Commodities these days can be a bit of a fickle investment. They are definitely in demand for numerous reasons, including the world’s move towards a lower carbon future. Putin’s attack of Ukraine has placed further emphasis on security of supply, overall supply chains and the politics of commodities. However, we can’t seem to align all the interested parties into coming up with a cohesive game plan to maximize the production of critical commodities, while optimizing their environmental and social impact.

What do I mean by this? In late February the White House ordered action across the US Federal Government to secure reliable and sustainable supplies of critical minerals and materials just before the first anniversary of Executive Order (EO) 14017, America’s Supply Chains. However, a year after detailed reports of vulnerabilities in the critical mineral and material supply chains were produced by US federal agencies, detailing the over-reliance of the U.S. on foreign sources and adversarial nations for critical minerals and materials, posing national and economic security threats, the U.S. government isn’t exactly walking the walk. In the last year, we’ve seen Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO) Resolution copper project in Arizona and Antofagasta’s (LSE: ANTO) Twin Metals project (copper/nickel) in Minnesota both get the red light from the Biden Administration. It has also taken steps to slow down development of a lithium mine in Nevada from ioneer Ltd. (ASX: INR) to help preserve a rare flower. You could also include Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.’s (TSX: NDM | NYSE American: NAK) Pebble mine in Alaska in this list because there is a lot of copper as part of the resource, but to me, it’s more of a gold mine so not necessarily critical.

I’m not saying that these actions to delay or cancel projects aren’t justified for environmental and social reasons. I’m simply pointing out that it’s easier said than done. Investors can’t simply pick all the companies pursuing critical minerals in the U.S. and think it’s going to be a slam dunk. Certainly, there is a renewed focus on addressing the critical minerals and materials supply chain, but it likely won’t come at the expense of the neighbors of these projects. That’s why one has to look a little deeper at any potential investments to ensure the project has a chance to see the light of day. You can’t just have a viable, economic resource, you need to tick a lot more boxes.

That’s my long-winded intro to an Australian listed company with assets in the growing rare earths sector of the United States, looking to help the U.S. diversify away from China’s market dominance of the global rare earth market. American Rare Earths Limited’s (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) mission is to supply critical materials for renewable energy, green tech, EVs, National Security, and a Carbon-Reduced Future. The Company owns 100% of the world-class La Paz Rare-Earth Project, located 200 km northwest of Phoenix, Arizona and the Halleck Creek rare earth project in Wyoming, USA. La Paz is a large tonnage, bulk deposit, that is potentially the largest rare earth deposit in the USA and benefits from containing exceptionally low penalty elements such as radioactive thorium and uranium. The Company is currently drilling in the new Southwest Zone of the project where an exploration target of approximately 742 – 928 million tonnes could be added to the 170.6 million tonne JORC compliant (Australian equivalent of NI 43-101) resource.

The size and the grades at La Paz are impressive, as well as close to surface, but remember it’s not just about an economic resource. The reason I think American Rare Earths should be on an investor’s watchlist, if you have any interest in the rare earths space, is their attention to politics. On March 4^th the Company announced it had welcomed a delegation of elected officials from all levels of government to its flagship La Paz project. Key members of the group of 25 federal, state and county officials and staff delivered enthusiastic and encouraging speeches about American Rare Earths and its work underway to help secure the United States’ domestic critical minerals supply chain. Additionally, Company executive Marty Weems will speak to several dozen State Legislators about La Paz at an event held in collaboration with the Arizona Mining Association. That’s the type of proactive effort required to get your project to the finish line in the world of today.

From a macro perspective, there are significant tailwinds for domestic rare earths production from both a market pull and a government push. Additionally, there are several near-term catalysts for American Rare Earths with an on-going drill program at both properties and applications have been filed for 36 additional drill sites at La Paz. The Company is well funded, finishing 2021 with over A$8 million plus having raised another A$1.4 million in the first two months of 2022. With a market cap of roughly A$161 million (US$ 117 million) it’s not your typical junior mining stock, but then again, your typical junior mining stock isn’t sitting on potentially the largest rare earth deposit in the USA.

USA bans Russian oil, gas, coal, but not uranium. How will Russia respond?

As U.S President Biden gives the Executive Order today to ban Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal the White House Fact Sheet gives a clue as to where the energy market is heading.

