Top Cobalt Stocks of 2017 on the TSX

2017 was a major year for cobalt. The metal, which is a key component in lithium-ion batteries, saw huge price gains on the back of increasing concerns about supply. 
Most market watchers are optimistic about the metal’s prospects in 2018 as well, with many predicting further price increases as demand for electric vehicles continues to rise.
In light of those developments, investors involved in the cobalt space are growing more and more interested in cobalt stocks. To help provide a picture of which cobalt-focused companies are making progress this year, we’ve put together an overview of three cobalt stocks on the TSX that have seen share price gains year-to-date. You can also click here to see our list of top-gaining cobalt stocks on the TSXV.

1. Katanga Mining (TSX:KAT)

Current price: $1.24; year-to-date gain: 707.14 percent
Major miner Glencore (LSE:GLEN) increased its interest in Katanga Mining to about 86.33 percent earlier this year. The company operates a large-scale copper-cobalt mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through two joint ventures; the joint ventures are called Kamoto Copper Company and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project.
In 2015, the company announced the decision to suspend the processing of copper and cobalt during the construction phase of a whole ore leach project. The suspension continued through the first three quarters of 2017, and production is not expected to resume until the project is commissioned; that process is expected to be finished in 2018. Most recently, Katanga said that hot commissioning of the core of the first train of the whole ore leach project has been successfully completed.

2. eCobalt Solutions (TSX:ECS)

Current price: $1.47; year-to-date gain: 159.26 percent
eCobalt Solutions is focused on providing battery-grade cobalt salts that are ethically sourced, environmentally sound and produced safely and responsibly in the US. eCobalt’s primary asset is its Idaho cobalt project located in Lemhi County, Idaho.

A key milestone this year for the company was the publication of a feasibility study for the Idaho project in Q3. The company says the project will produce an average of 2.4 million pounds of cobalt, 3.3 million pounds of copper and 3,000 ounces of gold annually. In a December update on the project, eCobalt said it has made “significant progress” at optimizing the project, “resulting in a new direction to produce a clean (low arsenic content) cobalt concentrate product.” 

3. Fortune Minerals (TSX:FT)

Current price: $0.30; year-to-date gain: 116 percent
Fortune Minerals expects to benefit from the development of its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project, located in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The plan is for bulk concentrate from NICO to be shipped to a planned metals processing plant in Saskatchewan. The company is positioned to become a Canadian producer of battery-grade cobalt chemicals with gold and bismuth co-products.
The company is currently in the process of updating the feasibility study for NICO, and last spoke about its progress in November. At the time, Fortune announced a change in scope for the study, noting that it was “examining the feasibility of a 20 to 30% increase in the planned NICO production rate over the 4,650 metric tonnes … of ore per day used in the previous 2014 Feasibility Study.”
The data for this article was retrieved on December 11, 2017 using the Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only TSX-listed cobalt companies with market capitalizations greater than $50 million are included.
Is there a top-gaining cobalt stock on the TSX that we missed? Tell us in the comments below — and don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Fortune Minerals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.

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This article is updated each quarter. Please scroll the top for the most recent information.

Top Cobalt Stocks of 2017 on the TSX
By Priscila Barrera, October 4, 2017
Cobalt prices continue to rise on increasing demand for electric cars. As automakers move to secure supply of the metals these vehicles require, the need for cobalt is only expected to rise.
Electric vehicles are expected to number 14.2 million in 2025, according to UBS (NYSE:UBS), and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analyst Caspar Rawles said recently that by 2020 cobalt demand will increase to 76,000 tonnes from 46,000 tonnes in 2016.
In light of those developments, investors interested in the cobalt space are growing more and more interested in cobalt stocks. To help provide a picture of which cobalt-focused companies are making progress this year, we’ve put together a brief overview of three cobalt stocks on the TSX that have seen share price gains year-to-date. Read on to learn what they’ve been up to in 2017.

