Monday, February 28, 2011

JX Nippon Oil To Make Lithium Ion Battery Material tnr.v, czx.v, lmr.v, rm.v, alk.ax, sqm, fmc, roc, lit, li.v, wlc.v, clq.v, res.v, ree, avl.to, nsany, f, gm, rno.pa, dai, byddf, hev, aone, vlnc


   What could be more encouraging for investors in Lithium than Oil companies moving into the space?   We should always watch Japan for the future energy trends, that country imports all of its oil and knows what it means to live with expensive fuel.


  "We have these days report after report on Peak Oil situation, President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu admits the dear situation and promote Electric Cars. Now we have reports coming out on Strategic Commodities: Lithium and Rare Earths, which will be the materials basis for the transition into the post carbon society. 



Nikkei.com:

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

JX Nippon Oil To Make Lithium Ion Battery Material

TOKYO (Nikkei)--JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. said Monday that it will produce a negative-electrode material for lithium ion batteries with major South Korean oil company GS Caltex Corp.
The JX Holdings Inc. (5020) unit and its partner plan to invest roughly 1 billion yen each to build a factory at the site of their existing South Korean joint venture, Power Carbon Technology Co., by the end of March 2012.
The new factory is expected to kick off production in July of next year, producing the negative-electrode material from coke made at a JX Nippon Oil refinery in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Output will be sold to Japanese and South Korean producers of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles as well as other customers. The factory is expected to have an annual production capacity of about 2,000 tons.
Power Carbon Technology, which makes a carbon material for storage batteries, aims to lift its sales to 4 billion yen by 2014 with the new product.
For JX Nippon Oil, the new joint venture furthers its efforts to diversify earnings sources in response to declining gasoline demand.
(The Nikkei March 1 morning edition)"
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Copper, Zinc and Cobalt: Equinox to offer $4.8-billion for Lundin takeover at CAD8.1 per share lun.to, czx.v, tnr.v, ngq.to, fcx, eqn.to, bwr.to, cs.to, imn.to, ncu.to, tko.to, wrn.to, qux.to, rio, bls.to, tck



    We have discussed yesterday Lukas Lundin and his companies, which could be affected by this bid. We have a nice 26% premium to the Friday's closing already, but we will be very surprised if Lukas Lundin will let this company slip out of his hands for anything less than CAD10.0 per share.
   Now speculation will begin this week whether he will be able to defend the company and stay with Inmet together. The obvious choice will be to change the Inmet merger arrangements and provide some premium to Lundin Mining shareholders - more than Equnox is offering. Can the new suitor materialize as well - we will see it shortly. Freeport McMoRan can step in and consolidate Tenke Fungurume stake, but so far this company was not in a hurry. Equnox bid can change the situation as Lundin Mining team was developing the Tenke Fungurume project in Congo and there is no any benefit for FCX to lose the stake in Tenke Fungurume to another company.
  We will be watching Canada Zinc Metals today and NGeX Resources. We have covered CZX.v yesterday and NGeX is the Global Exploration Company of Lukas Lundin - should he decide to sell Lundin Mining at one point this company can get more of his capital and attention.


"Equinox to offer $4.8-billion for Lundin takeover
Ticker Symbol: C:EQN C:LUN

Equinox to offer $4.8-billion for Lundin takeover
Equinox Minerals Ltd (C:EQN) 
Shares Issued 877,042,919
Last Close 2/25/2011 $6.27
Sunday February 27 2011 - News Release

