The High Cost of Neglecting ESG in Critical Minerals Projects and Cobalt Companies ESG Survey
The article below provides some insight into the questions raised in the Sustainability Program at PDAC 2023 and the price of “losing control” of a company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) agenda as well as continues my series (now on part 4) on contacting Australian Stock Exchange-listed Critical Minerals companies to get their views on ESG.
ESG and Critical Minerals Development – The Price of Lost Control
I was wondering how to answer a key question proffered in the Sustainability Program from PDAC 2023:
- How do you “Differentiate your company and attract investment through ESG performance and reporting?”
This is all around my previous concerns about losing control of the agenda by not being proactive with ESG; not being bold with ESG; others have taken control. This is pointedly identified in an article by Geoff Chambers, Chief Political Correspondent and Simon Benson, Political Editor in The Australian newspaper, Tuesday, March 7th, 2023. “Investor Groups seek certainty on Labor safeguard mechanism”. This is about an aggregation of some of the largest superannuation funds in Australia banding together to dictate woke ESG policy direction. Talk about lost control. This is the price of lost control. What that will eventually cost, I’ll try to discuss later, but to the point.
“Australian investor groups representing members with $US43 trillion in assets under management want the government to bolster the safeguard mechanism and avoid “greenwashing” by forcing heavy emitters to disclose time-bound climate transition plans.”
I want you to think about “disclosure of time-bound climate transition plans”. Made me cringe!
- You have to have a climate transition plan,
- That plan is time-bound, and
- The plan has to be disclosed.
And heaven forbid if this Investor Group (and its lobby groups) isn’t satisfied with the details in the plan. It gets worse.
“Where technology is not yet available, carbon credits will play a vital role in helping facilities meet their obligations and remain competitive,…”
The cost of this lost control of the ESG agenda? I find it impossible to predict the timing of when the whole Net Zero process falls apart and we wake up to some sort of new, post-climate apocalypse awakening, new-normal. But it will. But in the meantime, you have to be ready to “disclose time-bound climate transition plans” that are acceptable to the Investor Group. Sounds impossible? Does to me. That means your finance has dried up. That’s the cost of losing control. How long? Well, that depends.
Achieving Operational Net Zero
So, you and I know that you cannot achieve net zero in your operations. You and I also know that you thought you only have two options going forward. One is to plug the gap by buying carbon credits. The other is to hope this whole movement will come to a true sense of realization and fall apart. Any thoughts on how you are going to include “not yet available technology” in your plan? There are also politicians who don’t want carbon credits allowed since “real” emissions reduction isn’t occurring.
You have to ask yourselves the question: “Am I prepared to regain control of the agenda?” If your answer is yes, then go back through my articles where I have told you what to do to demonstrate your ESG credentials. And if you need a good operating example, look at Ioneer Ltd posted in Article 3 of this series. You need to get going. How much time (and hence money) do you have? Well, until the key part of the Net Zero program fails and its failure is seen as a death knell to the 2050 target. What is the key part?
The HR Dilemma
Human Resources. The western world will come to a point where it will realize that it has taken 2 generations to completely overwhelm our education system with anti-STEM, pro-end of the world cataclysmic theories where fossil fuels are bad, development is bad, the future of the planet is at risk. OK, we have a self-induced climate change awareness revolution. But see the irony here? Who is going to fix it? Where is STEM? By creating the environment for the outrage around climate change we have decimated the education system that is needed to provide the resources required to fix it.
The following article by Simon Packham, Foreign Affairs and Defence Correspondent, again from The Australian newspaper, Tuesday, March 6th, 2023. “Submarines ‘need 108 Ph.D. level nuclear scientists per year’”. Not sure if this situation rings true in the US, but it should certainly be ringing alarm bells for those people who think that developing approximately 10 times our current world outputs for rare earths, lithium, vanadium, cobalt, copper, etc is a simple walk in the park. Where are the Human Resources coming from? So, the answer to when is the announcement that the Net Zero program failed is the timeline of acceptance of the Human Resources issue.