1. Katanga Mining (TSX:KAT)

Current price: $1.02; year-to-date gain: 628.57 percent
Major miner Glencore (LSE:GLEN) increased its interest in Katanga Mining to about 86.33 percent earlier this year. The company operates a large-scale copper-cobalt mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through two joint ventures; the joint ventures are called Kamoto Copper Company and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project.
In 2015, the company announced the decision to suspend the processing of copper and cobalt during the construction phase of a whole ore leach project. The suspension continued through the first three quarters of 2017, and production is not expected to resume until the project is commissioned; that process is expected to commence in Q4 2017.

2. eCobalt Solutions (TSX:ECS)

Current price: $1.16; year-to-date gain: 114.81 percent
eCobalt Solutions is focused on providing battery-grade cobalt salts that are ethically sourced, environmentally sound and produced safely and responsibly in the US. eCobalt’s primary asset is its Idaho cobalt project located in Lemhi County, Idaho.
In the third quarter of 2017, the company published a feasibility study for its Idaho project. The company says the project will produce an average of 2.4 million pounds of cobalt, 3.3 million pounds of copper and 3,000 ounces of gold annually.

3. Fortune Minerals (TSX:FT)

Current price: $0.21; year-to-date gain: 68 percent
Fortune Minerals expects to benefit from the development of its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project, located in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The plan is for bulk concentrate from NICO to be shipped to a planned metals processing plant in Saskatchewan. The company is positioned to become a Canadian producer of battery-grade cobalt chemicals with gold and bismuth co-products.
On August 24, the company provided an update on its NICO project, commenting that a feasibility study update is “proceeding well.” On September 19, Fortune reported another milestone toward the construction of the Tlicho all-season road to the community of Whati.
The data for this article was retrieved on October 4, 2017 using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only TSX-listed cobalt companies with market capitalizations greater than $50 million are included.
Is there a top-gaining cobalt stock on the TSX that we missed? Tell us in the comments below — and don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Fortune Minerals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.

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This article is updated each quarter. Please scroll the top for the most recent information.

Top Cobalt Stocks of 2017 on the TSX
By Priscila Barrera, July 5, 2017
Cobalt prices continue to rise on increasing demand for electric vehicles. Tesla (NADASQ:TSLA) remains a hot topic, and many investors are closely watching for the company’s next move — most recently, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that production of Model 3 cars will start on Friday (July 7), and should reach 20,000 units per month by December.
Mass production of lithium-ion batteries will be needed to power these electric cars, which are forecast to number 3.1 million in 2021, according to UBS (NYSE:UBS). And as demand for batteries surges, prices for metals such as cobalt are also expected to soar. In fact, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analyst Caspar Rawles said recently that by 2020 cobalt demand will increase to 76,000 tonnes from 46,000 tonnes in 2016.
In light of those developments, investors interested in the cobalt space are growing more and more interested in cobalt stocks. To help provide a picture of which cobalt-focused companies are making progress this year, we’ve put together a brief overview of the three cobalt stocks on the TSX that have seen the largest share price gains year-to-date. Read on to learn what they’ve been up to in 2017.

1. Katanga Mining (TSX:KAT)

Current price: $0.58; year-to-date gain: 314.29 percent
Major miner Glencore (LSE:GLEN) increased its interest in Katanga Mining to about 86.33 percent earlier this year. The company operates a large-scale copper-cobalt mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo through two joint ventures; the joint ventures are called Kamoto Copper Company and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project.
In 2015, the company announced the decision to suspend the processing of copper and cobalt during the construction phase of its whole ore leach project. The suspension continued through the first two quarters of 2017, and production is not expected to resume until the project is commissioned; that process is expected to commence in Q4 2017.

2. eCobalt Solutions (TSX:ECS)

Current price: $1.17; year-to-date gain: 116.67 percent
eCobalt Solutions is focused on providing battery-grade cobalt salts that are ethically sourced, environmentally sound and produced safely and responsibly in the US. eCobalt’s primary asset is its Idaho cobalt project located in Lemhi County, Idaho.
In the second quarter of 2017, the company continued working on the feasibility study for its Idaho project. In June, eCobalt provided an operational update to its shareholders, noting that it has made progress in several areas.