“Today, President Biden will sign an Executive Order (E.O.) to ban the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal to the United States…….In the long run, the way to avoid high gas prices is to speed up – not slow down – our transition to a clean energy future……..this crisis reinforces our resolve to make America truly energy independent, which means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.”

President Biden has made it very clear that his vision for a green energy future means wind, solar, and smart nuclear. So today’s ban of Russian oil, gas & coal is a big win for the clean energy sector. Consumers are already facing record prices at the gas pump, which will lead to a faster adoption of electric vehicles. These vehicles will need a stable baseload power source such as nuclear to support the intermittent renewable energies of solar and wind.

All of this is bullish for uranium and lithium. Today’s company is focused on just that.

Azincourt Energy Corp. (TSXV: AAZ | OTCQB: AZURF) (“Azincourt”) is a Canadian-based resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration, and development of alternative energy/fuel projects, including uranium, lithium, and other critical clean energy elements.

Azincourt’s 3 projects

• East Preston Project (72% interest) – A uranium project in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada.
• Hatchet Lake Uranium Project (earning into a 75% interest) – A uranium project in the Wollaston–Mudjatik Transition Zone area of Saskatchewan, Canada. Some details here.
  
• Escalera Group Project (100% owned) – A uranium and lithium group of projects (Lituania, Condorlit, Escalera) in Puno, Peru.

The Athabasca basin is home to multiple large very high grade uranium mines and projects

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East Preston Project progressing with road and camp built and drilling underway

Azincourt has had a very busy past 3 months at their East Preston Project. The 73 km winter road to access the property and campsite has been completed.

The 2022 drill program at the East Preston Project includes 6,000m of drilling over 30-35 drill holes, throughout the months of January and February and into March. The primary target area for the 2022 program is the conductive corridors from the A-Zone through to the G-Zone (A-G Trend) and the K-Zone through to the Q-Zone (K-Q Trend). Permits are in place to complete all the planned work through the winter of 2022. The program is funded and boosted by a recent C$390,250 non-brokered private placement.

Drilling zones shown at the East Preston Project

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Regarding the drill results to date at the East Preston Project, Azincourt stated on March 1, 2022:

“We are very excited by the results coming in so far,” said VP, Exploration, Trevor Perkins. “Both the G- and K-Zones are responding incredibly well, and the team is very excited by what they are seeing in the core. The results show that there is still a good deal of work to be completed in these areas and I can’t wait to see what the follow-up drilling reveals,” continued Mr. Perkins.

“Finding this broad zone of strong alteration is a significant development,” said president and CEO, Alex Klenman. “Alteration features are a crucial guide to locating uranium mineralization. Given what we know about alteration zones and their relationship to some very well-known discoveries, finding this at East Preston is certainly an encouraging development. We will continue to focus on the K-Zone for the time being to get a better idea of the extent of the alteration and the type and level of mineralization present,” continued Mr. Klenman.”

The first shipment of core samples from the current drill program were scheduled for delivery last week to be delivered to the SRC Geoanalytical Lab in Saskatoon. Azincourt expects to receive full suite assay results in early April.

Closing remarks

As we move away from fossil fuels and electrify our transport systems the West will need a ‘secure’ supply of uranium. For now the U.S ban on Russian energy imports (oil, gas, coal) does not include uranium. However, the West relies heavily on Russian-Kazakhstan uranium, which the Russians could choose to cut supply at any time. Russia has recently threatened to ban gas exports to Europe, which would lead to shock waves in the colder areas relying on Russian gas.

The highest grade and best location to find a ‘secure’ supply of uranium is in the Athabasca Basin of Canada. Azincourt is currently drilling their flagship East Preston Project in the Athabasca Basin.

A highly successful drilling campaign can potentially be a game-changer for a small company such as Azincourt Energy Corp., which trades on a market cap of C$39 million. Investors eagerly await news of the drill results in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Henry Weingarten, Fund Director of The Astrologers Fund, Inc., spoke with InvestorIntel’s Tracy Weslosky on near term prospects for gold and critical materials. “In November and December gold will do very well no matter who wins,” Henry stated. He also commented on the likely market scenario if Donald Trump loses election.