Also Lundin Mining Corp (C:LUN) News Release
Mr. Craig Williams of Equinox reports
EQUINOX ANNOUNCES TAKEOVER OFFER FOR LUNDIN
Equinox Minerals Ltd. will make an offer to acquire Lundin Mining Corp. for approximately $4.8-billion in cash and shares.
Under the terms of the Offer, Equinox proposes to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Lundin for a combination of cash and Equinox shares for a total consideration value of C$8.10 per Lundin share. Each Lundin shareholder can elect to receive consideration per Lundin share of either C$8.10 in cash or 1.290
3 Equinox shares plus $0.01 for each Lundin share, subject to a pro-ration based on a maximum cash consideration of approximately C$2.4 billion and maximum number of Equinox shares issued of approximately 380 million. The Offer reflects a 26% premium to the closing price of C$6.45 per Lundin share on the TSX on February 25, 2011.
The Offer is consistent with Equinox's strategy of becoming the leading global pure copper growth company. Equinox believes that the combination of Equinox's and Lundin's world-class asset portfolios will position the combined company to deliver significant value to its shareholders through its superior leverage to near-term strength in copper prices and strong growth profile. The combined group will have an outstanding production growth profile relative to the global copper sector, with a targeted 23% compound annual growth rate in production over the next six years, culminating in planned production of approximately 500,000 tonnes of copper per annum by 2016. Growth would be delivered entirely from lower risk expansions of existing operations and a project currently under construction.
The combination of Equinox and Lundin will also deliver a significantly higher copper production profile over the next six years compared to the profile of a combined Lundin and Inmet Mining Corporation ("Inmet"), delivering approximately 500,000 tonnes of incremental copper over this period. This allows shareholders of both companies to increase their leverage to the anticipated near term strength in copper prices.
Equinox President and Chief Executive Officer, Craig Williams, said "This Offer is clearly superior to the nil-premium merger proposed between Lundin and Inmet. We also believe that our Offer presents an attractive option for Lundin shareholders to elect to receive cash or retain exposure to what we believe would be one of the strongest and lowest risk production and growth profiles in the copper sector today."
Highlights of the transaction
A fully funded C$4.8 billion cash and share Offer for Lundin that demonstrates Equinox's capability to identify and pursue opportunities that deliver on our goal of becoming the leading global pure copper company.
The Offer reflects a 26% premium over the closing price for Lundin shares on February 25, 2011, and therefore represents a clearly superior offer for Lundin shareholders than the recommended Lundin and Inmet nil-premium merger.
Shareholders of both companies benefit from superior leverage to the near-term copper price cycle.
Cements Equinox's position as a leading global pure copper company with a diversified portfolio of world class assets and an outstanding growth pipeline.
The transaction will be immediately accretive for Equinox shareholders on a cash flow and earnings per share basis.
Equinox Chairman, Peter Tomsett, said "The Offer which seeks to combine the world class assets of the two companies demonstrates Equinox's capability to identify and pursue opportunities that present a strong strategic fit with our goal to become the world's leading pure play copper company."
Having taken Lumwana from an exploration project to one of the world's most significant new copper mines over the last 10 years and having successfully acquired the Citadel Resource Group, Equinox strives to continue to deliver shareholder value by building a portfolio of quality assets with embedded growth.
Equinox President and Chief Executive Officer, Craig Williams, said "The combination of the assets of Equinox and Lundin will constitute one of the most attractive and highest quality asset portfolios in the copper sector. The combination of those assets plus the significant near term expansion potential within the portfolio and the highly prospective exploration upside in the world's key emerging copper regions constitutes a combined company that will be one of the world's premier copper companies".
The combined company will consist of five substantial producing operations by mid 2012, providing significant geographic and copper production diversity. Equinox operates the Lumwana mine in Zambia (100%) and is currently constructing the Jabal Sayid project in Saudi Arabia (100%). Lundin's assets include the Tenke Fungurume copper mine (24%) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Neves-Corvo in Portugal (100%) and Zinkgruvan in Sweden (100%).
Equinox strongly believes that the Offer will be very attractive to Lundin shareholders and clearly preferable to a nil-premium merger which carries increased development and financing risk. Accordingly, the Equinox board determined to announce the Offer to enable Lundin's shareholders to consider this highly attractive alternative prior to the proposed shareholder vote on the nil-premium merger with Inmet scheduled for March 14, 2011.
Funding
The cash consideration of Equinox's Offer is financed through a US$3.2 billion bridge facility being led by Goldman Sachs Lending Partners and Credit Suisse Securities. Equinox expects the financial strength of the combined company to allow it to return to a net cash position within four years based on current analyst consensus copper price forecasts.
Equinox intends to refinance the bridge facility through a combination of medium and long term debt instruments. Equinox has no plans to undertake an equity raising as part of the refinancing of the bridge.
The Offer
Full details of the Offer will be included in the formal offer and take-over bid circular to be mailed to Lundin shareholders. Equinox expects to formally commence the Offer and mail the offer and circular to shareholders in the coming days.
The Offer will be subject to certain conditions including, without limitation, termination of the existing Lundin-Inmet Arrangement Agreement in accordance with its terms, and a simple majority approval of Equinox shareholders of the issuance of the Equinox shares to be issued under the Offer at a meeting of Equinox shareholders that Equinox expects to occur in early to mid April. Other conditions will include acceptance of the Offer by Lundin shareholders owning not less than two-thirds of Lundin's shares outstanding on a fully-diluted basis, and receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, and other customary unsolicited offer conditions.
Advisors and counsel
Goldman, Sachs & Co. is acting as lead financial advisor to Equinox and TD Securities Inc. is acting as joint financial advisor to Equinox. Equinox's legal counsel is Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.
North American/European Investment market call and webcast
Equinox will host an analyst and investor conference call and webcast on February 28, 2011 at 10:00am Canadian/US Eastern Standard Time, 3:00pm London Time and 4:00pm Stockholm Time.
Australian/Asian Investment market call and webcast
Equinox will host an analyst and investor conference call and webcast on March 1, 2011 at 9:30am Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time and 6:30am Perth and Hong Kong Time.
For dial in details please see Appendix A to this announcement.
We seek Safe Harbor.
© 2011 Canjex Publishing Ltd."
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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Copper, Zinc and Cobalt: LUNDIN MINING ANNOUNCES POTENTIAL UNSOLICITED TAKE-OVER BID lun.to, czx.v, tnr.v, bwr.to, cs.to, imn.to, ncu.to, tko.to, wrn.to, qux.to, rio, bls.to, tck


