Global Energy Metals Corporation TSXV:GEMC | OTCQB:GBLEF | FSE:5GE1 (“Global Energy Metals”, the “Company” and/or “GEMC”), a company involved in investment exposure to the battery metals supply chain, is pleased to announce that Proactive issued an exclusive interview with Mitchell Smith, President & CEO, and Director of Global Energy Metals.
Mitchell Smith shares insight in topics such as the world’s transition away from fossil fuels, raw materials in the battery supply chain, as well as his company’s strategy for monetizing Global Energy Metals assets.
"The world's largest economies are ramping up their climate ambitions and I think they're radically reimagining their economies because of this. I'm not shy in saying that more needs to be done, not just with government but at all levels, but I'll emphasize that it all starts with investment. There's going to be hurdles along the way but the direction is clear, now is the time. And I keep saying this: now is the time to be part of this incredible opportunity. It's a transition unlike we've ever seen before and I think Global Energy Metals and shareholders that follow along with us are going to benefit from it greatly as this electric revolution strengthens.”
Read the full transcript of the interview below.
Global Energy Metals CEO Says Shareholders Expected to Benefit Greatly as Electric Revolution Strengthens, Sean Mason - Senior Journalist, Proactive
Proactive: Governments around the world are pledging to end local sales of gasoline-and-diesel-powered vehicles in favour of those using zero-emission technologies, with some having drawn that line less than 15 years from today. As far as electric vehicles are concerned, what are the biggest challenges to realizing these goals?
Mitchell Smith: I'd say it comes down to three factors: investment; policy; and industry. Even with the recognition that there's a massive need to implement these private, public, and government initiatives, there's a significant disconnect in how we bridge that policy, investment, and industry to build out the lithium-ion battery supply chain. Developing a thriving industry not only depends on the growth of the individual parts of the value chain, but really on building the connections between those individual parts.
I'm starting to see that this is really coming to fruition, with both local and foreign governments putting massive amounts of capital to work to build new supply chains. We've seen that with Canada, with Australia, with the EU and obviously with the US. And I'm seeing the automotive industry and the battery manufacturers really looking to secure long-term supply contracts to ensure raw materials are available. After many years in the space, I'm now seeing private and public capital being deployed into companies such as Global Energy Metals to see these critical metals projects advance. And I think this is just the start of the opportunity for investors and shareholders, and why now is the opportunity to be getting exposure to the sector.
Give us a sense of the current status of raw materials in the battery supply chain, and how do future supply scenarios match up with the demand from manufacturers of electric vehicles and other high-tech products?
The simple answer is that at current rates of production the amount of raw material produced for the lithium-ion battery sector will quickly be inadequate. As we've witnessed with price volatility and growth in some of the key commodities such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and others, that future demand is starting to play into the EV (electric vehicle) sector growth. The level of supply for this is multiple times less than the pace of growth for EV demand. This is only going to be exacerbated as the world transitions from internal combustion to electric, and at the same time there's other new energy technologies that are being developed that require these key ingredients. I think the takeaway from this is that new supply must come online and with that it means investment in the space.
Global Energy Metals is advancing projects in North America, Europe and Australia. What is the rationale behind operating in multiple jurisdictions?
As the saying goes, don't put all your eggs in one basket. And in our case, don't pay for all those eggs to hatch using your own dollars. And this is really the approach that Global Energy Metals is taking to this diversified commodity and jurisdictionally-wide approach to investment into the space. We've purposely diversified not only our commodity base, but we've been strategically selective in the jurisdictions that we are operating in. We have project positions in the world's top mining jurisdictions in close proximity to emerging and existing battery manufacturing capacity. These are two factors that I think play a really important role in us having a competitive advantage and strategic position in what's becoming an emerging Net Zero economy and because of that there's less need for transportation and material, and we think it can be produced in a cleaner fashion given where we have operations. We've also taken a collaborative approach, where we're partnering with other industry peers, utilizing their regional and technical expertise, as well as capital to advance our projects. And while we maintain project level exposure, we gain equity exposure in these companies and minimize dilution that would otherwise be necessary to advance the assets. And, like I said, we still hold a diverse portfolio of highly-prospective assets providing our shareholders with maximum exposure to the lithium-ion battery sector.
It must take a deep and talented team to keep so many projects going. Tell us more about yourself and the people helping you to grow the company.
I'm very proud of the team we've been able to attract and build over the years. The company's management, advisors, the board, and strategic partners all hold decades of combined experience, not only as mining, financial and technical experts, but also as leaders specifically in the lithium-ion battery industry. Take, for example, our partnership with American Battery Technology Company and the team they've assembled from the likes of Tesla, Apple and others. It's relationships like this that we benefit from, and so do our shareholders. So, I feel very fortunate to be able to surround myself with leaders who share my passion and vision for the sector and who are equally as dedicated to building a go-to battery metals company.
Mineral exploration companies typically don’t have a near-term path to cash flow. What is your strategy for monetizing your assets?
