The Future of Energy Storage: Investing in Battery Anode and Cathode Materials
While Lithium makes up the majority of a lithium-ion battery, no movement of electrons (the charging and discharging) would be possible without the anode and cathode which create a positive and negative charge to drive the transfer. The lithium as stated in part 1, is the electrolyte and is in the salt family. Most modern batteries have a liquid lithium electrolyte.
Recent advances in battery technology involve using a solid as the electrolyte material. The most promising of these are ceramics. The main benefit of solid electrolytes is that there is no risk of leaks, which is a serious safety issue for batteries with liquid electrolytes. There are no real commercial batteries of this type on the market yet.
Now the negative electrode is called the anode (-) and the positive the cathode (+).
Traditionally, Cathode materials were generally constructed from cobalt or manganese.
The cobalt-based cathodes are ideal due to their high theoretical specific heat capacity, high volumetric capacity, low self-discharge, high discharge voltage, and good cycling performance. Limitations include the high cost of the material, production in areas of child labor and political volatility and low thermal stability.
Manganese cathodes are attractive because manganese is cheaper and because it could theoretically be used to make a more efficient, longer-lasting battery if its limitations could be overcome. Limitations include the tendency for manganese to dissolve into the electrolyte during cycling leading to poor cycling stability for the cathode. While Cobalt-based cathodes common, other materials are being researched with the goal of lowering costs, increasing ESG and sustainability and improving cell life.
As of 2017, Phosphorous is a candidate for large-scale production of lithium-ion batteries such as electric vehicle applications due to its low cost, excellent safety, and high cycle durability. A carbon conductive agent is required to overcome its low electrical conductivity
1) Cathode (+) metal chemistries -
— lithium/cobalt oxide, lithium iron-phosphate, lithium manganese-oxide
Cathode chemistries make up the most debate currently as each type is a trade off of weight, cost, cost, performance, range and lifespan.
Here are some of the various chemistries;
a) Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide
Companies using: Imara Corporation, Nissan Motor, Microvast Inc., LG Chem, Northvolt
Uses: Electric vehicles, power tools, grid energy storage
Reason: good specific energy and specific power density
b) Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium Oxide
Companies using: Panasonic, Saft Groupe S.A., Samsung
Uses: Electric vehicles
Reason: High specific energy, good life span
c) Lithium Manganese Oxide
Companies using: LG Chem, NEC, Samsung, Hitachi, Nissan/AESC, EnerDel
Uses: Hybrid electric vehicle, cell phone, laptop
d) Lithium Iron Phosphate
Companies using: University of Texas/Hydro-Québec, Phostech Lithium Inc., Valence Technology, A123Systems/MIT,
Uses: Segway Personal Transporter, power tools, aviation products, automotive hybrid systems, PHEV conversions
Reason: moderate power density and a high safety compared to Cobalt / Manganese systems with an operating temperature >60 °C (140 °F)
e) Lithium Cobalt Oxide
-These kind of batteries are being weened out where possible to reduce cobalt usage.
Companies using: Sony
Uses: First commercial production broad use, laptop
Reason: High specific energy
You are probably reading this to get some investing ideas. Here are some miners focused on Cathode mining (often of some precious and industrial metals too like gold, silver and copper). I will do a later blog focusing more on large and small scale copper as copper is critical to everything energy from batteries to power transmission to solar panels.
- Glencore Plc;
Country of origin: Britain/Switzerland
Materials: cobalt, copper, nickel
Market cap: 65 billion
P/E ratio: 4
Dividend: 4%
Description:
A multinational commodity trading and mining company with headquarters in Baar, Switzerland. Glencore’s oil and gas head office is in London and its registered office is in Saint Helier, Jersey. The current company was created through a merger of Glencore with Xstrata on 2 May 2013. As of July 2022, it is the world’s largest commodity trader.
Glencore has a number of production facilities all around the world and supplies metals, minerals, crude oil, oil products, coal, natural gas and agricultural products to international customers in the automotive, power generation, steel production and food processing industries.
