon (14-Oct-2020): Cancel - Consolidation/Split - CLQ and Withdrawal of AGM Share Consolidation Resolution
[I hold some CLQ shares.]
14-Oct-2020: September 2020 Quarterly Activities and Cash Flow
Also, recent announcements include:
01-Oct-2020: Consolidation/Split - CLQ
01-Oct-2020: Clean TeQ Battery Metals Day
28-Sep-2020: Sunrise Project Execution Plan
[I hold a small parcel of CLQ shares in my SMSF - from back when they were in the ASX300 index and had a much higher share price.]
28-Sep-2020: Sunrise Project Execution Plan
[I hold CLQ shares.]
14-Sep-2020: Corporate Restructure Review
Corporate Restructure to Separate Sunrise from Water Division
- Review of Potential Spin-Out Underway
- One for Ten Share Consolidation Proposed for Approval at AGM
MELBOURNE, Australia – Co-Chairman, Robert Friedland, and CEO, Sam Riggall, of Clean TeQ Holdings Limited (‘Clean TeQ’ or ‘Company’) (ASX/TSX:CLQ; OTCQX:CTEQF) provide the following update on a range of corporate activities currently underway which are aimed at enhancing shareholder value.
SEPARATION OF SUNRISE FROM WATER BUSINESS
Clean TeQ’s water division is focused on the design, procurement, construction and operation of tailored water purification and recycling solutions in the mining, municipal and agri-food sectors. It also undertakes significant research and development into new water treatment technologies, including BIOCLENS®, and through the Company’s interest in the NematiQ joint venture, which is pursuing the development of graphene oxide membranes for water purification.
In the past 12 months Clean TeQ Water has demonstrated the efficacy of its proprietary technologies at projects in Oman, Australia and the DRC and is now well established to secure and grow a healthy pipeline of new work. With design, engineering and manufacturing facilities located in Australia and China, it is well positioned to capitalise on a rapidly growing water treatment market.
This success provides Clean TeQ with the opportunity to consider a separation of its water division from the remainder of its business, comprising the Sunrise Project and the Company’s other mineral exploration activities in New South Wales.
Establishing stand-alone, separately-listed entities will allow shareholders to more readily manage their own desired exposure to each of the businesses, as well as simplifying the investment proposition to new investors.
In the case of Sunrise, it also provides an opportunity to pursue investment and funding structures using a corporate vehicle comprising an asset suite focused exclusively on battery materials.
The Company has commenced a formal review for consideration of the Board, which will provide a recommendation to shareholders in due course. The review will consider taxation, structuring and other regulatory implications. The Company expects to conclude the review in Q4 of CY 2020.
SHARE CONSOLIDATION
As per the Notice of Annual General Meeting dated 11 September 2020, the Company is seeking shareholder approval for the Company to consolidate its issued share capital through the conversion of every ten shares into one share (‘Share Consolidation’).
The Company currently has approximately 746 million Shares on issue. The Board considers it more appropriate to have a smaller number of shares on issue and a correspondingly higher share price. The Board also considers that the Share Consolidation will result in a more appropriate and effective capital structure for the Company and a share price more appealing to a wider range of investors, particularly offshore institutional investors.
The consolidation will also likely result in a more appropriate and transparent share price outcome for shareholders if a separation of the businesses is to proceed.
The Notice of Annual General Meeting dated 11 September 2020 contained an indicative timetable in relation to the proposed share consolidation. That indicative timetable and process will apply to shareholders in Australia. Canadian registered shareholders should expect to receive a letter of transmittal from the Company which will set out the instructions required to receive their shares on a post-share consolidation basis.
TSX LISTING
Clean TeQ is also undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of the Company’s secondary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (‘TSX’). Approximately 1.6% of Clean TeQ’s shares are held on the TSX share register. The review will also consider what impact a delisting from TSX may have on streamlining and simplifying any applicable regulatory processes if a separation of the businesses is to proceed.
--- ends ---
[I have a small position in CLQ. On an "up day for the ASX (so far), I note CLQ were sold down by -7.7% in early trade on this announcement - from 32.5c to 30c, and are currently trading between 31 and 32c, below Friday's close. Share consolidations are generally not a great measure of success for any company. The opposite, a share-split, as CSL has done previously, is a MUCH better outcome. Also, while it's clear that the "Water" and the "Sunrise" divisions of CLQ are very different, I don't see too much in terms of compelling reasons to require them to be split into two different listed companies, considering the costs that this will involve. I do note however that Robert and Sam - particularly Robert - have been increasing their personal exposure to CLQ (buying shares on-market) in the past fortnight, so they see an upside from these moves clearly.]
10-Sep-2020: As foreshadowed yesterday afternoon, CLQ released some announcements after market-close yesterday that showed that Sam Rigall (CLQ's CEO & MD) bought 1.45m CLQ shares on 4-Sep-20, and a trust he controlled also sold 975,609 CLQ shares to Robert Friedland. Robert Friedland was buying CLQ shares on-market on the 4th, 7th, 8th and 9th September, and he added a total of 11.142m shares to his holdings, and paid $3.127m for those shares. He has now increased his position from 12.76% of CLQ to 14.43% of CLQ.
I think it's safe to say that Bob figured CLQ was looking like a good buy at 18 cents/share - where he started buying last week, and he was buying all the way up to 38c, so I would suggest he values the company and its prospects a fair bit higher than current levels. And he should know I guess.