  Very interesting: Lundin Mining is back into the spotlight again - Tenke Fungurume stake will not make industry guys sleep well before they can get it. Let's the bidding war begin!
   We will watch tomorrow Canada Zinc Metals as well - last time Lundin Mining was moving up that stock was hitting new highs. Lundin Mining has a stake in that company. Thinking could be along the lines - that if Lundin Mining is taken out Zinc supply will be even more concentrated and CZX.v value, as one of the largest Zinc assets, will be even higher. Another notion could be that Lukas Lundin can bid, potentially, for the CZX.v and take it out from Chinese Tongling at one point and consolidate the area with Teck Resources, which will be supported by the Canada.
    "Go where the growth is - this company is ideally positioned to benefit from Chinese expansion in Infrastructure and Auto sector. We guess that this trip will be dealing with further Akie developments and maybe M&A activity. 
  Zinc and Lead markets are still nowhere near to the Copper excitement about recovery and Reinflation stage of the global economy - it is the good time to consolidate project at this price level of the commodity. Company has issued a news release today on current activities at the Akie project. The stock CZX.v is currently trading below the latest financing at 0.775CAD.
  We hope to get some more news at PDAC this year in the beginning of March in Toronto."
January 13th, 2011

    This deal came even faster than we expected: Lundin Mining is taken out.

"Now market will be taking US13¢ per pound of copper resource as a new benchmark for the new deals. All projects are different, but this deal could be a tipping point and ignite rush for the new deals to secure Copper Supply for Chinese growth."





"It seams to be only yesterday and it is so far away - we are living now in the "new normal", but old values are still here. Decoupling is happening these days after the financial crisis. Lundin Mining after years of waiting - and near death experience with stock price at one point below 0.6CAD  in 2009 - has finally received approval of contract for Tenke Fungurume mine from DRC government. 

  As one of our loyal readers from those days mentioned - we have spent a lot of time writing about this project. We came into it after the war in DRC, when Tenke mining was trading at 0.6CAD and we have seen it sold to Lundin Mining at above 20CAD - sweat memories. Then political uncertainty has taken its force in DRC over the project and we visited the story again only a few times. We are writing here mostly about the companies we are interested in and which we own or have owned before as our investment. We never give any investment advise here - only share our journey and travel notes with you. You have to decide always by yourself: what and when to buy, sell or just enjoy the scenery we are writing about. Always consult with qualified financial adviser, who shares you views and investment goals.


