Blackrock Silver, Amazon, FREYR Battery - Is now the time to get in?

FREYR Battery - Unusually high trading volume - is lithium demand the trigger?

Last week, FREYR Battery shares saw an unusually high trading volume. Institutional investors and hedge funds have been buying and selling company shares recently. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of FREYR Battery by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of FREYR Battery by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 86,278 shares, worth USD 1.12 million, after acquiring an additional 9,102 shares in the last quarter. During midday trading, 1,689,012 shares changed hands.

The share was last able to hold its ground at EUR 7.89 and had previously closed at EUR 7.63. This is a good signal for investors and shows the dormant potential of FREYR Battery. Analysts at Bank of America rate the share as a "buy" and forecast a price target of USD 11.98.

Recently, FREYR Battery announced strategic partnerships with Siemens, Glencore, Caterpillar and Nidec to build planned supply chains in a stable manner. The advantage of FREYR Battery is clear for investors. Over 98% of the electricity generated in Norway comes from renewable energy sources. FREYR has access to an abundant supply of CO₂-emission-free electricity, putting it far ahead of other competitors in the energy poker.

But there is still a lot of water flowing down the Norwegian fjords before that happens. However, it is good news for lithium lovers that FREYR Battery is inaugurating an industrial-scale production line for 24M Technologies' SemiSolidTM manufacturing platform ("24M") on a GWh scale at its Mo i Rana site in Norway. 24M's lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing process is a simple, space-saving, low-cost and modular approach to lithium-ion battery production.

Blackrock Silver Corporation: Lithium acreage the explorer's next asset

Lithium is an essential ingredient in many industries, particularly in the manufacture of batteries used in electric vehicles, smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices.

Blackrock Silver Corporation is a young exploration company that specialises in the exploration of precious metals, preferably gold, silver and also lithium. The Company is already showing its first successes: in its Tonopah West project in the US state of Nevada, where 2.97 million tonnes with a grade of 446 g/t silver equivalent have already been found.

The US state of Nevada is a leader in lithium production because it has a favourable regulatory environment and abundant renewable energy resources. In addition to its precious metals projects, Blackrock Silver has one lithium exploration, the Tonopah North project.

Andrew Pollard, President and CEO of Blackrock Silver, comments: "Tonopah is widely recognised as one of North America's great silver deposits. Our adjacent lithium discovery is rapidly gaining prominence as a global player in the lithium space, because our strategic land holdings at Tonopah are located at the intersection of the Tonopah Silver District and the Tonopah Lithium Belt, underscoring the potential of our portfolio to one day form a silver, gold and lithium mining complex in the heart of west central Nevada."

Lithium-ion batteries are popular due to their high energy density, long life and relatively light weight. Blackrock Silver Corporation's broad portfolio offers great potential for future growth.

Amazon votes against climate bill in Oregon - Implementation plan missing

In the US state of Oregon, Amazon lobbyists have lobbied to prevent a climate bill from passing the Senate and being overturned. Amazon operates its large data centres in Oregon.

The bill stipulates that large energy consumers must reduce their CO₂ emissions by 100% by 2040. The consequence: to regulate industries with a particularly high carbon footprint, such as cryptocurrency mines and data centres. In particular, they want to prevent Amazon from building three more data centres in the state that run on fossil fuels.

Although the bill would have coincided with the timeline of Amazon's own "climate pledge," which promises net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, the Company has helped block the bill, said Oregon State Representative Pam Marsh.

Amazon spokesman David Ward, in turn, argues that "a number of organisations, including Amazon, oppose it because the bill does not address the electrical infrastructure upgrades needed to bring more clean energy onto the grid."

Once again, the vast gap between politics and business is revealed. What good are bans and climate targets if one or more solutions are neither pointed out nor, if necessary, financed with public money?

Investors need staying power to profit from the energy transition. With Blackrock Silver in the portfolio, there is unimagined long-term potential to cover the rising global demand for lithium. Those who back tried-and-tested equity giants like Amazon should closely examine the Company's CO₂ footprint. Here, progressive companies in the Nordics like FREYR Battery have a clear advantage: their production chains are almost CO₂-neutral.