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Botala just announced appointment of new CFO who has energy industry experience. The guy's CV reads very well, if anything assuming his extensive career highlights can be believed he would be a heavyweight finance appointment. And with Colm stepping down, and the comments in Chairman's recent update signaling collaboration - surely a Botala and Tlou relationship could be starting soon.

I would be keen to know who is leading field operations now for Tlou out at Lesedi and Serowe. Anyone know ?

And he is off ........

Yes Brad - for years you have been saying ........... And the share price is so low it is almost non-existent. Everybody else, including the Chairman, appreciates the total direness of the current situation. And the only clown that thinks there is a plan being played out ....... is ........ ??

PS. The Update and Chairman's letter were their pre-emptive strike to let shareholders know that the square root of feck all squared has been achieved in Q2-2026. Another 3 months of next to nothingness improvement or achievement. Just problems and excuses ad nauseum !

And they dont yet know what the best coal seams are for gas flow rates ..... Played Tony; you da man. Not !!

Tlou are flaring gas from L6 - seems they have been doing that for a long time based on what i read. That is just terrible !! Burning methane is just about the worst of all gaseous materials for CO2 emissions - so much for any Sustainability & Environmental concerns. Pish poor form Tlou !!

1km is NOT a major distance to invest in gas gathering systems in a CBM well-field. It absolutely is not !! if Tlou was drilling 5-spot vertical wells, those 5 wells are spaced approx 400m apart. And any meaningful, sizeable and productive CBM well-field elsewhere in the world extends over many kms .... Perhaps as much as 100 Km2 .... For me, that was a particularly weak excuse to offer the market !! Good chance it also is saying or implying that their choice of vertical wells was WRONG !!

He talks about collaboration with others. That can only be Botala or Sekaname; so probably it is Botala given that they are pushing out endless news about drilling a 5-spot and every step-by-step along the way. Sekaname are total gonners apparently; their CEO has apparently lost the plot with life in general. Maybe he never was dialed in to life in the real world in same way as normal reasonable rational people. Who knows. But they have proven to be a major disappointment in the CBM world in Botswana - started in premier position and now ended as also rans, lost cause, anonymous actors, players and influencers ,,,,,,

My short term prediction. Brad will sound negative about things for about the next week. After that, he will rediscover his mojo and start trying to convince all of us that Tlou is on track with its plan. And that TG plan is playing out perfectly. And that Botswana coals are still the best that TG had ever seen - when these announcements very clearly tell us ...... the exact opposite. But of course Brad is not listening !

Did they just publicly confirm they had slapped a great big For Sale sign on themselves ?

My sense is that Colm's hands are totally tied presently. They have got to demonstrate that they can supply consistent gas to generate consistent power to the data centre. This would need to run consistently for a few months probably - so hopefully this is what is going on presently. If this pilot or POC works, then Tlou has a future. If it is plagued with problems, then the noose will continue to tighten.

Let's be optimistic for now. But if it all works - the road to profitability is long and slow.

GREEN SHOOTS FADE

Any real effort to meaningfully reduce emissions involves switching from coal to hydrogen as a reductant, and renewable electricity as a power source.

But so far very little capital has been allocated to producing green steel.

Zhong Shaoliang, the deputy secretary general of the World Steel Association, told the Singapore Green Steel Forum on Wednesday that only $20-billion has been invested in supporting green steel production.

This has led to an expected capacity of 70.8-million tons of green steel production by 2030, the bulk of it in Europe.

Given that global steel production is expected to be closing in on two-billion tons a year by 2030, the planned green steel output is less than 4% of the total.

The problem is that there is no global standard for green steel, and carbon taxes such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in Europe aren't widespread enough to drive a meaningful shift to green steel.

The current cost of producing steel using the BF-BOF method is around $400/t, according to the World Steel Association data presented this week.

However, using renewable hydrogen and electricity lifts the cost to between $500/t and $850/t, depending on the location of production.

The only way to close that gap is for governments to regulate in favour of green steel, either by taxing more polluting methods or by subsidising less carbon-intensive production.

The problem is that there is scant evidence of this happening in Asia, which is the dominant producer of steel and the engine room of future growth.

Iron-ore miners want their product to be added to the list.

Strong demand growth for steel in South and Southeast Asia will keep demand for the raw material robust, and more than outweigh declining production in China and the Western world.

That was the consensus view at this week's industry gathering in Singapore.

However, the optimism of iron-ore miners wasn't replicated by advocates of decarbonising the industry, with a shift away from seeing green steel as the great hope due to the bitter realisation that it will be enormously costly.

Governments currently lack the will to legislate, regulate and incentivise a switch from making steel with coal to using renewable energies.

