First Tellurium Corp. (FTEL:CSE; FSTTF:OTCQB) announced it has successfully uplisted from the OTC Pink Market to the OTCQB Venture Market.
The company began trading on the exchange on Tuesday under the symbol "FSTTF."
"Upgrading our OTC market listing has been an important, long-term goal of the company," President and Chief Executive Officer Tyrone Docherty said. "This milestone gives us far greater access and exposure to the crucial U.S. investment market, allowing us to attract a larger shareholder audience."
The exchange is recognized as an established public market by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tellurium (Te) is one of the least common elements on the planet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Most rocks contain an average of about three parts per billion, making it eight times less abundant than gold.
FTEL could "have a huge 2023," wrote asset manager Chen Lin, author of the What's Chen Buying? What's Chen Selling? newsletter.
Its use as a semiconductor in solar photovoltaic (solar PV) panels has increased. It's also used in thermoelectric applications, lithium batteries, vulcanizing rubber, tinting glass, and manufacturing rewritable CDs and DVDs.
Both the U.S. and Canada are trying to reduce dependence on China for such critical metals. U.S. President Joe Biden has banned solar panels coming from a Chinese company that uses forced labor.
The U.S. military is providing US$250 million for critical metals projects, including tellurium, and Canada's federal 2023 budget earmarked CA$1.5 billion for a critical minerals infrastructure fund.
The Catalyst: 'Transparent, High-Quality Trading'
The Venture Market is the middle tier of the over-the-counter market for U.S. stocks. Created in 2010, it's made up of early-stage and developing companies that are not able to qualify for the OTCQX but aren't as speculative as the lowest-tier Pink Sheets, according to Investopedia.
The market has no minimum financial standards, but companies must meet minimum reporting standards, pass a bid test, and undergo annual verification.
"We will hit the jackpot as FTEL is the only pure play in tellurium," Chen wrote.
Companies listed on the exchange report to a U.S. regulator like the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and must pay an application fee and an annual fee.
"Stocks trading in the OTCQB have many of the same protections as more established, larger stocks," Investopedia said. "However, they are still mainly considered to be speculative penny stocks."
OTC securities are protected from illegal broker practices by the same SEC/FINRA rules, such as best execution, limit order protection, firm quotes, and short position disclosure.
"It offers investors transparent, high-quality trading," Docherty said.
Co. Could Have Huge Year, Asset Manager Says
First Tellurium is conducting geophysics work at its flagship Deer Horn project in British Columbia this summer to help develop targets for a drilling campaign. The project is known to have the only positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for a tellurium project in North America.
Technical analyst Clive Maund rated First Tellurium as an immediate Buy in March.
In addition, the company's Klondike Tellurium Project in Colorado is considered America's top Te exploration project and was previously owned by First Solar as a potential source of raw Te for its solar panels, Docherty said.
FTEL could "have a huge 2023," wrote asset manager Chen Lin, author of the What's Chen Buying? What's Chen Selling? newsletter. The stock has been a quarterly pick of his several times in the past year.
The U.S. military is providing US$250 million for critical metals projects, including tellurium, and Canada's federal 2023 budget earmarked CA$1.5 billion for a critical minerals infrastructure fund.
Streetwise Ownership Overview*"We will hit the jackpot as FTEL is the only pure play in tellurium," Chen wrote.
First Tellurium has also registered as a federal lobbyist to make sure they don't lose out on any opportunities.
Technical analyst Clive Maund rated First Tellurium as an immediate Buy in March.
Ownership and Share Structure
According to the company, 11% of First Tellurium is owned by management and insiders.
Docherty owns 10.6% or 7.7 million shares, Director Josef Anthony Steve Fogarassy has 1.38% or 1 million shares, and Director Lyle Allen Schwabe has 0.73% or 0.53 million shares. There are no institutional investors, and the rest is retail.
The company has a market cap of CA$9.05 million, with about 73 million shares outstanding and 63.4 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.25 and CA$0.085.
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Important Disclosures:
- First Tellurium Corp. has a consulting relationship with Streetwise Reports and has paid a consulting fee between US$8,000 and US$20,000.
- As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of First Tellurium Corp.
- Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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