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Overview
The increasing popularity of electric vehicles and the green energy movement has disrupted the transportation and power industry entirely. By 2050, more than 17 countries announced 100 percent zero-emission vehicle targets to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles.
Seeing these unprecedented trends in growth across the electric vehicle market means the demand for key raw materials used in lithium-ion batteries that power these technological innovations could experience significant parallel growth. As prices for these raw commodities grow, market researchers predict more money investment opportunities coming into the sector. Especially for royalty companies with widespread exposure across the market, the investment upside could be significantly advantageous.
Electric Royalties Ltd. (TSXV:ELEC; OTCQB:ELECF) is a royalty company focused on building a premium portfolio that takes advantage of the demand for a wide range of commodities and critical metals like lithium, vanadium, manganese, tin, graphite, zinc, cobalt, nickel and copper. Focusing on these vital elements leverages the growing demand and global drive toward electrification across virtually all sectors, including transportation, rechargeable batteries, large-scale energy storage, renewable energy generation and more.
As a royalty company, Electric Royalties does not operate mines nor needs large and highly specialized teams to carry out their operations. Likewise, having a robust commodity portfolio helps to diversify investment and mitigate risk for investors and shareholders while leveraging exploration upside, revenue-driven business modelling and more. It currently has a growing portfolio of 20 royalties on assets located primarily in North America and Australia.
The company operates a two-tier approach to royalty acquisition. It has a strategic global focus for projects in politically stable jurisdictions with an emphasis on districts with strong legal and mining frameworks. Additionally, Electric Royalties focuses on lifelong assets with outstanding exploration potential, which leverage near-term production potential, advanced staging, multiple commodity cycles, resource upgrades and producing opportunities.
Unlike other royalty companies, Electric Royalties has an exceptionally robust nine-commodity portfolio and a top management team that understands the ins and outs of how the royalty game works. “We’re creating new royalties where we make sure it’s gross revenue, covers the whole deposit and it’s drafted by us. At this point in time, we do this for a living. Ultimately, you’re going in, and you’re creating and adding some value to a group,” commented Electric Royalties CEO and director Brendan Yurik.
Electric Royalties’ management team is an experienced group of executives and advisors with proven track records of success across multiple related industries like mining, finance and more. Together, their years of expertise primes the company for significant growth in line with the exponential growth forecast in the demand for clean energy metals globally.
Company Highlights
Electric Royalties is a royalty company established to take advantage of the demand for a wide range of metal commodities, driven by the electrification of a variety of consumer products and industries like transportation, battery development and energy.The company is generating revenue from a growing portfolio of 22 royalties focusing predominantly on acquiring royalties on advanced-stage and operating projects to build a diversified portfolio in politically stable jurisdictions.Market research expects electric vehicle sales, battery production and renewable energy generation to increase significantly over the next several years. Demand for valuable commodities necessary for the production of electric vehicles is slated to grow with these trends.Electric Royalties leverages a unique opportunity to invest in and acquire royalties over highly prospective mines and projects that host widespread mineralization of commodities like zinc, lithium, copper, nickel, tin, manganese, vanadium, graphite and cobalt.The company brings together an experienced management team with decades of expertise in finance, mining, business development and more.
Key Royalties
Middle Tennessee Zinc Mine Royalty
This producing zinc asset hosts levels of annual production hovering at 50,000 tons of zinc concentrate across a 15-year mine life.
Middle Tennessee zinc mines have produced over 2.7 billion pounds of zinc for over 50 years. The strategically positioned zinc mine leverages close proximity and association with Trafigura’s Clarksville smelter, the only primary zinc producer in the US.
In April 2022, Electric Royalties announced that the strong upward trend in the zinc price has significantly increased the Middle Tennessee Mine (MTM) zinc royalty payments. The MTM zinc royalty is in a limited partnership with Electric Royalties owning 25 percent of economic interest with the remaining 75 percent interest held by Sprott Streaming and Royalties Corp.
Penouta Tin-Tantalum Mine Royalty
The Penouta Mine is located in the north-western Spanish province of Ourense. It is currently the largest tin and tantalum producer in all of Europe. Penouta has been steadily increasing production since the start of 2022. There are additional potential opportunities to add new revenue streams from high-grade feldspar and rare earths extraction from historical tailings. It has a long potential mine life based on total measured and indicated resources. Electric Royalties holds a 0.75 percent gross revenue royalty on Penouta.
Authier Lithium Royalty
The Authier Lithium is a 0.5 percent gross revenue royalty and the project sits in close proximity to the only producing lithium mine in Canada, about 45 kilometers northwest of Val d’Or and is operated by Sayona Lithium. It stands as a simple, near-surface deposit with resources defined in one spodumene-bearing pegmatite based on 31,000 metres of diamond drilling. Authier also leverages excellent infrastructure, including existing mining support services, environmentally friendly, low-cost hydroelectric power, gas and road networks.
