Newlox Gold reports Q1 financials + CEO interview

Company: Newlox Gold Ventures Corp
ESGFIRE 5 year price target: 9,28 -13,6 CAD
Listings : Canadian Securities Exchange, Frankfurt , US OTC Pink sheets, Formal US OTC in progress
Tickers: LUX, NGO , NWLXF
Market cap at time of publication: 49,4 M CAD
Stock price at time of publication: 0,405 CAD
Number of shares fully diluted 190,390,637
Business: Environmentally friendly and socially responsible gold mining
Market Size: US$27bn – US$180bn 
Website: https://newloxgold.com/

Newlox Gold yesterday (30/8 2021) reported their consolidated financials for the 3 months ending of June 2021.
We are happy to see that revenues s are doubling from 134 000 CAD to 266 000 CAD but what’s even more fascinating is to see that the gross margin is a staggering 64,5 % ! This certainly bodes well for the future expansion. The cash position was also very comfortable at close to 3.2 million CAD. The full report can be found here.

3 quick questions with Ryan Jackson, CEO of Newlox Gold

ESG: 1. What catalysts are you most looking forward to in the next 6 months for Newlox Gold?

Ryan:
Newlox Gold has four main initiatives currently underway; ramp-up of productivity at Plant 1, construction at the Boston Project, expansion into the Brazilian market, and technology development. In the next six months, we believe that the catalysts will be the achievement of full-scale operations, and the associated cashflow, at Plant 1, commissioning of the Boston Expansion Project in Costa Rica, and the announcement of our first Brazilian project.  


ESG : 2. How do you view your current funding capabilities and liquidity position?

Ryan:
The Company currently has a strong treasury and is fully funded for the ramp-up of Plant 1 and the completion of construction and commissioning at the Boston Expansion Project. Part of our financing strategy is the expectation that the Company’s investors will exercise their convertible securities. All the warrants outstanding a firmly in the money, and we are regularly receiving wire transfers to top up the Company’s treasury. This represents financing that does not require more legal or finder’s fees and supports Newlox’s regional expansion strategy. The combination of internal cashflow and financing from warrant exercise will likely make up a large percentage of the initial funding for our medium-term plans.


ESG: 3. What do you see as the biggest challenges foNewlox Gold to reach its goal of extracting +145,000 ounces of gold in 5 years?

Ryan:
Newlox Gold is growing rapidly; however, it is still a small company. Because of this, human resources are the major consideration when executing our regional growth strategy. We have access to a strong pipeline of expansion projects in many countries, the major reason we picked Brazil is because the company has excellent contacts there including experienced and trustworthy engineers and geologists. Growing our team, especially in new jurisdictions, will be an exciting challenge for us but we benefit from the legions of young engineers who have trained under Dr Veiga, Dr De Tomi, and Dr Sobral over the years.

Legal Disclaimer:

We own shares of this company personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. My posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.

Newlox Gold, A safer ESG bet on gold

Company: Newlox Gold Ventures Corp
ESGFIRE 5 year price target: 9,28 -13,6 CAD
Listings : Canadian Securities Exchange, Frankfurt , US OTC Pink sheets, Formal US OTC in progress
Tickers: LUX, NGO , NWLXF
Market cap at time of publication: 48,79M CAD
Stock price at time of publication: 0,40 CAD
Number of shares fully diluted 190,390,637
Business: Environmentally friendly and socially responsible gold mining
Market Size: US$27bn – US$180bn 
Website: https://newloxgold.com/

Short summary:


We are initiating coverage on Newlox Gold which is a junior gold mining company like no other on the public market. In fact it’s more fair to call Newlox Gold an Environmental remediation company. Newlox Gold’s works with local artisanal miners (with which they share profits ) to clean up historical mining waste while simultaneously recovering precious metals. They have developed revolutionary technology that recovers precious metals from historical mining sites, waste areas as well as recently mined rock using non-toxic reagents. Since the company’s unique OAR technology uses NO water in the extraction process this is as ESG friendly as it gets in the gold mining industry. The OAR technology which currently is planned to commence in-field testing later this year or early in 2022 is further explained below. The company is initially targeting an untapped US$27bn market using a solid low capex business model. Newlox Gold technology could potentially be applied to the whole formal gold industry valued at US$180bn. Seeing as there are almost no formal companies focusing on the artisanal mining industry Newlox Gold has a great first mover advantage.

The business idea of Newlox gold is to extract gold, silver (and other metals in some projects) by working with local artisanal miners. In simplified terms the company recovers mainly gold from historical waste material as well as ore mined by artisanal miners in Latin America. The implication of this is that the projects that the company execute have far less risk than other junior gold miners. Junior gold mining companies typically spend millions of dollars to find gold but Newlox Gold already knows where to find it. For example Newlox Gold does not have to perform expensive geological examinations nor do they need to perform expensive drilling projects and instead they can work in areas which have historical and ongoing gold mining. Traditional artisanal mining technology can extract only 40 % of the gold it mines, Newlox Gold technology on the other hand can extract over 90 %. 

The initial project for the company is in Costa Rica. This is a country that has suffered environmental damage from mercury use in gold recovery by artisanal miners. In the second quarter ongoing, the plan is to ramp up gold production from tailings at its first plant and commission a second plant in Costa Rica to crush ore to be brought there by miners. Newlox Gold also plans to initiate a third and fourth project in Brazil as recently announced. The operations are fully funded for both projects in Costa Rica and for the Due Diligence being performed in Brazil and they plan to finance further expansions mainly using existing cashflow or debt financing, so it does not dilute shareholders. The company is basically debt free apart from a convertible debenture totalling 4 MCAD.

The goal for Newlox is to become a mid-cap gold producer within the next 5 years.

Stock history background

Newlox Gold went public in 2014 through the purchase of a shell company and their first financing was done at $0.05 CAD with a $0.10 warrant.  The road has not been fast or straight, but the company is now quickly approaching profitability and we believe the company has enormous potential moving forward despite a huge return on the share price in the last 12 months. The company has achieved significant milestones lately which has fuelled the surge in the share price meaning there are fundamentals to back the latest increase in the share price. Recently famous Canadian investor Robert Mc Whirter has invested in the company and have brought with him a lot of attention from the general investor community [1]. We see it as a strong bullish signal that Mc Whirter has chosen to invest in Newlox, he reportedly purchased shares at 22 cents originally.

Ownership structure

Insiders and other persons/corporations who are considered close to insiders hold approximately 30 % of the shares in Newlox Gold. Current institutional ownership is hard to come by however participation in company’s financings has been made by several institutions such as Canaccord, Desjardins, Hampton, and Quinsam Capital. Quinsam Capital and its principal, Roger Dent, at one point filed statements that it held over 10% of Newlox Gold. As previously stated, famous Canadian investor Robert McWhirter has also recently disclosed that he has taken a considerable position in the company.

Technology and market overview

The global market for gold should reach $189.6 billion by 2022 up from $163.9 billion in 2017 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.0% from 2017 to 2022.

It may be rather unknown to the larger investment community that Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) is a major source of mineral production in the world.[2] The typical ASM production facility is unfortunately associated with low safety, high levels of work accidents and poor environmental / health aspects. In many countries ASM workers use mercury for gold extraction. Mercury is used to mix with gold-containing materials, forming a mercury-gold amalgam which is then heated, vaporizing the mercury to obtain the gold. This process can potentially be extremely dangerous and brings with it significant health and environmental risks and not to forget also inefficient. Initiatives such as the Minamata convention, a global agreement, aims to reduce the use of mercury in gold production. For those who wish to read more about Artisanal mining without the use of Mercury we recommend reading below.[3] . Amalgamation technique which is being used by ASM miners is not favoured by the gold industry at large because it creates pollution and it is not very effective although the technique has been used before more effective methods were developed.

