The following is a transcription of the above video, and The Market Online has edited it for clarity.
Fuse Battery Metals Inc. (TSXV:FUSE), is a tier two mining exploration company focused on the exploration and development of strategic metals, particularly lithium and cobalt. The company is currently exploring for lithium in Nevada.
We spoke with CEO Tim Fernback who shared more information about the company’s recent projects and the current state of the EV industry.
TMO: Can you just start off by giving us an update on Fuse’s current project portfolio?
Fernback: We’re actively exploring for lithium in Nevada. We have two great mineral projects there, the Lithium Springs Project and the Monitor Valley North Project. Lithium Springs is 97 claims large and is in a great area of Nevada right near some major geothermal activity in the Black Rock Desert. So we’re actively exploring in Nevada right now.
We just completed a 2023 mineral exploration program on our Monitor Valley project, which is near Tonopah and that again is around 100 claims large.
We have additional properties in Ontario, our cobalt properties in the historic Ontario Cobalt Camp. In total we have about 55 mineral planes there between Teledyne and Glencore Bucke are two projects that are right beside each other. We’ve had some great results from drilling in the past up to 21 per cent cobalt, which is phenomenal.
It’s really high, narrow vein but high concentration cobalt in that area. We’ve had some big results.
TMO: With Nevada being the epicentre of lithium mining, can you prioritize the focus of what’s going on with Fuse’s current lithium projects?
Fernback: We’re actively exploring on Lithium Springs right now. We just completed MT geophysical survey and we’re about to do a detailed soil sample collection. We have our grid laid out, Rangefront Geological is our main contractor there and they’re actively on the property.
So we’re excited to get our MT geophysical results back out to the public soon. When we do that, we’ll have a great basis for exploration targets and drilling targets for later this year.
On Monitor Valley North, we’ve basically done the bulk of the work in 2023. Now we’re assessing it and we’re looking for our drill targets for 2024.
TMO: Fuse recently put out an update on exploration plans on its Nevada lithium properties. Tell me about the work that’s been done there and what’s upcoming?
Fernback: I mentioned that we’re on Lithium Springs right now. We have a crew of about 15 people that are actually on the property right now.
We’re completing a detailed soil sampling project. We’ve completed our MT geophysical survey, so it gives us a basis for where we’re going to be doing our drilling for later on in the year. That’s our priority right now is to get some good quality drilling prospect.
TMO: Let’s talk about the current state of the EV industry in particular, President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. How has that helped the EV auto industry and battery metals explorers such as Fuse?
Fernback: It’s really great because both cobalt and lithium are considered this critical mineral both in Canada and the U.S. And because they’re on this list of critical minerals that we want to have a domestic supply for, it’s allowing for incentives that are built into acts of legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act.
So, if you are an EV manufacturer, you’re incentivized to get North American supply minerals into your electric vehicle. This is good for the consumer because they’ll get ultimately a subsidy when they’re purchasing the vehicle.
We’re at really a tipping point right now in terms of total vehicles out there, electric vehicles. I think somewhere in Canada it’s about double digits.
New car sales are electric vehicles. Right now, there’s over 41 million electric vehicles worldwide. Over 95 per cent of all new purchase cars, in countries like Norway, which are really advanced, are electric vehicles.
TMO: What do are some of the key strategic moves that Fuse is making right now to maintain the competitive edge?
Fernback: We are actively adding to our management team to put the right resources in place at the right time. We have fully financed our 2024 exploration season, including exploration in Nevada, so we’ve already pre-prepared that. And we’re going to be deploying that capital this year, and we’re looking to add additional high-quality properties to our portfolio.
TMO: You announced a spin-out of your subsidiary and subsequent listing. Can you tell us more about what this process means and what shareholders can expect?
Fernback: Our cobalt properties right now are in a subsidiary that we’ve called Ignition Battery Metals. So for the shareholder, what that means is that we are going to be spinning out the project. Each shareholder of our company will get a share dividend, so a bonus share in this company.
It will be traded on an exchange like the venture exchange sometime around midyear. What that means is that you’ll be able to get two companies for the price of one essentially.
You can find Fuse Battery Metals Inc. on the Venture Exchange under the symbol FUSE or head to its website at fusebatterymetals.com for more information.
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