Friday, April 29, 2011

ABC Catalyst Peak Oil Report tnr.v, czx.v, alk.ax, lmr.v, tsla, rm.v, nup.ax, srz.ax, usa.ax, jnn.v, abn.v, res, mcp, avl.to, quc.v, cee.v, sqm, fmc, roc, li.v, wlc.v, clq.v, lit, nsany, byddf, gm, dai, rno.pa, hev, aone, vlnc


  We have everything you need to know about the Peak Oil in this great video. Revelations from IEA Chief Economist about Crude Oil production Peak in 2006 are groundbreaking. It is not new and was in the latest IEA report, but who reads anything these days? Maybe, YouTube will bring it to the masses.
  If you would like to dig this subject dipper - you are welcome and be our guest on this blog.




"More on Peak Oil. This video will take you out of your box where the energy comes from the wall and price of Oil is driven by speculators today. Fossil fuel era is just a blip in the bigger picture of human history and we are already close to its end."


"We have very interesting findings from Nielsen Energy survey - now most U.S. consumers are ready to buy Electric Cars! We guess that rising gas prices have made all the difference in this change of the sentiment.
  Cruising Electric Cars on our streets do help as well, Nissan Leafs and GM Volts are getting on the roads and making the best EV marketing possible.



"It is coming and every uptick in the Gas prices will bring more supporters to Electric Cars movement, U.S. used to be the land of the Free - now we have a chance to reclaim it from the Oil Lobby. Get off the Oil needle and help others to do so."

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Lithium Drive: Green Overdrive: Tesla's Model S Alpha Video Reuters tnr.v, czx.v, alk.ax, lmr.v, tsla, rm.v, nup.ax, srz.ax, usa.ax, jnn.v, abn.v, res, mcp, avl.to, quc.v, cee.v, sqm, fmc, roc, li.v, wlc.v, clq.v, lit, nsany, byddf, gm, dai, rno.pa, hev, aone, vlnc



  While new investors in this sector are separating Hype and Reality in the Lithium space today, we have the real companies working on real Electric Cars and real Lithium projects to develop the secure supply for the future, which is Electric!
  We are monitoring the development of Tesla Model S - company has taken extremely high bar in both the technology and pricing. This Electric Car will be the groundbreaking development for the whole industry.



"This Tesla Model S Electric Car is a piece of engineering art and it is quite a presentation on part of Mr Rawlinson from Tesla! With this kind of attitude and attention to the detail we can expect the beautiful car with remarkable performance.

"Tesla's Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Peter Rawlinson, talks about some of the features of Model S engineering at Tesla headquarters. He discusses the advantages of designing a car from the ground using Tesla's proven electric powertrain, and how the result will be a drive experience to surpass any that have come before it."

Tesla Model S Development Facility
Tesla Model S Development Facility - Click above for high-res image gallery

It's not every day that an automaker invites you inside its R&D center. In fact, it's rare for any OEM to allow journalists into a room that hasn't been swept floor-to-ceiling for any hint of what's around the corner. Then again, Tesla isn't exactly your average automaker.

The electric upstart, with its roots firmly entrenched in the Wild West idealism of Silicon Valley, is in the process of developing and testing its all-new electric sedan – the Tesla Model S – before series production begins next year. So in the Valley's spirit of openness and transparency, Tesla threw open its doors, corralled a few engineers and execs, and let us poke around its Palo Alto powertrain facility to see how development of the Model S is coming along.



Photos copyright ©2011 Damon Lavrinc / AOL


The last time we were offered a glimpse behind the scenes at Tesla, the automaker was still holding court at its... ummm... quaint production facility up the road in Menlo Park. While the Menlo operation is still around (joining battery packs and motors to the Roadster "gliders" coming in from Hethel), the new Palo Alto centermakes a convincing case that Tesla is joining the Big Leagues.

If there was any doubt Tesla isn't spending its partnership funding properly, Tesla's new powertrain plant puts that to rest. The 350,000-square-foot building is a massive, three-story ode to EV engineering, with a horizonless bottom floor producing battery packs and assembling motors, and a second floor littered with monitors, cubicles and Tesla employees plugging away.

When we arrived, we were quickly ushered into Tesla's main research and development bay, where a dozen Model S prototypes in various stages of completion were parked, stripped or hung from rotary lifts. A handful of workers were poking, prodding and assembling one in the background, and when asked what they were up to, we were told that the crew was comprised of managers from the newly acquired NUMMI plant across the Bay being shown how to assemble Tesla's latest EV. Despite toiling over each nut, bolt and alignment, in the time it took for one exec to explain the rear subframe, the workers managed to mount the front clip (comprised of a boron steel beam, three radiators and assorted structural supports) and battery pack into one hoisted sedan – something that, according to our hosts, will take under a minute when production begins in Fremont in 2012. Now, about that battery pack...