Newlox Gold is currently using a gold extraction technique called gravity and floatation technology for which they have designed a customized approach. This technology is widely used and does not require patenting.  This technology uses a customized intensive carbon in leach (CIL) system which has been designed in partnership with the Company’s advisors at the Norman B Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia. The company, according to management, plans to duplicate this process at each project to ensure they deploy a suitable system based on every projects individual conditions. Worth mentioning is that the company has a very strong technical team, good relationships with governments and university labs which adds credibility and strength on all projects executions. This technology is already highly profitable for the company.

Newlox Gold currently has a technology under development in late stage research used for recovering gold at a potentially higher than previously possible extraction rate and in a way which does not require mercury or any other harmful toxins. The technology, which is called organic aqua regia (OAR) also uses considerably less water than current methods.

Water management is a big deal in the mining industry; mining competes with other uses, such as domestic and agricultural, and any reduction in water use has significant advantages, especially in arid climates. Additionally, because the process does not use water as an input, there is no wastewater, or effluent, produced. This is a major environmental advantage because the management of effluent, and potentially chemical residues, is a major problem in the resource industry. This creates an extremely improved working environment for ASM miners, a more sustainable environment and contributes to an improved social community for local miners.

Newlox Gold has stated that they are currently not applying patents for this process however they may do this at a later time. The reason for this is, according to the company’s CEO that “The patent process can be lengthy and costly while providing international entities with process details for reverse engineering. At present, our strategy is to develop the technology, test it in the lab now and in the field at our processing plant later this year. We may enter the patent process once the technology is mature. We can begin marketing to third parties at that time, giving us a firm first mover’s advantage while being covered by patent pending. OAR is non-toxic, requires no water, and has delivered over 95% recovery in stage 1 testing. We are very excited by this research and are currently undertaking stage 2 R&D. “

Lastly the most exciting technology under development by Newlox Gold is the so called low-energy mercury remediation system. The company is developing this technology in a partnership with their advisor Luis Sobral at CETEM (the Brazilian National Metallurgical Lab).
Field testing has been done and a commercial sized unit is currently in process of being deployed. This technology will most likely be revolutionizing for the disastrousenvironmental effects that gold mining with mercury has caused.


To conclude Newlox Gold has several unique technologies which have been developed using a very little of the company’s time and capital,  while delivering extremely promising results.  The current value of the research and development department of Newlox Gold does not seem to be priced into the evaluation of the company by the market. Especially the organic aqua regia (OAR) system which could potentially change the whole way that the US$180bn formal gold industry is performing today and generate substantial licensing revenues! It should however be mentioned that this technology is currently in stage 2 research. The first round of testing showed that the technology could dissolve almost 100 % of ore material during elevated temperature at ambient Costa Rican levels. The next stage should be to test the scalability of the technology. We expect the company to provide a full report on the technology this fall (2021) and perhaps a teaser before this, according to the company’s latest webinar presentation (14/5 2021).

Business model

Newlox Gold intends to grow their business using a low capex business model using cashflow from ongoing operations for organic growth. The plan is to use the profits expected from projects in Costa Rica to finance the Brazilian expansion. This is very interesting for any potential shareholder since this could mean far less dilution than having to fund growth with repetitive external capital injections. The company already has full funding for their two first plants. The company also has an inhouse laboratory which means they can get lab results far quicker than having to wait several weeks and sometimes months to determine the quality of potential mining sites.

The current technology applied by the company has raised the efficient level of gold recovery from 40 % to 90+ % and according to our interview with the company the OAR system of their R&D project could raise this far above 90 %.

As previously stated, the company applies a profit-sharing model with their ASM mining partners. The two first projects are located in Costa Rica which is a democratic stable and developed country that has 98 % renewable energy production[4]. At the company’s first processing plant however, they are simply buying artisanal tailings, which is basically waste material, on a tonnage basis model. The company’s second project, also called the Boston project, has a 50/50 profit sharing agreement with local ASM miners. The way it works is local ASM miners supply the Newlox Gold facility with raw material from local mines and the company does the chemical processing. The great part of this is that it can reduce social and environmental problems that are normally accustomed with ASM mining. The miners in turn receive payment equal to the same amount of tonne they usually mine but it frees up more time for them to work on improving their community and with considerable added beneficial health aspects as they do not have to deal with mercury or any other toxic materials.  The company calls this the “Partner mining model and we assume this model will be applied in other upcoming projects. Usually ASM miners are able to extract 40 % gold recovery rate from tailings, with Newlox Gold the local miner cooperatives get to profit split a recovery rate of 90 % without having to do the hard work of processing the tailings. The ASM miners are processing mined rock and getting 40% of the gold, Newlox is the only one processing tailings. Because of this, the local miners can earn the same amount per tonne that they normally mine by working with Newlox Gold, but they save a lot of time and effort as well as gain improved health since they do not need to use any toxic materials for their extraction. This in turn leads to higher profits while addressing the environmental and social issues usually associated with artisanal mining.

Each Newlox plant has a low Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of between 2-3 million USD. The company expects all projects will pay back their entire capex in less than one year at full production. The 5-year plan of the company is to commission 2 new plants each year to reach a total production of +145,000 ounces per year. If this plan is successful it equates revenues of close to 260 million USD per year based on a gold price of 1816 USD per ounce.

Newlox gold activities have been well received by the government of Costa Rica as they provide a solution to a real environmental problem. We are expecting this welcoming to continue on other geographical locations where the company seeks to establish their business since they improve both the environmental aspects as well as the social aspects of the community where they are engaged.

The company currently operates with a 9 gram per tonne gold grade cut off because material at the grade is easily available. Gold prices does not have to increase for it to be profitable to process these tailings for Newlox Gold. The recently reported  project one has total gold recovery cash costs of only $535 per ounce.

One big revenue aspect that could potentially transform the whole revenue model is if Newlox Gold manages to license out their OAR technology to other miners and mining sectors.


The revenue potential for this licensing could be far bigger than the company’s goal of +145,000 ounces per year / 260 Million USD in annual revenues.

5-year ESGFIRE price target: 13,6 CAD calculation

We believe the current plan of Newlox Gold to commission 2 new plants each year and reach production numbers of +145,000 ounces per year to be realistic. The reasons for our assessment is that the company has revolutionizing technology which has already proven to give an astoundingly fast return on capex in as little as less than a year. The company seems to have no visible problems finding new projects and they have so far been well received on all locations where they have established themselves. In fact the company’s 5-year plan may even be slightly overcautious as it does not take into account any revenues from technology licensing or joint venture partnerships.

At current gold prices the company’s 5-year production target would equal 260 million USD in revenues. Using conservative numbers and applying the 50 / 50 profit sharing model on the entire revenue stream the pre-tax profit should stand at 131 million USD. Using standard Canadian corporate tax of 28 % the net profit should be 94.32 million USD. These numbers are excluding any potential revenues from licensing out Newlox Gold technology or joint venture partnerships.

The current number of shares fully diluted is currently 190,390,637. Applying the 94.32 million USD net profit gives us an earnings per share of 0,495 USD.
Mature gold miners in Canada are currently valued between 15 – 30 X EPS. We will be using a 15-22 X multiple for conservative calculations.
Applying 15- 22 X EPS multiple on Newlox Gold’s possible 5-year EPS of 0,495 USD gives us an implied share value between 7,425 – 10.89 USD.