[I hold a small CLQ position in my SMSF, bought a couple of years ago at higher levels than where they are today. Still high risk, particularly while they still haven't yet sorted out the financing for the Sunrise project, which is going to cost billions to build.]
Wednesday 09-Sep-2020: After more than doubling their share price from 18c/share to 38.5cps in 4 trading days (up to yesterday's close), CLQ were today issued with a Speeding Ticket by the ASX (a.k.a. a "please explain" letter). You can read it - and their response by clicking here.
They finished the day down -11.69%, but at 34 cps they're still up +88.88% on the 18c level that they were at last week.
They also released this announcement from their Sunrise neighbour Platina Resources (PGM) today:
PGM: Platinum and copper potential to be assessed at PSP
But back to CLQ: Here's what they had to say today:
Question 1: Is CLQ aware of any information concerning it that has not been announced to the market which, if known by some in the market, could explain the recent trading in its securities?
Answer: The Company is not aware of any information concerning it, that has not been announced to the market, which may explain the recent trading in its securities. [i.e. No.]
Question 2: N/A
Question 3: If the answer to question 1 is “no”, is there any other explanation that CLQ may have for the recent trading in its securities?
Answer: No, the Company is unaware of any other explanation which may explain the recent trading of its securities. However, large transactions in the volume of its securities by its investors, some of whom are Directors of the Company and which will be announced in accordance with the Listing Rules, may have impacted on the Company’s share price.
--- end of excerpt --- [the other questions and answers were of no significance]
We can expect some "Change of Director's Interest" notices to be lodged by CLQ shortly. I imagine that both Robert and Sam have been loading up, although not so much today perhaps.
08-Sep-2020: Clean TeQ is up +26.23% today, and they were up +27% yesterday as well. What's more, they were up +23.08% the previous trading day (Friday 4-Sep-20), after being up +8.33% the day before that! What all that adds up to is that CLQ have risen +113.88% (i.e. more than doubled) from 18c to 38.5c in the past 4 trading days (including today). Someone is accumulating shares! Volumes are clearly up too, with around 9m to 10m shares trading hands over each of the last 3 days (including today), which is more than 10 times the volumes that were traded over the corresponding days in August - where each of those 4 sessions (4th to 7th August inclusive) saw under 1m shares traded.
While CLQ hit a 12-month high today, they are still trading well below levels seen in 2017 and 2018. They did briefly rise to $1.65/share in late October 2017. I still have a small CLQ position in my SMSF, bought at higher levels back in early 2017. I figured something would happen with CLQ one day, but I didn't think they'd double in four days on virtually no news, other than their 3-Sep-20 Phoenix Platinum Zone drilling program announcement that repeated some old drilling results first announced in 2017 that had turned up some Platinum, and reminded us of exploration programs undertaken by Black Range Minerals and Ivanplats in the 1990s and 2000s that had intersected encouraging platinum mineralisation under the laterite, and also said that they have planned a six hole diamond drilling program for the second half of CY 2020 which aims to intersect the dunite structures at depth (targeting 400-600m below surface).
If that sounds like an opportunistic announcement to garner some interest in the Sunrise project now that the Platinum price has risen strongly over the past 5 months - I'd agree with that assessment. However, that's what Robert Friedland does - and how he gets these projects financed - eventually. He even provided a couple of quotes in the announcement:
“As I’ve said for years, despite being an incredibly valuable base metals resource, Sunrise is one of the best walk-up precious metal drill targets on the planet. It is astounding what little work has been done to test geological interpretations under the blanket of this laterite, despite very encouraging results from historic drilling.
“It is pleasing to see a small renaissance of PGE interest in Australia, with Chalice Gold’s recent exploration success in Western Australia and now with work commencing on the east coast at Sunrise. In defining the Phoenix Platinum Zone we are now starting to pull together a work program that addresses the gaps in our knowledge. In an era resigned to monetary debasement and a search for safe-haven asset classes, platinum has a bright future.”
Well said, Bob! Onwards and upwards! Let's just hope they do hit some decent platinum when they do start drilling!
03-Sep-2020: Phoenix Platinum Zone drilling program ("Large Australian Platinum Resource to be Tested at Depth")
CLQ are up +11% so far today on that.
Recently: 31-Aug-2020: Water Plant Completion ("Clean TeQ achieves formal completion of first DESALX® plant in Australia")
And: 28-Aug-2020: Sunrise Project Update ("Global Car Industry Awakens to the Sunrise of a Green Metals Age")
And: 24-Aug-2020: Capital Structure Update and 2020 Annual Report and Appendix 4E (Preliminary Final Report for FY20)
[I still hold some CLQ in my SMSF - bought back when they were still in the ASX300 index, i.e. a couple of years ago. But it's a small position. I will buy more later when they de-risk Sunrise a lot more.]
19-June-2020: Clean TeQ Sunrise Project Update
Despite the usual positive spin around the poor supply outlook for nickel and cobalt battery materials, this is another negative update for CLQ's Sunrise nickel / cobalt / scandium project, and CLQ have been sold down by over 14% to 15 cps today (as at 2:50pm), and have been as low as 14 cps (down -20%).