Henry went on to say that President Trump’s Executive Order on Critical Minerals will boost the critical minerals stocks in the short term and added, “Lithium is going double in 2022.” He also said, “China will be very belligerent next year that will help military stocks. Military and security will be front and center next year.”

To access the complete interview, click here

The Technology Metals Show host Peter Clausi talks with international rare earths expert Jack Lifton about President Trump’s Executive Order on addressing the threat to the domestic supply chain from reliance on critical minerals from foreign adversaries. “This is the first time I have seen an Executive Order in this arena,” Jack said, “that actually looks like it might generate some progress towards the goal of securing a critical minerals supply chain for the United States.”

In the interview Jack also talked about uranium and why copper should also be included in the U.S. Geological Survey’s critical minerals list. He also provided an update on the rare earths supply chain in the United States.

To access the complete interview subscribe to the Technology Metals Show and get exclusive access to member-only content through this exclusive site. Or Log-In Here for the latest conversations, debates, updates and interviews with the leaders, thought leaders and investors focused on issues relating to sustainability in the critical materials sector.

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The September 30, 2020 White House Executive Order (‘EO’) on critical minerals is just what was needed to give a huge boost to the mining sector. Not sure why ‘scandium’ and the ‘rare earth group’ was listed separately in the EO, since scandium is considered a rare earth, but the end result is that this has escalated market interest in this critical material.

One of the 35 critical minerals is ‘scandium’, used mostly for the purpose of lightweighting, scandium-modified aluminum alloys have equivalent yield and tensile strength to steel and titanium alloy but are 1/3 the weight of steel and 40% lighter than titanium.

Declaring this “a national emergency“, the EO states that the US intends to support companies that have “projects that support domestic supply chains” and “the establishment of secure critical minerals supply chains”, which could reasonably be expected to include Canadian projects such as Imperial Mining Group Ltd. (TSXV: IPG).

Peter Cashin, President, CEO and Director of Imperial Mining Group, which own their flagship scandium-rare earth Crater Lake Property in northeastern Quebec, commented to InvestorIntel when asked on their thoughts on the EO with the following:

“President Trump’s Executive Order should force an orderly build-up of the necessary steps required to secure a domestic supply chain for rare earth materials. In addition to the European Unions expressed push to lessen Chinese import dependence, our hope is that the order will apply to development of the significant critical mineral resources that exist in Canada.”

What is driving this market demand? Available scandium oxide supply today is estimated at just 25 to 35 metric tonnes per year, insufficient for widespread adoption of scandium-aluminum (“Sc-Al”) alloys for automotive, aerospace and defense sectors where they can be used for high-strength applications and in sectors in which lightweighting is essential. In addition to Sc-Al alloys, scandium is used in the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (“SOFC”) industry because of its heat stabilization and electrical conductivity characteristics. In essence, the competitive advantage of scandium is as a hardener in aluminum alloys, which is what renders them corrosion-and thermal-resistant.

If your not familiar with the Imperial Mining Group Ltd. (TSXV: IPG), Imperial’s Crater Lake Property has a large diameter complex which is host to high-grade scandium and niobium deposits. Scandium oxide grades to date have been very good ranging from 0.0235% to 0.0319% (235-319g/t). Other drill results have included 528g/t scandium oxide over 8.8 meters, showing the high grade potential of the Crater Lake Project.

The company expects the Crater Lake Project to be a small open-pit operation with an on-site magnetic concentrator and/or sensor-based sorting. It is anticipated that the project will be low CapEx, OpEx due to the higher grades and expected simple process recovery methods.

Imperial Mining is currently working to expand the resource and have recently discovered several new areas of scandium mineralization. These new showings lie within the same 14-km arcuate magnetic trend hosting the three previously defined mineralized zones (Boulder, TGZ and STG) on the property. Assay results are expected very soon.

Crater Lake’s 14-km arcuate magnetic trend hosting the three previously defined mineralized zones (Boulder, TGZ and STG)

Source

Peter Cashin states: “The new discoveries are extremely positive news for Imperial in view of the rapidly growing demand and limited supply for this important new technology metal……Currently, scandium is only produced as a minor by-product in China and Russia and, with supplies limited, it is our belief that Crater Lake represents an important alternative, primary scandium supply source to serve western consuming markets.”