This equates to 9.28 – 13.61 CAD and a 23 – 34 X upside on today’s stock price at 0,40 CAD. We believe Newlox Gold due to its unique ESG aspects is worth to be valued at least at a multiple of 22 X earnings (if not higher) if they can reach their 5-year target.

Current ongoing operations

We will be assuming gold prices of 1816 USD per ounce in our calculations.

The two projects in Costa Rica are currently ramping up to produce at full scale in the next few months, according to the company’s latest investor webinar  (13/7 2021)  they are expecting to provide an update on this shortly. . Project number one in Oro Roca is estimated to process 80 tons of tailing per day with 9 grams of gold per ton. Applying a 90% recovery rate gives us 648 grams of gold per day or 20.83 troy ounces of gold. Applying 320 operational days per year gives us 6667 ounces of gold equaling 12.107million USD in revenues and with a cost of $535 per ounce the gross profit should equal 8.54 million USD per year for this project alone. Newlox Gold buys tailings from local ASM miners at a cost of 200 USD per truckload.

The second project called the Boston project is run with a profit-sharing partner model. Local ASM miners simply bring ore material to Newlox facility which saves them time and also pays better than extracting the gold by themselves. Local methods seldom give a higher extraction rate than 40% and with Newlox technology over 90% the ASM miners get 50% of the net profit without the excruciating and health damaging labour associated with their usual extraction that often uses mercury.

The production numbers are stated to be at 150 tons of tailing per day giving approximately 15 grams of gold per ton. With 90% extraction rate this equals 2025 grams of gold per day, or 65.1 ounces. Assuming operations of 300 days per year this should equal to 19531 ounces of gold extracted per year. Total revenue should stand at 35.47 million USD per year with a net profit after profit splitting of approximately 15 million USD using conservative figures. This project is expected to be in production this year and ramping-up to full scale in 2022.

On these two projects alone the total gross profit should therefore equate to approximately 23,8 million USD. In Costa Rica Newlox Gold has signed agreements with ALL local ASM mining cooperatives (according to CEO Ryan Jackson on investor webinar 13/7 2021). Currently Newlox Gold is doing due diligence for three projects in Brazil. The company already has the team on the ground and contacts necessary in Brazil thanks to Doctor Veiga and Doctor Giorgio De Tomi. Doctor De Tomi has worked closely with Doctor Veiga alongside ASM miners.
Doctor Veiga is of Brazilian origin and probably has the most knowledge about ASM mining globally. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for Newlox Gold to enter the Brazil as its next market.

To give a comparison of the size this market has it should be mentioned that in Costa Rica there is a total of 1000 ASM miners. A single project in Brazil on the other hand engages close to 6000 miners in one cooperative. The area that Newlox Gold is currently doing due diligence in had an active production of close to 5 tons of gold in 2020. According to the latest investor webinar by the company (13/7 2021) some drilling is being made and results have so far been very encouraging. The due diligence of Brazil is expected to be done later this year. Decision on which projects to go forth with and construction should begin early next year (2022). The infrastructure challenge in Brazil is greater than in Costa Rica which could pose some challenges for scaling up production. Having Doctor De Tomi on the team certainly helps since he is considered somewhat of a local hero in Brazil (According to the latest investor webinar by the company 13/7 2021) .

Upcoming catalysts for Newlox Gold Stock


– Sales numbers  
Newlox Gold released their latest financials sometime at the beginning of August 2021 which did not show exciting revenues. However, they were early in the ramp-up of operations at Plant 1 in Costa Rica and recent company news shows that plant operations have reached 50 tonnes per day this summer. The recent update on operations stated that production is being achieved with a cash cost of approximately 535 USD per ounce and operations are now past the break-even point and continuing to grow.

– Initiation of new projects
Newlox Gold has already informed the market of two potential prospective areas suitable for gold extraction in Brazil. The projects are currently in due diligence. The initiation of these projects should be an important catalyst for the company. Other potential new markets for projects could be Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Giana and Nicaragua (in which the company believes they are close to signing a deal according to the latest investor webinar 13/7 2021).

-Licensing of technologies
With the unique technology that Newlox Gold is developing we would not be surprised if the company took the chance to earn licensing fees from this once the technology is fully protected.
The mining industry has historically been very conservative since companies spend millions of dollars derisking projects with various tested and tried technology features. Newlox Gold will use their inhouse developed technology themselves and will have plenty of demonstration facilities to show potential customers if their various technology projects are proven to be successful.


-Expansion in Costa Rica
According to the latest operational webinar by Newlox Gold (13/7 2021) there are two other areas where the company could potentially expand into two other locations , these locations are according to the company a bit trickier to expand into due to regulatory factors however it’s not something that management is ruling out.


-JV partners
It’s not unlikely that the company might be approached by large joint venture partners who are interested in doing mutual projects using Newlox Gold technology. This could also provide an important share price catalyst. In the latest operational webinar (13/7 2021) management expressed that expansion beyond Latin America would likely be in the form of a Joint venture partnership.

-ESG premium on gold sales
It’s not inconceivable that a gold producer like Newlox Gold may be paid premium prices for their gold if they can develop some form of ESG standard that consumers are willing to pay higher prices for. With the global consumer market becoming increasingly aware of the environmental and social aspects of mining production this could prove to be an important differentiator.

-Profitability leading to dividends                 
Management has ambition for Newlox Gold to become a company that can pay out sizeable dividends and with their smart low capex business model this should prove to be an exciting upcoming catalyst.


– Quicker expansion with debt financing
The company currently only has roughly 4 million CAD in convertible debenture on the liability side.
A faster expansion with the help of loans and other types of debt financing could prove very lucrative for Newlox Gold. Stated during the investor webinar (13/7 2021) CEO Ryan Jackson does not rule out debt financing however plant 1 needs to come into full production in order to prove the business model for debt financing from banks.  Since the company is currently fully funded for their first two projects and the due diligence period in Brazil, they count on being able to finance forward capex through a combination of internal cashflow, the continued exercise of existing convertible securities, and potential outside investment.


Risks associated with an investment in Newlox Gold

Although we at ESGFIRE consider Newlox Gold to be a far less riskier investment than other junior gold miners there are several risk aspects that investors need to be aware of.
The section below addresses some, but not all, risks associated with an investment in Newlox Gold.

Political risks
The current geographical locations which Newlox Gold are currently active in (Costa Rica + Brazil) have stable democracies and prospering economies however, as these are located in Latin America, this is not something which can be taken for granted. Investors should be aware that political turbulence can affect an investment in the company negatively.

-Uncompliant local miners
One risks risk is that the local miners may not want to participate in the company’s endeavours, but these projects have government support because of the environmental concerns. Seeing as local miners also make the same amount of money with far less work, we view this as a miniscule risk.

-Fluctuations in gold prices
Gold prices are currently at an historical all time high. Fluctuations in gold pricing will most certainly affect the profit and revenues of Newlox Gold. The advantage that Newlox has however is that their cost of production is considerably lower than for other junior gold miners. However, this is a risk that must be considered.
https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart

-Covid-19
Production had to be shut down in June 2020 at Newlox plant 1 due to Covid-19 and was reopened in November the same year. Production remained steady throughout the second wave of cases in Costa Rica so hopefully the facilities should be able to work without shutting down despite new waves of Covid-19. This is however a risk that should be addresses since production could be halted at some or all facilities if there is a peak in local cases.

-Technology intrusion
Newlox Gold has the ambition to patent their unique OAR technology. Since the technology is revolutionizing it’s not unlikely that competitors may attempt to either reverse engineer or simply copy the technology which could result in costly legal battles for the company.

