Global Demand Rising Quickly as Cobalt and Lithium Supply Tightens

PALM BEACH, Florida, November 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The prices of cobalt and lithium have skyrocketed recently because of worries that supply of the vital metals may not be able to keep pace with demand. Once an unlikely hero in precious metals, cobalt continues to shine and outpace all expectations as global demand skyrockets in light of the rising number of electric vehicles. Cobalt prices alone have nearly doubled since the start of 2017 to trade near $29 per pound, according to data from Metal Bulletin. Although the searing pace could potentially hurt the long-term supply of the resource, cobalt leaders are releasing impressive results from excavations to boost performance and provide lucrative revenue streams as 2017 comes to a close. Cobalt/Lithium miners with developments include:  LiCo Energy Metals Inc. (OTC: WCTXF)(TSX-V: LIC), eCobalt Solutions Inc. (OTC: ECSIF) (TSX: ECS), Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC.TO) (OTC: LACDD), Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RIO), Glencore plc (OTC: GLNCY) (LSE: GLEN).

LiCo Energy Metals Inc. (OTCQB: WCTXF) (TSX-V: LIC.V) is pleased to report assay results for diamond drill holes GB17‐06 to GB17‐07 from the recently completed drill program on the Glencore Bucke Property located 6km northeast of Cobalt, Ontario and provides a drilling update.

"We are very pleased with the higher-grade cobalt mineralization that has been intersected at our Glencore Bucke property" says Tim Fernback, President & CEO of LiCo and "not only have we intersected cobalt style mineralization in every drill hole completed, we are happy to report that 4 of the 7 holes assayed to date have higher than average grades of more than 1% cobalt. We are also finding very good silver and copper results in our assays which is equally exciting.  So far, we have drilled a combined 3,728 m with 30 drill holes on our Glencore and Teledyne Ontario properties as part of our 2017 flow-through work program.  Read this and more news for LiCo Energy at: http://www.marketnewsupdates.com/news/wctxf.html  

A summary of the most significant results of the recent drill core assays are:

•    GB17-07 - 1.11% Co, 16.6 ppm Ag over 2.0 m, incl. 7.64% Co, 9.1 ppm Ag over 0.26m

•    GB17-06 - 4.45% Co, 34.2 ppm Ag over 0.30 m from 44.40 to 44.70 m

•    GB17-06 - 0.25% Co over 1.75 m, incl. 0.58% Co, 28.9 ppm Ag over 0.5 m

On the Glencore Bucke Property, the Company has completed a total of 21 diamond drill holes totaling 1,900 m, testing the Main and Northwest zones. The drilling has confirmed and extended the cobalt mineralization on the property and which are consistent with historical grades and widths in the overall Cobalt Camp.  Visual cobalt camp style mineralization has been noted in every drill hole that the Company has logged to date. The drill program has been completed as planned.  The drill program was designed to provide the company with sufficient drill hole information to create a geological model and a 43‐101 complaint resource estimate.  

The results for diamond drill holes GB17-06 and GB17-07 are summarized in a table that can be seen at: http://www.marketnewsupdates.com/news/wctxf.html

In other mining industry news and developments:

eCobalt Solutions Inc. (TSX: ESC.TO) (OTCQB: ECSIF) finished up 6.60% on Tuesday with nearly 500,000 shares traded. The company recently announced the progress to date on the Idaho Cobalt Project's ("ICP") construction, cobalt marketing and project optimization. The ICP, located in East Central Idaho, is the only environmentally permitted, primary cobalt project located in the United States.  It is 100% owned by the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Formation Capital Corporation, U.S.  Last week, the Company SEDAR filed its recently completed Feasibility Study ("FS") Technical Report in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (see Company news release dated November 10, 2017).  The FS was prepared by Micon International ("MI") in conjunction with SNC Lavalin ("SNC") both of Toronto, Canada.  The FS outlines the production and processing feasibility of the ICP as an underground mine and mill, developing the Company's Ram deposit and the Cobalt Production Facility ("CPF"), a hydrometallurgical refining operation located on a railhead in Blackfoot, Idaho.

Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC.TO) (OTCQX: LACDD) closed up 3.38% on Tuesday with a volume north of 600,000 traded by the market close. Earlier in the week, the company announced that Ms. Jean M. Fraser has been appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. Ms. Fraser has had a distinguished legal career as a partner and leader at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, a pre-eminent Canadian law firm. She has been a leading advisor of boards and management of prominent public companies on corporate governance, multi jurisdictional transactions and other business critical matters. Lithium Americas' Chairman, George Ireland commented: "Ms. Fraser is a highly regarded corporate counsel and expert in the area of corporate governance. She brings a wide array of business experience, and we are very pleased to welcome her to the Board of Lithium Americas."

In a recent article on Business Times, Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RIO) is getting distracted by a shiny new thing. The Anglo-Australian mining giant may be on the verge of buying a stake in US$15 billion lithium producer Sociedad Quimica y Minera (SQM). After previously chasing aluminium at its peak, Rio is looking late again. Excavators are emerging from a period of austerity. They have cleaned up a string of disastrous deals and slashed costs. Thanks to China and the surge of interest in electric cars, demand is growing. Materials including lithium, cobalt and copper are in vogue.  Read more at:  http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/energy-commodities/rio-tinto-may-buy-stake-in-lithium-producer-sociedad-quimica-y-minera

Glencore plc (OTC: GLNCY) (LSE: GLEN.L) was discussed in a published article on Bloomberg this month as the price of cobalt has more than doubled over the past year amid investor excitement about the extra demand that will be created by lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Thanks to its Congolese assets, Glencore's share of global cobalt supply will rise to about 30 percent, estimates UBS. Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg thinks there could be a cobalt shortage in coming years and therefore further price increases. Read more:https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-11-06/glencore-s-big-congolese-bet-carries-plenty-of-risk

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