3. Fortune Minerals (TSX:FT)

Current price: $0.20; year-to-date gain: 60 percent
Fortune Minerals expects to benefit from the development of its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project, located in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The plan is for bulk concentrates from NICO to be shipped to a planned metals processing plant in Saskatchewan. The company is positioned to become a Canadian producer of battery-grade cobalt chemicals with gold and bismuth co-products.
In March, the company closed a bought-deal financing for $6,450,000, and said it expects to use the proceeds for NICO. In April, the company provided an update on its feasibility study for the project.
The data for this article was retrieved on July 5, 2017 using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only TSX-listed cobalt companies with market capitalizations greater than $50 million are included.
Is there a top-gaining cobalt stock on the TSX that we missed? Tell us in the comments below — and don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Fortune Minerals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.

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This article is updated each quarter. Please scroll the top for the most recent information.

Top Cobalt Stocks of 2017 on the TSX
By Priscila Barrera, May 15, 2017
Cobalt prices continue to rise on increasing demand for electric vehicles. Tesla (NADASQ:TSLA) remains a hot topic, and many investors are closely watching for the company’s next move — most recently, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that he will announce locations for “probably four” gigafactories later in 2017.
That interest is not undeserved. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence analyst Caspar Rawles told the Investing News Network last month that in 2016 megafactory demand for cobalt was about 46,000 tonnes, but by 2020 it will increase to 76,000 tonnes. He added, “there’s going to be a lot of growth in the coming years.”
In light of those developments, investors are growing more and more interested in cobalt stocks. To help provide a picture of which cobalt-focused companies are making progress this year, we’ve put together a brief overview of four cobalt stocks on the TSX that have seen share price gains year-to-date. Read on to learn what they’ve been up to in 2017.

1. Katanga Mining (TSX:KAT)

Current price: $0.39; year-to-date gain: 178.57 percent
Major miner Glencore (LSE:GLEN) increased its stake in Katanga Mining to about 86.33 percent earlier this year. The company operates a large-scale copper-cobalt mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo through two joint ventures called Kamoto Copper Company and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project.
Katanga has released little news so far this year. In 2015, the company suspended copper and cobalt processing due to construction activities related to its whole ore leach project. The suspension continued through the first quarter of 2017, and production is not expected to resume until the project is commissioned; that process is expected to commence in Q4 2017. 

2. eCobalt Solutions (TSX:ECS)

Current price: $0.97; year-to-date gain: 79.63 percent
eCobalt Solutions is focused on providing battery-grade cobalt salts that are ethically sourced, environmentally sound and produced safely and responsibly in the US. eCobalt’s primary asset is its Idaho cobalt project, situated in Lemhi County, Idaho.
In February, the company closed a $17.25-million bought-deal financing. In March, eCobalt provided an operational update for its Idaho project, noting that it is expecting final feasibility study results to be ready by Q2.

3. Fortune Minerals (TSX:FT)

Current price: $0.19; year-to-date gain: 52 percent
Fortune Minerals expects to benefit from the development of its NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project, located in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The plan is for a bulk concentrate from NICO to be shipped to a planned metals processing plant in Saskatchewan. The company is positioned to become a Canadian producer of battery-grade cobalt chemicals with gold and bismuth co-products.
In January, Canada’s federal government announced that it will pay 25 percent of the cost of building an all-season road that will help provide access to NICO. More recently, in March, Fortune Minerals closed a bought-deal financing for a total of $6.45 million The following month, the company announced that it continues to work on updating a feasibility study for NICO to support financing for the project.

4. Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN)

Current price: $6.94; year-to-date gain: 8.44 percent
Lundin Mining operates in Chile, the US, Portugal and Sweden. The company primarily produces copper, nickel and zinc, with cobalt as a by-product.
The company completed the sale of its 24-percent stake in the world-class Tenke Fungurume copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo in April, but still holds interest in the Freeport Cobalt Oy business, which includes a cobalt refinery located in Finland. In April, the company reported that its attributable share of Q1 production at Tenke Fungurume included 12,932 tonnes of copper cathode and 861 tonnes of cobalt in hydroxide.
The data for this article was retrieved on May 9, 2017 using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only TSX-listed cobalt companies with market capitalizations greater than $50 million are included.
This is an updated version of an article originally published by the Investing News Network in 2016.
Is there a top-gaining cobalt stock on the TSX that we missed? Tell us in the comments below — and don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Fortune Minerals is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.