-Technology risks
Newlox Gold’s revolutionizing OAR (organic aqua regia) technology has yet to be tested on a large scale. The company has received results which are very promising and at this stage it’s a matter of being able to scale at a big enough size. One interesting aspect of this is being able to recycle the reagent of the process which commercial actors have shown interest in. Should the technology not work on a large scale this could significantly affect the company’s business model.


Management overview

Our loyal followers know we only invest in companies that have a great management team and our investment in Newlox Gold is no different. The company hosts an impressive line-up of executives and advisors described below.
Management team

Further introduction:

Ryan Jackson CEO
Holds degrees from McGill University in environmental science, with an emphasis on human health, and political science. He has worked in the mining industry both in the field and in the boardroom and spent three years as the Canadian editor of an international mining industry magazine. Ryan’s experience in the industry includes field work, primarily in Latin America, as well as business development in North America, Europe, and East Asia.

Jeffrey Benavides CFO
Jeffrey Benavides, Chief Financial Officer – Resides in Costa Rica and manages the accounts payables, receivables, payroll, cost controls, purchasing systems, and inventory control. He is an experienced chartered accountant and computer engineer with extensive managerial experience and a background in mining. Mr. Benavides has over a decade of experience in mining in Latin America and manages a capable team of engineers, geologists, and technical personnel.

Dr Giorgio de Tomi – a valuable edition for the Brazilian expansion!

Dr. de Tomi has over 30 years of experience in the resource sector and has a degree in mining engineering from the University of Sao Paulo, a Ph.D. from the Imperial College, London, and an MSc from Southern Illinois University, USA. He leads the Centre for Responsible Mining, at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, as an associate professor and former Head of the Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering. Dr. De Tomi is a Fellow of The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (FIMMM, UK), Chartered Engineer CEng (Engineering Council, UK). He is a member of SME (USA) and acts as mining QP and CP for numerous mining enterprises worldwide. Currently, he is a member of the Technical Board of CBBR (Brazilian Commission for Mineral Resources and Reserves), a member of the Executive Board of EMBRAPII’s Unit Tecnogreen, a Research Scholar with FAPESP and CNPq (Brazil) and a member of the Editorial Board of the Mining Technology journal and the Brazil Mineral journal (Please see the link here to Dr. De Tomi’s professional biography: https://bit.ly/3qd93PQ).We believe the recent addition of Dr De Tomi will be very valuable for Newlox Expansion into the Brazilian market since he has an extensive contact network and has professional experience working  in Brazil.

Advisory board

Further introduction:
Marcello Veiga, Chief Technical Advisor – Has over 40 years of experience in the resource field, including degrees in Metallurgical Engineering, Environmental Geochemistry, and a doctorate in Mining and Mineral Process Engineering. Dr. Veiga is a professor at the Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering at the University of British Columbia and was the Chief Technical Advisor of the GEF/UNDP/UNIDO Global Mercury Project based in Vienna. Marcello is the global academic leader in artisanal mining and is a well-versed in the technical, environmental, and social challenges of working with artisanal mining. Doctor Veiga is considered one of the leading scientists of the global mining industry and his participation in Newlox Gold is an extreme quality stamp for Newlox Gold.

Competitors

Below is not a complete list of competitors but we have chosen the most relevant ones for Newlox Gold comparison.

Bactech Environmental corp – Market cap 9 MCAD
https://bactechgreen.com/

BacTech’s is planning to build a 50 tonnes per day bioleach plant capable of treating high gold/arsenic material in Ponce Enriquez, Ecuador. According to their calculations A 50 tpd plant, processing 1.5 ounces of gold per tonne of feed, would produce approximately 26,000 ounces per year. Plant designs are modular and can be expanded without affecting ongoing production. The actual capex per plant is calculated at approximately 10M  USD which is 5 X more than the capex of Newlox Gold. However, test results have shown promising results with gold recoveries of 99.4% and 100% for prospective plant feeds validated (announced April 21, 2021) through ongoing ALS diagnostic test work. The first plant is planned to commence construction in Q1 of 2022.The company seems promising but have not yet proven anything on a larger scale.



Dynacor – Market cap 98 MCAD

Dynacor is a dividend-paying industrial gold and silver ore processor headquartered in Montreal, Canada. The corporation is engaged in gold production through the processing of ore purchased from the ASM (artisanal and small-scale mining) industry. At present, Dynacor operates in Peru, where its management and processing teams have decades of experience working with ASM miners. It also owns a gold exploration property (Tumipampa) in the Apurimac department. They are expecting to process approximately 375 tons per day in 2021.  Dynacor produces environmental and socially responsible gold through its PX IMPACT® gold program. The artisanal miners benefit via reinvestment of the premium into their communities Dynacor is trading at P/E ratio of 20 which makes us confident that Newlox Gold should at least be trading in the same range. The fact that they have been able to sell gold at a premium also makes us confident Newlox Gold should be able to do the same thing.

Conclusion

We believe Newlox Gold is the most ESG friendly and safest (although obviously not risk free) bet on gold in the public market. Their technology has largely been proven, they are approaching full production and their capex is currently fully funded. Management has a great track record and the participation of Doctor Vega and Doctor De Tomi adds both credibility and serious leverage when negotiating with governments and other stakeholders. What remains to be seen is if management can scale up as quickly as they have planned, according to management it does not seem to be a lack of potential mining sites in their targeted geographical area. With close to a 30 bagger potential based on the company’s own 5 year projections excluding any potential licensing revenues or JV projects. We believe now is the time to jump on the journey with Newlox Gold and that this is truly an investment everyone can feel good about from an ESG perspective. The company  truly improves both the environment and the social aspects of the local population on all fronts where they are in business.

3 quick questions with Ryan Jackson, CEO of Newlox Gold

ESG: 1. What catalysts are you most looking forward to in the next 6 months for Newlox Gold?

Ryan:
Newlox Gold has four main initiatives currently underway; ramp-up of productivity at Plant 1, construction at the Boston Project, expansion into the Brazilian market, and technology development. In the next six months, we believe that the catalysts will be the achievement of full-scale operations, and the associated cashflow, at Plant 1, commissioning of the Boston Expansion Project in Costa Rica, and the announcement of our first Brazilian project.  


ESG : 2. How do you view your current funding capabilities and liquidity position?

Ryan:
The Company currently has a strong treasury and is fully funded for the ramp-up of Plant 1 and the completion of construction and commissioning at the Boston Expansion Project. Part of our financing strategy is the expectation that the Company’s investors will exercise their convertible securities. All the warrants outstanding a firmly in the money, and we are regularly receiving wire transfers to top up the Company’s treasury. This represents financing that does not require more legal or finder’s fees and supports Newlox’s regional expansion strategy. The combination of internal cashflow and financing from warrant exercise will likely make up a large percentage of the initial funding for our medium-term plans.


ESG: 3. What do you see as the biggest challenges for Newlox Gold to reach its goal of extracting +145,000 ounces of gold in 5 years?

Ryan:
Newlox Gold is growing rapidly; however, it is still a small company. Because of this, human resources are the major consideration when executing our regional growth strategy. We have access to a strong pipeline of expansion projects in many countries, the major reason we picked Brazil is because Company has excellent contacts there including experienced and trustworthy engineers and geologists. Growing our team, especially in new jurisdictions, will be an exciting challenge for us but we benefit from the legions of young engineers who have trained under Dr Veiga, Dr De Tomi, and Dr Sobral over the years.


[1] https://ticotimes.net/2020/12/18/costa-ricas-electric-grid-powered-by-98-renewable-energy-for-6th-straight-year


[1] https://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item?bid=Z-C:LUX-3026396&symbol=LUX&region=C

[2] https://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/mne/artisanal-small-scale-miner-hub.htm

[3] https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/artisanal-and-small-scale-gold-mining-without-mercury

[4] https://ticotimes.net/2020/12/18/costa-ricas-electric-grid-powered-by-98-renewable-energy-for-6th-straight-year

Legal Disclaimer:

We own shares of this company personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. My posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.

