Grid Metals Corp., FREYR Battery, Mercedes-Benz - Mega opportunity in electrification: Lithium demand increases worldwide

Grid Metals Corp. reports first positive metallurgical test results from Donner Lake Lithium area

Canadian company Grid Metals Corp. is an exploration and development company with operations in Manitoba and Ontario. Grid Metals has a diversified portfolio of properties actively exploring for nickel-copper-PGM-cobalt, palladium and lithium.

As a gateway to the US and overseas markets in Central Canada, Manitoba currently has significant exports of lithium, nickel and other metal concentrates. For Grid Metals Corp., this makes Manitoba a strategically valuable place to bring future raw materials directly to global markets. The region's proximity to the US border also allows it to take advantage of the US Inflation Reduction Act, which provides direct access to the US market.

**First results from drilling in the Donner Lake area are now available. The project is located in a favourable lithium region. Grid Metals Corp. owns 75% of the project, and Lithium Royalty Corp. owns 25%. Samples are from the Main and Northwest trenches, which are currently undergoing an initial resource estimation according to NI 43-101.

The following results are available:

• Recovery of lithium in concentrates of 76.9% (Northwest Dyke) and 74.1% (Main Dyke) was achieved by standard milling and direct flotation methods.
• Both composite samples returned high-grade lithium concentrates - 6.2% Li2O for the Northwest Dyke and 5.7% Li2O for the Main Dyke.
• Head grades (as Li2O %) for the composite samples from the Main Dyke and Northwest Dyke were 1.46% and 1.34%, respectively, consistent with the average grades from exploration drilling conducted during Grid's drilling campaigns.

After successfully completing the first metallurgical program, Grid Metals will conduct further metallurgical tests in the future. Additionally, a program is planned to carry out complementary metallurgical test work at the Tanco mine.

FREYR Battery - Analysts give the green light and say "Buy"

In the last week of June, Norwegian company FREYR Battery saw its share price rise 33.19% after announcing that the first semi-automated lithium-ion battery cells had been successfully assembled and charged at its Norwegian facility.

CEO Tom Einar Jensen explains that the successful tests pave the way for the Company to accelerate the process of automation, battery cell production and testing of manufactured cells. Jensen emphasizes that the Company expects to deliver samples to customers in the 2nd half of this year.

At the same time, he highlights the "increasingly robust pipeline of customer opportunities and use cases for our products" that have investors' hearts racing for future developments. The Company is working on a fully automated process to increase production speed and yield.

According to MarketBeat.com, seven analysts rate FREYR Battery's stock a buy, with an average one-year price target of EUR 16.14.

In a separate research note dated June 29, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of FREYR Battery from "equal weight" to "overweight" and set a price target of EUR 11.92 for the Company.

Shares of FREYR Battery opened Thursday at EUR 8.93, trading up 4.1%. The stock has a 1-year low of EUR 5.68 and a 1-year high of EUR 15.54. With a market capitalization of EUR 1.24 billion, FREYR Battery has a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.98 and a Beta of 0.77.

Mercedes-Benz AG expands luxury segment, Daimler plant affected by storms

Mercedes-Benz strategically focuses on high-end luxury vehicles to benefit from higher margins and affluent customers. **The Company is enjoying a successful financial performance with several quarters of double-digit margins and strong growth in sales of high-end vehicles, such as the Maybach.

Thanks to the high demand for electric cars, the car market in Germany continues to gain momentum. According to the registration statistics of the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 25% more new vehicles were registered in June 2023 than in the same month of the previous year, which amounts to around 280,000 cars.

Purely battery-powered vehicles are in particularly high demand, with sales increasing by two-thirds to 53,000 units. The EV market share thus rises to 18.9%, 1.5% more than in May. Gasoline-powered vehicles record an increase of 20% and still retain the largest share of new registrations at around 35.6%. Diesel cars also remain popular, with a 16.7% share.

The Mercedes Group's truck division is struggling with the aftermath of a severe storm that hit Germany. It was not Hurricane Poly, but the June 22 storm that flooded the city of Kassel and caused damage amounting to a significant double-digit million sum at the local Daimler plant.

The storm and subsequent flooding damaged the plant's roofs, buildings and offices, which is Daimler Truck's global center of excellence for electric drive systems and conventional commercial vehicle axles.

Although repair work continues, the plant is gradually resuming production while the impact of the storm's forced shutdown is still being assessed.

With the Donner Lake Lithium Project's convenient location in the Manitoba region, including good accessibility, Grid Metals Corp. is well positioned to benefit from economic opportunities and international trade thanks to its acreage in the Manitoba region. Proximity to the US opens up international trade flows. Demand for battery drives is increasing. FREYR Battery saw an impressive share price increase after successful testing of its semi-automatic lithium-ion battery cells. CEO Jensen emphasizes the potential for future growth and increasing demand. Analysts are positive on the share, with high price targets, including EUR 16.14 and EUR 11.92 from Morgan Stanley. In the car market in Germany, the trend to buy EVs is increasing. Purely in Germany, the market share of battery-powered cars has risen to 18.9%. Mercedes-Benz is cleverly using the expansion of its luxury segment to achieve higher margins because Maybach buyers also want to be driven from A to B in a way that conserves resources.