Tesla Model S Development Facility

The flat, black unit houses around 7,000 lithium-ion cells and is mounted directly underneath the Model S. When Peter Rawlinson, Tesla's VP of Engineering, mentioned the minimal amount of time it takes to install the pack, we naturally asked if it was designed to be swappable. At this point, Tesla isn't saying it has plans to offer a swapping service similar to that proposed and executed by companies like Better Place, but the potential is there, and that speaks volumes in-and-of itself.

Regardless, Tesla claims that the pack will be good for up to 10 years, with three capacities available to Model S buyers: one good for 160 miles, and two others that boost the range to 230 or 300 miles (charging times will vary from a few hours to a working day's worth). Pricing for each comes in at $57,400 for the 160-mile variant, with the 230-mile version commanding around $67,000 and the 300-mile pack model coming in around $77k – all before federal tax credits are deducted.

Tesla Model S Development Facility

Tesla's learned a lot from the 1,500 Roadsters silently motoring around the planet, with owners logging nearly 10 million miles in the last few years. Compared to the packs fitted to the coupe, the Model S' batteries not only boast increased performance, a longer life and higher energy density, but they are less costly to produce than those fitted to Tesla's original EV. And that increase/decrease stands to continue. While there's no Moore's Law-type equation to determine the rate of battery innovation, Tesla CTO JB Straubel figures that advances in both energy storage and density are improving at a rate of around eight percent each year.

Tesla isn't citing a weight for the battery pack just yet, but Rawlinson likes to point out that not only is the thin grouping of cells mounted incredibly low in the body, it's been designed to be an integral part of the chassis – so much so that Tesla engineers reduced the diameter of the sway bars because the pack provided enough torsional rigidity.

Tesla Model S Development Facility

As for the liquid-cooled motor, Rawlinson likens it to a Swiss watch, with all the components systematically developed and fitted to be as compact as possible – a good thing, considering it's sandwiched between the rear axles. Yes, the Model S is a proper rear-wheel-drive sedan, kicking out around 295 pound-feet of torque and 300 kWh from the combined motor/power control unit (in the pic above, the motor is on the left and the PCU is on the right).

All told, Tesla is claiming a 0-60 mph run of under six seconds, and when we asked what other products Tesla was benchmarking against the S, the response from Rawlinson was simple: "The best of everything."

Tesla is unapologetically hyping up the fact that the Model S has been developed (and soon to be built) entirely in-house, with production plans of around 20,000 units each year. But before series production begins, Tesla needs to test, crash, test, torture, test, drive and test its Alpha fleet of vehicles.

Tesla Model S Development Facility

To that end, Tesla is building 20 prototypes at its Palo Alto facility, mainly comprised of the black sedans littered throughout its workshop to test a variety of different systems. One is being used to evaluate the electrical system, another is the dynamics and handling mule, while yet another is undergoing stress testing, logging the equivalent of 250,000 miles in around six months. Two brake testing vehicles are undergoing evaluation in the chilly wilds of Wisconsin and Model S Program Director Jerome Guillen drove one of the prototypes to work the day we arrived. So... comprehensive, then.

Tesla plans to produce around 100 total testers before production begins, with the Alphas running around for three months, followed by dozens of Beta versions set to be built in Fremont later this year. The orange sedans in the shop are being developed for crash testing, and while Tesla reps will only say that full impact testing is set to begin "very soon," they've already performed a series of low-speed tests and were incredibly pleased with the results.

But with all this new production capacity, square-footage and warm bodies, how is Tesla going to turn a profit? Straubel admits that there are a lot of moving parts with its project, but is adamant that the Model S will keep Tesla in the black. "We simply can't sell this car at a loss." No kidding, Straubel. We'll let you get back to work...




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Globe says Chinese group eyes Lundin Mining lun.to, czx.v, tnr.v, sgc.v, tck, bhp, fcx, rio, bwr.to, cs.to, imn.to, ncu.to, tko.to, wrn.to, qux.to, bls.to

 

  We have Chinese companies all over the investment place we are following again: Tongling bought into Canada Zinc Metals, Ganfeng Lithium buys a stake in International lithium IPO and now Lundin Mining is in the headlines. Now our target for Lundin Mining at CAD10.0 looks very conservative.




"We have very interesting situation here: company moves into Preliminary Economic Assestment of the Cardiak Creek deposit and stock is below than the recent financing at 0.77 CAD. How all situation with Lundin Mining will affect this M&A situation in Canada remains to be seen. Chinese Copper and Zinc giant Tongling already owns 36% of Canada Zinc Metals and Lukas Lundin has its stake in this company via Lundin Mining."