CIELO ANNOUNCES THE CLOSING OF THE PURCHASE OF THE FORT SASKATCHEWAN INDUSTRIAL SITE AND CDN$12M LOAN

Ticker: CMC.V / CWSFF
Listings: TSX Venture Exchange / US OTC / Frankfurt
Website:https://www.cielows.com/
Market Cap: 697 MCAD at time of publication
Share price: 1.08 CAD at time of publication
Industry: Converting waste to renewable fuel

Cielo Waste Solutions has today announced that it has closed on the acquisition of a 60 acre industrial site with a 31,750 square
foot industrial building in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta . The Company also
announces that, immediately prior to the closing of the acquisition of the Property and
completion of the Loan, it repaid an existing loan with a principal amount of CND$1M.


Cielo management believes it has received substantial savings on this asset. The
previous owner developed the Property in 2014/2015 and spent approximately CDN$22M
on site development, compaction and gravelling of the entire yard, which is also fenced
and lighted, and the erection of a sizable building that Cielo can utilize for its purposes.


Cielo was able to purchase the Property for CDN$13M, a net realized savings of
approximately CND$9M as well as construction costs
. In addition to the cost savings, the
site has been more than adequately prepared for Cielo to begin planning its waste to fuel
facility and therefore save substantial time in development.


Don Allan, President and CEO of Cielo, stated: “We believe this location will quickly
advance Cielo’s commercial development in Canada’s largest hydrocarbon industrial
park. We have Canada’s two largest rail companies with their rail yards in direct sight,
offtake customers for our waste to fuel products, feed stock suppliers and all required
subtrades and service vendors in close proximity.”
The Company, as borrower, concurrently closed a CDN$12M mortgage loan (the
“Loan”) from First Choice Financial Incorporated (“FCF”) and KV Capital Inc. (“KV”), as
lenders. The Company used the net proceeds from the Loan towards the purchase
price of the Property. The Loan is subject to an annual interest rate of 6% and is
secured with the assets of the Fort Saskatchewan and the Aldersyde facilities. The
Loan has a 12 month term, which is subject to automatic renewal at the end of the
original term for further six month periods in consideration for a renewal fee equal to
1.5% of the then outstanding balance, subject to the lenders’ rights to terminate the
automatic renewal at their discretion.
The Company has issued 12,000,000 non-transferable share purchase warrants (the
“Bonus Warrants”) as inducement for the Loan. Each Loan Bonus Warrant will entitle
the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at an exercise price of
CDN$1.00 for a period of 36 months, however, in the event that the Loan is repaid in
whole or in part during its term, a pro rata number of the total Bonus Warrants will have
their term reduced to the date that is 90 days from such repayment.
The TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSX-V”) has conditionally approved the terms of the
Loan and the Bonus Warrants, noting the terms thereof had substantially been agreed
upon prior to the listing of the Company’s shares on the TSX-V.


Don Allan further states: “We also appreciate FCF’s continued support of Cielo and belief
in our vision for the Company to become a leader and dominant player in the renewable
energy sector. We want to thank FCF as their investment in Cielo over the last year has
firmly positioned Cielo with the capital needed to complete several ongoing initiatives.
FCF also introduced us to KV, who has shown strong interest in supporting Cielo with
future financing opportunities.”


Vikas Sharma, President of FCF, stated “First Choice Financial is proud to be a funding
partner of Cielo Waste Solutions. FCF always looks for companies with unique business
models to assist them in achieving their goals. FCF is proud to support Cielo which, we
believe, through their hard work and propriatery technology, has the potential to change
the world as we know it. Plastics, landfill waste, and emissions are all global problems
and we believe Cielo has the ability to transform the way the world deals with these
issues, which have real life impacts to our environment and health. We are pleased to be
supporting Cielo’s decision in acquiring this new land as they have proven their
technology through their existing Aldersyde facility, and expansion seems to be the next
logical step. FCF has been a long time supporter of Cielo and its global mission and looks
forward to further supporting Cielo in its future endeavours and being a trusted ally in
building a sustainable future.”


Aleem Virani, KV Capital’s CEO, stated “This financing is another example of KV Capital’s
commitment to the success of its clients through our focus on making complex financial
transactions as simple and efficient as possible. We are proud of our team’s flexibility,
creativity, and speed of execution in completing this deal and our role in supporting the
growth of an innovative and dynamic company like Cielo.”

ESG comments: We are please to see the purchase of the Fort Saskatchewan site finalize.
This is yet another important pusle piece coming together for the massive expansion of Cielo Waste Solutions.
We are also eagerly awaiting to hear , hopefully within 4-6 weeks, on the progress of the
dezulphurisation process currently being installed at the Aldersyde site.

Legal Disclaimer:

We own shares of this company personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. Our posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.

Management interview with Char Technologies after Breakthrough order with Hitachi Zosen Inova

Company: Char Technologies Ltd
Listing: TSX Venture, US OTC
Tickers: $YES.V / $CTRNF
Market cap: 55.74 MCAD at time of publication
Share price: 0.79 CAD at time of publication
Website: https://www.chartechnologies.com/
Comparable peers:
Xebec, $XBC Market cap $642 MCAD
Greenlane renewables, $GRN, Mcap $210 MCAD

Char Technologies has a patented and unique product that can now replace regular coal in coal power plants with Biocoal and also produce Renewable natural gas / hydrogen which has a tremendously positive impact for the environment. Char is Converting challenging organic streams into a greenhouse gas neutral biocoal and second generation Renewable Natural Gas (RNG)” or green hydrogen. CHAR’s pyrolysis technology is recognized as a potential future solution by NYC DEP to process biosolids into value-add products. Char also has a solution to contamination of PFAS in landfills and water reserves. Competitors Xebec & Greenlane renewables both participate in first-generation anaerobic digestion (biogas) technology , Char technologies has what is known as second generation biogas technology .

Char Technologies recently received a breakthrough order from the large corporation Hitachi Zosen Inova. We decided to have a sit down with management to ask about the implications and how the business is progressing. Below you will find a transcript of the interview call done with CEO Andrew White and CFO Mark Korol.


ESG: Welcome to the interview with ESGFIRE Andrew !
Char Technologies recently announced a big breakthrough order from the large corporation Hitachi Zosen Inova . Can you please tell us what you think this order means for Char technologies?


Andrew:
The short answer is it could eventually lead to putting a Char Technologies plant on all  100 Hitachi plants worldwide.

In general, for high temperature pyrolysis, we are currently working with 3 different market verticals. These are
1. Processing woody wastes to make our cleanfyre product used in steel mills, as well as second generation renewable natural gas.
2. Processing digestate and turning this into syngas, renewable natural gas or green hydrogen (as is the case with Hitachi).
3. Processing biosolids.

Our order from Hitachi is in the digestate vertical and they have a well established waste to energy biogas firm and have built over 100 plants worldwide. Their plants essentially turn organic waste into biogas. The facility where we are putting our system in with Hitachi is what we could call a showcase / lighthouse facility. It’s a site to demonstrate our product for clients in North America.

Being on this site lets us tap into and leverage the sales funnel of Hitachi. As previously stated it could eventually lead to putting a Char Technologies plant on all Hitachi plants worldwide. For distributing green hydrogen this is a smart way of doing it. We are in the front of the pack for an operational green hydrogen plant in California.