LOOMING SUPPLY GAP

The bullish mood in iron-ore is largely built around forecasts that India will increase its steel production from around 168-million tons a year currently to around 400-million tons by 2035.

India is a small net exporter of iron-ore, with exports of 28.62-million tons in 2025 balanced against imports of 13.87-million tons, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.

If India does more than double steel production in the next ten years, it would almost certainly have to boost imports, as its domestic industry would be unable to mine sufficient quantities of ore with high enough iron content to be economically viable.

There is also optimism that Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand will build more steel capacity as their economies continue to industrialise, and these will largely depend on imported iron-ore.

Rio Tinto Chief Commercial Officer Bold Baatar told the Singapore Iron Ore and Steel Forum that there is a looming supply gap of 650-million tons of iron ore by 2035.

The figure accounts for new mines such as the 120-million ton-a-year Simandou project in Guinea, which is in the process of starting up.

However, Rio expects that the pace of new mine development will not match the loss of tons as mines reach the end of life.

Another factor supporting miners such as Rio, which is the world's largest producer of iron-ore, is that most of the new steel capacity being built in Asia uses the traditional blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) method of production.

This method is proven and cost effective, but also highly polluting, as it relies on metallurgical coal.

Steel-making accounts for about 8% of global carbon emissions, making decarbonisation vital to reach climate ambitions of net zero by 2050.

But while miners and steel makers are keen to talk about decarbonising their operations, the reality is that they are really only going after some low-hanging fruit with plans to increase efficiencies and use higher-grade iron-ore.

Sure pretty much all iron ore mines have been talking about how much higher their ore grade is v others. That is/ was needed for the green steel decarbonisation waffle the woke world is consumed with. Anyways - iron ore is and always was about logistics and ability to evacuate product to exit points for export to steel mills. All the rest is basically padding and blah blah blah - I wonder if I could get MM to admit to that ......

Will post an article I read earlier today next. I mean, if XT and MM were doing it for a few years, hopefully I can be humoured for a few posts .....

Namibia is a lot closer to coast and markets than the middle of Congo .... And therefore a lot cheaper !!

Windhoek – United States Ambassador John Giordano, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Southern Africa Nick Checker, and Special Advisor Chris Kulukundis held engagements with three of Namibia’s leading industry organizations: the Chamber of Mines of Namibia, the Namibia Petroleum Operators Association (NAMPOA), and the Walvis Bay Corridor Group.

The discussions focused on Namibia’s growing role in global energy, mining, and logistics value chains, as well as opportunities to strengthen commercial partnerships and attract long-term investment.

According to Ambassador Giordano, the meetings reaffirmed Namibia’s position as a competitive and reliable destination for international business.

“From uranium, rare earths, and offshore oil and gas to the logistics corridors anchored at Walvis Bay, Namibia is helping build the systems that connect Southern Africa to global energy, industrial, and supply chains,” he said.

The Ambassador noted that Namibia’s combination of world-class natural resources, regulatory stability, strategic infrastructure, and economic ambition continues to attract international interest.

As global demand for reliable energy supplies, critical minerals, and resilient supply networks increases, Namibia is emerging as an increasingly important partner for international investors and governments seeking long-term economic cooperation.

“The future belongs not simply to nations with resources, but to those that can build the systems that move capital, energy, and materials at scale,” Ambassador Giordano added.

The engagements form part of broader efforts to deepen U.S.-Namibia commercial relations and explore opportunities for investment, technology transfer, and sustainable economic growth in sectors critical to both countries' strategic interests.

Source: U.S. Embassy Namibia.

Are we supposed to be impressed by this dude? Are you suggesting he is going to step in and make a major investment in a far flung, well off the beaten track, potentially very large scale iron ore mine that will require very large scale financing in order to build the necessary infrastructure to develop the mine and evacuate the product to beneficiation plant and coastal ports ......

Like really what is the point of posting these tenuous articles re iron ore uses. We know what they are. You and MM tried your level best to wow and convince posters for past couple years - to what outcome......

....will there be any progress to report ........ 9 out of 10 will be saying No. Except of course from our eternal optimist.

Seems others on other chat groups are not so impressed by the waffly nonsense posted. ho hum.

I note posters here generally always talk about the potential of this project / stock. And all the great mining minds behind it and involved. But the market is not bothering to reflect any of that.

So i was wondering if these well-informed minds discuss why the market in not appreciating the appeal of the project and potential? Maybe teasing out some of those reasons might prove a more interesting exchange of views.

