Daily Brief Energy/Materials: Piedmont Lithium, Iron Ore, Compass Minerals International, Inc, Hellenic Petroleum Sa, Nanoco Group PLC, Endurance Gold, TMC the metals co and more

• North American hard-rock lithium plays Piedmont Lithium (PLL AU) and Sayona Mining (SYA AU) are to combine in all-stock merger with a ~50%/50% ownership split on a fully diluted basis.
• Sayona will be the ultimate/surviving parent, via issuing 5.27 Sayona ordinary shares for each Piedmont share. Various equity raisings will also take place, before and after the merger.
• EGMs for both Sayona and Piedmont shareholders are expected to be held in 1H25, with expected completion also in the 1H25. 

• SGX Iron Ore Futures dropped to USD 96.71/ton, down USD 5.49/ton, hitting a low of USD 96.30/ton amid pressure from declining housing prices and industrial output in China.
• Chinese portside inventories increased by 120k tons WoW to 148.51m tons last week, while average daily port discharge volumes rose by 131k tons WoW to 3.18m tons.
• Despite weak economic data from China, SGX Iron Ore Futures may rebound in November-December as pre-Lunar New Year restocking boosts steel demand.

• Compass Minerals Inc. recently reported its second-quarter fiscal 2024 results.
• The quarter demonstrated significant challenges, primarily attributable to unseasonably mild winter weather conditions across North America.
• The Salt segment, a core part of the company’s operations, was notably affected by these conditions, leading to a substantial decrease in deicing salt sales volumes, ultimately reflecting a 14% decline in segment revenue and a 7% drop in adjusted EBITDA compared to the previous year.

HELLENiQ ENERGY’s Q324 results were held back by a weak refining environment, as previously guided by the company, but showed an impressive operational performance. The company noted that the Q424 refining margin is likely to be $2/bbl to $3/bbl above the average for Q3. Q3 refining sales volumes of 4.163m tonnes were up 8% y-o-y, adjusted EBITDA of €183m was down 54% y o y and adjusted net income of €49m was down 77% y-o-y. HELLENiQ’s Q324 benchmark refining margin declined to $3.6/bbl, from $5.5/bbl in Q224, as anticipated by the company at the Q2 results, and at its lowest level since 2021. HELLENiQ announced a €0.2 per share dividend to be paid in January 2025, implying an interim yield of c 3.0%. Management was more confident on the Q424 outlook, expecting a better market and potentially some progress on its DEPA and ELPEDISON business associations that might continue the streamlining of the group.

Nanoco has issued a circular recommending that shareholders vote against both resolutions being proposed by Milkwood in its requisition for a general meeting (scheduled for 11:30am on 13 December 2024). We summarise the board’s key arguments below.

• What you need to know: • EDG announced assay results for five drill holes as part of its 10,000m 2024 drill program; it has completed 26 holes (7,303m) to date.
• • Today’s results continued to confirm strong mineralization in the untested gaps between Eagle & Imperial (Crown Zone), intersecting bonanza grade.
• • Two of five holes intersected significant intercepts (147.5 g/t Au over 1.0m and 7.61 g/t Au over 5.7m).

• 3Q24 update. TMC’s income statement expenses rose from $12.5 million in 3Q23 to $20.0 million in 3Q24 on higher legal and consulting costs, and share-based compensation accounting.
• However, quarterly cash use slowed from $12.5 million in the year-ago period to $5.7 million and management reaffirmed its intention to reduce cash use to less than $5 million/quarter once the ISA exploitation application is submitted for review.
• Submission date set. TMC initially intended to submit its NORI- D application to the ISA before the end of 2024 or before the first ISA meeting in 2025 (scheduled for March).