Positive spin: Sam Riggall, Clean TeQ’s CEO, noted: “Even between the most conservative and optimistic EV growth projections, the mining sector needs to build between two and four Sunrise projects every year for the next decade simply to meet EV battery demand for nickel and cobalt. Global automotive supply chains are dangerously underestimating development timeframes and capital requirements, which is why some carmakers are now contracting directly with mining companies to secure a supply of strategic metals. At some point in this game of musical chairs, the music will stop and not everyone will have a seat.”
Of perhaps more consequence to the long-term sustainability of EV supply chains, however, are a range of projects under development or consideration that pose material reputational risks due to their environmental impacts. These include the dumping of mine and process waste directly into the ocean and high carbon intensity in metal processing.
“We have a vision for Sunrise, embedded within the design and engineering of the PEP, that optimises its value as an integrated part of any carmaker’s EV supply chain,” stated Mr Riggall. “This includes a direct-to-sulphate production process to by-pass offshore refining, options for connecting the plant to renewable energy, a battery recycling circuit and refining of scandium to improve materials performance for aerospace and automotive applications.”
Given the strong outlook for nickel and cobalt demand, the Company remains committed to developing the Project once funding has been secured. As such, the partnering process will continue, however the targeted timing for completion of any transaction is not possible to forecast, particularly in light of the significant uncertainty currently impacting the global economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reality: Project Execution Plan: The Company has been progressing the Project Execution Plan (PEP) in conjunction with Fluor Australia Pty Ltd, part of the Fluor global engineering group headquartered in Irving, Texas.
As previously advised, the PEP deliverables are an update to the 2018 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) production forecast, resources, reserves and operating and capital cost estimates for the Project. These will incorporate the latest design and engineering work, as well as a revised master schedule for the Project.
On completion of the PEP, and subject to funding, Sunrise is one of the few developmentready nickel-cobalt battery material projects in the world.
While the PEP works are substantially complete, there have been delays in finalising some workstreams. The Company estimates that completion of these workstreams, as well as the requisite review and sign-off processes, will result in the announcement of the PEP results being delayed to late in Q3 2020.
Financing Update: The partnering process the Company has been running, with the support of Macquarie Capital, remains on-going. Although good interest has been expressed by a number of parties through that process, and engagement across the EV supply chain continues, to date the Company has not been able to secure an investment partner for the Project.
As such, the Company is not able to commit to a final investment decision (FID) in mid-2020, as was targeted.
Not unexpectedly, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented difficult conditions for financial markets and challenges for funding new project development. However, the Company remains optimistic on the outlook for demand growth in the electric vehicle (EV) and lithiumion battery sectors, and in particular the strategic importance of Sunrise as one of the largest suppliers of battery-grade nickel and cobalt into the global EV supply chain.
--- click on the link above for the full announcement ---
Disclosure: I did hold CLQ shares, but I sold down and then sold the last of my position in mid-April (2020) at 18.5 cps. I want to see the news flow become positive again, and the SP to start to rise again before I would consider reinitiating a position in CLQ.
Further Reading (from 1 year ago when CLQ shares were 30 cps): https://www.afr.com/street-talk/clean-teq-hires-maccap-for-asset-selldown-20190604-p51u9n
http://katusaresearch.com/believe-im-right-hope-robert-friedland-right/
http://www.mining.com/web/robert-friedland-tells-frank-holmes-copper-will-run/
That last story has been repackaged and reposted on many different sites - here is one of those that is more easy to read (larger type and photos for a start):
http://www.businessinsider.com/profile-of-robert-friedland-2014-2/?r=AU&IR=T
It's interesting that while they were at college together (we call it university - or uni - here in Australia), Friedland taught Steve Jobs, the legendary founder of Apple, about the reality distortion field theory, which Steve Jobs went on to make his own. That is touched on briefly in that article, and I'll link to the wikipedia article about it below. It's also interesting that Steve Jobs went from thinking of Friedland as a guru to thinking of him more as a con man. Friedland has more than his fair share of critics. Others say that he does what it takes. Example: How he's talking up copper right now, and how that plays into his own business interests. He knows how to "raise awareness" and how to promote. He's a consumate spruiker. That alone doesn't make him a bad person, but some would argue that some of the methods he employs do. I don't have a strong opinion on Friedland from an ethical point of view. I note that Friedland tends to get things done, and that his efforts will be instrumental if CLQ are to get the Sunrise project in NSW up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field
Disclosure: I hold Clean TeQ (CLQ) shares.
Clean TeQ has two business units, their Water business, which has some interesting water purification / filtering tech, which works by removing solids from liquids, and has applications in minerals processing as well, and their Sunrise business, which is developing the Sunrise Nickel/Cobalt/Scandium mine in NSW (formerly known as Syerston). There isn't a huge market for scandium currently, but those that are trying to develop scandium mines, like CLQ (and two other players in the same area of Western NSW) are confident that if they provide the scandium (the supply side), the demand side will be there. Scandium can apparently be added to aluminium to create a super strong yet very lightweight metal alloy, and there are a number of other potential uses they tell us. The problem is that you generally won't get funding for a mine unless there is demonstrated demand for the metal(s) and/or mineral(s) you are going to produce. Scandium has traditionally been very expensive to process, hence the general lack of scandium mines around the world. While the price has been high, the demand has been small. However, if anyone can get this thing built, it's Robert Friedland:
In a recent Livewire "The Rules Of Investing" podcast interview, Rick Rule described Friedland as the best mine financier that he had every met. Friedland usually picks the tough projects, where others fear to tread, often in difficult geographic locations or with political issues - often both. In this case, it's a difficult commodity. I have noted that since changing the project name from Syerston to Sunrise, there has also been a gradual shift in emphasis towards the nickel and cobalt that will also be produced there. Friedland has a good track record of getting projects up. While he still has his fingers in a lot of pies, and Sunrise (and CLQ) may not always be his primary focus at all times, I think he will get this project up too.