2) Haynes International
Countries of business: US, Europe, Asia
Materials: Alloys; nickel, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, iron, silicon, manganese, carbon, aluminum, titanium
Market cap: 450 million
P/E ratio: 14
Forward P/E: 9
EPS: 4$/share
Price-to-sales ratio: 1
Debt: none
Cash: $.74/share
Dividend: 2.46%
Profit growth/year: 1.1,1.1,1.3
Description:
Headquartered in Kokomo, Indiana, it is one of the largest producers of corrosion-resistant and high-temperature alloys. In addition to Kokomo, Haynes has manufacturing facilities in Arcadia, Louisiana, and Mountain Home, North Carolina. The Kokomo facility specializes in flat products, the Arcadia facility in tubular products, and the Mountain Home facility in wire products. Per 2018 financials, the company’s revenues were derived from the aerospace (52.1%), chemical processing (18.2%), industrial gas turbine (12.0%) and other (12.3%) industries. The company’s alloys are based on nickel, but also include cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, iron, silicon, manganese, carbon, aluminum, and/or titanium.
3) BHP
Countries of business: Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Asia, North and South America)
Materials: Copper, iron, coal, nickel
Market cap: 128 billion
P/E ratio: 6
Forward P/E:
EPS: 7.99$/share
Price-to-sales ratio: 2
Debt: none
Cash: $6.79/share
Dividend: 13%
Profit growth/year: 3,3.1
Description:
BHP Group Limited is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
As of 2022, BHP is the largest company in Australia,[8] and the largest mining company in the world, both as measured by market capitalization.
Vale
Countries of business: Brazil
Materials: iron, copper, nickel, cobalt
Market cap: 65 billion
P/E ratio: 3
Forward P/E: 4.7
EPS: 4.99$/share
Next year EPS: 2.8
Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4
Debt: none
Cash: $1.80/share
Dividend: 22%
Profit growth/year: 2.3,2.5,2.2
Description:
Vale is a Brazilian multinational corporation engaged in metals and mining and one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil. Vale is the largest producer of iron ore and nickel in the world. It also produces manganese, ferroalloys, copper, bauxite, potash, kaolin, and cobalt, currently operating nine hydroelectricity plants, and a large network of railroads, ships, and ports used to transport its products.
The company has had two catastrophic tailings dam failures in Brazil: Mariana, in 2015, and Brumadinho, in 2019; the Brumadinho dam disaster caused the company to lose its license to operate eight tailings dams in Minas Gerais, and its stock to lose nearly 25 percent in value. Vale is considered the most valuable company in Latin America, with an estimated market value of US$ 111 billion in 2021.
5) Sibanye Stillwater
Countries of business: Africa, US, S. America, Canada
Materials: gold, platinum elements, copper, nickel
Market cap: 6 billion
P/E ratio: 5
Forward P/E: 13
EPS: 1.60$/share
Next year EPS: $.07/share
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt: none
Cash: $2/share
Dividend: 10%
Profit growth/year: 1.5,1.5,1.4
Description:
a multinational precious metals mining company with a diverse portfolio of platinum group metals in South Africa and the United States, gold and base metals operations and various mining projects in South Africa and the Americas.
6) Polymet
Countries of business: USA mostly
Materials: copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum metals
Market cap: 319 million
P/E ratio:
Forward P/E:
EPS: -.25$/share
Next year EPS:
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt: none
Cash: $.07/share
Dividend: none
Profit growth/year:
Description:
The PolyMet Mine or NorthMet Mining Project is a proposed mining and processing operation in the NorthMet Deposit in northeastern Minnesota, United States, six miles south of Babbitt, Minnesota. The project is controversial with potential environment effects being a major concern.
7) Anglo-American
Countries of business: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
Materials: copper, platinum, iron, nickel, manganese
Market cap: 39 billion
P/E ratio: 5
Forward P/E:
EPS:
Next year EPS:
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt:
Cash:
Dividend: 8%
Profit growth/year:
Description:
Anglo American plc is a British multinational mining company with headquarters in London, England. It is the world’s largest producer of platinum, with around 40% of world output, as well as being a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore and steelmaking coal.
