John Eagleton, CEO of Intellabridge, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the next protocol to gain critical mass adoption.

Grant McCarty, Policy Director of Bitcoin Magazine discusses the ramifications of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on civil liberties with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News.

Last year Northern Graphite (CVE:NGC) leap frogged from a company holding an advanced asset to now being the biggest graphite producer in North America, said Gregory Bowes, CEO and director.

Bowes spoke to Kitco on Tuesday.

Graphite is enjoying an upswing due to energy transition. Graphite is the anode in a lithium ion battery and its single-largest component. On average, a plug-in EV has around 70 kg of graphite. With at least 125 million EVs expected globally by 2030, that’s more than 8 million tonnes of battery-ready graphite needed in the coming decade, according to Kitco commentator Richard Mills.

In December 2021 Northern Graphite acquired two graphite mines from Imerys SA: the Lac des Iles producing graphite mine in Quebec and the Okankande/Okorusu graphite producing operation in Namibia. The $55 million financing was a mixture of debt, financing and royalty agreements led by Sprott.

"It's a truly transformational acquisition for us," said Bowes. "We're going from having one advanced stage project in Ontario to being a producing company immediately. We're buying the only producing North American graphite mine, and we're buying a second mine from them in Namibia, which is on care and maintenance. We'll have it back online in nine to 12 months."

With the deal done the company touts 50,000tpy of graphite production capacity, plus two large development projects with 100,000tpy potential making it the third largest non-Chinese producer.

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Zero premium acquisitions are a thing of the past, according to Peter Marrone, executive chair of Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) who stressed acquirers need to pay fair value.

Marrone spoke to Kitco correspondent Paul Harris at BMO's Global Metals & Mining Conference held in Florida last week.

Yamana recognizes that it may potentially be a target following the acquisition of Kirkland Lake Mining by Agnico Eagle Mines, given it has a 1 million ounces a year production profile at an all-in sustaining cost of around US$900 per ounce, and a number of development projects.

With a wobbly economy and too much household wealth tied up in equities, the markets have less to fear from a hawkish Fed, said Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, responsible for fund management and research at Incrementum AG.

Stoeferle spoke to Kitco on Tuesday. He said there may be a once-a-done rate hike instead of several rate increases some were expecting as the Federal Reserve tries to tamp down inflation.

"Inflation numbers are coming down, so we can actually take a little bit more time with our rate hike campaign. I cannot emphasize it enough: I think the market is expecting [too] much hawkishness from the Federal Reserve. It's ridiculous," said Stoeferle.

Jay Martin, CEO of CambridgeHouse and host of The Jay Martin Show, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the outlook for the economy and some of the safest assets to buy in the event of an economic downturn.

Tolga Kumova’s Aston Minerals (ASX:ASO) started out as a gold junior when the company hit significant nickel mineralization.

Kumova was behind Syrah Resources, an African graphite company, which now has a valuation north of $600 million. The company recently signed up Tesla for an offtake agreement.

Aston Minerals Edleston project is located about 60 Km south of Timmins, Ontario. The company announced 163.5m at 0.52% Ni & 0.016% Co from 186.5m at its Boomerang target. Kumova is executive chair of Aston.

The Federal Open Market Committee has announced a doubling in the pace of asset tapering on Wednesday.

The Dot Plots indicate that there will be an average of three rate hikes in 2022, three more in 2023, and two in 2024, all in increments of 25 basis points.

Gary Wagner, editor of TheGoldForecast.com discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the impact that monetary policy next year will have on financial markets.

E.B. Tucker, director of Metalla Royalty, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News the outlook for stocks, gold, and silver in 2022.

Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network, discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, the major investment themes of 2022, and which assets will perform the best.