Sherritt Investor RelationsI have asked a few questions and here's the answers I received. I also asked for clarification as some of the responses did not address my questions fully.
Response: We do not provide the value of the Fort Saskatchewan operations.
I thought this odd given that for tax and asset valuations the value would be available. I believe Sunshine & Rainbows pegged value at $!0BILLION in a previous post. I asked specifically for land/equipment value again at Fort Saskatchewan.
Response: In terms of your question regarding the ownership arrangement of the mine and operations between Sherritt and the Government of Cuba:
Sherritt has a 50/50 partnership with General Nickel Company S.A. (“GNC”) of Cuba (the “Moa Joint Venture” or the “Moa JV”). In addition, Sherritt has a wholly-owned fertilizer business, sulphuric acid, utilities, fertilizer storage and administrative facilities in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada (Fort Site) that provide additional sources of income. The Moa Joint Venture mines, processes and refines nickel and cobalt for sale worldwide (except in the United States). The Moa Joint Venture is a vertically-integrated joint venture that mines lateritic ore by open pit methods and processes them at its facilities at Moa, Cuba into mixed sulphide precipitate (“MSP”) containing nickel and cobalt. The MSP is transported to the refining facilities in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. The resulting nickel and cobalt products are sold to various markets, primarily in Europe, Japan and China. At the current depletion rates, the concessions of the Moa Joint Venture are planned to be mined until at least 2045. The refinery facilities in Fort Saskatchewan have an annual combined production capacity of approximately 38,200 tonnes (100% basis) of nickel and cobalt. In 2021, Sherritt embarked on an expansion program that was advanced in 2022 focused on increasing annual MSP production by 20% of 2021 production or 6,500 tonnes of contained nickel and cobalt (100% basis). The expansion program capitalizes on the growing demand for high purity nickel and cobalt being driven by the accelerated adoption of electric vehicles and the energy transition in general and builds on the 26-year successful track record of the Moa Joint Venture. In addition, Sherritt is focused on implementing a new mine plan at Moa which will extend the life of mine to beyond 2040 through the conversion of mineral resources into reserves using an economic cut-off grade (“ECOG”) and optimized life of mine (“LOM”) plan. The Fort Site provides inputs (ammonia, sulphuric acid and utilities) for the Moa Joint Venture’s metals refinery, produces agricultural fertilizer for sale in Western Canada and provides additional fertilizer storage and administrative facilities.
They were specific to say a 50/50 partnership, not that they owned 50% of the land, equipment and minerals in the ground. I asked for clarification on that as well as a few other things.
More interesting facts and considerations:
Approximate top users of nickel are China 50%, USA 8%, Japan 7%, South Korea 4 % and Germany 3.5%.
Sherritt cannot sell to USA so that market 90 miles away is gone and given political tensions between China and Canada that market may be constrained as well. Europe...who knows, they are slowing down so demand may also decline because of demographic shifts to the downside. Biggest use is in stainless steel at 75%. Biggest producer is Indonesia...very close to the biggest consumer of nickel.
Lots of hurdles yet. Hope for the best but plan for the worst.
Stay tuned....