The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
Snipets from last weeks zoom call,
To summarise:-
* Offtake not yet signed. European company based in Switzerland. Got a meeting on Monday and if no positive outcome will look to take an OT forward with another party. Lots of interest. 2 in particular and 1 is keen to invest to produce a carbonate product. OT’s generally specify a 5% minimum product and the price can be higher for better grades;
* A different project is under review for potential production in Q1;
* Kinusi scheduled to start producing in Q2. They are looking into options for copper cathode in the future to maximise revenues and not let too much value go early on;
* There was 36k tonnes of stockpile at Blesberg last year and that’s increased by around 40%. The Tomra should arrive early March and should not take too much commissioning - operational second half of March hopefully;
* Korridor is really good but they have 3 other lithium projects under review - 1 of which is adjoining Blesberg!!
* Copper OT’s are already in discussion;
* Listings will go in the previously suggested order:-
- NSE approx w/c 11/3 - Fader Investment Bank to confirm when submitted the listing document and NSE to confirm it is acceptable - then good to go;
- JSE quickly after that as the NSE is the gateway into the JSE;
- LSE hopefully in Q1 as well but following the other two and we need to meet the £30m requirement.
* The Tomra takes 5 x the material of Rados and they are looking to use in series together. Tomra first to remove the other minerals and then leave a cleaner spodumene for the Rados to process;
* Newsflow: no need for any concern - Jason has been in 3 days of negotiations but RNS’s are being worked on and May have announcements end of this week and through next week;
* Q is very happy with progress. He is busy finalising his billion dollar fund in the Middle East and US but is keen to accelerate development into alternative metals and minerals;
* Blesberg - assay 1 is due 1st or 2nd week in March ish. Assay 2 poss end of March;
* Dividends are important to Jason as a major shareholder and it is not just a box-ticking exercise for the NSE. They have full intention to pay divis when cash flows allow;
* Deals - in South Africa and Southern Africa - relating to copper and lithium. RNS’s soon!!
* Once production and revenues start, they will be looking to move away from share based acquisition payments to cash based payments;
* Blesberg - down the line we could look to move into battery manufacturing to maximise revenues and Eastern Africa is positioned well to be a battery hub!!
* CPR’s are complete for:-
- Blesberg
- Nkombwa Hill
- Kinusi
Graphite CPR’s are being completed asap. All of the CPR’s are needed for the LSE listing
* $406 AISC - so we are very comfortable at these current lithium prices
* Value of bi-products from Blesberg will exceed the operating costs of the mine 🤑
The full marula story, interview from october
https://youtu.be/oIuGOOyx8Lc?si=jnyIz3iiAr9Xq5Lp
Spotlight on Kenya Marula mining interview:
https://youtu.be/Po8YcqfaN2Q?si=tOCGw3q9x0BRLF17
Https://greatlandgold.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Greatland-Gold-PFS-Oct-21.pdf
2021 PFS https://mobidrive.com/sharelink/p/3rOAlTRnizcTnUp3YCawr22uNYj9JWMQMhbZDT8fPL9d
Here is the dividend stataement again
https://www.aquis.eu/stock-exchange/announcements/4375732
* Any new lithium mines brought on stream in that S.Africa/Blesberg area would be fed into the Blesberg machinery;
* Graphite - could look to do a quick DSO product to get revenue or they may try and get a higher value product to take advantage of the jumbo flake prices. Balance of quick to production Vs not giving away too much value too quickly
* Zimbabwe & S.Africa really good for copper and lithium projects. Tanzania & Kenya great for critical minerals.
* Nickel - very few nickel sulphide projects around. Tanzania is a possibility.
* Manganese - looking at a project in Kenya
* Aspiration to have cash generating assets in both S.Africa and E.Africa so they can operate each area independently * Important to consolidate Marula’s position and they want to increase their positions in S.Africa & Zimbabwe as they have a very good S.African team.
