Kitco NEWS Interviews Kitco NEWS, David Lin

John Eagleton, CEO of Intellabridge, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the next protocol to gain critical mass adoption.

Grant McCarty, Policy Director of Bitcoin Magazine discusses the ramifications of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on civil liberties with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News.

Last year Northern Graphite (CVE:NGC) leap frogged from a company holding an advanced asset to now being the biggest graphite producer in North America, said Gregory Bowes, CEO and director.

Bowes spoke to Kitco on Tuesday.

Graphite is enjoying an upswing due to energy transition. Graphite is the anode in a lithium ion battery and its single-largest component. On average, a plug-in EV has around 70 kg of graphite. With at least 125 million EVs expected globally by 2030, that’s more than 8 million tonnes of battery-ready graphite needed in the coming decade, according to Kitco commentator Richard Mills.

In December 2021 Northern Graphite acquired two graphite mines from Imerys SA: the Lac des Iles producing graphite mine in Quebec and the Okankande/Okorusu graphite producing operation in Namibia. The $55 million financing was a mixture of debt, financing and royalty agreements led by Sprott.

"It's a truly transformational acquisition for us," said Bowes. "We're going from having one advanced stage project in Ontario to being a producing company immediately. We're buying the only producing North American graphite mine, and we're buying a second mine from them in Namibia, which is on care and maintenance. We'll have it back online in nine to 12 months."

With the deal done the company touts 50,000tpy of graphite production capacity, plus two large development projects with 100,000tpy potential making it the third largest non-Chinese producer.

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Zero premium acquisitions are a thing of the past, according to Peter Marrone, executive chair of Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) who stressed acquirers need to pay fair value.

Marrone spoke to Kitco correspondent Paul Harris at BMO's Global Metals & Mining Conference held in Florida last week.

Yamana recognizes that it may potentially be a target following the acquisition of Kirkland Lake Mining by Agnico Eagle Mines, given it has a 1 million ounces a year production profile at an all-in sustaining cost of around US$900 per ounce, and a number of development projects.

With a wobbly economy and too much household wealth tied up in equities, the markets have less to fear from a hawkish Fed, said Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, responsible for fund management and research at Incrementum AG.
Stoeferle spoke to Kitco on Tuesday. He said there may be a once-a-done rate hike instead of several rate increases some were expecting as the Federal Reserve tries to tamp down inflation.
"Inflation numbers are coming down, so we can actually take a little bit more time with our rate hike campaign. I cannot emphasize it enough: I think the market is expecting [too] much hawkishness from the Federal Reserve. It's ridiculous," said Stoeferle.

Jay Martin, CEO of CambridgeHouse and host of The Jay Martin Show, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the outlook for the economy and some of the safest assets to buy in the event of an economic downturn.