Comstock Announces Third Quarter 2024 Results and Corporate Updates
VIRGINIA CITY, Nev., Oct. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comstock Inc. (NYSE:LODE) ("Comstock," "our," and the "Company") today announced its third quarter 2024 results, certain business and investment updates and an updated business outlook, with significant progress from each business, corporate and collectively across the system.
"Our fuels and metals businesses have commercial validation of their plans," stated Corrado De Gasperis, Comstock's Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our business teams are dedicated, and our commercialization efforts have gained tremendous traction. We are 100% focused on execution, across the platform, for delivering the technical breakthroughs and operational developments that will drive exponential growth over the coming years."
Selected Segment Highlights for the Third Quarter of 2024
Comstock Fuels
Executed international engineering, licensing and equity agreements for three industry scale fuel hubs;
Delivered customer samples of commercially available Hydrodeoxygenated Bioleum Oil ("HBO");
Validated industry-leading higher yields of 125 Gasoline Gallon Equivalents (GGEs) per ton of feedstock;
Identified carbon capture and utilization opportunity for further increasing yields by 15-20 GGEs;
Completed preliminary engineering for our demonstration scale, lignocellulosic production facility;
Expanded research and development activities targeting further cost and capital reductions;
Finalized project plans and activities aggressively designed for achieving petroleum cost parity; and
Executed an exclusive license and cooperative research and development agreement with the DoE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory ("NREL") for breakthrough lignocellulosic conversions.
"Our first three industry scale projects and license agreements with South Asia Carbon Limited ("SACL") are expected to deliver foundational engineering fees and ongoing royalty-based economics plus equity stakes that are expected to establish our global leadership in low carbon fuel solutions," said De Gasperis. "Our breakthrough yields feature a highly differentiated level of performance. We have completed the preliminary engineering of our own, commercial demonstration scale facility for producing low carbon fuels like Sustainable Aviation Fuels ("SAF")."
David Winsness, President of Comstock Fuels, added, "Our existing commercial process unlocks and converts wasted, unused, and purpose grown woody biomass into renewable fuels at extraordinary yields and carbon intensities, essentially creating an endless oilwell hidden in plain sight. Our planned commercial facilities have been designed to tap into that oilwell to produce an array of intermediates and fuels. However, further developing and integrating the NREL and MIT technologies into our process could give us the additional ability to maximize aromatic content and quality specifically for high value use in addressing the recent global surge in demand for SAF."
Comstock Metals
Recorded first revenues from the sale of recycled aluminum, and commenced regular outbound shipments;
Announced contracts with multiple new customers for the decommissioning and disposal of solar panels;
Demonstrated 100% recovery of all glass, metal, and mineral materials, ensuring a zero-landfill solution;
Secured county permits for the first industry-scale expansion, including a waste-panel storage solution;
Advanced work on state operating permits necessary for operating the first industry-scale expansion;
Received approval for operating three shifts and expanded the dedicated team to 13 full time employees;
Advanced agreements on long term supply arrangements to continue receiving solar panels; and
Advanced agreements on offtake arrangements for all segments of recovered materials.
"Our combined Metals revenues, including deferred revenues, nearly tripled from last quarter to over $200,000, and we expect this growth rate to continue in the fourth quarter, especially as both panel decommissioning and shipments of recycled materials increase," said De Gasperis. "This increase reflects our team's success in capturing more of these end-of-life business opportunities, including decommissioning services that also feeds our recycling panel flow."
Comstock Mining
Updated our internal preliminary mine and reclamation plan for the Dayton Mine plan ("Dayton");
Increased the magnitude of Dayton's estimated economic mineralized material and planned free cash flows;
Assessed productive post-mining land uses and identified prerequisites for post-mining development; and
Continued assessment and development on the profitable recoverability of recycled silver from solar panels.
"The combination of rapidly rising industrial silver demand and ongoing geopolitical concerns, compounded by decades of questionable monetary policy, creates an unprecedented setup for gold and silver prices over the next several years. Our Nevada mining assets, including the historic Comstock and Silver City lodes, offer a tremendous opportunity for nearer-term production as we advance our efforts to activate these plans," said De Gasperis.
Corporate
Comstock's wholly owned subsidiary, Comstock IP Holdings LLC ("Comstock Innovations"), recently executed an Exclusive License Agreement ("ELA") and a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement ("CRADA") with the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC ("Alliance"), the managing and operating contractor of the U.S. Department of Energy's ("DOE") National Renewable Energy Laboratory ("NREL"), involving technologies developed by NREL and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ("MIT") for conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into aromatic sustainable aviation fuel ("SAF"). Comstock Innovations is focused on continuously improving the proven performance and operations of Comstock Fuel's commercial refining solutions, including increasing feedstock diversity, bulk conversion yields, and product quality for use in SAF while decreasing total variable and capital costs.
"Our existing commercial processes are already leading the acceleration of systemic decarbonization across transportation and mobility, but we believe that we can accelerate the breadth and rate of global market adoption with continued innovation to produce the world's first 100% renewable SAF at costs that approach parity with fossil fuels. Our combined Comstock and NREL teams believe that feat can be achievable by advancing and integrating our combined technologies," stated Mr. De Gasperis. "Higher energy, simpler processes, lower all-in sustaining costs."
Comstock also recently executed a binding agreement with Deep Interstellar Research LLC ("DIR"), and Quantum Generative Materials LLC ("GenMat") wherein Comstock will effectively acquire substantially all of the equity in GenMat's artificial intelligence materials discovery platform, materials synthesis, and related assets, business, ...
