SS1 to seek US DOE grant funding for silver paste
Today our US silver Investment, and 2024 Small Cap Pick of the Year, Sun Silver (ASX: SS1) put out an update on its work on silver paste for the domestic US solar industry.
SS1 has appointed law firm Holland & Knight to seek out grant funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the production of solar paste - a crucial component in the manufacture of solar panels.
Holland & Knight are well connected in Washington and should aid SS1’s cause.
We’re following SS1’s silver paste efforts closely - as we think this value added product will differentiate SS1 in the market and help the company integrate with the US solar manufacturing industry more closely over the long-term.
We expect Holland and Knight to be well placed to help SS1 secure DOE grant funding - the firm was responsible for 40% of all successful 2023 IRA renewable energy grant applications, including over US$500M in grant funding secured by various ASX listed companies.
SS1 also provided a bit more insight on the manufacturing process for silver paste:
China retains a 90% market share in the solar industry, something which the US government is intent on changing:
In light of the recent tariffs on Chinese solar cells, we’re keen to see SS1 explore its options for grant funding from the US DOE to progress its silver paste ambitions in partnership with Holland & Knight.
We’re hoping SS1 can follow a similar trajectory to Novonix as the US builds out its domestic solar manufacturing supply chain.
SS1 noted today that silver paste “sells at a significant premium to the spot price silver via industrial off-take agreements”.
We think this implies that there are significant rewards available if SS1 can become a domestic supplier of silver paste in the US.
What’s next for SS1?
Geophysical surveys - this will be to identify drill targets.
Drill program - this will be to upgrade SS1’s existing JORC resource.
Downstream progress - for this, SS1 will be completing work on silver paste solutions
AND if all goes well, feasibility studies - SS1 will put together a feasibility study that we hope shows strong project economics.
All of this work, we hope culminates in the achievement of our SS1 Big Bet:
Our SS1 Big Bet:
“SS1 re-rates to a +$300M market cap by expanding its large US silver resource and moving into development studies and/or attracting a takeover bid at multiples of our Initial Entry Price”
NOTE: our “Big Bet” is what we HOPE the ultimate success scenario looks like for this particular Investment over the long term (3+ years). There is a lot of work to be done, many risks involved - just some of which we list in our SS1 Investment Memo. Success will require a significant amount of luck. There is no guarantee that our Big Bet will ever come true.
