SGL Carbon, Millennial Lithium, Standard Lithium, Blackrock Silver - Millions of batteries needed!

SGL Carbon - Back on board

SGL Carbon Group is a German Company considered one of the world's largest producers of carbon, graphite and composite materials for applications in various industries. SGL's new focus is particularly aimed at the chemical, automotive, semiconductor, LED, lithium-ion battery and solar industries. SGL Carbon has undergone a long restructuring process. Its latest carbon products are now being successfully used again in the production of solar cells, wind turbines, aircraft, and automobiles.

Currently, good business and reduced costs make the carbon fiber specialist more confident about the year as a whole. According to a statement, management now expects higher sales and profits for 2021 than before. According to preliminary figures for the first half of the year, Group sales rose by around 9% year-on-year to EUR 496 million. Adjusted operating profit increased more than 710% to EUR 72 million, but the previous year's base was small.

For a long time, the former MDAX specialty stock moved in the basement, but since the fall of 2020, the share price has accelerated significantly and gained more than 200%. It is the highest level since 2018. We are now monitoring the share again because, since the wave of investments in green technologies, carbon materials have been back on the list of buyers.

Millennial Lithium - Takeover bid from Gangfeng Lithium Ltd

With the global shortage of lithium, we are entering the next area that is almost exclusively concerned with battery technologies. So far, research has not yet succeeded in finding a replacement product for the lithium-ion battery. Thus, investors are assuming that as e-mobility ranges increase, higher energy densities will be required.

Millennial Lithium has been advancing its project in Pastos Grandes, Argentina, for several years. Last week, a takeover bid was made by Gangfeng Lithium Ltd, one of the largest lithium producers from China. The offer is CAD 3.60 per Millennium share, or CAD 353 million. The advancement of the Pastos Grandes project from exploration through resource estimation, PEA, DFS and a pilot basin and plant operation is now being pursued and financed through a combined effort. The target is lithium carbonate production at 99.96% purity. With the takeover, unfortunately, another lithium share disappears from the stock exchange list. But it also shows that large producers even add a premium to traded prices on the stock market if they want to gain market breadth. Millennial shareholders should be satisfied; the offer is 25% above the last price.

Standard Lithium - Construction of pilot plant in Arkansas is complete

With the acquisition of Millennial, investors' eyes are turning to Standard Lithium, an innovative technology and lithium development company based in the US. The Company's flagship project is located in southern Arkansas, where it is engaged in testing and demonstrating the commercial viability of lithium extraction from over 150,000 acres of permitted brine operations.

The Company commissioned its first industrial-scale direct lithium extraction demonstration plant at Lanxess' facility in southern Arkansas in 2021. The El Dorado project has now recently moved a step further. That is because delivery of the 'SiFT' lithium carbonate plant has now taken place at the El Dorado project site. The SiFT plant will be installed adjacent to and subsequently connected to the Company's pre-commercial demo plant. The SiFT plant is designed to convert the intermediate product into battery-grade lithium carbonate. Standard should start making real money from this technology in 2023.

Standard Lithium stock was also just listed on the NYSE, and it was included in the VanEck Lithium ETF. The share price then rallied 50%, a decent gulp from the bottle, in our opinion. Sell!

Blackrock Silver Corp - Silver from Northern Nevada

Silver belongs to the group of precious metals, but its use goes far into industrial processes, especially in electrical engineering, medicine and pharmaceuticals. Silver is the best electrical conductor among all metals and is also traditionally used in batteries. Both disposable and rechargeable batteries are made with silver alloys as cathodes. Silver batteries are expensive but have significantly better properties than their competitors. They deliver higher voltages and have a longer life. Since silver does not corrode, it can be used very well in electrical engineering and motor switches. As a strongly antiseptic metal, it also helps in medicine and the pharmaceutical industry.

Blackrock Silver has released new high-grade silver and gold drill intercepts from its core and reverse circulation drilling program at the 100% controlled Tonopah West project in the Walker Lane trend of western Nevada. These new results demonstrate the continuity of high-grade mineralization at both the DPB and Victor targets. Initial resource estimation will occur in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Drilling to date has indicated that the thickest veins in the Tonopah silver district are associated with the Pittsburgh-Monarch fault system. A new zone of bonanza grade was found on the Bermuda vein. Drill holes near the northeast veins failed to reach the desired lithologies. Still, significant gold mineralization was encountered in the adjacent Quiver target area, which now requires additional drilling and assaying. We are excited to see what comes to light here.

Blackrock Silver has what it takes to build a significant new silver mine; this commodity is hard to come by physically in large quantities. Blackrock Silver shares are currently hovering between CAD 0.85 and CAD 0.90. With further good drill results, there is still some potential in the share.

The stocks presented here benefit from the scarcity in the commodity markets. The battery materials carbon, lithium and silver currently have particular relevance; stocks from these segments are in great demand. In comparison, Blackrock Silver can still be acquired with a relatively low market capitalization.