Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
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Ah thanks Ban I was looking at an earlier( 2018/2019) board. Interesting bunch aren't they !
Mrs B,
According to this Dr Antonias 'was' rather than 'is' & not sure that Mr Tomono ever was:
https://www.bacanoralithium.com/about-us/board-of-directors/
Are these two directors still on the board of Bacanora Lithium
Dr Andres Antonius
Mr Junichi Tomono
These are Mexican Goverment officials aren’t they?
Good points @Bannor! I had in mind BCN was still sufficiently Canadian to be covered, but since they insisted on re-domiciling (against our wishes! LoL. Let's not go there ;-) ), I suppose this aspect will not apply.
As you say, hopefully nothing will come of it. BCN's share price didn't seem to blink in response.
Obs...... hopefully this is all (& in time will prove to be) a storm in a teacup however don't underestimate the potential risks it presents ........
...... if your extract is from the texts of the NAFTA agreement (planned to be replaced at some point by USMCA) now that BCN is no longer domiciled in Canada (good move or not if this occurs?) I would doubt it's texts would provide a huge amount of protection over & above international law under it as it is an agreement between the Mexican, U.S. & Canadian governments according a platform & set of rules under which they treat & trade with each other's citizens & businesses within their borders so is pretty much applicable to them alone.
Although unrelated & a different country regime for the true 'potential' downside take a look at Rurelecs (RUR) struggles with the Bolivian government when Bolivia nationalized electricity production & kicked them out .... having invested huge resources & time in the project & subsequently in protests & court action Rurelec got awarded, what was $51M but finally accepted $31.5M after further delays & dragging of heels by Bolivia in compensation .... which at the time just about dug them out of the cack & debts they had amassed.
"Mexico may only expropriate property in case of public interest and on a non-discriminatory basis"
An argument could be made that if the country piled its resources into the project at this stage in the run up to exponential Lithium demand it could very much be in the public interest that they took ownership to ensure their lithium supplies stayed in country, and especially so if they could get it at anywhere near BCN's current market cap.
Though presumably "non-discriminatory basis" would work in our favour?
For the avoidance of doubt - I'm against this!
Bacanora have one or two people from the government on some of their boards I seem to remember .
"Mining in Mexico" (July 18 2018)
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e4db032c-8d2e-4360-a9c8-df86b0f6be59
===[
Government expropriation of licences
Are there provisions in law dealing with government expropriation of licences? What are the compensation provisions?
In the case of mining concessions, certain government authorities (ie, Environmental Ministry, Communications and Transport Ministry, Agrarian Ministry and others), because of an event of national security or public interest, may decide to revert the concessions granted to private parties (the Reversion Decision). The Reversion Decision decree shall include the general rules to determine the consideration to be paid to the concession holder and the investments made in the concession. The depreciation of the expropriated assets, equipment and facilities attached to the mining concession shall be considered in order to calculate such consideration, through the payment of a fair market value compensation.
If the affected party agrees with the amount of consideration payable, it shall be final. If not, it has the right to file a claim before a Mexican court, which will take the final decision.
In accordance with the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico may only expropriate property in case of public interest and on a non-discriminatory basis. In such events, expropriations will require a fair market value compensation, including accrued interest. In the event of any violations of NAFTA and international laws, investors have the right to international arbitration.
]===