Their Water division has a handful of customers, but is not yet profitable. There is massive potential there if they can prove their tech works at scale and is economically viable, and that's what these pilot contracts are all about - proving that it all works.
CLQ is speculative. They are not profitable, and they are trying to develop a new mine from scratch. Many will fail.
Disclosure: I hold CLQ.
29-Jan-2020: December 2019 Quarterly Activities and Cash Flow
Also, recently:
19:Dec-2019: Scandium Collaboration and Heads of Offtake Agreement
They move at a glacial speed much of the time, but at least there's some movement. Still a high-risk play on Scandium and Battery Metals, Nickel and Cobalt, and still subject to financing, so much can go wrong, and they could go to zero, but as high-risk gambles go, I particularly like this one and have a position in CLQ (which, unfortunately, I bought at higher levels). The Water Business is a slow burner in there as well, and it also may come good some day (become profitable) if and when they can demonstrate that their water purification tech is economically viable at scale. Keep in mind however that Clean TeQ are still currently burning through cash, so are still highly speculative, and not yet investment grade.
26 July 2019: Clean TeQ Quarterly Activities Report – June 2019
Also - other recent announcements include:
21 July 2019: Clean TeQ Corporate Presentation - June 2019
19 July 2019: Clean TeQ Water Successful Demonstration of Brine Hardness Removal in China
24th July 2018:
CLQ June Quarter Activities and Casflow Report
CLQ hosts senior members of Parliament at Sunrise Project
Clean TeQ Water:
Clean TeQ Water continued to work toward delivery of its existing contracts as well as building a pipeline of new business opportunities both within Australia and overseas.
Oman – Waste water treatment project
During the quarter, Clean TeQ made excellent progress towards completion of a significant supply contract with Multotec Process Equipment (Pty) Limited (Multotec), Clean TeQ’s South African based distributor. The contract is to design, procure and commission a Clean TeQ CIF® wastewater treatment solution at a minerals processing plant under construction in Oman. Construction of the Clean TeQ waste water treatment plant was completed in May and first stage cold commissioning was completed in June 2018. Construction of the mineral processing plant (which will be the source of waste water for the Clean TeQ plant) is expected to be completed during the third quarter, after which Clean TeQ will complete final commissioning and hand over. The plant is designed to remove toxic pollutants, sulphate, antimony and arsenic from wastewater from a flue gas desulphurisation scrubber at the minerals processing plant.Africa – Metals processing plant in Democratic Republic of Congo
Clean TeQ is also delivering a +A$2 million contract to design, supply and commission a metals processing plant using Clean TeQ’s proprietary Continuous Ion Exchange processing technology at a base metals project located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As with the Oman contract, the project is being delivered to Multotec. During the quarter, works focused on procurement and manufacturing with construction on site expected to commence before the end of 2018.Australia – Fosterville Gold Mine waste water treatment project
At the Fosterville Gold Mine, Clean TeQ has been engaged to design, supply and commission a 2 million litre-per-day Clean TeQ DeSALx® mine water treatment plant. The plant is designed to deliver a more sustainable water management solution by treating mine process water for reuse in the mine operations.
At the end of the quarter, the majority of the plant’s components had been manufactured and delivered to site, with construction expected to commence in November 2018 before commissioning in Q1 2019.
Continued in a different "ASX Announcements" straw - ran out of room here.
Disclosure: I hold CLQ.
25-Jun-2018: CLQ released the following announcements today:
Clean TeQ Sunrise Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) completed
Clean TeQ Sunrise to generate significant community benefits
They included an indicative timetable in the second announcement that may have spooked some punters, as the CLQ SP is down around 12% today at 3:30pm (Sydney time), having been slowly dropping all day. I'll try to paste that timetable in here now:
3 years is a long time in investing - to many people. Well, just over 2.5 years - until commissing at Sunrise, IF everything goes to plan.
The main surprise however is the massive extra cost - at least A$1.77 billion now.
Sunrise was originally called Syerston, and the original 2015 scoping study envisaged a scandium mine costing A$78.4m - see here.
The October 2016 DFS envisaged a nickel/cobalt/scandium mine, worth A$912m - see here.
This is now a HUGE project which will cost at least A$1.77 billion - with a minimum 40-year mine life based on current ore reserves.
The other thing that could be worrying some investors is that it's all about the nickel and cobalt now - the battery metals, which are more bankable - they have existing markets where credible future price modelling is possible. Future scandium demand (and therefore prices) is a lot more difficult to predict. They need Sunrise to stand up on the Ni & Co alone, with scandium being a bonus. There would be some people who got hooked in by the scandium story - "If we build it, they will come!" - and scandium is taking a back seat to nickel and cobalt now.
