Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
SA is within the top 20 carbon emitting nations on earth and so for BE the low hanging fruit and what they have spent 4 years chasing is an absolute monster. BE will win part of the ESKOM tender that is without any doubt IMO. It is becoming increasingly known that battery storage is the weakest link in allowing renewables to become dominant. The technology is improving all the time and more entrants are coming on board all the time. BMN are global we have links across the globe and with MN we have the chairman of the VRFB sector. No doubt the PR message from BMN is woeful and we have seen how Largo harness the power of PR which has elevated the SP. This matters hugely as if our PR was better, our terms with Orion would have been better. The world needs to know that BMN/BE is the leader in this sector. If they don't scream from every rooftop and make themselves heard when the ESKOM/World Bank deal lands then I will do it for them. How about telling the world how the mini grid can be created for every african and indian village, how about getting an RNS out and saying everytime the V price goes up a dollar that translates to ?$ in additional profit. The market needs to be spoon fed with a shovel this story. TESLA are the dominant force in EV because the PR is exceptional aided by a egomaniacal genius , if BE put themselves out there then more industry players would know that VRFBs exist and not get fobbed off with Lithium burners. BE are at risk of missing the opportunity that they have spent so long cultivating. As a profit making business (a vital element) in the green tech revolution, we should be worth many multiples. FM/MN needs to grasp this
V price up, Eskom tender result in Q1 21, massive investment programme lined up and fully funded, production increasing and profitable, SA darling, V product in huge demand, with limited supply, going forward as the world rebuilds, fully integrated along the VRFB chain, major part to play in the green revolution, increasing take up of VRFB's with businesses we own parts of winning business - all of this kit could be in a nice video like largo did except we have so many more arrows to our bow. We have a profit making business that is lined up to be a major player in the green tech space with partners on every major continent in the vrfb space - once the market gets hold of this we can become a darling. just need that Pr when you are ready please fortune - maybe not your strength but the world needs to know about you not a handful of UK investors.
Imagine the pr if bmn said we are scrapping lemur and working with the Madagascar government to create huge solar and battery projects to provide for villages and towns.
They way I see it is that BMN issue an RNS saying - we own 7.4% of IES who cover the US, we own 45% of enerox, they cover Europe, we supply Rongke in asia and with BE cover Africa. We now have a foothold across the globe supplying every part of the battery storage value chain. The battery storage market is worth $xbn a year now and expected to be worth $300bn by 2030. We are a mining, energy and green tech play and we have just won a $468m tender against the best in the world with ESKOM/world bank and demonstrated that VRFB's are the market leader for reliable, safe, cost effective battery storage.
This is the RNS that says exactly what BMN can/does do - change the name of the company, change the PR approach and put the company front and centre of the green tech universe. This is what FM has been working to - now tell the world
I can see the logic Myles and in my opinion the biggest market for BMN is Africa. The grid is undeveloped, SA is the de facto leader of the continent, BMN has a black leader. it was over 2 years ago we had plenty of interest in the BE/VRFB, what happened? We are piddling around and the market is taking the ****
I do hope that the eskom win (i cannot see any other result) is the catalyst to a significant re-rate. they have the whole of africa to target, the opportunity is beyond big and do believe they have enough contacts and put in the legwork to deliver something astounding. I want to be told about it in easy to read RNS's that make the market wake up and it is up to FM to do that, no one else can. With the green agenda as hot as it is, he needs to make it count now or VRFB's will not gain the market share they have the potential to do. He has done so much right, own 2 of the 4 primary producers, made plenty of solid business decisions but the BE play is the big one, get that right and the sky is the limit. this needs to be spoon fed to the market in small chunks but in a simple format. MN speaks of many different revenue sources, lets see some delivered. the market has never valued BE - this is the play that will make the share price fly. SP angle are too miner focussed, BMO have never done anything - we need tech analysts and energy analysts on this.
i am saying alfa when the result is announced, BMN won't make a big Pr move about it (assuming they win something). Although i have an obvious bias, BMN should be held up as a leader of progressive green technology but no one outside of this board knows about them. Pr is the only way whether you like it or not. Perhaps alfa given you have visited the mines and have a relationship you could encourage a change?
no point emailing you never get a reply.
i bet we only hear of the eskom tender result buried in an operational update.