Overall a fantastic call with Jason. Hugely informative and nearly an hour and a half spent answering question after question!! And that was between 10pm and 11:30pm!! So a massive thank you to Jason and keep doing what you are doing please 👏🙌
That’s all folks…….🎯
***Credit to Steve on telegram***
I took some notes from the call - I’m definitely not going to say they are perfect, but will do my best to summarise:-
* Offtake not yet signed. European company based in Switzerland. Got a meeting on Monday and if no positive outcome will look to take an OT forward with another party. Lots of interest. 2 in particular and 1 is keen to invest to produce a carbonate product. OT’s generally specify a 5% minimum product and the price can be higher for better grades;
* A different project is under review for potential production in Q1;
* Kinusi scheduled to start producing in Q2. They are looking into options for copper cathode in the future to maximise revenues and not let too much value go early on;
* There was 36k tonnes of stockpile at Blesberg last year and that’s increased by around 40%. The Tomra should arrive early March and should not take too much commissioning - operational second half of March hopefully;
* Korridor is really good but they have 3 other lithium projects under review - 1 of which is adjoining Blesberg!!
* Copper OT’s are already in discussion;
* Listings will go in the previously suggested order:-
- NSE approx w/c 11/3 - Fader Investment Bank to confirm when submitted the listing document and NSE to confirm it is acceptable - then good to go;
- JSE quickly after that as the NSE is the gateway into the JSE;
- LSE hopefully in Q1 as well but following the other two and we need to meet the £30m requirement.
* The Tomra takes 5 x the material of Rados and they are looking to use in series together. Tomra first to remove the other minerals and then leave a cleaner spodumene for the Rados to process;
* Newsflow: no need for any concern - Jason has been in 3 days of negotiations but RNS’s are being worked on and May have announcements end of this week and through next week;
* Q is very happy with progress. He is busy finalising his billion dollar fund in the Middle East and US but is keen to accelerate development into alternative metals and minerals;
* Blesberg - assay 1 is due 1st or 2nd week in March ish. Assay 2 poss end of March;
* Dividends are important to Jason as a major shareholder and it is not just a box-ticking exercise for the NSE. They have full intention to pay divis when cash flows allow;
* Deals - in South Africa and Southern Africa - relating to copper and lithium. RNS’s soon!!
* Once production and revenues start, they will be looking to move away from share based acquisition payments to cash based payments;
* Blesberg - down the line we could look to move into battery manufacturing to maximise revenues and Eastern Africa is positioned well to be a battery hub!!
* CPR’s are complete for:-
- Blesberg
- Nkombwa Hill
- Kinusi
Graphite CPR’s are being completed asap. All of the CPR’s are needed for the LSE listing
* $406 AISC - so we are very comfortable at these current lithium prices
* Value of bi-products from Blesberg will exceed the
From 14 minutes Q talks about Marula specifically
https://twitter.com/ZaksTradersCafe/status/1715284474064216406?t=TbFCqhtjO4vrbv6y90fTsw&s=19
Q founder talks to stalkbox about Marula in November
https://youtu.be/nd4EeLh08mM?si=_iGDoZsCpNVBmEcV
Jason Brewer CEO discusses missed deadlines and upcoming news 14th February
https://youtu.be/AQZCprmVBB8?si=nhf2as5ZbQ4kN7S4
3.75p is not a placing. It was the price agreed at the start of 2023 to bring in Q global as a strategic partner who have fast tracked all aspects of the business by potentially years.
Q Global want to end up with as large a % of marula as possible, therefore none of the 100m shares they will be granted mid march will be sold into the market. No forward selling, no overhang etc like what happens in a traditional raise.
As q will not be selling any of their 100m shares, and as there are three dual listing events scheduled, it is clear that over the next 30 days the majority of share demand will be from new buyers putting upward pressure on the already small free float.
Https://www.aquis.eu/companies/MARU
Video from CRO on telegram
https://youtu.be/AQZCprmVBB8?si=lAZ9v6Bo5DzoCKZ_
Silencing the noise.
I value the contributions from posters such as Peter E and Kev W, there is also one of the Daves who the Hive group invited to be an admin on their board due to his impartial posts last week
The poster was simply posting insults. As per Jason the other day, "make your criticisms constructive please or he won't respond"
He warned that he would leave the telegram group if people didn't start acting appropriately.
Some other knowledgeable posters also voiced concerns that there was too much arguments and noise and it was hard to read back and research with so many messages, and the general consensus was that moderation was required.
There is an alternative telegram group, and LSE to voice any opposing views. Majority rules in this case and there are other places to carry on those discussions if you wish your voice to be heard. (Twotter, the other TG group, here).