They still need to lock in more binding offtake agreements for the nickel & cobalt, announce a final funding package, and then the FID (final investment decision) by the CLQ board, which is not scheduled until December or January according to that timeline.
Also, the fact that the actual construction phase is going to take over 18 months and not finish until 2021 is material. It's BIG, and is going to take time to build, and there are a few more things that need to happen before we even get to that building phase.
I'm still bullish on Sunrise getting built, because of the people involved, and because it makes sense. CLQ is a long term play which will take years. Clean TeQ's Water division still isn't profitable so as things stand CLQ is not investment grade. They are pure speculation. I continue to hold them, but I wasn't buying any more today. I'll see where the dust settles and then reassess.
Deutsche Bank rates CLQ as Buy
The company has released the definitive feasibility study for the Sunrise project. The capital expenditure estimate has been increased by 90% on the scaling up of the refinery to allow for higher cobalt production.
Deutsche Bank updates numbers to reflect the higher expenditure and to align with the production schedule. Buy rating maintained. Target is reduced to $1.40 from $1.50.
Edit: Additional: 24-Sep-18: 3 months on, DB still has a price target of $1.40 on CLQ and still maintain their "Buy" call.
On 31-Aug-2018, Macquarie sent out a note to clients reiterating their "Outperform" call on CLQ, and maintaining their $1.40 price target, which is the same as DB's (Deutsche Bank's). Macquarie said, "The company has reached a heads of agreement with Metallurgical Corp of China to build the Sunrise nickel/cobalt process plant under a fixed price contract. Securing off-take and funding are now the key catalysts. Macquarie maintains an Outperform rating and a $1.40 target."
CLQ was trading at 52 cents at the time. They are trading below 50c today. I still hold CLQ. They had some news about their Water division today - I'll cover that in a seperate "ASX Announcements" straw.
28-Dec-2018: CLQ down to 38c per share now. I still hold. Could still go lower. Could still go to zero. Their water division is not yet profitable, with only a small handful of pilot contracts to prove that the tech works. The market is clearly sceptical that the Sunrise Nickel/Cobalt/Scandium project is going to get built at all. If they secure the offtake agreements, and then the funding, and they then commence construction on-site, you will see some substantial movement in the SP. The question is whether we get capital raisings between now and then or not, and whether these boys can pull this very ambitious project off. It is certainly possible that it never gets built, or that when it finally does get built the CLQ share price will be subtantially lower than where it is today. The flip-side is of course that these are guys with a great track record of securing funding for a number of other large and ambitious projects - as I have detailed in other straws. It's certainly a gamble rather than an investment, but based on prior form of current management - and their skin in the game (share ownership levels) - I personally think it's a gamble worth taking. Note: NOT a recommendation. Please do your own research.
19-Dec-2019: Scandium Collaboration and Heads of Offtake Agreement
Disclosure: I hold some CLQ.
Warning: Robert Friedland, the driving force behind Clean TeQ (CLQ), was described in April 2018 (see here) by Rick Rule (President and CEO of Sprott US Holdings Inc.) as the single best mining financier that he has ever met - however, Friedland has fingers in many pies - as you will see if you read this recent story:
https://smallcaps.com.au/billionaire-robert-friedland-drc-mining-destination-global-copper-demand/
Clean TeQ is not his only project, or even his primary project, it's just one of a number of projects that he is involved in. Progress does appear to be very slow, however the Sunrise project is being steadily progressed, as today's announcement illustrates, and I think they'll get this thing financed and then built - eventually. It will take some patience however, and CLQ is a very high risk gamble, not an investment. Don't put in more than you can comfortably afford to lose.
I think they'll either multi-bag or go broke. Considering the backers, I doubt they will go broke, but that's not due to the economics, it's due to the people and their tenacity, resilience and determination (and patience). If they don't get the finance, they WILL go broke. However if the associated commodity prices rise enough (particularly nickel and cobalt, plus the outlook for scandium demand - which is reasonably non-existent right now), then the chances of this thing being financed rise a lot.
However, patience is the key, and not tipping in more than you can afford to lose.
19-June-2019: Clean TeQ successfully completes demonstration project for brine hardness removal in China
MELBOURNE, Australia – Clean TeQ Holdings Limited (Clean TeQ or Company) (ASX/TSX:CLQ; OTCQX:CTEQF) is pleased to announce the successful completion of its hardness removal demonstration project in Inner Mongolia for Jiutai New Material (Jiutai).
The aim of the project was to confirm, at demonstration scale, the cost effectiveness of Clean TeQ’s continuous ion exchange process to remove hardness from high saline brines to increase the recovery rates of subsequent membrane systems and thus improve water recoveries for recycling and reduce the volume of polluting waste brine.
Membrane systems (including reverse osmosis and nanofiltration) are abundant throughout the world for water treatment and water recovery. One common challenge, especially for high water recovery systems, is the presence of water hardness (ie high mineral content) that causes membranes to foul, which increases costs and limits water recovery. The Jutai project confirmed that the Clean TeQ Continuous Ionic Filtration (CIF®) system cost effectively removes hardness entirely, allowing membranes to run at close to maximum capacity without fouling.
During the demonstration project Clean TeQ’s mobile demonstration unit treated reverse osmosis (RO) filtration brine continuously for two weeks, consistently removing hardness (Calcium and Magnesium) down to zero to allow the subsequent second step RO to significantly increase water recovery.