  Tenke Fungurume is back and so we are with our pen and paper to share with you this story again. We have another M&A target in the Copper market now back in business. We would expect a new coverage issued on the company and more investment research from Canadian financial institutions, with potential upgrades on valuation. Company is up today on volume - chart shows the cup and handle formation - break out to the upside is in the cards with high copper prices. The share price will have to reflect new valuation with settled political uncertainty over this huge copper project in DRC. Country discount will always be there, but the fact that Tenke Fungurume is now producing and will expand its production rate at these prices will drive the valuation.
  Lundin Mining presentation: 2010 Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Mining Conference
Tenke Fungurume Video
  Lundin Mining will present now a sizable opportunity as a target itself with market cap at 4 billion now. According to 
CIBC "Be Long What China's Short. M&A will drive this sector activity and we have just a few quality juniors with large copper deposits to go after." 
Lundin Mining is in no way a junior mining company, will have attention from Majors in the Copper sector. Freeport McMoran - J/V partner on Tenke Fungurume - will be a natural suitor for this Jewell. In our logic it have to attempt at least to buy out the share of Lundin Mining in Tenke Fungurume - otherwise it will be done by others and Chinese, who are very active in DRC, will be backed by the DRC government in this case. An outright bid for all Lundin Mining operations could be in the cards as well.

  We believe that Lukas Lundin will have to make his move and show that now - with cash flow from Tenke Fungurume and further expansion of production in DRC - he can build value in Lundin Mining itself. Realisation of the facts, described above, by the market could bring the share price north of CAD10.0 (we will not be surprised to see a target price of this magnitude with company's book value at around CAD5.2 now and E/P at CAD 0.13 in Q2 2010). Lukas will be again in a very favorable position after these very tough few years for the company. He can and should use his currency - shares in the company above CAD10.0 to buy another companies with sizable projects at still undervalued valuations among juniors. He should definitely, in our opinion, to study well opportunities for acquisition in CIBC report. His another company - NGeX Resources is a part of that M&A list with its properties in Argentina, Chile, Africa and Canada is moving up nicely in price these days as well.TNR Gold has a few J/V projects with NGeX Resources in Argentina. Lukas Lundin was buying recently NGeX Resources in the market.

  We won't speculate about Lundin Mining involvement, potentially, in Los Azules story, but will point to the few facts, which are keeping us guessing about the future move.  Lukas was personally involved in TNR Gold as an investor at one point, knows management there very well and Paul Conibear - Senior Vice president of Lundin Mining corporate development - served on the Board of TNR Gold for a few years. By the way - Tenke Fungurume is his baby - we would like to congratulate Paul and all team at Lunidin Mining with this ground breaking achievement for the company. Lukas was investing in Minera Andes before as well, at least before Rob McEwen came into the picture. We do not know, what stake he has now, but he knows the story about Los Azules very well. Rob is more of a gold guy and Lukas knows the basic metals commodity story very well, particularly copper. Will it make sense for Rob to sell Los Azules to Lukas Lundin at the right price after settlement with TNR Gold and clearing the property title?  We do not know at this moment, but any twist in this direction can bring a new dynamic to the all situation regarding Los Azules and its development. It is too early to say more about it at this moment.
  Another interesting move by Lundin Mining could be in its core zinc business with 
Canada Zinc Metals still in the M&A picture. Even after Chinese involvement, company is still at the very attractive levels of valuation. Its Akie deposit represents one of the largest zinc and lead deposits in the world and based in  Canada. With recent financing from Tongling, Chinese giant will have more than 30% in Canada Zinc Metals, Lundin Mining is the second largest shareholder after Tongling now in that company. We were thinking that Mandarin will be the only language for all presentations in that company, but found recently information on the bullboard about Lundin Mining visits to the Akie property - it could be easily confirmed by the management. "As I have a large shareholding in CZX I stay in regular communication with management. A team from Lundin Mining was up at the property not too long ago. Apparently the visit went very well...don't forget Lukas Lundin is a wheeler and dealer. Trust me - others are knocking too.
  Any sophisticated investor (and I know you are one) knows that all it would take is a large pp with another mining company (including Lundin Mining) and the playing field is levelled."
We have mentioned before:  
"Among the other developments today, we have mentioned that Lundin Mining has increased its loan facility and the maturity of the loan - will Lukas Lundin go shopping one day to increase his resource base for the next leg up in this commodity bull? He still maintains stake in Canada Zinc Metals along with all Chinese participants - should someone decide to chase this dragon - story could become very interesting."
  The nearest future will show how our 
Value Web in a very close and interconnected sector will play itself out. Today we can say only one thing - that Lukas Lundin is back after the crisis and he is stronger then ever, our big picture view is the ideal world for his Midas touch. We will expect him making headlines in the nearest future on a different M&A fronts."
Please, do not forget, that we own stocks we are writing about and have position in these companies. We are not providing any investment advise on this blog and there is no solicitation to buy or sell any particular company here. Always consult with your qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.