Oh, the Price of the Lost Control? Your unrealized profits during this period. And more, much more.
ESG and ASX-listed Cobalt Companies
The process of contacting key Australian Stock Exchange-listed Critical Minerals companies to get their views on ESG has continued this week. The table below for Cobalt will complete the first round of contacting key players. Future articles will hopefully cover the responses coming in, and possibly then contacting some of the lesser players. We will see how that goes. Previous articles 1-3 provide context for anyone who has missed that.
I have updated the Rare Earths reference table and am still to receive any responses. (See Appendix A: ESG in Rare Earths development)
I have updated the Lithium reference table to include the response of Ian Bucknell of Ioneer Ltd. (Thanks Ian.) (See Appendix B: ESG in Lithium development.)
I totally recommend people interested in ESG to read the Ioneer 2022 Sustainability and ESG Report. Their approach using the Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) framework is first class and looks to have today’s ESG needs well covered.
I have updated the Vanadium reference table and have received no responses to date. See Appendix C: ESG in Vanadium development)
Below is the Cobalt reference table. In the next issue, we will allow access to the tables via links and similarly with the ESG responses from the queried companies.
Cobalt Companies
| Cobalt Company (Ticker link to Share Price History) |
Web Site | Mkt Cap AUS$ (Mar. 12, 2023) |
ESG Response |
| A-Cap Energy Ltd (ASX: ACB) | www.acap.com.au | $73.24M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Aeon Metals Ltd (ASX: AML) | www.aeonmetals.com.au | $25.33M | |
| Aus Tin Mining Ltd (ASX: ANW) | www.clararesources.com.au | $14.22M | |
| Auroch Minerals Ltd (ASX: AOU) | www.aurochminerals.com | $22.46M | |
| Ardea Resources Ltd (ASX: ARL) | www.ardearesources.com.au | $84.04M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX: ARV) | www.artemisresources.com.au | $19.48M | |
| Anson Resources Ltd (ASX: ASN) | www.ansonresources.com | $253.56M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Australian Mines Ltd (ASX: AUZ) | www.australianmines.com.au | $21.04M | |
| Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE) | www.archerx.com.au | $116.95M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX: BSX) | www.blackstoneminerals.com.au | $75.81M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX: CCZ) | www.castillocopper.com | $18.19M | |
| Celsius Resources Ltd (ASX: CLA) | www.celsiusresources.com.au | $22.29M | |
| Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX: COB) | www.cobaltblueholdings.com | $122.25M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Corazon Mining Ltd (ASX: CZN) | www.corazon.com.au | $8.79M | |
| Fe Ltd (ASX: FEL) | www.cufe.com.au | $25.83M | |
| Golden Deeps Ltd (ASX: GED) | www.goldendeeps.com | $10.97M | |
| Greenstone Resources Ltd (ASX: GSR) | www.greenstoneresources.com.au | $25.36M | Queried Mar 12 |
| GME Resources Ltd (ASX: GME) | www.gmeresources.com.au | $64.25M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Havilah Resources Ltd (ASX: HAV) | www.havilah-resources-projects.com | $106.07M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Hammer Metals Ltd (ASX: HMX) | www.hammermetals.com.au | $49.28M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Jervois Global Ltd (ASX: JRV) | www.jervoisglobal.com | $332.68M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Metalicity Ltd (ASX: MCT) | www.metalicity.com.au | $5.19M | |
| Meteoric Resources NL (ASX: MEI) | www.meteoric.com.au | $168.34M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Marquee Resources Ltd (ASX: MQR) | www.marqueeresources.com.au | $7.66M | |