"What do you do when you have lots of dollars which are losing value by the day, hungry for growth population and you need to maintain a tricky status quo? You are going shopping. But not for US Treasuries any more after PIMCO's Bill Gross has dumped all his holdings. And if you happen to be China you are going shopping for Copper or Oil and Lithium will be next on your list after you control Rare Earths market. We have our Catalyst in action now.
  Now Lundin Mining with its stake in Tenke Fungurume can expect proper bids above CAD 10.0. Copper is set on fire in M&A space with this Chinese bid. Destiny of Big Copper project in Argentina - Los Azules and companies involved TNR Gold and Minera Andes will be even more interesting now.
  We have also other companies to watch now in our Copper squad: Revett Minerals, Copper Fox Metals, Canada Zinc Metals, NGeX resources, Conerstone Capital Resources, Sunridge Gold and others."



Globe says Chinese group eyes Lundin Mining

Lundin Mining Corp (C:LUN)
Shares Issued 581,849,452
Last Close 4/28/2011 $8.34
Friday April 29 2011 - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that unnamed sources say a Chinese consortium, led by Jinchuan Group, is preparing a potential bid to acquire Lundin Mining. The Globe's Jacquie McNish, Boyd Erman and Brenda Bouw write that the consortium group includes China's giant sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp. Jinchuan is China's biggest producer of nickel and cobalt. It owns a variety of mineral properties in mining frontiers such as Africa and Kazakhstan. Jinchuan recently signalled that it is on the hunt for mining properties in a variety of resource-rich countries, including Canada. Lundin, which has a current market value of about $4.9-billion, is currently in discussions with a number of potential buyers. The Chinese are the latest suitor to arrive at the table. The consortium has been eyeing Lundin since February, when it became the target of a hostile takeover bid by Equinox Minerals. The company could be worth as much as $11.70 a share in a takeover or almost $6.9-billion, says TD Securities analyst Greg Barnes. It is understood that a handful of U.S. and Canadian pension funds and private equity investors have also been invited to join the buying group."
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Lithium in Nevada: Positive Brine Sampling Results from the Fish Lake Valley tnr.v, czx.v, lmr.v, rm.v, alk.ax, sqm, cgp.v, abn.v, ura.v, nup.ax, usa.ax, srz.ax, fmc, roc, lit, li.v, wlc.v, clq.v, res.v, ree, avl.to, nsany, f, gm, rno.pa, dai, byddf, hev, aone, vlnc



  We have quite a moment in Lithium space on the OTC market these days in U.S. - Lithium Exploration Corp. NRs about the CEO trips and his ideas are flying all over the Internet and its stock was defying all laws of gravity for a couple of weeks and closed yesterday at 10.57. Before you tear all your hairs on missed opportunity, please, make some DD and at least google the recent articles on this company.

  We will be a very bad guide for you on these kind of companies - we do not cover them.  

  Instead, we would like to make only one observation here - there can not be any Hype without the Interest in any market - we hope that this interest is the sign of the changing investment landscape in Lithium space. Rising Gas prices and headlines about Peak Oil make people think and study the real situation. Electric Cars on our streets are turning the heads and provide the glimpse into the future, which is just around the corner. We will leave the judgement about particular investments in this area, as usual, to the investors themselves. Major players in the Auto, Lithium batteries and Lithium Materials industries can provide some guidance here.



  In this light yesterday news from another OTC company - Lithium Corporation - are interesting for us and the companies we are following here.

Lithium Corporation Announces Positive Brine Sampling Results 

RENO, NV -- April 12, 2011 – Lithium Corporation (the "Company", or Lithco) LTUM - OTCBB), is pleased to announce it has received results from the first phase of sampling of its spring program at Fish Lake Valley, Nevada.

Near surface brine sampling on its Fish Lake Valley prospect has discovered lithium-enriched brines with results of up to 140mg/L.In addition to these strongly anomalous lithium values, boron is also enriched with values up to 2500 mg/L., and Potassium is also elevated, with results up to 7200 mg/L. The highest values appear to be confined to an area approximately one-half mile square that is within a larger zone of moderate to highly anomalous lithium and boron, which is 1 1/2 miles long by 1 mile wide.

Lithium Corporation's president Tom Lewis recently remarked, "I am tremendously pleased by these results, and I am eagerly looking forward to drilling in this area when access conditions improve later this year."

Lithium Corporation is currently conducting another round of geochemical surveys on its playa properties in Nevada, and has tentatively scheduled drill mobilization for June 01st to test its Cortez Lithium property in Lander County Nevada.In addition to drilling Fish Lake Valley and Cortez, Lithco also intends to drill its Salt Well's property this year.