NEWS RELEASE

LUNDIN MINING ANNOUNCES POTENTIAL UNSOLICITED TAKE-OVER BID

Toronto, February 27, 2011 (TSX: LUN; OMX: LUMI) Lundin Mining Corporation 
(“Lundin Mining” or the “Company”) announced that it has been advised by Equinox Minerals Limited (“Equinox”) that Equinox intends to make an unsolicited take-over bid for the shares of Lundin Mining prior to the open of markets on February 28, 2011.  Lundin is not aware of the terms of the bid.  Until Lundin Mining completes its review of the bid, it will not comment on the proposal.  The Board of Directors of Lundin will update shareholders from time to time following receipt and consideration of the bid.  Shareholders do not need to take any action in response to the bid at this time.

About Lundin Mining
Lundin Mining is a diversified base metals mining company with operations in Portugal, Spain and Sweden, producing copper, nickel, lead and zinc. In addition, Lundin Mining holds a development project pipeline which includes an expansion project at its Neves-Corvo mine along with its equity stake in the world class Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On Behalf of the Board,

Phil Wright
President and CEO
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US Dollar Collapse: Lithium, Rare Earths, Gold and Silver: Mary Meeker's USA Inc. Debt Bible tnr.v, lmr.v, rm.v, alk.ax, nup.ax, ng.to, laq.v, bvg.c, bva.v, grc.to, amm.to, ktn.v, gbn.v, rvm.to, mgn, asm.v, sgc.v, ngq.to, btt.v, alk.ax, fvi.to, mxr.v, sgc.v, ktn.v, epz.v, cuu.v, mgn, nem, fcx, bvn, auy, abx,

  One picture could be better than thousand words about it,

 but we all need further conviction and now we have it.


If you would like to know why did it happen and who have benefited from it:


"Jim Puplava is brilliant with his new Financial Sense podcast "Inside Job". If you are still wondering why it all happen you should address the Federal Reserve Private Bank status - it is correct Federal Reserve is as federal as Federal Express. Now you can guess who gained already from the explosion in U.S. Debt and who will benefit more when the FED rates will move up following the market rates. Listen to this podcast and spread the word."

What will be next and how to survive?


"All those QE exercises, which we have discussed above, will unleash a very powerful force of Inflation all around the world. The new most powerful trend in 21st century will be the Energy or lack of it to drive the world and its population forward. All recent progress is based on relatively cheap energy available to us for the last one hundred years. The chart above is from the latest groundbreaking revelations of International Energy Agency - it shows to us that we do not have that luxury any more. Cheap oil is gone - according to the IEA - and "Crude Oil: fields yet to be found - is the politically correct way of saying Oil Shortage. We have now Population Growth multiplied by Peak Oil and Inflation, which will push all prices higher."

  Our Catalyst observations on markets were published just a few short months ago, but reality which  is unfolding now is even more dramatic and explosive than we have envisioned before. We do not know what people will do when they will realize that they were used and dumped and, maybe, there is no way out any more. One thing is unions striking for bargaining powers and another is hungry mob on the streets and Fuel Riots. There will be attempts to "use the scalpel" and cut some expenses, but we can be almost sure that QE n+1 is coming next.