8) TMC the metals co.
Countries of business: N. America
Materials: offshore mining, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese.
Market cap: 265 million
P/E ratio:
Forward P/E:
EPS: $-.45/share
Next year EPS: $-.19/share
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt: none
Cash: $.19/share
Dividend: 8%
Profit growth/year:
-Lots of insider buying
Description:
The Metals Company, formerly DeepGreen Metals, is a Canadian mining startup founded in 2011 by David and Robert Heydon.[1] The company is focused on the deep sea mining of seafloor polymetallic nodules.[2][3]
In March 2021, DeepGreen Metals revealed it would be acquired by Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp (SOAC) in a $2.9 billion deal.[4] Baird Maritime noted that The Metals Company had no revenue or production as of April 2021, and highlighted the risky nature of the company’s commercialization efforts: “Nobody has successfully managed to commercially harvest the nickel, copper, manganese, and cobalt from the nodules in 4,500 metres of water since interest was first stimulated in seabed mining in the 1970s.”
Industry observers have called into question the company’s “green” positioning in order to capitalize on a surge in environmentally-friendly investments. The Wall Street Journal noted that the company’s CEO, Gerard Barron, previously backed another deep sea mining company that “lost a half-billion dollars of investor money, got crosswise with a South Pacific government, destroyed sensitive seabed habitat and ultimately went broke”.
Many scientists have expressed concerns over the inherent risks and lack of data about the possible consequences of deep-sea mining. In response to DeepGreen’s efforts in Nauru, over 400 scientists signed a statement in opposition of deep-sea mining, arguing that it would result in the “loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that would be irreversible on multi-generational timescales.” DeepGreen published an open letter defending its practices after four major corporations–BMW, Volvo, Google, and Samsung SDI–supported a World Wildlife Fund call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
8) Electra Battery Materials:
Countries of business: United States, Canada
Materials: cobalt, copper & silver
Market cap: 136 million
P/E ratio:
Forward P/E: 35
EPS: $-16/share
Next year EPS: $.09/share
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt: none
Cash: $.90/share
Dividend: none
Profit growth/year:
Description:
Electra Battery Materials Corporation acquires and explores for resource properties in the United States and Canada. It primarily explores for cobalt and silver deposits. The company’s flagship project is the Iron Creek cobalt-copper project, which covers an area of approximately 5,900 acres located in Lemhi County, Idaho. It also operates a cobalt refinery for producing battery materials for the electric vehicle supply chain.
9) Wheaton Precious metals corp:
Countries of business: Canada & international
Materials: cobalt, gold, silver, palladium
Market cap: 14 billion
P/E ratio: 18
Forward P/E: 23
EPS: $1.60/share
Next year EPS: $1.30/share
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt: none
Cash: $1.00/share
Dividend: 2%
Profit growth/year:
Description:
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., a streaming company, primarily sells precious metals in Canada and internationally. The company sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. It has a portfolio of interests in the 23 operating mines and 13 development projects.
10) CBAK Energy Technology, Inc.
Countries of business: China
Materials: cobalt, gold, silver palladium
Market cap: 108 million
P/E ratio: 3.64
Forward P/E:
EPS: $.34/share
Next year EPS:
Price-to-sales ratio: .6
Debt: none
Cash: $.06/share
Dividend:
Profit growth/year: 1.1, 1.1, 1.1
Description:
CBAK Energy Technology, Inc.- engages in the manufacture, commercialization, and distribution of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Its products are used for electronic vehicles, light electric vehicles, electric tools, energy storage, uninterruptible power supply, and high-power applications. It operates through the CBAK and Hitrans segments. The CBAK segment mainly includes the manufacture, commercialization and distribution of a wide variety of standard and customized lithium-ion rechargeable batteries for use in a wide array of applications. The Hitrans segment covers the development and manufacturing of NCM precursor and cathode materials.
