In this episode of The Capital Compass, we’re looking at Boron One (TSXV:BONE), a company focused on what many consider one of the most strategically important, and often overlooked, industrial minerals in the world: boron.
Boron plays a critical role across clean energy technologies, including electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines, and it has recently been added to the European Union’s critical minerals list.
Boron One is positioning itself as a pure-play exposure to this space, with a project now advancing through the mine license application stage.
Joining Ricki to walk through the role boron plays in decarbonization, where the project stands today, and what comes next is Tim Daniels, President of Boron One.
A strategically important mineral playing a critical role in clean energy technologies
Tim: Well, thanks for having me, Ricki. I appreciate this chance to talk about this exciting opportunity of ours.
Ricki: Fantastic. Well, Tim, tell us, boron doesn’t always get the same attention as lithium or copper, but it’s increasingly being described as one of the most valuable industrial minerals. So why is boron so important, and particularly in the context of electrification and decarbonization?
Tim: Sure. I guarantee that every one of your viewers depends on dozens of important everyday products that all contain boron, whether they know it or not.
Everything from all around you, the ceramic tiles under your feet, the fiberglass insulation in your walls, the solar panels on your roof, the screen that you’re looking into right now, or the cell phone that we all have in our pocket all depend on boron, as does the fiber cable that’s driving your internet.
Speaking of driving, when you get out into your car, boron is extremely important in your car. It’s in our food supply; it’s in our rechargeable batteries. Boron is all around us all the time in essential products that we all use every day.
So, it’s not an overstatement to say that modern life would be measurably different if we didn’t have boron.So, it’s extremely important. But you used another key word, which is decarbonization. And decarbonization is the game changer for boron.
Because all governments are focused on curbing carbon emissions and nearly every source of green energy whether it’s wind or solar or nuclear power, fuel cells, electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries, and on and on and on.
Every one of those sources of green energy absolutely relies on boron to make them happen. So, some estimates show growth in boron demand being about 10 times going forward because of decarbonization, and that demand will be sustained for decades if we’re really going to get off the use of fossil fuels.
Ricki: And Boron One is often described as the only public company with a dedicated pure play focus on boron. So how does that position the company for investors looking for exposure to this market?
Tim: Sure. There’s only a handful of economic boron deposits in the entire world, so it’s a true oligopoly, and most of those companies are either private or government owned.
And the few public companies that are out there with some boron also have other products in their mix. So we are truly the one and only true boron play that gives investors the opportunity to leverage boron in a pure fashion.
Ricki: Amazing. And so, your flagship project is now at the mine license application stage. So where does the project stand today and what milestones need to be cleared as you move through the approval process?
Tim: So, we’ve currently drilled out enough material to sustain production for approximately two decades. And so, we’ve moved forward from a pure exploration project now into the development phase of as you’ve mentioned, however, the deposit does remain open in a couple directions.
So, there is good possibility for resource expansion in the future. We’re now in the second phase of the mine licensing process of three phases that are required. And so, we’re currently updating our feasibility study as part of that second step, and we hope to be through this step over the course of the next couple of months, at which point we enter the third and final stage of development which is the actual construction plans for the mining and processing.
So, it’s very exciting times ahead for us.
Ricki: And you’ve described this as the next potential world class boron deposit. So, what differentiates this project from existing global boron supply, and why is the timing particularly important right now?
Tim: We are different in a couple ways. Number one, we are very high grade. Our average grade is up over 37% of the boron oxide, whereas the two world leading producers, their boron content is about 26%.
So, we’re substantially higher than the two biggest players in the market today. So not only are we very high grade, we’re also very high purity in that we don’t have arsenic or other harmful byproducts in our materials that’s commonly found in some of the other deposits around the world.
We’re also located in the heart of Europe, the only one located there, which is one of the world’s biggest consuming markets for boron products. And our type of boron, which is called Colemanite, is very important to the marketplace.
And today, there’s only one other supplier in the entire world that produces and sells Colemanite. So, there’s a very big opportunity for us to break into that segment of the boron market.
And the timing is very important as boron is now recognized by all governments around the world as a critical material, meaning it’s in short supply and growing demand because of decarbonization. So, the world can certainly benefit from a new player in the boron space over the next few years.
Ricki: Amazing. And so, Tim, looking ahead, what are the next key steps for Boron One, and what should investors be watching over the next coming months as the project advances?
Tim: So, the next key steps are primarily focused on us obtaining our licenses and securing strategic partnerships. So, watch for news. We expect to be announcing over the upcoming months advancement through the licensing process, expansion of our resource as I’ve mentioned earlier, that it remains open and has good potential to expand it.
News on strategic partnerships being consummated and near term cash flow opportunity through strategic cooperation opportunity for us. So, lots of news coming up on the horizon for investors to get excited about.
Ricki: Well, Tim, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing the Boron One story.
Tim: Thank you. It’s been my pleasure, and I do look forward to being back on your show with some exciting updates in the upcoming months.
Ricki: And we look forward to having you. So, for more information, visit boronone.com. I’m Ricki Lee, and this has been The Capital Compass. Thank you for watching, and we’ll see you again next time.
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