The demonstration program treated wastewater from a large coal-to-chemical refinery, producing DME (Dimethyl Ether) owned by Jiutai located about 100 km from Hohhot, China. The process requires large volumes of industrial grade water, putting a strain on sources of water supply in this water scarce region. The demonstration program confirmed that increasing water recovery by adopting Clean TeQ’s CIF® system could substantially reduce the plant’s net water use.
Willem Vriesendorp, General Manager of Clean TeQ’s Water Division, commented, “The results from this project convincingly demonstrate our ability to remove hardness from brines at low cost, allowing substantial improvement in the efficiency of existing or new membrane systems. Clean TeQ has commenced discussions with Jiutai over potential commercial scale application of the CIF® technology at Jutai’s planned new water treatment facilities. The market for this application is very large, as hundreds of factories throughout China have implemented complex membrane systems over the past decade, and many are facing challenges with fouling or are looking to improve the operations of these systems.”
Successful completion of this campaign provides valuable demonstration of yet another application for the Clean TeQ water technology in addition to the commercial scale plants currently nearing completion in Australia, Oman and DRC. Over the coming months, the Company plans to expand this marketing and technology demonstration campaign by deploying the mobile CIF® unit to other facilities in China which have similar issues as Jiutai with a view to generating additional sales.
--- ends ---
Disclosure: I hold CLQ shares. Warning: This company is currently not profitable, so should be viewed as very high risk. They could go broke. I don't think they will, but they could.
July 2018:
http://www.miningnews.net/events-coverage/news/1341953/riggall-unfazed-by-sunrise-capex
From that article (published on July 6th):
Shares in Clean TeQ have fallen from A$1.06 the day before the Sunrise definitive feasibility study was released to 76c as of yesterday's close.
"I can only assume the market was not impressed by the reaction we saw in the share price," Riggall told the Sydney Mining Club yesterday.
Clean TeQ had already flagged that capex would be higher than the most recent figure of $784 million, published in November 2017, due to the upscaling of the project.
"It's very hard to go back and retrofit an HPAL plant," Riggall said.
"We made the decision to take the hit now."
He admitted the US$1.49 billion capital cost was a "big sticker price".
"Why doesn't $1.5 billion necessarily faze us?"
Riggall said Clean TeQ co-chairman and major shareholder (and original owner of Sunrise) Robert Friedland was no stranger to raising funds, with his Ivanhoe Mines raising an estimated $15-20 billion over the past decade for projects in more challenging jurisdictions.
"Our view is raising another $1.5 billion in happy-clappy New South Wales is not going to be a problem," he said.
"We have significant access to capital for this project."
Clean TeQ's previously appointed banking syndicate, comprising the International Commercial Bank of China, Natixis, NAB and Societe Generale, has been mandated to provide $500 million in debt.
"By the time that comes to syndication, we hope we can get that to $700-800 million."
Riggall said Clean TeQ had experienced strong demand from potential customers, many of which were had been in a data room for some time.
"The challenge over the next 6 months is to turn those discussions into reality," he said.
"An opportunity like this, with so much cobalt coming out of a very safe jurisdiction part of the world, and they understand that."
Sunrise has a long history - it was previously being promoted as a scandium mine - and Riggall estimates that by the time full construction starts, there would have been $200 million already spent on the project.
Riggall admitted that nickel laterite projects had a bad name, but said Sunrise's size, scale and economics meant it was rightfully the first cab off the rank in a new generation of developments.
"We have to execute well because failure for us will probably put every other project back a decade - so it's a lot of pressure to get this right."
I hold CLQ.
September 2018:
http://www.cleanteq.com/sunrise-project/
http://www.cleanteq.com/clean-teq-water/
Potential Catalysts:
They are planning to announce an FID (final investment decision) on Sunrise between now and the end of this calendar year, but they have guided that it would likely be towards the end of the year.
I assume that gap between the FS and the FID would be to give them time to secure offtake agreements and a funding package. Therefore, other potential catalysts would include the announcements of offtake agreements and a funding package.
Other potential catalysts are less predictable, and include further contract announcments for Clean TeQs water business.
Highly speculative opportunity. Could have a lot of upside. Could go to $0 for a 100% loss of capital. For those who like to roll the dice. This one is more like backing a racehorse though, and I've been studying the form guide. Robert Friedland, who owns at least 16% of CLQ, has good form for getting even the most difficult projects up and running, including sourcing funding for them. By contrast to some of his projects, this one should be a doddle.
Sam Riggall, CLQ's MD & CEO owns almost 20m CLQ shares himself and has been working with Robert Friedland for a long time. These guys have a lot of skin in this game, and a lot of reasons to get Sunrise built and operational. These are the Ivanhoe Mines guys who discovered commercially viable copper and gold at Oyu Tolgoi (Turquoise Hill) in Mongolia, which has now become a massive copper/gold mine operated by Rio Tinto.
http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/2016/oyu-tolgoi-discovery/
Disclosure: I hold CLQ shares.
Warning: Only for those with a high risk tolerance, and plenty of patience.
04-June-2019: Commencement of partnering process for Clean TeQ Sunrise
Highlights:
CLQ confirms that it has commenced a partnering process for its wholly-owned Sunrise nickel, cobalt and scandium project located in central New South Wales (Sunrise Battery Materials Complex or Sunrise).
