Here’s another heuristic that’s handy for investing in mining stocks, the past doesn’t repeat but it definitely rhymes.
In 2006, Timminco stock was trading around 30 cents on the Venture. After claiming they had developed a proprietary and cheap method of creating solar-grade silicon for solar panel manufacturing, the stock shot up to $34 by 2008.
- Timminco dismisses cynics (paywall)
- How Eric Sprott got solar burn (paywall)
- Long slide finally ends for Timminco
I arrived at BNN in 2009 in the middle of all this as the hard questions started. By 2012 short sellers and skeptics were proven correct, and Sprott was proven very wrong, as Timminco ran out of money and declared bankruptcy. A lot of claims and fancy videos from Timminco – but ultimately no customer contracts to provide economic validation they had unique technology and could deliver on their promises.
I don’t like linking to paywalled articles, but those are great long reads for a history lesson or refresher – and perhaps food for thought as you think about increasing your graphene exposure.
