The Growth of Cobalt Markets and Lithium-ion Batteries as a Result of EVs Popularity

NEW YORK, September 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the global lithium-ion battery (LIB) market will reach US $77.42 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 11.6% throughout the forecast period (2016 - 2024). An essential component of the LIB market is the chemical element of Cobalt. Like nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in chemically combined form. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, 75% of lithium-ion battery cathode capacities are expected to contain some volume of cobalt by 2020. TMR indicates that the growth of the global cobalt market can be attributed to the rising demand for lightweight electric vehicles (EVs). Rechargeable batteries are widely used in electric cars and are giving rise to the demand for cobalt, as it is one of the main compounds added in batteries. First Cobalt Corp. (OTC: FTSSF), Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Panasonic Corporation (OTC: PCRFY), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE: SQM)

The primary focus of automakers has been reducing costs while increasing energy density and vehicle range. "The push by automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and battery manufacturers to continually reduce battery pack costs continues," says William Tokash, Senior Research Analyst with Navigant Research. "This effort, led by improving battery manufacturing processes and maturing supply chains, is anticipated to yield a market driven by battery electric vehicles where both large and small capacity Li-ion battery-pack-equipped vehicles have markedly improved driving ranges."

First Cobalt Corp. (OTCQB: FTSSF) is also listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol 'FCC'. The company earlier today announced that the filing of an independent NI 43-101 technical report on its Greater Cobalt Project, located near Cobalt, Ontario. The Project area covers 4,300 hectares in the neighboring historic towns of Silver Centre and Cobalt, now commonly referred to as the Cobalt Camp.

Highlights- Describes the geological setting of the Camp and provides a detailed history of past production, noting that three historic mines within the Greater Cobalt Project (the Keeley, Frontier and Bellellen mines) produced an aggregate of 3.3 million pounds of cobalt and 19.2 million ounces of silver. Provides a detailed list and map of all assessment work filed on the Greater Cobalt project. By assuming the Woods Vein accounted for 70% of cobalt production from Keeley-Frontier, the technical report concludes that the average feed grade was about 0.8% Co; possibly higher, due to unreported cobalt content in silver concentrates. Concludes that the Cobalt Camp has potential to host additional arsenide silver-cobalt vein deposits and that further exploration is warranted. Endorses the Company's 2017 exploration program and budget, consisting of historical data compilation, prospecting, geological mapping, use of modern geophysical and geochemical methods plus follow-up surveys, as well as diamond drill testing of targets.

Trent Mell, President & Chief Executive Officer, commented, "This is an important document and milestone for First Cobalt. The Technical Report supports our position that the Cobalt Camp has the potential to host new cobalt discoveries amenable to bulk mining. A 7,000 metre drill program at Keeley-Frontier and the surrounding region commenced August 8 and we look forward to announcing the first assay results in the near future."

The technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Greater Cobalt Project, Larder Lake Mining Division, Ontario" dated effective July 31, 2017 was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral projects" by Ian Trinder, MSc, P.Geo., of CSA Global Geosciences Canada, an independent "qualified person" for the purposes of NI 43-101. The report was prepared in connection with the Company's ongoing work program on the Greater Cobalt Project and does not disclose a resource estimate. A copy of the Technical Report is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR."

Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Panasonic Corporation have signed an agreement that lays out their cooperation on the construction of a large-scale battery manufacturing plant in the United States, known as the Gigafactory. According to a blog from The Tesla Team on January 4, 2017, the Tesla and Panasonic begin mass production of lithium-ion battery cells, which will be used in Tesla's energy storage products and Model 3. Production begins on cells that will be used in Tesla's Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy products. Model 3 cell production will follow in Q2 and by 2018, the Gigafactory will produce 35 GWh/year of lithium-ion battery cells, nearly as much as the rest of the entire world's battery production combined.

Panasonic Corporation (OTC: PCRFY) is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, enterprise solutions and device industries. On April 27, 2017, the company announced that it held an opening ceremony for a new automotive lithium-ion battery factory in Dalian, China. Panasonic has provided automotive lithium-ion batteries to a number of auto manufacturers on a global basis and is leading the automotive battery market. Furthermore, in response to further increase in the demand of high-performance automotive lithium-ion batteries, Panasonic not only increased production at Japanese sites but will also start automotive battery cell production in the United States in 2017. The newly constructed factory in China is a new production facility of Panasonic Automotive Energy Dalian Co., Ltd., an automotive battery joint venture established between Panasonic and Dalian Levear Electric Co., Ltd. in February 2016.

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine and refining catalysts. On March 16, 2017, the company announced that Talison, a joint venture between Albemarle and Tianqi Lithium Corporation, has approved the expansion of lithium concentrate production at its Greenbushes, Australia spodumene mine. Greenbushes is the world's largest active lithium mine. It has the largest hard rock lithium reserve, and contains the highest concentration of lithium oxide available of any active mine. The expansion is intended to more than double the LCE capacity at Greenbushes from 80,000 MT/year to more than 160,000 MT/year, of which Albemarle has a 50% interest in the offtake. Commissioning of the expansion is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2019.

Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE: SQM) is an integrated producer and distributor of lithium, iodine, specialty plant nutrients, potassium-related fertilizers and industrial chemicals. On July 12, 2017, the company announced that following the recent announcement of the formation of a Joint Venture between SQM and Kidman Resources, SQM will consolidate three complementary lithium production plants worldwide: the Salar de Atacama in Chile, the Salar de Caucharí in Argentina, and the Mount Holland Spodumene deposit in Australia.

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