Today’s announcement follows numerous inbound enquiries from a range of parties in the electric vehicle supply chain in relation to both project level ownership, long-term offtake and other financing arrangements.
Following preliminary discussions with a range of parties, Macquarie Capital has been appointed to run a partnering process for Clean TeQ to consider divesting an interest of up to 50% in the Sunrise Battery Materials Complex, in combination with long-term offtake.
Sunrise is a globally significant nickel-cobalt-scandium resource with existing Ore Reserves calculated in accordance with JORC and NI 43-101 that support a 40-plus year mine life and a first quartile cost position, with life of mine average C1 cash costs of negative US$1.46 / lb Ni (after by-product credits).
Once in production, Sunrise will be one of the world’s largest integrated suppliers of high purity battery grade nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate, the key raw materials in the production of cathodes for lithium-ion batteries. It will also provide one of the largest and most secure sources of cobalt supply outside of Africa.
Mr Sam Riggall, CEO of Clean TeQ, said:
“Clean TeQ is delighted to be working with Macquarie Capital to finalise the funding for the Sunrise Battery Materials Complex. The Board and major shareholders of Clean TeQ are highly supportive of finding the right partner, be that a strategic customer or an operating miner, to develop this globally strategic asset. With approximately A$150 million invested by Clean TeQ in the project to date, a solid foundation has been built for the successful and rapid delivery of this project."
“Sunrise is uniquely positioned to benefit from several macroeconomic themes including the electrification of transport driving cobalt and nickel demand, a global shortage of Class 1 nickel sulphide deposits and increasing customer requirements for auditable, sustainable supply chains.”
“Sunrise has been designed as a fourth-generation pressure acid leach plant which incorporates key learnings from past nickel laterite projects. Critically, Sunrise is unique among nickel laterite projects given its high cobalt content, low acid consuming elements, simple mining operations and favourable location within a safe and established mining jurisdiction.”
The Sunrise Battery Materials Complex is one of the few development-ready large-scale nickel and cobalt assets in the world. Clean TeQ has made significant progress in moving the Sunrise Battery Materials Complex towards construction. Key milestones include:
- A completed Definitive Feasibility Study in June 2018 which demonstrated outstanding project economics, including an NPV of US$1.4 billion and annual average nickel and cobalt production of 19,620 tonnes and 4,420 tonnes over the first 10 years;
- The appointment of four leading global banks as Mandated Lead Arrangers to progress a project debt facility targeting at least 50% of the total funding requirement for the project;
- A binding 5-year offtake agreement signed with Beijing Easpring for approximately 20% of nickel and cobalt sulphate production from Sunrise;
- A signed Heads of Agreement for a fixed price EPC (Engineer-Procure-Construct) contract with Metallurgical Corporation of China;
- Successful completion of multiple pilot plant programs demonstrating the robustness of the process flow sheet;
- Receipt of all key permits and approvals for a 2.5 million tonnes per annum operation, including the grant of Mining Leases covering the project area;
- Maintaining excellent community relations and government support in a well-known mining region which is in-close proximity to the electricity grid and with road and rail access in place;
- The grant by the NSW State Government of a 3.2 gigalitres per annum ground water allocation for the project;
- Good progress on front-end engineering and design (FEED) undertaken during 2019 by over 150 engineers in Australia and China, including activities supporting tendering for long lead items, procurement and site project delivery; and,
- Confirmed Sunrise as the world’s largest potential source of scandium for the development of new generation light weight alloys and solid oxide fuel cells. In 2018 scandium (and cobalt) was declared by the US Department of the Interior a mineral commodity which is critical to the economic and national security of the United States.
Clean TeQ intends to conclude the partnering process in the second half of 2019 to align with a final investment decision planned for 4Q 2019, with construction to commence shortly thereafter.
--- ends ---
Disclosure: I hold CLQ. I started buying them a lot higher, and most recently bought more at 27.5c on May 27th. Very High Risk!
11-11-19: Successful customer acceptance of CIF plant in Oman
Excerpts:
Sam Riggall, Clean TeQ CEO, stated “Achieving successful customer acceptance of commissioning and handover of the world’s first ever commercial scale CIF® plant for this application is a moment of great significance for Clean TeQ. Confirmation from the customer that the plant is performing to expectations is strong validation of our proprietary continuous ion exchange technology. It is also excellent demonstration of the capability of our team in designing, constructing and commissioning effective, tailored industrial water purification and metal extraction systems. We will be seeking to maximise the leverage of this success to continue to grow our business.”
Clean TeQ was engaged by Multotec, the Company’s sales and delivery partner in Africa, under a design, procure and construct contract to deliver a waste water treatment system at an antimony processing facility in Oman. The CIF® plant, utilising the Company’s proprietary continuous ion-exchange technology, is designed to remove a range of deleterious elements from up to 200 tons of waste water per day. By treating the waste, the customer is able to recycle a significant proportion of the water for re-use in their processing plant, rather than disposing of it. This provides a valuable cost saving for the customer in a geographic location where water is relatively scarce. Recycling the water also results in environmental benefits by significantly reducing the volume of waste which would otherwise need to be disposed.
The plant consists of a number of precipitation steps to remove antinomy, arsenic and hardness, followed by Clean TeQ’s proprietary two stage CIF® system to extract calcium and magnesium sulphate plus any remaining heavy metals, followed by reverse osmosis to desalinate the water and prepare it for re-use.
