Stockwatch April 14, 2021 summary Diamond & Specialty Minerals Summary for April 14, 2021
2021-04-14 19:40 ET - Market Summary
by Will Purcell
https://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item?bid=Z-C:*MKTDIAM-3063245&symbol=*MKTDIAM®ion=C
Eric Desaulniers and Arne Frandsen's Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NOU) slumped 45 cents to $12.25 on 436,000 shares. This week, Mr. Desaulniers, president and CEO, and Mr. Frandsen, chairman, cheered their company's drive to "become carbon neutral" -- a bit ironic since Nouveau Monde hopes to produce a lot of carbon from its Matawinie deposit in Quebec. They mean environmentally neutral of course, as they note that the company's mission is to "produce the greenest advanced graphite materials with a carbon-neutral footprint for a sustainable world." (Pity those shareholders who expected the company's mission was to mine graphite profitably.)
All this puffery -- and there was a lot of it -- goes to promote a new partnership between the company and NEL-I, a Quebec-based company with expertise in climate action and greenhouse gas management solutions for those who see problems at least. For investors with the better part of an evening to kill, one can read Nouveau Monde's tome about three main initiatives representing cornerstones of its climate action plan and carbon-neutrality targets.
For the rest, well, good luck: Other than a proposal to use electric mining at Matawinie, there is no easy way to divine a clear synopsis from the reams of environmental prose sprinkled over the stalled Matawinie project like an early fall frost. Fortunately, like the frost, it could sublime to thin air quickly: Nouveau Monde has committed just $50,000 to be the project's first industrial partner, and it may decide to invest another $200,000 over the next two years.
The expenditure pales in comparison with the capital cost of the not-so-friendly mine proposed in a 2018 feasibility study. The plan called for a 25-year, $276-million mine that would grind its way through 120 million tonnes measured and indicated at 4.26 per cent graphite. If Mr. Desaulniers can find the cash, production could start in 2023, as this nastier version of the mine plan got the environmental nod from the Quebec government earlier this year.
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