COB on the Move, page-17

Sorry to muck up the COB thread with vanadium.Back to COB.

I am favorably inclined because I am looking for companies that can get to production quickly, and COB claims their schedule is to start production in 2021. I believe that speed to production is important with cobalt and 2021 is pretty fast for a new project.

The timeline to production is very attractive but there are questions in my mind whether it can be achieved. The PFS is due June 2018, the BFS a year later in mid-year 2019. So they allow 2 years from the BFS. As usual, a very tight schedule for investors to salivate over, but I suppose it is possible. In the year in between the PFS and the BFS a lot of groundwork can be done if they are persuaded before the BFS that the project is a "Go", and the $15 mil from LG gives them the cash to do it. Note permitting is not on the schedule til later, so this is an unpredictable variable in terms of the time to execute.

In contrast, ARL just finished their PFS but have 2023 as the production date; and AUZ and CLQ have dispensed with doing a nickel-cobalt PFS altogether, and are hurtling towards BFS's to be completed in the time frame that COB will be publishing a PFS. (AUZ and CLQ have prior PFS studies based on scandium.)

COB is interesting company and they have really crashed the party in a big way. The relative youth of the company and the management being from banking and finance makes me a little nervous, I get edgy with companies that are newly created to take advantage of hot trends, but at least you know these guys are sensitive to the needs of investment community. And LG's judgment on the matter gives comfort.

COB's presentations are remarkably clear and to the point and address the questions people like us might have very succinctly. The share price has been responding accordingly. I also like the fact that there is nothing clouding up the play on COB...it is cobalt, cobalt only, and nothing but cobalt.

The LG deal looks very judicious from both sides, the money involved should get COB through to
the BFS in June 2019 and the LG commitment shows a measured and prudent step towards securing their cobalt supply long-term. They have a stake in the farm and probably can probably make do until the crops come in from COB.

The other question in my mind is the metallurgy, processing, and the margins. The conventional laterite
nickel-cobalt-scandium projects are migrating to nickel by-product accounting so the cost comparisons with cobalt as a by-product, so comparisons may be a little confusing even after we get the PFS from COB.

The laterite guys will have a lot of wiggle room on paper when the C1 costs are expressed on a net by-product basis.

GLTAH