ESG:
We estimate that this test project deal with Hitachi Zosen inova will generate project revenues of 560 000 USD for the biocarbon and between 4-6.6 MUSD for the green hydrogen annually. All in all the project revenues for operating the plant for the operator would likely equal 4,56 -7,2 MUSD annually. We estimate that the final sales value of this test project once it’s transferred from Char Technologies to Hitachi Zosen Inova will be approximately 5 million USD .

Can you confirm if our calculations on behalf of ESGFIRE are correct?


Andrew:

Yes on the operational revenue we are at the lower range of your calculations.

On the hydrogen side we are signing up for longer term offtakes, to make sure the project is feasible, we are in the range for your calculations on the hydrogen pricing.



Mark:
On the system the calculation is a little high, we priced it lower than we normally would do since it’s an opportunity for us with Hitachi.

Based on the potential that we have with the customer we will be getting a royalty license fee after the transfer of the system ff they exercise the option which in all likelihood they will.


ESG: What will license revenues look like?


Andrew:
It’s going to be tied to plant uptime, it keeps us engaged in the plant operationally. You can use typical 10 %-15 % fee  on the sales price of output.
The standard license range would be 500 000 USD annually  on the hydrogen revenue which for us would be a recurring revenue.

We think this will happen on further projects and plants and all business models with valuable off takes. The model keeps us engaged and it gives the customer  further ongoing assurances.  Instead of a fixed fee its sort of a hybrid model we were talking about.

ESG: What kind of potential revenues this order could generate moving forward?

Andrew:
Well certainly Hitachi has a very aggressive rollout plan since they are the market leader biogas In North America.
We can kind of speculate all over the place I guess but if they are very successful rolling out we will also be quite successful and the sales range of what your original estimate is what revenue would be for a single biogas project for Char Technologies.

Hitachi are very dominant in the US and our product provides them with a competitive advantage and they help us access markets. We are very positive about where things are heading with Hitachi.


Mark:
There is no secret that we would provide competitive advantage.

ESG: What does the potential backlog look like at the moment? Considering you (Mark)mentioned that it was close to 100 MCAD during our interview in March?


Andrew: We are still in the same numbers. We expect this backlog to grow exponentially once we are operating the plant for Hitachi at late spring of 2022. 

Mark: In terms of pipeline, the probability of executing our pipeline have certainly increased since last time we spoke, we have greater visibility on the potential opportunities moving forward. We are seeing a bigger light at the end of the tunnel.


ESG: What markets / countries are your current top  priorities and why?


Andrew:

We are still focused on North America at the moment where we have a lot of opportunities and we continue to build a pipeline with focus.

Within these activities obviously we want to be building plants with green hydrogen and next quarter  we are bringing on the woody biomass sales vertical.
These have residuals of natural gas projects that have big upside to them.

This is a big opportunity for us. We are taking biomass and making syngas and optimizing it to make renewable natural gas, we build the same plant for hydrogen just adding methanation for the process of RNG.


ESG:
How do you view the need for further external financing and possible capital injection at the moment?

Mark:
Once we get new orders in depending on the size and magnitude of those orders we will look at all options, we won’t go to ask the market  for funding unless we have specific projects for those proceeds.  Once we have sites up and running on those verticals we will be able to optimize capital structure.

There has been very little minimal exercising of warrants yet, we are leaving that alone right now. There is about 1,5 year runtime left for the warrants of the last financing and the proceeds account to about 3 million CAD:


ESG: Are there any short term catalysts that investors should keep a look out for regarding Char Technologies ?

Andrew:
Certainly investors should look at Char Technologies on executing on the Hitachi project ,bringing it into operation and what it leads to in follow up orders. Hitachi is a big catalyst and we are confident in our ability to deliver. Once we get the green hydrogen offtake it will be a big trigger point for a lot of the pipeline we currently have .
Its just like a public financing once you get a lead order it all falls into place.

The other one catalyst is that the market is so ripe for renewable natural gas so our system is really attractive for that market right now.

Mark: Partnerships, letters of intents and definitive agreements these will be the actual deliverables investors can expect to see over the next few quarters

ESG: What does your current financial commitments look like with Hitachi?



Andrew:
We have  a core operations team based out of Ontario and with our plants we can do remote monitoring and maintenance. The deal with Hitachi is structured so that
operations is subcontracted to Hitachi, they will be operating the plant the whole time and before transfer we are paying for subcontractors and maintenance to make sure its operational.


ESG: What does the Capex for the Hitachi project look like?



Mark:
It’s the actual hardware, the 5 million earlier mentioned .That is the capex. Call that the marked up capex which is lower than that. In terms of the operating cost our offtake model is at a very healthy margin lying at 70 % plus.
Any of the expenses out of that are reflected in the cost structure which is relatively quite small. One of the benefits of our system is it fits into existing infrastructure and can be overlap of resources so it’s very efficient in that manner.

When we look at our existing plant in London, Ontario we have 2 operators but could probably do with just one, when you look at the magnitude of revenue it’s a low cost for maintenance..

Andrew:
Yes we are confident we can deliver on the plant with our current financials.


ESGFIRE: How are things looking in the market for Biosolid PFAS?



Andrew:
We have continued to do more advanced studies with partners and potential clients have seen the London facility operating, the border is still closed between the US and Canada but we were able to facilitate a visit.

The opportunity of the PFAS / biosolids market is very good short term from an equipment sales perspective. We are continuing to prove our system has the ability to destroy harmful PFAS particles which exists in waste and sewerage water. We are the only company, that we are aware of, to focus on destroying PFAS. 

We will likely build some smaller on site pilot units to operate within the next 6 months to give all parties credibility and its progressing very well. 

We have likely larger orders there may be a few that we are bidding on, but I would project late 2021 and early 2022 we will see those orders convert.


We continue to demonstrate our ability to perform high temp pyrolysis at the 800 degree Celsius range which is critical for pfas destruction. We are in this operating range no competitors are operating in.


We also continue to work with biosolids management and engineering firms are starting to see that the testing we are doing generally cover costs for our clients.
We run samples ourselves but having third party analytical firm doing analysis
Having third party validation beneficial. These projects are included in the 100 MCAD sales pipeline.


Mark:
We have penetrated the hardest customers first. The steel industry is the hardest to penetrate this is where we started, on the Hitashi side we are now in a contract with one of the leaders in the industry globally. We started with the hardest one. We are proud of that internally.


ESGFIRE:When would you be looking at a possible NASDAQ uplisting?


Mark:
Actually we did have that question a week ago from one of our existing shareholders. We have looked at Nasdaq in the past. It’s way more expensive and different level of insurances and listing costs and everything . We need a couple of more contracts to get more publicity and a higher market cap. We also need more liquidity in the stock before we make that move. With respect to the OTC we will look at a XCQB listing to move up a tier on the OTC come the new year of 2021. That’s our visibility so far. 


ESG: What else is happening in the market that affects Char technologies?


Mark:
In Canada, Defasco and Algoma steel has made made announcements that they will receive hundreds of millions of dollars to decarbonize. Defasco talked about shutting down coke ovens and convert these to electric furnaces but these systems would still require biocarbon/biocoal for the chemical process.
We are confident as even as we see transition from coal to electric those electric ovens still need a solid carbon input until we get to a point where it will be green hydrogen as input alone. Carbon will still be needed, when we look at Ontario over they use over a million tonnes of coal per year. Steel mills are trying to go green and we have the solution for them.. The chemistry does not change you need either carbon or hydrogen. That’s the way chemistry works.


ESG: Thank you for your time Andrew and Mark!

Andrew / Mark:
Thank you!


Legal Disclaimer:

We own shares of this company personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. My posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.