11) Aurubis AG
Countries of business: Germany
Materials: copper, copper products and precious metals
Market cap: 2.3 billion
P/E ratio: 2.77
Forward P/E:
EPS:
Next year EPS:
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt:
Cash:
Dividend: 2.4%
Profit growth/year:
Description:
engages in the production of copper, copper products and precious metals. It operates through the Copper, Copper Products, and Other. The Copper segment refers to the procurement of copper-bearing and precious metal-bearing raw materials to the production of marketable metals and offers copper cathodes that can be traded on the metal exchanges, as well as gold and silver products that originate from the raw materials as well as from the additional precious metal-bearing input materials processed. The Copper Products segment relates to copper production from copper-bearing recycling materials and all sectors involved in the production and marketing of wire rod, continuous cast shapes, strip and profiles, as well as specialty products. The Other segment is responsible to central administrative income and costs that cannot be directly allocated to other segments. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. AIAGY is listed on the Pink Current market tier. OTC market data is provided by OTC Markets Group, Inc (otcmarkets.com). The listed name for AIAGY is Aurubis Ag Unsponsored ADR (Germany).
12) Ivanhoe Electric
Countries of business: US, Canada
Materials: copper, gold, silver, zinc lead
Market cap: 883 million
P/E ratio:
Forward P/E:
EPS: -$.60/share
Next year EPS:
Price-to-sales ratio:
Debt:
Cash: $2.30/share
Dividend:
Profit growth/year:
Description:
Ivanhoe Electric Inc. operates as a mineral exploration and development company in the United States. It operates through critical Metals, technology, and energy storage. The company holds 84.6% interests in the Tintic copper-gold project covering an area of 65 square kilometers located in Utah. It also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Santa Cruz copper project covering an area of 77.59 square kilometers located in Arizona; 75% interest in the Hog Heaven silver-gold-copper project covering an area of 24.2 square kilometers located in Montana; and 60% interest in the Ivory Coast project covering an area of 1,125 square kilometers located in the Ivory Coast. The company also provides data analytics, geophysical modelling, and artificial intelligence services for the mineral, oil and gas, and water exploration industries; and develops, manufactures, and installs vanadium flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage. Ivanhoe Electric Inc. was incorporated in 2020 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.
2) Anode (-) materials
— graphite/carbon
experimental- graphene electrodes, nanowire anodes
1) Nouveau Monde Graphite, Inc.
Countries of business: Canada
Materials: graphite
Market cap: 300 million
P/E ratio:
Forward P/E:
EPS: $-.77/share
Next year EPS:
Price-to-sales ratio: $-.23
Debt:
Cash:
Dividend:
Profit growth/year:
Description:
this company engages in the development of fully-integrated source of green battery anode material. It operates through the Acquisition, Exploration, and Evaluation of Mining Properties; and Transformation of Value-Added Graphite Products segments. The firm focuses on the operations of Matawine Graphite Mine and Advanced Materials Plant. Its’ solutions include research and development, mine and concentrator, value-added materials, multimodal logistics, and growth markets. The company was founded by Eric Desaulniers on December 31, 2012 and is headquartered in Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Canada. The listed name for NMG is Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc.
2) NOVONIX Ltd.
Countries of business: Canada
Materials: graphite
Market cap: 578 million
P/E ratio:
Forward P/E:
EPS: $-.24/share
Next year EPS:
Price-to-sales ratio: 71
Debt:
Cash:
Dividend:
Profit growth/year:
Description:
NOVONIX Ltd. -is an integrated developer and supplier of materials, equipment and services for the global lithium-ion battery industry with operations in the U.S. and Canada. It produces synthetic graphite anode materials used in the making of lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, personal electronics, medical devices and energy storage units. The firm operates through the following segments: Graphite Exploration and Mining, Battery Technology, and Battery Materials. NOVONIX was founded by Gregory Alexander John Baynton in April 2012 and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. The listed name for NVX is NOVONIX Limited American Depository Shares.