Global Energy Metals provides shareholders exposure to battery metals and the overall electrification mega trend. And we're doing that through a three pillar strategy based on project acquisition, monetization, exploration, and development, as well as peer collaboration. We've been active in monetizing our non-core projects while we move forward with exploration on those that we feel are core to us. And in doing so, we benefit from the growth of those non-core assets through partners and gaining valuable exposure to not only peer companies but the underlying projects, royalties and the assets they hold.
For example, the COVID pandemic made it very restrictive for travel, and that's to do any work in Australia, especially as a foreign country, never mind those within different states. We were still able to create value from our Australian projects by first selling a small royalty to Electric Royalties for a sizeable share position in that company, and we get the added benefit and exposure to battery metals such as lithium, graphite, manganese, and tin thru the 18 or so different royalties representing commodities that we don’t directly hold in our portfolio. Now, further to that, we monetized the Millennium asset through a partnership with Metal Bank, which is an ASX-listed company. They're joint venturing and earning an 80% interest through project spend of $3 million. Plus, we get $600,000 with their share equity. We did it again in Norway with our Råna Project with an incoming partner called Metals One and their commitment to fund development. It’s a promising, past-producing nickel project in an emerging battery manufacturing hub in Europe. So, it's a proven strategy that we have and one that we feel gives our shareholders a diversified approach to the sector, commodities and jurisdictions, but also minimizes dilution and risk at the same time.
Finally, consumers have done a good job of adopting clean technologies, with electric vehicles selling well, and in many jurisdictions difficult to buy at present. What about governments? What can governments do to ensure not only continued adoption, but also that the inputs required to support clean-tech industries are available, and reliably so?
The world's largest economies are ramping up their climate ambitions and I think they're radically reimagining their economies because of this. Policy is going to play an important role in the development of the battery supply chain and adopting the philosophy that critical minerals are going to get us to Net Zero is paramount. Governments across the globe are now awake and they've realized that security of supply, something that we've been saying for a while now, is vital to their nation's economic and strategic wellbeing. They're now prioritizing this with funding and promise to permit in support of the facilitation of localized, or regionalized, electric vehicle materials supply chain. I'm not shy in saying that more needs to be done, not just with government but at all levels, but I'll emphasize that it all starts with investment. There's going to be hurdles along the way but the direction is clear, now is the time. And I keep saying this: now is the time to be part of this incredible opportunity. It's a transition unlike we've ever seen before and I think Global Energy Metals and shareholders that follow along with us are going to benefit from it greatly as this electric revolution strengthens.
In addition, in collaboration with Amvest Capital, the Company recently hosted a live webinar and Q&A with Project Development Manager Timothy Strong who provided the audience with an update on recent milestones including the successful drilling results from the area beneath the old workings that supported underground mining of high-grade cobalt, nickel and copper along with insight as to next steps and upcoming catalysts that it believes should provide shareholders with continued growth opportunities.
To watch the recording of the event please use the following link:
The Amvest Capital - Global Energy Metals Webinar
Global Energy Metals Corporation
(TSXV:GEMC | OTCQB:GBLEF | FSE:5GE1)
Global Energy Metals Corp. offers investment exposure to the growing rechargeable battery and electric vehicle market by building a diversified global portfolio of exploration and growth-stage battery mineral assets.
Global Energy Metals recognizes that the proliferation and growth of the electrified economy in the coming decades is underpinned by the availability of battery metals, including cobalt, nickel, copper, lithium and other raw materials. To be part of the solution and respond to this electrification movement, Global Energy Metals has taken a ‘consolidate, partner and invest’ approach and in doing so have assembled and are advancing a portfolio of strategically significant investments in battery metal resources.
As demonstrated with the Company’s current copper, nickel and cobalt projects in Canada, Australia, Norway and the United States, GEMC is investing-in, exploring and developing prospective, scaleable assets in established mining and processing jurisdictions in close proximity to end-use markets. Global Energy Metals is targeting projects with low logistics and processing risks, so that they can be fast tracked to enter the supply chain in this cycle. The Company is also collaborating with industry peers to strengthen its exposure to these critical commodities and the associated technologies required for a cleaner future.
For Further Information:
Global Energy Metals Corporation
#1501-128 West Pender Street
Vancouver, BC, V6B 1R8
Email: info@globalenergymetals.com
t. + 1 (604) 688-4219
Twitter: @EnergyMetals | @USBatteryMetals | @ElementMinerals
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Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information:
Certain information in this release may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks associated with regulatory approvals and timelines. Although Global Energy Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
GEMC’s operations could be significantly adversely affected by the effects of a widespread global outbreak of a contagious disease, including the recent outbreak of illness caused by COVID-19. It is not possible to accurately predict the impact COVID-19 will have on operations and the ability of others to meet their obligations, including uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the virus, the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, and the length of travel and quarantine restrictions imposed by governments of affected countries. In addition, a significant outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could further affect operations and the ability to finance its operations.
For more information on Global Energy and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review the filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
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