Booming energy supply & AI with GoviEx, AMD and Meta Materials

GoviEx secures development pipeline for uranium production in Africa

The energy transition to a CO₂-neutral energy supply is prompting industrialized countries worldwide to rethink their approach. With the Paris Agreement, 189 of 196 governments have agreed to limit the rise in the average global temperature to well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.

The European Parliament voted this January to include gas and nuclear power in the EU's taxonomy. From 2023, it will be considered "green" to invest in these technologies. Provided certain conditions are met, such as defining gas and nuclear power as "transitional activities" that accelerate the transition to climate neutrality.

GoviEx is a Canadian mining company focused on exploring and developing African uranium deposits. It has a large resource portfolio of more than 130 million pounds of Triuranium octoxide (U3O8) in the measured and indicated categories and 89.3 million pounds of U3O8 in the inferred category.

With the ongoing exploration and development of its African Madaouela project with a mining permit in Niger, Muntanga project with a mining permit in Zambia and Falea multi-element project in Mali, GoviEx aims to become one of the most significant uranium producers in the world.

Thanks to the unique mining infrastructure in Zambia and Mali, GoviEx may succeed in achieving this ambitious goal, especially since the Company has already completed metallurgical test work and technical studies for the three main development assets. CEO Daniel Major will reveal more about the development pipeline, timelines and industry take-offs in his live presentation at the 6th International Investment Forum on February 15 at 14:00 CET (08:00 am ET/09:00 pm HKT). Register here.

CEO Major is a mining engineer from Camborne School of Mines, UK, with more than 30 years of mining experience. His career began with Rio Tinto at the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia and with Amplats in South Africa, where he had a distinguished record. He then worked as a mining analyst at HSBC PLC and JP Morgan Chase & Co. in London.

As of January 2023, there are 422 power-generating reactors in operation worldwide with a total electrical capacity of 378.3 GW. 57 reactors are under construction, while 103 more are in the planning process, with a total capacity of 66 GW and 105 GW, respectively. An additional 325 reactors are planned. Enough headroom for GoviEx to meet current demand over the long term.

AI boom puts AMD back on the growth track

Semiconductor giant AMD is also betting on green technologies. The Company is striving to minimize energy and resource consumption while aggressively reducing greenhouse gas emissions - in line with a 1.5°C Paris Agreement scenario. 80% of AMD's suppliers aim to source renewable energy by 2025. Current status (2021 measurement) 74%.

Like other major chipmakers, AMD wants to take full advantage of artificial intelligence opportunities. In order to accelerate the progress of AI applications, AMD chips are needed primarily for enterprise data centers, cloud providers, and large-scale systems for research. The tech industry continues to expand despite the wave of layoffs at the end of 2022.

**"We believe AI is a tremendous driver of computing growth," CEO Lisa Su reiterated to a Goldman Sachs analyst during Tuesday's fourth-quarter earnings call conference call. "And given our portfolio, it should also be a driver of our growth."

CEO Su stressed that the GPU plans for databases are a "great opportunity." MI300 will have early buyers such as supercomputers or El Capitan when it launches in the second half of the year. They are also working with some major cloud companies to calibrate MI300 for AI tasks. AMD is expected to be a high-growth contributor through 2024.

Meta Platforms bets on green technology with AI

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), calls 2023 the "year of efficiency." In the coming months, the group plans to improve AI-based content recommendation and ad distribution to retain users. Zuckerberg lowered the original cost estimate by EUR 80.9 billion to EUR 86.4 billion to EUR 85.5 billion to EUR 90.9 billion. He also announced a EUR 36.3 billion increase in share buyback authorization.

KI also intends to use Meta extensively for the energy transition. A key point is the productivity of existing infrastructure and energy consumption. According to Mike Schroepfer, a senior fellow at Meta, the Company's global network delivers 100% renewable energy, but so far, efficiency has been critical. That is why Meta is exploring green AI models.

"We are incredibly optimistic about the impact of AI on climate and sustainability and the role our researchers and engineers can play in that," Schroepfer said of Green AI's progress and the Meta team's current work.

Meta Platforms' revenue declined 4% YOY last quarter to EUR 29.26 billion, but that was higher than the expected figure of EUR 28.68 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at EUR 1.60, missing the consensus of USD 2.26, and net income fell an impressive 55% to EUR 4.23 billion.

The unstoppable pace of technologization requires a continuous supply of energy, which cannot grow on renewables alone. Industrialized countries rely on nuclear power, and GoviEx, as a uranium explorer, positions itself here as a company that inevitably cannot be bypassed by anyone whose economic progress is based on a stable energy supply. China alone is building 15 power plants to keep its industries growing. Reason enough for investors to gain deeper insights into the mining and production of uranium. CEO Daniel Major will take questions from interested investors on February 15 at the 6th IIF. Large tech companies such as Meta Platforms, whose digital worlds rely on permanent power, are currently exploring green technologies to expand their data centers. AMD is also focusing on growth and wants to play an active role in shaping the AI boom.