| Platina Resources Ltd (ASX: PGM) | www.platinaresources.com.au | $11.22M | |
| Riedel Resources Ltd (ASX: RIE) | www.riedelresources.com.au | $9.60M | |
| St George Mining Ltd (ASX: SGQ) | www.stgm.com.au | $54.48M | Queried Mar 12 |
| Trek Metals Ltd (ASX: TKM) | www.trekmetals.com.au | $26.20M |
Appendix A: ESG in Rare Earths Development
| Rare Earths Company (Ticker link to Share Price History) |
Web Site | Mkt Cap AUS$ (Mar. 12, 2023) |
ESG Response |
| Alpha Hpa Ltd (ASX: A4N) | www.Alphahpa.com.au | $574.95M | Queried Feb 15 |
| ABX Group Ltd (ASX: ABX) | www.abxgroup.com.au | $25.71M | |
| Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX: ALK) | www.alkane.com.au | $392.21M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Alchemy Resources Ltd (ASX: ALY) | www.alchemyresources.com.au | $13.25M | |
| American Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: ARR) | www.americanrareearths.com.au | $91.51M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Arafura Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: ARU) | www.arultd.com | $1.23B | Queried Feb 15 |
| Austin Metals Limited (ASX: AYT) | www.austinmentals.com.au | $4.54M | |
| Australian Mines Ltd (ASX: AUZ) | www.australianmines.com.au | $21.04M | |
| Australian United Mining Ltd (ASX: AYM) | www.australianunitedmining.com.au | $5.53M | |
| Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX: ASM) | www.asm-au.com | $230.89M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Encounter Resources Ltd (ASX: ENR) | www.encounterresorces.com.au | $46.22M | |
| Enova Mining Ltd (ASX: ENV) | www.enovamining.com | $4.69M | |
| Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX: HAS) | www.hastingstechmetals.com | $360.41M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU) | www.iluka.com | $4.43B | Queried Feb 15 |
| Ionic Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: IXR) | www.ionicre.com.au | $126.41M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Krakatoa Resources Ltd (ASX: KTA) | www.ktaresources.com | $12.13M | |
| Legacy Iron Ore Ltd (ASX: LCY) | www.legacyiron.com.au | $115.32M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Lindian Resources Ltd (ASX: LIN) | www.lindianresources.com.au | $268.88M | Queried 15 Feb |
| Lanthanein Resources Ltd (ASX: LNR) | www.lanthanein.com | $17.16M | |
| Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) | www.lynasrareearths.com | $6.43B | Queried Feb 15 |
| Minbos Resources Ltd (ASX: MNB) | www.minbos.com | $115.53M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Mount Ridley Mines Ltd (ASX: MRD) | www.mtridleymines.com.au | $11.68M | |
| Northern Minerals Ltd (ASX: NTU) | www.northernminerals.com.au | $223.92M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX: NVA) | www.novaminerals.com.au | $93.91M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Orion Metals Ltd (ASX: ORM) | www.orionmetals.com.au | $16.35M | |
| Peak Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: PEK) | www.peakrareearths.com | $116.65M | Queried Feb 15 |
| Platina Resources Ltd (ASX: PGM) | www.platinaresources.com.au | $11.22M | |
| Prospect Resources Ltd (ASX: PSC) | www.prospectresources.com.au | $99.39M | |
| Petratherm Ltd (ASX: PTR) | www.petratherm.com.au | $13.04M | |
| RareX Ltd (ASX: REE) | www.clancyexploration.com | $28.39M | |
| Sunshine Gold Ltd (ASX: SHN) | www.shngold.com.au | $10.47M | |
| Stavely Minerals Ltd (ASX: SVY) | www.stavely.com.au | $60.49M | |
| Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX: TMR) | www.tempusresources.com.au | $12.47M | |
| Todd River Resources Ltd (ASX: TRT) | www.trrltd.com.au | $9.46M | |