Clean TeQ has received formal notification from the customer that the plant has been successfully commissioned on waste water. Accordingly, Clean TeQ has now officially handed over the plant to the customer, who is now responsible for progressing the remaining commissioning and ongoing operational processes.
Achieving customer acceptance of commissioning and handover of the plant demonstrates the effectiveness of the Company’s proprietary technology as well as the capability of the Clean TeQ Water team. The plant was custom designed by Clean TeQ engineers in Melbourne, Australia, to meet the water treatment specifications required by the customer. CIF® plant fabrication, procurement and delivery was undertaken by Company personnel primarily based in Beijing. Equipment erection and installation was undertaken by a local construction contractor under supervision of Clean TeQ and Multotec.
Clean TeQ Water is now focused on completing two additional key projects at the Fosterville Gold Mine in Victoria, Australia and at a copper-cobalt mine in the DRC. These two Clean TeQ systems, as well as the plant recently completed in Oman, are the first of their type anywhere in the world and have been deployed as part of three different technical solutions. The successful delivery and commissioning of these three plants will provide strong demonstration of the efficacy of Clean TeQ’s suite of proprietary ion exchange technologies and their versatility for metal extraction and waste water treatment. As commercial scale plants, the facilities provide a valuable platform from which to rapidly grow Clean TeQ Water.
[click on link above for the rest of this news release, including photos]
Disclosure: I hold CLQ shares.
24-Sep-2018: CLQ: "Joint venture to progress graphene oxide technology development" - see here.
This is the 2nd straw relating to this announcement - and contains the second half of the announcement:
...In early 2017, Clean TeQ and Ionic entered into a partnership agreement which required Clean TeQ to fund a $200,000 programme of works for graphene oxide product development and testing with the Monash research team and at Clean TeQ’s facilities. Subject to Clean TeQ successfully completing this product development and testing phase prior to 30 September 2018, Clean TeQ may, at its election, form a joint venture with Ionic for the purpose of bringing the products to market in the field of water purification. Given the positive progress demonstrated during the product development and testing phase, Clean TeQ has elected to progress to the next phase of the partnership with Ionic through the formation of the joint venture.
The joint venture with Ionic will be structured as a newly incorporated joint venture (JV Co) owned 75% by Clean TeQ and 25% by Ionic. Ionic will grant a sub-licence of its GO technologies to JV Co in the field of water purification. Both partners will fund pro-rata expenditure in JV Co to progress development and commercialization of the technology.
Once established, JV Co will be focused on achieving commercial scale production of graphene oxide and GO-Membranes, as well as water purification modules targeted at wholesale and retail customers.
The JV Co will be led by Peter Voigt, Clean TeQ’s founder and Chief Technology Officer, who said “Through the use of advanced materials, like graphene oxide, we have an opportunity to significantly improve and grow the membrane water filtration market. Graphene’s amazing properties provide a window into a new world of water recovery and reuse.”
Commenting on the decision to progress to the next phase of development via the establishment of the joint venture, Clean TeQ’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sam Riggall, said, “Clean TeQ’s vision is focused on empowering the clean revolution through incremental innovations that provide better performance at lower cost. The application of graphene oxide-based membranes to water treatment is showing strong commercial viability and we look forward to this new joint venture continuing the groundbreaking work in this space.”
For more information about Clean TeQ Water please visit www.cleanteqwater.com.
Disclosure: I hold CLQ.
24-Sep-2018: CLQ: "Joint venture to progress graphene oxide technology development" - see here.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Clean TeQ Holdings Limited (Clean TeQ or Company) (ASX/TSX:CLQ; OTCQX:CTEQF) advises that, following the encouraging progress towards development of a graphene-oxide based water filtration membrane, Clean TeQ is to form an incorporated joint venture with Ionic Industries Pty Ltd (Ionic) to further develop and commercialise this exciting opportunity.
As previously announced, Clean TeQ has been working with Ionic Industries and Monash University to develop, manufacture and apply graphene oxide membranes for water filtration applications. While graphene and graphene oxide are the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive materials yet discovered, with huge potential for industrial water filtration applications, difficulty in manufacturing processes and high production costs have to date severely limited their commercialisation.
Over the past 18 months, Clean TeQ and Ionic have successfully developed a process to manufacture high purity graphene oxide that can be applied to a membrane support to create a highly efficient graphene nanofiltration membrane (GO-Membrane). Significantly, the GO-Membrane manufacturing process has been demonstrated on commercial scale industrial equipment.
Graphene oxide-based membranes have the potential to deliver significant benefits due to their high water flux, tunability and non-fouling properties. The advantages of the membranes over existing commercially available membrane technologies include increased flow, better water recovery and lower energy costs.
Freshwater scarcity and the move to water reuse is driving growth in the water membrane filtration market and in spiral membranes, such as reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. The spiral membrane market is estimated at USD 5.10 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to USD 8.20 billion by 2023. The major constraint to growth is the high operating costs for the end user. If successful, the development of a cost-effective GO-Membrane could displace a large proportion of the existing reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membrane technologies as well as creating opportunities for new water filtration applications.
Ionic is a commercialisation partner of Monash University, with a framework agreement covering a range of graphene-based technologies being developed by Monash.
Continued in a 2nd straw.
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