High-tech as an investment opportunity - how Almonty Industries, NVIDIA and FREYR Battery are profiting from the boom

Almonty Industries cooperates with South Korean telecom for the highest ESG standard

Digitalization is making its way into the mining industry. Almonty Industries is one of the largest tungsten miners and producers. With its mining project in Sangdong, South Korea, the Canadian company is now doing pioneering work. Whereas in the last century, canaries were used to protect miners from toxic gases, today high-tech is being used, with Mine Safety DX technology.

This innovative solution, developed in collaboration with South Korean Telecom, increases worker safety and promotes efficient mining practices. It is a clear sign of the strong ESG commitment from Almonty Industries. The Mine Safety DX solution includes smart devices, access and site management, an AI-based mine safety system, and monitoring of the workplace environment. Smart wristbands and helmets with smart tags provide real-time location and biometric data to respond immediately to underground emergencies and ensure worker safety.

Access/location management uses Bluetooth Low Energy beacons to position and notify workers in hazardous areas precisely. AI-based safety system enables real-time monitoring, emergency notifications, and data analytics for proactive safety response by mine operators. Working environment monitoring detects hazardous factors and notifies promptly to protect worker well-being.

The implementation of Mine Safety DX technology at Sangdong Mine underscores Almonty Industries' commitment to responsible and sustainable mining practices. And with that, CEO Lewis Black looks to a promising future. The global tungsten market is expected to be supported by strong growth in the hard metals, superalloys and other alloys sectors, as well as increasing demand in the chemicals sector.

NVIDIA builds supercomputers with generative AI for industry

Generative AI - the ability of algorithms to create new text, images, sounds, animations, 3D models and even computer code - is rapidly evolving and changing how people work and spend their leisure time. Whether ChatGPT or Midjourney AI, this form of generative AI is making its way into the production processes of all sectors of the economy.

According to PwC, AI could contribute more than EUR 13,358 billion (USD 15 bil.) to the global economy by 2030. The impact of AI adoption could be even greater than the combination of the inventions of the internet, mobile broadband and the smartphone.

Thanks to NVIDIA BioNeMo models, life science company Amgen, a global leader in biotechnology, was able to reduce the model fitting time for screening and optimizing molecules from three months to just a few weeks. Using these trainable base models, scientists can create variants to study specific diseases, allowing them to develop targeted treatments for rare diseases.

Now NVIDIA plans to build the world's most powerful generative AI cloud supercomputer, Israel-1, based on a new, locally developed high-performance Ethernet platform. Production is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.

The platform developed in Israel is designed to facilitate data centers worldwide in transitioning to AI and accelerated computing. This is made possible by utilizing a new class of Ethernet connections specifically built from the ground up for AI purposes.

In a statement, NVIDIA says that providing end-to-end AI capabilities reduces the run times of massive transformer-based generative AI models. This enables network engineers, AI data scientists and cloud service providers to achieve accurate results and make informed decisions faster. The AI rally continues at NVIDIA. Analysts put a new price target of EUR 490 on the stock.

FREYR Battery receives EUR 100 million grant from EU

Despite not being a member of the EU, the battery producer FREYR Battery from the Kingdom of Norway has managed to secure a EUR 100 million grant from the European Union's Innovation Fund.

The EU Innovation Fund is one of the world's largest funding opportunities for greenhouse gas emission reduction projects. The Fund's main goal is to support highly innovative technologies and large-scale flagship initiatives that can help Europe reap greater benefits from the transition to a low-carbon continent. The EU seems to have an abundance of funds to provide strong financial support even to non-member countries.

The grant is for local support of battery production facilities and will be used to further develop FREYR's Giga factory at Mo i Rana in Norway. Construction of the Giga Arctic factory has begun since FREYR's Board of Directors approved the start of construction in June 2022. The plant, which has a nominal capacity of 29 GWh, is based on 24M Technologies' SemiSolidTM manufacturing platform and will run on 100% renewable hydroelectric power.

According to a consulting report from Minviro, the planned Giga Arctic plant in Norway could enable FREYR's customers to avoid 80 million tons of CO₂ emissions. The projected emissions reduction is nearly double Norway's annual CO₂ emissions.

FREYR plans to develop battery cell production in the US and Vaasa, Finland, in addition to factory construction in Norway. FREYR's goal is to achieve a battery cell capacity of 50 GWh by 2025, an annual capacity of 100 GWh by 2028, and an annual capacity of 200 GWh by 2030.

The implementation of Mine Safety DX at the Sangdong Mine underscores Almonty Industries' commitment to responsible and sustainable mining practices. Tungsten is in demand as never before in the growth sectors of aerospace, automotive, and telecommunications. Almonty's investment in safety measures and application of fourth industrial revolution technologies show how responsibly the Company treats its employees. NVIDIA, on the other hand, supports companies more at the meta-level. By building its new supercomputer, NVIDIA is enabling other companies to operate more efficiently, shorten customer-relations processes, and even accelerate scientific research through data analysis, potentially leading to faster breakthroughs than ever before. Analysts see rosy times for the stock and are upgrading it to a target price of EUR 490. Meanwhile, in Norway, the construction of the battery factory in Mo i Rana is progressing with EU funding. FREYR Battery has big plans and is planning further production sites in the US and Finland.