A new US Executive Order to boost critical mineral mining, strong management, a high grade growing scandium-rare earths asset in a good mining jurisdiction, and a growing need for scandium and rare earths elements all combine to support Imperial Mining Group. Due to the early stage the current market cap is only C$9m.

As Americans wake up today they will learn that their President and First Lady have both tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus). This follows the other big news from the White House just two days earlier that an Executive Order has been issued declaring “a national emergency” to deal with the threat of a lack of critical minerals supply chain for the US. If we add in the debate earlier this week, it certainly has been a busy and bruising week for the White House.

With just one month to go to the US election on November 3, the White House has been thrown into chaos. US futures have reacted negatively and are down. President Trump has been criticized for his poor handling of the COVID-19 crisis that has now infected almost 7.5m Americans and killed 212,694. Now he is one of them. There is no doubt as many Americans still await a long delayed stimulus package many will have mixed feelings about today’s news. For investors they will be watching the fallout as markets open.

But there is a ray of sunshine for investors in critical materials companies. On September 30 The White House announced: “Executive Order on addressing the threat to the domestic supply chain from reliance on critical minerals from foreign adversaries.”

The U.S. List of 35 critical minerals include the following: (1) Aluminum (bauxite); (2) Antimony; (3) Arsenic; (4) Barite; (5) Beryllium; (6) Bismuth; (7) Cesium; (8) Chromium; (9) Cobalt; (10) Fluorspar; (11) Gallium; (12) Germanium; (13) Graphite (natural); (14) Hafnium; (15) Helium; (16) Indium; (17) Lithium; (18) Magnesium; (19) Manganese; (20) Niobium; (21) Platinum Group of Metals; (22) Potash; (23) The Rare Earth Elements Group: (Cerium, Dysprosium, Erbium, Europium, Gadolinium, Holmium, Lanthanum, Lutetium, Neodymium, Praseodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Terbium, Thulium, Ytterbium and Yttrium); (24) Rhenium; (25) Rubidium; (26) Scandium; (27) Strontium; (28) Tantalum; (29) Tellurium; (30) Tin; (31) Titanium; (32) Tungsten; (33) Uranium; (34) Vanadium and (35) Zirconium. The six underlined are those included in the ORE Act, which also seeks to secure US supply or these 6 critical materials.

Major US import sources of non-fuel mineral commodities – China dominates

Source: Courtesy US Geological Survey

The key points of the September 30 President Trump critical minerals Executive Order are:

• The US’s undue reliance on critical minerals, in processed or unprocessed form, from foreign adversaries constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat. “I (President Trump) hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”
• “By expanding and strengthening domestic mining and processing capacity today, we guard against the possibility of supply chain disruptions and future attempts by our adversaries or strategic competitors to harm our economy and military readiness.”

In response to the threat President Trump proposes several measures to be taken with different time frames ranging from 30 to 60 days from September 30, 2020.

The Executive Order says the US Gov. will look into giving “grants to procure or install production equipment for the production and processing of critical minerals in the United States”, “loan guarantees” and for projects that support domestic supply chains “funding awards and loans pursuant to the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing incentive program.”

For investors in the critical minerals mining sector this is good news and very welcome. The main winners so far have been the US or Canadian based critical minerals companies or those that can help supply the USA with critical minerals. Some examples have been Lithium Americas (lithium), Westwater Resources (graphite), most of the rare earths companies, and most of the electric vehicle (EV) metal miners.

InvestorIntel Rare Earths Watchlist Top 5 from October 1, 2020

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The Tesla Battery Day revelations now mean that the EV revolution will rapidly accelerate. Tesla plans to have 3TWh of battery capacity by 2030, which will be enough for Tesla to make 20 million (m) EVs per year plus energy storage products. To get a feel for the demand shock wave to hit EV metal miners, if Tesla produces 20m EVs in 2030 that will require 2.7m tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), which is 9x total 2019 global supply. Wow!

Investing in the critical materials miners and other parts of the supply chain to support the US this decade, as the world rapidly moves to renewable energy and EVs, just got a HUGE boost.

Now we wait and see what happens next with President and Lady Trump, the US election, and the COVID-19 pandemic. No-one can say that 2020 has been a boring year!