It's hardly a conspiracy
Https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DTJbGjtwUUf3Vvb1-vMV6Yhiidw8oe2O/view?usp=sharing
Count up shares owed to past license holders and warrants. Total = 50m
Current shares = 170m
Total shares without Q involvement = 220m
Q shares to enter market next month for all investment to date = 100m = 31% of expanded total or 37% of current total
Future Q shares including the extra 47m @10p will bring Q total to 147m = 40% of expanded total or 46% of current total
Thereafter, maximum shares in issue would be 367m
From the RNS
"the Subscriber has reserved the right to waive any such debt in part payment for New Ordinary Shares allotted pursuant to any further subscription(s), up to 6.25 pence per new Ordinary Share, with the balance to be paid in cash."
In order for Q to get to 51%, they would need to fully subscribe for the 47m shares, giving Marula £4.5m?, then further more partake in a future placing (if one needs to take place) and they can only get 6.5p shares in a future hypothetical placing if Marula are in debt to them. Then at the placing, they would beet to increase their share count by a minimum of 5% (but potentially more depending onthe size of the placing) and a maximum of 20% or more (depending on the size of the placing). 5% of 367m = 18.3m shares @ 6.5p = £1.192m
There is a zoom call next week with Jason, I think it would be a good question to ask about current debts due to Q and if Marula are anticipating 51% to be breached in the medium term
"Mr van der Burgh is a leading mining serial entrepreneur in South Africa. He is founder and CEO of Q Global Commodities ('QGC'), one of South Africa's largest privately owned mining houses that has established more than 45 mines throughout Sub-Saharan Africa from greenfield status through to production and exports of materials to the global commodity markets. QGC is actively expanding its metal mining interests throughout Southern and East Africa through direct equity investments and partnership and co-development agreements with a number of emerging mining and exploration companies including Neo Energy in which it is a cornerstone investor."
The offtake company are Mercuria Europe, with annual revenues of $174billion in 2022. They take the majority of QGC's coal.
There is a rule 9 waiver announcement due before Friday this week for QGC's 100m shares. After which, RNS newsflow should resume.
I see over at NERO, the billionaire Mr Van der Burg has joined their board as a Non Executive Director.
Whatever peoples fears, doubts and suspicions, this guy is an entrepreneur with vast resources at his disposal (literally $60b worth of JORC resources under his command). He will have done through DD at Marula before entering into any partnerships.
https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/neo-energy-metals--neo/appointment-of-non-executive-director/8036664
Mr van der Burgh is a leading mining serial entrepreneur in South Africa. He is founder and CEO of Q Global Commodities ('QGC'), one of South Africa's largest privately owned mining houses that has established more than 45 mines throughout Sub-Saharan Africa from greenfield status through to production and exports of materials to the global commodity markets. QGC is actively expanding its metal mining interests throughout Southern and East Africa through direct equity investments and partnership and co-development agreements with a number of emerging mining and exploration companies including Neo Energy in which it is a cornerstone investor.
Furthermore, through his foundation, QVDBF, and in association with and ownership in Generosity Water, Mr van der Burgh has provide communities and schools throughout Southern Africa with access to safe and clean drinking water; to date, this ongoing initiative has helped over 415,000 South Africa's exercise their human right to water. Other projects the foundation supports include addressing the skill gap in underprivileged communities and assisting selected applicants with the support they need to rebuild their lives, from settling credit card debt, to paying for operations or schooling.
I thought it was 30p by year end, but maybe you heard a different target in an earlier interview.
Targets missed! Company made zero revenue in 2023, so there is so much out with their control.
anyway, you know all this and just seem to come here to vent your fristration.
I will leave you in peace now
You do know that the price of lithium was $3000/t in the first half of the year. They would have made a huge profit with 1500T at those prices with the original mechanical grade sorter they already had on site.
Fast forward and those original $3000/T Chinese offtakes dry up or become politically poisonous (See media 2H of 2023 with Chinese rare earths and graphite export bans)
Lithium at rock bottom now. Processing plant coming together nicely. Offtake agreement being finalised for 100% of the product.
Surely you need to understand that imminent can mean years in mining. For me, the stop clock started on the 22nd december when we know the deal was at the legal stage and not the DD/sample qualification stage.
For graphie producers, it can sometimes take 2 years to quallift a product before an offtake agreement is signed.