In April 2023, Sayona announced a feasibility study that combines its Québec flagship North American Lithium (NAL) operation and the nearby Authier Lithium Project. Production at NAL commenced in March 2023. Sayona plans to combine mineralized material produced from Authier with mineralized material at the nearby NAL site, with a goal to facilitate improvement in plant performance and economics. Graphmada Graphite Royalty
The near-production Graphmada Large Flake Graphite Mining Complex is located in Eastern Madagascar and was in continuous production for 30 months prior to being placed in care and maintenance due to Covid-related restrictions put in place at the start of 2020. All mining and processing infrastructure, including roads, bridges, power, camp, tailings dams are in place, along with 40-year mining permits and 20-year landholder agreements. The complex sits adjacent to the main national highway and is110km to the country’s only deep-water port at Toamasina. The royalty is a 2.5 percent gross revenue royalty.
Greenwing Resources has been focused on increasing the resource in support of a planned restart at expanded production levels.Bissett Creek Graphite Royalty
BISSETT CREEK IN PROXIMITY TO EV BATTERY MEGAFACTORIES (BY 2050). Source: Northern Graphite.
Bissett Creek is located 17km from the Trans Canada Highway between the cities of Ottawa and North Bay, Ontario, Canada. The site can be accessed by a good quality all weather road and labor, natural gas, equipment and supplies, rail lines and water are all readily available. The project is five hours from the port of Montreal and one days’ transport to major markets in northern United States.
Bissett Creek is operated by Northern Graphite, projected to be the third largest graphite producer outside of China when its Namibian operations come back online in 2024. An independent study by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence said ‘Bissett Creek will have the highest margin of any existing or proposed graphite deposit. That is largely due to the simple metallurgy and the high-quality, large flake nature of its concentrates.’
For more information on Electric Royalties’ complete royalty portfolio, see its corporate presentation here https://www.electricroyalties.com/investorreleations
Management & Board of Directors
Brendan Yurik – CEO and Director
Brendan Yurik is the founder and CEO of Evenor Investments Ltd, a financial advisory group to junior mining companies for alternative financing, debt, equity and M&A with experience on over C$2 billion in mining financing transactions throughout his career. He has prior global experience as a research analyst as well as in business development and mining financial advisory roles with Endeavour Financial, Cambrian Mining Finance Ltd, Northern Vertex Mining Corp. and King & Bay West Management Corp.
Luqman Khan – CFO
Luqman Khan is also the CFO of RE Royalties Ltd, a renewable energy royalty company, involved in the acquisition of 86 royalties to date. He has been a financial reporting executive with over 20 years of professional experience in accountancy and business management. Additionally, Khan has served as CFO for several publicly listed TSX-V resource companies and previously with Ernst and Young in their assurance practice.
David Gaunt – Technical Consultant
David is an economic geologist specializing in project assessment and resource estimation. His experience spans projects worldwide and includes roles with senior mining companies and junior exploration companies. He is a co-recipient of the PDAC’s Thayer Lindsley International Discovery Award.
Marchand Snyman CA – Chairman and Director
Marchand Snyman CA is a co-founder and chairman of RE Royalties Ltd, a renewable energy royalty company, involved in the acquisition of 84 royalties to date. Over 25 years senior executive experience in corporate finance and mining with a global merger, financing, acquisition and divestiture track record of more than 50 transactions.
Manuela Balaj-Coroiu – Corporate Secretary
Manuela Balaj-Coroiu is a chartered governance professional and corporate secretary who brings over 13 years experience in the legal field, where she has acted as legal counsel to various private companies in Romania and as manager of legal affairs and paralegal for public companies and over 500 private companies in Canada. Balaj-Coroiu recently graduated the Chartered Governance Institute of Canada and applies her in-depth knowledge of corporate laws, capital markets, security laws and corporate governance to provide all types of support and guidance to company directors, helping them in discharging their duties.
Craig Lindsay – Director
Craig Lindsay is the founder and CEO of Otis Gold Corp (TSXV: OOO) and a current director of Excellon Resources, VR Resources and Alianza Minerals. Prior to Otis, he was the founder and CEO of Magnum Uranium Corp and led its sale to Energy Fuels Inc. (TSX: EFR).
Robert Schafer – Director
Robert Schafer is the co-founding director of International Royalty Corp (sold for $800 million to Royal Gold). More than 30 years of experience working internationally in business development roles with major and junior mining companies including formerly representing as Chairman of PDAC. Serves as a director of a number of public resource companies.