This morning I raced through Fallon, Kimmel, Corden and Colbert as I do every morning with a cup of coffee. The idea? Hit the ground running having enjoyed the late-night talk show hosts translations of the news events from the day before…

Henry Weingarten doesn’t understand why I cannot commit to a follow up interview, he’s right – we need one. After all, in our last interview he forecasted everything from who will win the Presidential election to a bullish graphite, gold and media market this Fall. Undoubtedly we would all like to know what percentage of forecasts he is making on our capital markets that are right and which ones are wrong. Alright, we will get this done and live by next week.

Reviewing the emails, Russell Fryer of Critical Metals PLC (LON: CRTM) alerted many of this AM to the Executive Order on Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries that was published on the White House site yesterday.

Russell adds in his email: “The use of the term ‘foreign adversaries’ is quite a strong phrase, designed and inserted to call out China…” He then adds his summary points of interest:

1. the United States develops secure critical minerals supply chains that do not depend on resources or processing from foreign adversaries. (i.e. China)
2. the United States develops globally competitive, substantial, and resilient domestic commercial supply chain capabilities for critical minerals mining and processing.
3. reduce the vulnerability of the United States to the disruption of critical mineral supply chains through cooperation and coordination with partners and allies, including the private sector
4. build resilient critical mineral supply chains, including through initiatives to help allies build reliable critical mineral supply chains within their own territories

OK, thanks Russell and kudos on listing Critical Metals PLC in London earlier this week, we are all watching to see what you do next.

Now Trump? While the content of this Executive Order is unquestionably of great interest to me and my associates in this sector, why wasn’t Trump busy investing in how to clean up his post debate mess is of great interest to me. Experts tell me that the positive he is doing for critical materials will continue no matter who becomes President this Fall, but it does makes it hard to communicate what I deem to be a very positive action on his behalf when he is not behaving like a gentleman.

For the record, talkative is fine. After all, rare earths’ experts are exceptionally talkative….

In fact, I was speaking with Jack Lifton earlier this last week and asked him about a new editorial candidate for InvestorIntel to do a regular column on our sector, and his response to one candidate was “he’s good, but if you ask him the time, he will give you the history of how time was created.”

My point? Give us Trump for the Technology Metals Show and I will have no challenge being the moderator with Jack Lifton as I am used to strong driven communicators with passionate positions on why we should all be buying their stock. On that note I would like to personally extend an invitation for President Trump to be on the Technology Metals Show and have Jack Lifton interview him on this Executive Order?

Now why will this work? It will work, because we are all on the same side here…when it comes to our North American issues around sustainability, we all agree. No one should ever be solely reliant on one nation for all of our Technology Metals.

See a theme here?

Before I change the point here, yes, I do plan on asking Ron Wortel to write a piece on this order ASAP. Why Ron? Well in a conversation with Ron yesterday in discussions about him taking on a regular moderator role of a critical materials editorial board (this clever idea was suggested to me by Jeff Green and his team at J.A. Green & Company last week). Ron was discussing his history in rare earths, and you know what? I think he can do it and do it well. Ron’s style is understated and many of us enjoy reading well done text that is written by knowledgeable professionals that understand the business…you will of course tell me what you think – you always do.

Alright, I am running to go assist Raj Shah on putting together a Top 20 InvestorChannel Watchlist of graphite companies today. Would like to thank Julie Pacquet of Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (TSXV: NOU | OTCQX: NMGRF) for being the catalyst of this idea.

On a final note I am going to start calling out ‘flags on the field’ of the capital markets and today I would like to highlight an analyst who did what I deemed a ‘smackdown’ on another rare earths company in an eblast I received yesterday. Let me add, I have grown weary of advising him that his content is not my friend and have been unsuccessfully and getting off of his darn list, but hey this is simple.

How can you call out other critical material company when you sit on Boards and are presently raising funds for your own company (in the same sector of course)? When are we as investors simply going to build a wall for you and insist that you not climb over it? Consider this my brick, and as I have told you before – why can you not just market yourself without tearing someone else down, especially when you do not know what is going on.

It seems we have analysts that could use a brush up on professional behavior as well.

Enjoy your day, we will get Mr Weingarten set up for an interview, finish the InvestorChannel Graphite Watchlist, and attempt to get the news release written on the new Investor Talks video meeting series and in your inbox by Friday afternoon.

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