Jocelyn Aspa reports that a mining company in Australia turned their attention to graphite, whose previous focus was on gold, thanks to its managing director, Mark Thompson. Why the switch? Back in 2011, Thompson gained an interest in graphite at a mining conference in Hong Kong. Attendees were excited about the idea of lithium being used in next-generation batteries being used in manufacturers, such as Tesla Motors. What captivated Thompson attention was the fact that graphite coating wires and anodes are the biggest components in batteries.
His vision of developing gold and iron-ore mines had not faded just yet, but the idea of expanded demand from electronics interested him. Not long after Talga was founded as a junior mining company, the Thompson focus began shifting. After seeing the supply chain for batteries and the growth in electric vehicles, we knew we wanted to get into graphite.
Northern Graphite in Ontario and Graphite One Resources on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska are two important graphite mining companies to watch.
But the gold price, since the beginning of the year, has risen from $1,061 an ounce to $1,217.50, although it did hit $1,300 earlier this month. So why invest in gold?
One of the reasons gold has generally improved over the year is because a weaker U.S. dollar has given it a slight boost. The value of the dollar and U.S. jobs data impacts the price of gold ... when the dollar falls, gold becomes less expensive for international investors to buy.
Barrick Gold Corp with numerous mines in operation or underway and Asante Gold Corp., with mining properties in Ghana and West Africa are likely movers over the next few months.
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