"We have been proudly running Gold Bull for nearly ten years now: Gold first, than Majors and follow up on Junior side. We were always wondering about Future of Energy and have collected some great memories on Uranium Run, Solar and Water plays. Gold Bull has years to run, but we are searching constantly for new Macro trends - it is very interesting to find out what will be the next Bull which will come out of these rubbles in case we are right and Inflation will be the answer to the Deflation war scenario. It is time for Lithium to come into picture.
  Lithium is the leveraged play on Peak Oil and rising Oil price with coming Inflation. Sector is very small and market is even more smaller - everything is ready for the parabolic move in case of supporting fundamentals.
  Recent Oil Spill shows the real price for Oil and leaves no doubt for us that there will be no more cheap oil: offshore drilling is costly now, it will be even more costly later. Relatively cheap Oil is in the hands of state owned companies in not so friendly to U.S. places. Oil squeeze will come from diminishing production rates and rising Inflation. The move will be even more explosive than in the Gold market - in the end only minority of people is effected by the gold price even now, Oil is the underlining of all Western Energy Diet. It is not sustainable. Emerging markets are taking more and more share of world wide production, oil producing countries are spending more at home. If you account all cost to produce, deliver and protect Oil supply to U.S. corp the price is already above 150 USD/barrel."







"This year we have a staggering number of reports and warning on the looming Peak Oil situation. It takes time for reality to settle in, particularly,when nobody knows what to do with it. We have put REE in the headline and only few months ago we would have to explain, what is it all about - now suddenly everybody is talking about REE and stocks involved in Rare Earths are all making new highs. It takes a crisis for us to realise that fundamentals are driving the real trends. Sudden realisation that China controls more than 90% of REE market and their reserves maybe will last only for another twenty years, created the catalyst in the market place. What will it take to realise that we are running out of cheap oil? Another crisis?
  We are talking here about the powerful mega trend Inflation multiplied by Peak Oil situation - we have to move and readjust our society. Our Energy diet is not sustainable any more. We are lucky in a sense that there is technology available to us to survive the Oil Shock if we will all move fast - Electric Cars. It is our Next Big Thing and at the heart of this disruptive technology lie strategic commodities: REE and Lithium."



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RCR: Lithium, Rare and Minor Metals Fundamentals tnr.v, czx.v, lmr.v, rm.v, alk.ax, sqm, fmc, roc, lit, li.v, wlc.v, clq.v, res.v, ree, avl.to, nsany, f, gm, rno.pa, dai, byddf, hev, aone, vlnc

  
  New issue of RCR research is out with its Overview and Investment Comment and Rare and Minor Metals Fundamentals. Our picks in the sector TNR Gold, Rodinia Lithium and Alkane Exploration are covered among others in this report.
  Interesting to see the valuation and International Lithium spin out notes in RCR report:






  "We have these days report after report on Peak Oil situation, President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu admits the dear situation and promote Electric Cars. Now we have reports coming out on Strategic Commodities: Lithium and Rare Earths, which will be the materials basis for the transition into the post carbon society. 




"It was all about Oil. And it is not any more...whose in power will be holding until the last second, but even they can not change the inevitable. Now it is all about survival in the Post Carbon world. There is no more cheap oil left and revolution has began - we have the only chance to change its course and make it the new industrial revolution. The base is the new disruptive technology: Electric Cars - they will allow us to get out of Oil Needle very fast if we will take things finally seriously.
  The End of Empire has already came to our doorsteps: unsustainable debt, chronic budget deficit, insolvent corrupted financial system - it was only the part of the problem. Egypt and Wikileaks revelations show that revolution is unstoppable now and that Empire, as we remember it with U.S. policing the whole world, is not there any more. There is  not enough resources to keep the balance by just making the bad guys eating each other. China has become the world second largest economy, Energy imbalance is unsustainable and China is moving fast into the Electric Cars. Next wars will be the wars for resources - for what is left in the ground - we are hitting Peak of Everything."


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