May 10, 2022
Electra Battery Materials Corp. (TSXV:ELBM, BUY, C$0.80 target, David A. Talbot) provided final drill results from its 2021 program at its 100%-owned Iron Creek Co project in Idaho. The holes were completed to the east of the current deposit and have successfully extended it by 180m along strike to the east and over 400m down dip. Highlight intercepts included: 1) 0.2% Co over 2.5m (IC21-04), 2) 0.40% Co over 1.4m (IC21-05) and 3) 0.2% Co over 2.4m (IC21-05A). These results are in line with current cobalt resource grades (0.32% CoEq indicated and 0.28% CoEq inferred) and while copper was not mentioned, it tends to be stronger in the western reaches of the deposit. Management believes that Iron Creek continues towards the east where multiple mineralized units appear continuous along strike and down dip. In some areas to the east, zones measure up to 30m thick and higher-grade cobalt has been identified in previous drill holes completed near underground Adit #1 that have returned 0.35% Co over 25.7m. A 2022 drilling program is expected to begin shortly with Phase 1 targeting areas to the east between the resource boundary and these results and Phase 2 testing the Ruby zone located 1.5km further east. Ruby has remained untested, but previous channel samples returned high grade assays and mineralization resembling Iron Creek. Co and Cu mineralization is exposed over 315m strike with assays of up to 0.24% over 10.7m and 0.26% over 7.6m making Ruby a prospective target. Iron Creek is one of the few primary cobalt deposits in the world, and while recent economic studies have yet to be started, management believes that the project would be amenable to underground mining with a small footprint. There is already 600m worth of underground development in place. That said, most eyes are on progress being made by the company towards completing its Ontario Cobalt Refinery on schedule for Q4/22. Commissioning of the refinery comes at a good time as cobalt uptake by EVs is estimated to grow by 11,500 tpa, representing 30% growth between 2021 and 2025. Once constructed, the plant will be one of two cobalt sulphate refiners outside of China and at full capacity will represent 5% of global market share. Read more