For further information please contact Tom Lewis, Lithium Corporation at (888) 299-3989 or via email at info@lithiumcorporation.com

About Lithium Corporation

Lithium Corporation is an exploration company based in Nevada devoted to the exploration for new lithium resources primarily within the state of Nevada.  The Company explores and eventually hopes to develop potentially economic lithium-enriched brine fields, with an eye to becoming a long-term producer of this increasingly strategic and economically important commodity."

 We do not know this company, but reaction to the news was very interesting: stock went up from 20 cents to over 1 dollar on a volume of 14 mil shares yesterday. Whether it is the general "investors' optimism" spilled out from other OTC lithium stories or something more tangible remain to be seen in the nearest future.

  Canadian Lithium developers will be the very good indication - they operate in the very strict regulation requirements, in sharp contrast to the U.S. OTC market, and if we have the serious money coming into the lithium story now - we will see it there. We are covering here few of them - Western Lithium is involved in Nevada as well, but in lithium bearing clay deposit. Rodinia Lithium and International Lithium are our top picks in the sector, both involved in Nevada lithium exploration and Rodinia yesterday has shown some life in the market.

  International Lithium will be interesting to watch now - company will be spin out in IPO from TNR Gold with its new Chinese strategic partner on board. International Lithium has three projects in Nevada:  Sarcobatus Flats, RunWay and Fish Lake. Fish Lake project is  in the same area as Lithium Corporation's one.


"The Fish Lake Project is located 75 kilometres southwest of Tonopah in the Fish Lake Valley, Nevada covering 1,295 hectares in Esmeralda County. International Lithium believes Fish Lake Valley has similar geological features that have acted as a trap for lithium brines in Clayton Valley 35 kilometres to the east. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) sampling at Fish Lake Valley in 1976 found lithium brines on surface. One of these samples, located on TNR claims, contained 200 parts per million (ppm) lithium. This shows that modern Fish Lake Valley has geological and climatic conditions where lithium brine can form. At Clayton Valley drilling has shown that as climatic conditions went through cycles, successive layers of lithium bearing evaporates were deposited."


Area is famous for hosting the only Lithium Brine producing asset in the entire North America, Chemetall Silver Peakproperty. 

http://www.tnrgoldcorp.com/i/pics/fish1.jpg

    NEVADA, United States of America

    Located in Fish Lake Valley, approximately 25 miles from Clayton Valley, which contains the only lithium producer in the United States and the only lithium brine producer in North America. Clayton Valley has been in production since 1967. 

    Lithium brine has been known in Fish Lake Valley since the middle of the last century and received attention from the US Geological Survey during the 1970's during a lithium reconnaissance program to identify exploration targets similar to Clayton Valley. Fish Lake Valley is one of the two most prospective areas identified in that study. In spite of this recommendation, the valley does not appear to have received much serious attention.

    We believe that there are significant geological similarities between Clayton Valley and Fish Lake Valley and that these contribute to a trap in which lithium brine may have accumulated. The cross section below illustrates how gently dipping sediments cut by faults create traps where brines can. (Example from Clayton Valley.) 

    In addition to the potential for lithium bearing brine, lithium is found in the playa sediments. Extraction of this lithium using solution mining technology will be investigated. Brine is the preferred source of lithium due to its lower cost of extraction compared with pegmatite mining. Brine operations are the only lithium mines that can cover the cost of producing lithium without credits from additional commodities.

    Forty-eight placer claims have been staked (960 acres) covering key prospective areas. Exploration can utilize seismic surveys, drilling and geochemical methods to prospective lithium areas. Exploration can effectively be conducted year round. Sites are road accessible.

    Drilling and surface brine sampling was conducted by the USGS during the 1970s.

    Lithium in sediments is important in evaluating the potential of Fish Lake Valley. At Clayton Valley, modern brines are believed to be developing by dissolving lithium deposited in ancient playas. Lithium in surface brines were measured in 30 samples. Of these samples, 6 were ≥160 ppm Li and 2 more were ≥ 100 ppm Li. At Clayton Valley, brine concentrations used to feed the production system are believed to average 160 ppm Li.

    About International Lithium Corp.

    Established in a time when lithium demand around the world is increasing from China and other developing nations, International Lithium Corp. aims to acquire lithium and rare metals properties of merit in an effor to assemble an attractive package for major companies to joint venture and develop further.
    Efficient energy is no longer a luxury, it has become a necessity in a world where energy sources are dwindling while environments are taking a toll."
      Please, do not forget, that we own stocks we are writing about and have position in these companies. We are not providing any investment advise on this blog and there is no solicitation to buy or sell any particular company here. Always consult with your qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
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