The world is absolutely lined up for a battery storage/green tech company with everything in place to make waves. why oh why are BMN not shouting from the rooftops?
bassguy - the problem as i see it is that the story is not easy to understand. unless you follow BMN closely what can you make of the electrolyte plant, how does the BE business plan work that we were told was to be released 3 years ago. We are getting finance from likes of orion because they have bothered to look at the story. lazy II's need FM to articulate it better which he failed to do over the years. We are a mining company that talks about VRFB's alot but it is not clear how we will make money out of it because we have done 1 deal of note and nothing else in years. MN has gone quiet despite having hundreds of interested parties 2 years ago. the PR is shot and along with broken promises of JSE and dividend. that is why we are not attractive to II's just yet . I hope that changes but it needs FM to stop moaning about why the market is not valuing us correctly and get on and change it. monthly updates to start given we have 2 mines on the go - this is easy to organise and keeps the market updated rather than months of silence. you can chat AIM, south africa etc etc but there are numerous other companies operating in these markets that get how to communicate with investors - BMN do not get it and need to .
i used my politest email tone!!!
when is the next news item - february 2021 for the Q4 update!! cold winter beckons
bmnfan it is because they ae shocking at pr - always have been.
they should be rns'ing that they supplied IES projects but of course they don't. they seem content with having their shareholders go and act like poirot to find out what their company is up to. I challenged chika on it this year and got nothing back.
when BMN actually do some meaningful PR. with biden pushing the climate agenda now would be opportune to update the US on the deal we did in the US a few years ago. say how it has been completed and the fact it is working a treat.
largo manage to get themselves out there just selling the base product, with our whole raft of projects, we hear nothing often for months at a time making it an easy game for the MM's rise, drop, rinse, repeat.
legal requirement for quarterly statements.
the company is always looking for money and it would be easier if the price was higher and our profile higher. shell have bought a battery company, BP moving into green tech, BMN should be on their wish list but I bet they don't even know we exist. If we are the face of vanadium batteries and the vertically integrated model, it would help the uptake of the technology if investors/corporates knew we existed. How many VRFBs have BE now had a hand in - very few it would seem! that is a problem. We all got excited when MN said he was talking to 100's of companies - that was 2 years ago - what has he been doing? I am a LTH, most know me on here, but the time has come to actually deliver otherwise we will get usurped
it has always been the case that we get told the absolute bare minimum of information and as late as possible. today being the case in point, Q3 ended 2 months ago! Chika is supposed to lead but bar the occasional interview with crux, watched by the people on this board only, we get diddly squat. he seems content with watching the SP diminish as he concocts ever more complex financing deals to deliver a vision that has been in the making since 2016 and thus far delivered negative returns for the shareholders.
It was interesting how the 2 big US investors stumped up $57m at £2 a share. this price did not last long and was reached after a quick spike yet GC sold these investors a dream and very quickly at that level. To part with $57m meant they must be confident. to see it now sub £1 means they are either relaxed or giving GC a rollocking. pressure is on TILs to deliver now and if they do, the SP will respond very well.
he should be shouting from the rooftops that bids have been submitted instead of alluding to it. he has been talking about eskom for years and with bids now in should be telling us
thanks Daitom. nice to see we have a £12m stake in IES so BMN is now worth about £130m - this is absolutely laughable.
It does look like the PR will never change at BMN, I emailed chika in march and never got a response.
They want the world to come and find them but taking 8 weeks to release a quarterly report is shockingly slow.
As BMNfan alluded to earlier, the comms here is appalling.
when is the eskom tender result?
shame to see this below pricing and losing friday's stellar gains. Be interesting to see who the investor/s is. Obviously Avacta got a biggie in their placing - could TILS have a pharma buying in to create a position?
Today's MC does make the STEM split even more compelling and allows for stellar gains to come our way again and in short order. GC and KS have done well in selling the story thus far and now with more II/Pharma involvement through the placing they will want to deliver a solid SP performance along with the drug news. Remember in a placing no II invests without significant DD and reassurance from the board as to the background and future growth story. Good enough for them, good enough for me.