VICINITY MOTORS REPORTS RECORD EARNINGS FOR Q2 +119 % REVENUE GROWTH

Company: Vicinity Motor Corp(formerly Grande West Transportation )
Listings :TSXV , NASDAQ
Ticker: VMC.V & VEV
Market cap at time of publication: $239 MCAD
Stock price at time of publication: $7,76 CAD ( reverse split price 2,40 CAD)
Business: Leading supplier of electric, CNG, gas and clean-diesel buses for
both public and commercial enterprise use in the U.S and Canada
Comparable peer : Greenpower Motor , Market cap $462 MCAD
Website: https://vicinitymotorcorp.com/

Vicinity Motor Corp, a leading supplier of electric, CNG, gas and clean diesel buses, today reported its financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2021.

Second Quarter 2021 and Subsequent Operational Highlights

  • Revenue grew 119% to $19.1 million in the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to $8.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020.
    • Delivered 46 buses for the three months ended June 30, 2021, as compared to 23 buses for the three months ended June 30, 2020.
  • Commenced trading of the Company’s common shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “VEV” to help elevate the Company’s public profile, expand its shareholder base, improve liquidity and enhance shareholder value.
  • Received $7.5 million in proceeds from accelerated warrant exercises, further fortifying the Company’s balance sheet to $10.2 million in cash, with no remaining warrants outstanding.
  • Received significant governmental support with statewide purchasing contracts, rebate eligibility and grant awards.
  • Awarded authorization from MBTA on behalf of the largest state transit association in the U.S., the California Association for Coordinated Transportation, for consortium members to select Vicinity buses in a statewide purchasing contract that gives State transit agencies authority to purchase “Buy America” compliant buses directly from the Company’s diverse portfolio through its distribution partner ABC Companies.
    • Vicinity™ buses selected for Washington statewide purchasing contract that gives state transit agencies the right to purchase from the Company’s diverse bus portfolio.
    • Received approval for a grant of US$300,000 from Washington State Department of Commerce Economic Development Strategic Reserve Fund (SRF) to assist Vicinity in building its new Vicinity Lightning™ EV and Buy America compliant bus assembly facility in Whatcom County, Washington.
    • Groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction on the Company’s new Buy America compliant vehicle assembly facility in Ferndale, Washington attended by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee.
    • Vicinity Lightning™ EV bus and EV trucks received eligibility for customer rebates of up to 33% of the purchase price through the Canadian Province of British Columbia’s CleanBC Go Electric Program.
  • Entered into the medium duty truck market with the development of a fully electric Class 3 vehicle with 12,000 lb GVWR rating, with initial deliveries expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022.
  • Strong sales momentum with the addition of 46 new VMC 1200 Class 3 electric truck, Vicinity Classic, and Lightning™ EV bus purchase orders.
    • 14 Vicinity Lightning™ EV buses valued at over $6.0 million from Calgary Transit, the City of Calgary’s transit authority.
    • 15 Vicinity™ CNG buses for a total value of over $6.0 million from a leading Canadian provincial public transportation provider.
    • Four Vicinity™ buses for a total value of over $1.6 million from the County of Simcoe in Ontario, Canada.
    • Three clean-diesel Vicinity™ Classic buses from Québec Private Transit Operator Le Groupe Transbus.
    • Received an initial order from a private operator in British Columbia for 10 VMC 1200 Class 3 electric trucks valued at over $1.0 million.
  • New strategic partnerships powering drivetrain technology advancements
    • Announced strategic partnership to explore deploying Exro Technologies’ enhanced powertrain system into Vicinity’s next-generation electric bus fleet, expected to provide increased performance and extended range.
    • Partnered with Danfoss Editron, a business division of Danfoss, to utilize its drivetrain systems in the medium duty fully electric Vicinity Lightning™ EV Bus.

Management Commentary

“The second quarter of 2021 was highlighted by ongoing sales momentum, and validation of our strategy from enterprise customers, state and government agencies, and the broader capital markets,” said William Trainer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vicinity Motor Corp. “We delivered twice as many buses in the second quarter as compared to the same year ago quarter. This traction in the marketplace is a testament to the incredible support we are receiving from state transit authorities, such as our recent approval from the California Association for Coordinated Transportation – creating a significant opportunity in the largest addressable market within the United States.

“Second quarter sales were strong, with 46 orders fulfilled across our VicinityTM Classic line with further orders being received for our breakthrough Vicinity Lightning™ EV lines of buses. Additionally, we secured an initial order for our newest product, the fully electric VMC 1200 Class 3 Truck, designed to compete in the medium duty truck category. Our sales team is building interest through our robust network of existing dealerships throughout North America and we look forward to announcing additional orders and customers for all our products in the coming months.

“During the quarter we also achieved several key capital markets milestones for the benefit of our valued shareholders. Most notably, we recently completed our uplisting to the Nasdaq to introduce our company to a broader base of U.S. institutional investors. We fortified our balance sheet in the quarter as well, as all outstanding warrants were exercised, bringing our cash balance to $10.2 million in addition to our undrawn $20 million credit facility.

“Looking ahead to the remainder of 2021, we will be anything but complacent with our recent successes– continuing to enhance our product offering with the goal of further strengthening our position in the next-generation electric vehicle space. We expect our relationships with North American transit agencies to further expand, propelled by government support and the consumer desire for a transition to a more sustainable public transportation system. Taken together, we are incredibly well positioned to create long-term value for our shareholders, and I look forward to announcing new sales, product and strategic milestone achievements in the months to come,” concluded Trainer.

ESG comment:
We are truly impressed but not surprised by the strong development of Vicinity Motors corp for the second quarter of 2021.
Our previous estimates have been that the total sales for 2021 will land between 55-70 million CAD for the full fiscal year of 2021.
Total revenues for the first 6 months of 2021 amounts to 46,4 million CAD. This strong development makes us quite sure that the total revenues for 2021 will surpass the lower end of our estimates of revenues of 55 million CAD for 2021. However our estimates for 2022 and beyond may need to be adjusted upwards since Vicinity Motors recently also launched a class 3 vehicle in which we see tremendous revenue potential.


Although revenues for the second quarter (19,1 MCAD) of 2021 are slightly lower than in the first quarter of 2021 (27,3 MCAD) investors have to keep in mind that the delivery times for electric vehicles is not an overnight production. Vicinity Motors have been ramping up their production capabilities sharply and with the new production facility located in the United States we are confident that the company will be able to deliver “buy america” compliant vehicles in accordance with the new infrastructure bill from the Biden Administration. The company also has an ever growing sales pipeline and we hope to see the company start reporting their backlog for investors in the near future.


Vicinity Motors is currently , based on our estimates, trading at 4,4 X 2021 sales and a market cap of 239 MCAD

The EV/Sales multiple is based on our lower end projection for 2021 revenues of 55 MCAD.


Meanwhile competitors are trading at the following multiples and market cap :


Instructions on how to participate in the 2021 results conference Call

Second Quarter 2021 Results Conference Call

Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Time: 4:30 p.m. Eastern time
U.S./Canada Dial-in: 1-877-300-8521
International Dial-in: 1-412-317-6026
Conference ID: 10159285
Webcast: http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=146136

Please dial in at least 10 minutes before the start of the call to ensure timely participation.

A playback of the call will be available through Saturday, September 11, 2021. To listen, call 1-844-512-2921 within the United States and Canada or 1-412-317-6671 when calling internationally. Please use the replay pin number 10159285.

Legal Disclaimer:

We own shares of this company personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. My posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.


