Richlister St Baker sees stake in battery firm soar $54m

Queensland billionaire Trevor St Baker has seen his stake in battery materials group Novonix surge more than $50m over the past week on news it had won a big US Government grant.

Queensland billionaire Trevor St Baker has seen his stake in battery materials group Novonix surged $54m over the past week on news it had won a big US Government grant. Novonix shares are up 65 per cent since its $1.79 close on Monday last week, most of it linked to news of the US grant that will have to be matched by the company.

Brisbane-based Novonix confirmed on October 20 that it had been selected to enter negotiations to receive the $US150 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to expand its domestic production of high-performance, synthetic graphite anode materials. The award, announced by President Joe Biden, strengthens the North American battery supply chain amidst surging demand for renewable energy.

Novonix last week said it was on track for reaching annual production capacity of 10,000 tpa of synthetic graphite in 2023 at its existing Riverside facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with further plans to expand annual production capacity to 40,000 tpa in 2025 and 150,000 tpa in 2030.

The ASX last week queried Novonix on the timing of its ASX announcement. Novonix said it had been advised by the DOE that it had been selected to enter negotiations to receive grant funding on Oct 14 but did not release the information to the market until Oct 20 after the DOE had made a public announcement.

The value of St Baker’s 9.6 per cent stake in Novonix now stands at $137.5m after the stock closed at $2.95 on Monday, up 33.5 per cent, making it the best performer on the ASX 200.

Energy billionaire Trevor St Baker

Cracked Glass

A glass recycling company that supplied road base material to Brisbane City Council among others has fallen into administration owing creditors more than $5m.

Stephen Earel, of Cor Cordis, was earlier this month appointed administrator of Enviro Sand, which operated sites at Pinkenba and Wacol.

The company was founded in 2016 to turn waste glass into material for road base, pool filtration systems and manufactured stone.

Earel in a report lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) says the company is continuing to trade under a license while options for the business were explored. Creditors are due to meet on October 27.

“The continuation of the business preserves the option for a deed of company arrangement or going concern proposal,” Earel says in the report to creditors.

“My role as administrator is to provide for a better outcome to creditors than an immediate shutting down and winding up of operations. By preserving the ongoing operations of the business, this objective is better achieved.”

A wine bottle that has escaped the crusher lies on a bed of glass particles.

Enviro Sand collects waste glass from recycling centres across Brisbane, which it then processes to extracts contaminants including metal tops, aluminium and plastic.

The glass is then ground down into different grades of material including a fine sand that can be used for sandblasting or road base. Other grades are used for manufactured stone and pool filters. The company says that one of the big advantages of using recycled glass in manufactured stone is that it does not contain the deadly silica found in sandstone and granite and that causes the deadly lung disease silicosis.

In 2020, the company was processing between 600 and 800 tonnes of glass a month with plans to increase that to 4000-6000 tonnes a month.

While the Brisbane City Council is a big buyer of the company’s products for road base, other levels of government do not have an established policy to use recycled glass for road construction. Glass has been a problem for recyclers because its weight makes it costly to ship as well as being tough on machinery and of generally low value.

Protest Grows

They are popping the champagne corks over at Ormeau-based Protest Engineering, which has just acquired geotechnical and construction specialist Morrison Geotechnic.

The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, boosts Protest Engineering’s annual revenue to $30m and almost doubles its workforce to 200 employees.

Established in 2015 as a two-person operation by mates Liam Kelly and Sam Bamford (illustrated), Protest Engineering now provides services across mining, commercial, residential and transport infrastructure. The two founders had met three years earlier while working on an LNG project on Curtis Island near Gladstone.

Liam Kelly and Sam Bamford of Protest Engineering

Kelly, who serves as chief executive, says he is excited to have completed the Morrison deal and the firm is currently integrating the new teams into the existing business.

“The business strategy is robust but ambitious,” says Kelly. “We will continue to look for other mergers and acquisitions that are strategically aligned and will strengthen the brand.” With a head office based in Brisbane, the group currently operates an additional six Queensland offices with interstate offices in Tweed Heads and Melbourne. Future plans include more offices in Victoria, Northern Territory, Western Australia and New South Wales.