For starters, the market has not be valuing exploration mining firms at premiums for many years. And generally not those transitioning towards development probably given the heavy Capex investment needed, followed by 2-3 year timeline to build the mine ahead of first revenues being chalked on the scorecard.

Junior miners spend years trying to build and shape a project into an investable proposition. How many $250m acquisitions occur in the market these days .... Juniors do not have the balance sheets to raise the money &/or take on the risk so partners hold most of the cards. It does continue to surprise me how many retail punters still think the 1980s stock markets style of ramping the price on expectation and newsflow is still the current day model.

If you believe the AI bubble is soon going to deflate the market (how often does a large market event eg SpaceX IPO be the trigger for a market reset), and with the number of shares ZIOC has in issue, such an event could see sub-2 pence pricing. Lower if there are large margin positions out there.

It is a shame you have not upgraded your understanding as to why Tlou is an abject failure of an investment ...... Still, maybe is best you live in total denial on this given how long you have sought to persuade the world otherwise.

'There is a review and further investigations to come from the consultants' - really? How do you know this?

I see..... Saldy

Well done as always for entertaining us.

Could you please help me understand what you mean by - "....for certain, imho"......

It's not that it confused me particularly; rather do you realise the humour in what you posted ......

Your toilet at home is big enough. After all, it managed to deal with all the trash talk you uttered for past 7 years on Tlou..... So capacity isnt a problem.

Spot on Winni. I am never going to get tired of rubbing the nose's of the scam artists that preached back in 2017-19 how Tlou was going to take over the energy world in southern africa. How the coals in botswana were the best TG had ever seen. How connection to the grid was the Holy Grail. How GG was the man to make things happen within Govt circles. How Tlou were the first to do this and that and the other - when they were not. And most of all how idiots like you believed all the hype and BS.

Just in case you forgot - I was warning you back then against this. And blow me over - who do you think was right back then? And is right all through covid? And continues to be right still? I know it will make you choke probably admitting this - but go on, give it a go ,,,,,,, You will feel better once you spit it out through your gritted teeth.

kisses.

Well, last week President Boko and President Ramaposa of SA signed 4 cooperation agreements. One of which was an energy cooperation agreement saying broadly .... Another nail in the coffin. Looks like the best coals ever seen could not grab their market opportunity. Looks like a lot of things really - and I dont see any of them particularly good. When you gonna admit it Brad ....

Botswana and South Africa sign energy cooperation agreement

Botswana and South Africa have signed a new energy cooperation agreement aimed at enhancing regional energy security and economic resilience. This agreement marks a shift from costly emergency power purchases to a more stable and economically sustainable arrangement. It is expected to ease Botswana's power supply challenges by enabling predictable, long-term electricity imports from South Africa. The agreement aligns with both nations' goals of enhancing regional energy security and economic resilience, and it is expected to support long-term energy security, infrastructure planning, and potential joint initiatives to stabilize power supply in the Southern African region.

The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) has warned Parliament that it cannot remain financially sustainable under the current electricity pricing regime, arguing that tariffs approved by regulators continue to fall far below the actual cost of supplying power. Appearing before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Statutory Bodies and State Enterprises, BPC CEO, David Kgoboko said the national power utility was facing mounting financial pressure as it continued to sell electricity at prices that do not fully recover the costs of generation, transmission and distribution.

He told legislators that the situation was particularly challenging because Botswana increasingly relied on imported electricity purchased at commercial rates from neighbouring countries while domestic tariffs remained amongst the lowest in the region. “The price at which BPC sells electricity to customers is heavily subsidised and does not cover the cost of generating, transmitting and distributing power,” Kgoboko said.

BPC currently imports electricity from South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique and Zambia to supplement domestic generation. According to the CEO, the utility purchases power at prevailing market rates but is unable to recover those costs from consumers under the existing tariff structure. “If we continue importing electricity under the current tariff structure, we face either deeper losses or more load rationing,” he warned. The remarks come months after BPC applied to the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) for an average tariff increase of 46%, one of the most significant adjustments sought by the Corporation in recent years.

The increase in import costs has emerged as one of the biggest pressures on the utility’s finances. For years, Botswana has sought to reduce dependence on imported electricity through investments in domestic generation capacity, particularly at Morupule B. While plant performance has improved considerably compared to earlier years when technical failures led to widespread power shortages, the country still relies on imported electricity to meet demand. Those imports have become increasingly expensive as electricity prices across the region have risen.

Kgoboko revealed that BPC secured P1.7 billion in external funding during 2024 to settle a backlog of obligations owed to creditors. While the financing provided temporary relief, he said structural challenges had resulted in liabilities building up once again. Creditor balances currently stand at approximately P3.5 billion.