Pilbara Minerals (PLS) was the big lithium presence at this week’s Resources Rising Stars conference, where there was lots of discussion about Tesla wankers and whether the electric vehicle revolution was real.
After braving unusually cold weather on the Gold Coast at a knees up the night before beneath giant tepees erected on the green at the RACV’s Royal Pines resort, Pilbara CEO Ken Brinsden told the assembled throng that it will only be a “matter of time before we all become Tesla wankers”.
He was of course joking about the wanker element. Brinsden’s assessment is that investors shouldn’t be dismissing the EV thematic on the basis that it is hard to spot a Tesla at the local supermarket, or anywhere else for that matter.
His bigger call is that the revolution will get into full disruptive swing once China starts exporting $15,000 EVs. And he reckons that’s just around the corner.
Brinsden’s upbeat assessment is a message he is also delivering to potential partners across the battery materials supply chain. Pilbara is offering to sell a stake of up to 49% in its Pilgangoora lithium/tantalum operation, which for the sake of about $500m, could be expanded a couple of times.
The “partnering process” is one to watch as the recent sales/takeovers involving others in the WA hard-rock lithium space implies a read-through price for 100% of Pilbara at a big premium to its current market price of 68c for a market cap of $1.25 billion.
Plus, Sunstone chief upbeat on porphyry drilling with assays imminent and PolarX validates its exploration strategy with $70m Lundin deal. Read more +
