Pivotal Metals Touts Domestic Supply as Key to Closing Critical Metals Supply Gap

Developing a domestic supply chain for battery metals is key to mitigating the risk of a continued gap in the supply of these critical minerals, according to Pivotal Metals (ASX:PVT) Managing Director Steven Turner.

“We're a big believer in these metals and we've approached it very much from a supply risk perspective,” Turner said. “What we see is that there's a great demand for these metals in the world economies, particularly the modern world economies, where they're trying to transition. But there is a fundamental gap in the supply.”

Turner, however, is encouraged by the political appetite in North America to boost domestic production through federal programs, such as Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy and the US government’s recent investments to expand its domestic critical minerals supply chain.

“We are extremely excited about this. We think it's the right commodity, and we think it’s the right jurisdiction,” he said.

Pivotal Metals is a global developer and explorer of critical minerals and is primarily focused on nickel, copper and platinum-group metals (PGMs). The company’s projects are located in the Belleterre-Angliers greenstone belt in Quebec, Canada.

Turner said Canada has been an important jurisdiction for the company's projects with supportive policies.

“We've got very, very comfortable with the jurisdiction,” the chief executive said. "We've seen what they're doing in Canada in terms of supporting critical metals development. Last year, they did a C$3.8 billion budget to support the development of critical metals. And we can see that they're putting their money where their mouth is."

In December 2022, Pivotal Metals acquired the Horden Lake copper-nickel-PGMs deposit, boosting its Canadian portfolio. The company plans to further define this deposit and is seeking to grow the resource.

Turner said Pivotal Metals plans to develop the Horden Lake deposit “and take it as far as we can.”

“In doing so, we continue to create value and maybe, at some point, we become very attractive to somebody else. That's always an exit option … The best way to position yourself and make yourself attractive is to actually drive forward the project and put it into a very firm footing,” Turner said.

Watch the full interview with Pivotal Metals managing director Steven Turner above.