| Venus Metals Corporation Ltd (ASX: VMC) | www.venusmetals.com.au | $26.71M | |
| Vital Metals Ltd (ASX: VML) | www.vitalmetals.com.au | $122.57M | Queried Feb 15 |
Appendix B: ESG in Lithium Development
| Lithium Company (Ticker link to Share Price History) |
Web Site | Mkt Cap AUS$ (Mar. 12, 2023) |
ESG Response |
| Aurora Energy Metals Ltd (ASX: 1AE) | www.auroraenergymetals.com | $12.28M | |
| Australasian Metals Ltd (ASX: A8G) | www.australasiangold.com | $8.07M | |
| Ardiden Ltd (ASX: ADV) | www.ardiden.com.au | $18.82M | |
| Argosy Minerals Ltd (ASX: AGY) | www.argosyminerals.com.au | $920.38M | Queried Feb 26 |
| Allkem (ASX: AKE) | www.allkem.co | $7.26B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Arrow Minerals Ltd (ASX: AMD) | www.arrowminerals.com | $10.47M | |
| Anson Resources Ltd (ASX: ASN) | www.ansonresources.com | $253.56M | |
| Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX: AVL) | www.australianvanadium.com.au | $153.60M | |
| BMG Resources Ltd (ASX: BMG) | www.bmgl.com.au | $4.63M | |
| Benz Mining Corp (ASX: BNZ) | www.benzmining.com | $49.49M | |
| Boadicea Resources Ltd (ASX: BOA) | www.boadicea.net.au | $7.11M | |
| Cullen Resources Ltd (ASX: CUL) | www.cullenresources.com.au | $6.56M | |
| Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) | www.corelithium.com.au | $1.75B | Queried Feb 26 |
| De Grey Mining Ltd (ASX: DEG) | www.degreymining.com.au | $2.19B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Devex Resources Ltd (ASX: DEV) | www.devexresources.com.au | $101.96M | |
| Dart Mining NL (ASX: DTM) | www.dartmining.com.au | $6.86M | |
| European Metals Holdings Ltd (ASX: EMH) | www.europeanmet.com | GBP72.64M | |
| Essential Metals Ltd (ASX: ESS) | www.essmetals.com.au | $127.12M | |
| European Lithium Ltd (ASX: EUR) | www.europeanlithium.com | $111.84M | |
| EV Resources Ltd (ASX: EVR) | www.evresources.com.au | $14.04M | |
| Global Lithium Resources Ltd (ASX: GL1) | www.globallithium.com.au | $320.83M | |
| Galan Lithium Ltd (ASX: GLN) | www.galanlithium.com.au | $349.95M | |
| Hannans Ltd (ASX: HNR) | www.hannans.com | $31.33M | |
| Hawkstone Mining Ltd (ASX: HWK) | www.hawkstonemining.com.au | $134.34M | |
| Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd (ASX: INF) | www.infinitylithium.com | $48.57M | |
| Ioneer Ltd (ASX: INR) | www.ioneer.com | $672.22M | Reply Feb 28 |
| Jindalee Resources Ltd (ASX: JRL) | www.jindalee.net | $154.92M | |
| Korab Resources Ltd (ASX: KOR) | www.korabresources.com.au | $8.08M | |
| Krakatoa Resources Ltd (ASX: KTA) | www.ktaresources.com | $12.13M | |
| Li-S Energy Ltd (ASX: LIS) | www.lis.energy | $39.02M | |
| Lithium Australia Ltd (ASX: LIT) | www.lithium-au.com | $46.41M | |
| Lake Resources NL (ASX: LKE) | www.lakeresources.com.au | $838.27M | Queried Feb 26 |
| Lanthanein Resources Ltd (ASX: LNR) | www.lanthanein.com | $17.16M | |
| Lepidico Ltd (ASX: LPD) | www.lepidico.com | $74.47M | |
| Lithium Power International Ltd (ASX: LPI) | www.lithiumpowerinternational.com | $201.54M | |
| Latin Resources Ltd (ASX: LRS) | www.latinresources.com.au | $242.64M | |
| Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) | www.ltresources.com.au | $3.42B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) | www.mineralresources.com.au | $16.04B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Metals Australia Ltd (ASX: MLS) | www.metalsaustralia.com.au | $26.13M | |
| Marquee Resources Ltd (ASX: MQR) | www.marqueeresources.com.au | $7.66M | |
| Morella Corporation Ltd (ASX: 1MC) | www.morellacorp.com | $54.88M | |
| Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) | www.neometals.com.au | $370.34M | Queried Feb 26 |
| Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX: NVA) | www.novaminerals.com.au | $93.91M | |
| Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL) | www.piedmontlithium.com | $1.62B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) | www.pilbaraminerals.com.au | $11.93B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Power Minerals Ltd (ASX: PNN) | www.pepinnini.com.au | $29.98M | |
| Poseidon Nickel Ltd (ASX: POS) | www.poseidon-nickel.com.au | $110.29M | |
| Prospect Resources Ltd (ASX: PSC) | www.prospectresources.com.au | $99.39M | |
| Red Dirt Metals Ltd (ASX: RDT) | www.reddirtmetals.com.au | $171.29M | |
| Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) | www.riotinto.com | $173.05B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Reedy Lagoon Corporation Ltd (ASX: RLC) | www.reedylagonn.com.au | $3.70M | |
| Strike Resources Ltd (ASX: SRK) | www.strikeresources.com.au | $20.43M | |
| Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) | https://sayonamining.com.au/about/ | $2.00B | Queried Feb 26 |
| Taruga Minerals Ltd (ASX: TAR) | www.targunaminerals.com.au | $11.30M | |
| Tempest Minerals Ltd (ASX: TEM) | www.tempestminerals.com | $12.81M | |
| Traka Resources Ltd (ASX: TKL) | www.trakaresources.com | $5.20M | |
| Todd River Resources Ltd (ASX: TRT) | www.trrltd.com.au | $9.46M | |
| Venus Metals Corporation Ltd (ASX: VMC) | www.venusmetals.com.au | $26.71M | |
| Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL) | www.v-er.com | $902.21M | Queried Feb 26 |
| Woomera Mining Ltd (ASX: WML) | www.woomeramining.com.au | $12.43M | |
| Zenith Minerals Ltd (ASX: ZNC) | www.zenithminerals.com.au | $75.62M |
Appendix C: ESG in Vanadium Development
| Vanadium Company (Ticker link to Share Price History) |
Web Site | Mkt Cap AUS$ (Mar 12, 2023) |
ESG Response |
| Aura Energy Ltd (ASX: AEE) | www.auraenergy.com.au | $170.43M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX: AVL) | www.australianvanadium.com.au | $153.60M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Golden Deeps Ltd (ASX: GED) | www.goldendeeps.com | $10.97M | |
| Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) | www.ltresources.com.au | $3.42B | Queried Mar 4 |
| Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) | www.neometals.com.au | $370.34M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Protean Energy Ltd (ASX: POW) | www.proteanenergy.com | $5.2M | |
| Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX: PUR) | www.pursuitminerals.com.au | $26.12M | Queried Mar 4 |
| QEM Ltd (ASX: QEM) | www.qldem.com.au | $28.38M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Red Dirt Metals Ltd (ASX: RDT) | www.reddirtmetals.com.au | $171.29M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Sabre Resources Ltd (ASX: SBR) | www.sabreresources.com | $8.45M | |
| Santa Fe Minerals Ltd (ASX: SFM) | www.santafeminerals.com.au | $4.95M | |
| SI6 Metals Ltd (ASX: SI6) | www.si6metals.com | $8.22M | |
| Surefire Resources.NL (ASX: SRN) | www.surefireresources.com.au | $28.46M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) | www.syrahresources.com.au | $1.17B | Queried Mar 4 |
| Technology Metals Australia Ltd (ASX: TMT) | www.tmtlimited.com.au | $58.75M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Tivan Limited (ASX: TVN) | www.tivan.com.au | $113.85M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Triton Minerals Ltd (ASX: TON) | www.tritonminerals.com | $45.63M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Venus Metals Corporation Ltd (ASX: VMC) | www.venusmetals.com.au | $26.71M | Queried Mar 4 |
| Vanadium Resources Ltd (ASX: VR8) | www.vr8.global | $33.91M | Queried Mar 4 |