CIELO ANNOUNCES THE CLOSING OF CDN$4M UNSECURED CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURE FINANCING

Ticker: CMC.V / CWSFF
Listings: TSX Venture Exchange / US OTC / Frankfurt
Website:https://www.cielows.com/
Market Cap: 826 MCAD at time of publication
Share price: 1.28 CAD at time of publication
Industry: Converting waste to renewable fuel

Cielo Waste Solutions is pleased to announce the completion of the balance of the Company’s non-brokered
convertible debenture financing (the “Financing”), as previously announced on March 15,
2021, receiving gross proceeds of CDN$4,000,000.

Pursuant to the Financing, which was arranged by First Choice Financial Corp. (“FCF”),
an arm’s length third party, the Company issued 4,000 non-interest-bearing, unsecured
convertible debentures (the “Debentures”), each issued at CDN$1,000 per Debenture, on
a prospectus-exempt basis, the principal amount of the Debentures being convertible into
common shares at $1.25 per share during the 12 month term of the Debenture. Cielo will
be entitled to repay the principal owing under the Debentures at any time before maturity
or conversion without penalty.
The net proceeds will be used for engineering work for a facility to be built on land to be
acquired by Cielo in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, as previously announced on May 27,
2021, or otherwise in the sole discretion of the Company. In connection with the
Financing, Cielo will pay transaction fees to FCF equal to CDN$280,000. and a
commission to a third party equal to CDN$320,000.
The Debentures are subject to a statutory 4-month hold period expiring on December 4,
2021.

Don Allan, CEO of Cielo, commented, “We are pleased to see FCF’s continued
commitment and belief in Cielo and our technology. FCF has been an ideal partner,
having now committed significant capital to Cielo over several funding rounds. This capital
will enable Cielo to advance our projects with our priority being to begin driving revenue
into Cielo”.

ESGFIRE comment: Cielo Waste Solutions is firing on all cylinders in their rapid expansion plan and today’s press release is another good milestone in order to achieve their growth plans. We are also awaiting the long anticipated and expected news update on the desulphurisation process at the Aldersyde facility which we hope will be clarified in either august or september.

Legal Disclaimer:

We own shares of this company personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. My posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.

Environmental Waste International announces Capacity of EWS Sault Ste Marie Facility Doubled by Regulators

Company: Environmental waste international
Listings :TSXV , US OTC
Ticker: $EWS $YEWTF 
Market cap at time of publication: $52 MCD
Stock price at time of publication: 0.20 CAD
Business: Tyre and waste recycling through reverse polymerization
TAM Market size: 158 billion $
Comparable peer : Scandinavian Enviro systems $SES
Website: https://www.ewi.ca/

Environmental Waste International announced today that the Ministry of the Environment,
Conservation and Parks (“MECP”) has approved the Company’s proposal to increase the maximum
amount of tire waste that can be treated at its Sault Ste. Marie (“SSM”) facility to 20 tonnes per day,
double the 10 tonnes per day it had previously approved.

The commercialization of the SSM facility being undertaken by EWS’ will be increased to 20 tonnes
per day, substantially increasing its profit potential.
EWS had successfully run the SSM plant as a demonstration and R&D facility for five years prior to
the Company’s submission to the MECP. The plant, using the EWS’ patented microwave technology,
will process end of life tires producing recycled carbon black, oil, steel and syn gas in an
environmentally friendly manner. The high-quality carbon black is used as a replacement for virgin
carbon black in plastic and rubber products. The oil and steel are utilized as raw feedstock, offsetting
the requirement for new virgin materials. The syn gas provides energy for the plant. Tire recycling
plants using EWS’ technology do not require tipping fees, carbon credits or other government
support to generate a compelling ROI.


Bob MacBean, EWS CEO said “This approval along with the engineering work and the actual physical
work within the plant already completed is showing continued progress of the upgrade process. Our
proprietary technology provides a solution to a worldwide environmental waste problem while
generating attractive financial returns. We believe the commercialization of our Sault Ste. Marie
facility can further solidify EWS’ technology as the market-leading solution.”

ESG Comment:
Today’s announcement is a big step for EWI as there have been some concerns in the past if they would be able to obtain approval for their intended doubling of production capacity at the Sault Ste. Marie facility . We are pleased and relieved to see that all environmental permits for the expansion and commercial plans have been approved. We have also seen significant insider buying in EWI this summer from several management leaders including the CEO Bob McBean which we interpret as a bullish signal.

Legal Disclaimer:

We own shares of this company personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. My posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.

ESGFIRE Portfolio Update 1/8 2021 and NEW positions!

Best monthly performers
Newlox Gold Ventures Corp + 30 %
Cielo Waste Solutions + 27 %
Clear Blue Technologies + 21 %
Char Technologies +20 %

Worst monthly performers
Nuvve Holding Corp – -14 %
Vicinity Motor Corp- -14 %
Solarvest BioEnergy –12 %
Absolicon Solar Collector — 12 %

Current positions

Absolicon Solar Collector – Down 12 % the latest months despite good news of cooperation with Carlsberg.
Cielo Waste Solutions – Up 27 % the latest month.
Char technologies – Up 20 % the latest month after a spectacular green hydrogen deal with Hitachi.
Clear Blue Technologies – Up 21 % after their biggest deal ever recorded worth 10-15 MUSD.
Desert Control – No material change.
Earthrenew – Down 10 % despite management buying shares at 0.35 , financials coming soon.
Environmental Waste international- Down 12 % , continues to underperform in the ESGFIRE portfolio for no apparent reason.
Newlox Gold ventures Corp – Up 30 %, has had several good news and good momentum lately. ESGFIRE analysis coming soon.
Nuvve Holding Corp- Down 15 % despite no negative news, feels like this is being heavily traded by market makers.
Vicinity Motor Corp – Down 14 % despite only good news with material orders, the market is clearly sleeping on this one.
Lion E-mobility – Has taken a big hit lately most related to their accounting issues which has no effect on the bottom line.
Landi Renzo – No material change.
Solarvest BioEnergy – Down 12 % , very dissapointing stock price lately but our conviction remains firm.


New positions
Company: Biofrigas
Listing: Spotlight Stock market Sweden
Ticker: BIOF
ESG comment:
We exited our position in Biofrigas in early February this year (2021) when it became clear that there would be delays in the verification process for the company’s technology. The delays now seem to have been adressed and the verification is proceeding according to plan.
Biofrigas manufactures small scale biogas plants designed mainly for for farmers but there are also other areas of application. Biofrigas has BIG addressable market in the European Union and also globally. The company has signed many sales agreements with different distributors lately.
The company expects the first facility to become operational at their first customer during august or september this year (2021).
We have chosen to re-enter our position in the BIOFRIGAS TO 01 instrument which is a form of publicly traded warrant / option that gives the owner the right to purchase one stock for every owned option at a maximum price of 70 % of the weighted stock price between 17/3 – 20/ 3 2022 or a maximum price of 9.45 SEK. The subscription period runs between 31/3 – 14/4 2022. We think this instrument gives us the best leverage for our position as we expect BIG breakthroughs for the company to happen before the subscription period ends in april 2022. However if you wish to choose a lower risk for your investment the common stock is likely your preferred choice. This is a high risk investment since Biofrigas has no revenues to date however we believe this will change in the coming months with the first order and with a market cap of only 10 MUSD / 89 MSEK this is a HIGH risk HIGH reward case.

Sold positions:
There have been no exits in the ESGFIRE portfolio the latest month.

Legal Disclaimer

We own shares of these companies personally.

Investing in stocks is combined with certain risks and it is possible to lose your entire investment. Our posts are made for Educational purposes only and are not to be interpreted as tips , financial advise or recommendations of any kind to either buy or sell any stocks.

Companies may or may not be paying us for content posted on this blog.