Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Or posh people with lots of spare cash who can spot a bargain without the use of binoculars or an intervening con-man.
And do not believe their investment is at all risky because we have unsophisticated plebs on here knocking the board for not building Rome in a day during an earthquake, a volcano eruption and Covid. People who get it wrong 100%?
If it seems too good to be true , sophisticated investors can hopefully make it come true. Fingers crossed, toes crossed, and eyes crossed , eyes hoping this proves to be right.
Got another 21.5k for a bit over £300 after retrieving frequent trader status last month from my ASX shares. 1.394p is so cheap but I wish had invested in sardines for Poppy's breakfast, and dogmet for her dinner because the share prices must be healthy judging by the 29p to 53p price rise for sardines , and less than £9 for 6 tins up to over £16. And that is Aldi and and Lidl prices!
As for the Doc, I wonder if he is investing monies he made from Arrow and Sunshine.
His timing looks impeccable entering in the 3p's - 2024 is not far away now and surely the price must start moving up soon. Newcomers will be responsible for rises and a couple of years without the eternity from 2014 as a forerunner ought to be fun.
TG could not get current investors to support his latest share issue , so how is he going to attract new ones? If we'd have sustained the share price, instead of dragging it down, the Doc would only have 17% or less of the shares he has been rewarded him (34%) for the same investment cash. MM was worried that Doc might aim for 51% , or more , and presumably took most of his money out. Doc is able to sell @ 3.5p per share and made a tidy profit , that is less than we got from SXX when Anglo-American bought them/us out. Once we know the what price BPC we will get for electricity , and that BPC are actually paying up , we'll see what TLOU are worth going into production. If it surpasses the 11p per share that the Pension fund paid so they are not out of pocket and might invest further, supposing that they have funds, it would feel healthier.
M is metres or miles?
Sirius expected 5m (metres) seams of potash from Rio Tinto logs, but SXX found 22.5m (metres) - the first and last good news from them. News that cost a lot of people a lot of money!
Found this from Tlou ...
"Lesedi 6P - Vertical Production Well
This well has been drilled to a depth of 589m and intersected 6m of the target lower Morupule coal. "
A vertical well to intersect with 6m , compared to lateral wells of about 1.5Km in a loop , seems to be the poor relation. Our loop will contain one stretch of 750m in length, another parallel stretch which is a bit shorter , plus the length of the curve than joins the two.
https://www.energy-pedia.com/news/botswana/tlou-energy-announces-drilling-and-operations-update-191804
How is Oil and Gas under the sea going to dewater faster than under a desert?
If Serowe has 35m seams there is a case for Vertical wells.
I read 35m somewhere?
Lesedi is shallower so the case for horizontal drilling is stronger and justifies the additional costs I suppose.
From the vertical wells they can decide if there are any worth going horizontally from?
Dewatering a finite 35m versus various multiples of 35m seems to favour our approach. But the permeability will differ for sure? Our horizontal drills are yet to advertise themselves as the better option. When/If water gives way to gas the story is likely change - I hope.
No doubt about whether BOTS is Donkey in disguise - who else talks about Ian Kharma?
Margaret Thatcher and Covid have as much relevance to Tlou? And who else talks about 1bn shares as too many after Sirius issued almost 10 bn to then fail?
Given the news as it unfolded over all the years, my view is TG did the right thing at the time.
He got the options prices wrong but he’d have had to know the future - a worldwide pandemic - to have avoided that one. 4.4p was certain to be double that in two years.
He believed that Botswana would move heaven and earth to replace expensive and dirty diesel with gas containers, and then electricity (ready made), and it is a mystery why they did not. Brown paper bags is my guess?
I lost faith in TG for a while when he was reducing the price through preferential deals to select investors. Why he did not offer those prices to us was the issue.
Then he did and the position became clear - so undersubscribed it beggared belief.
My faith in TG and the Doc was fully restored.
If he’d said our future was in the hands of very few people, I reckon many of us might have sold up.
The irony is the price is at its lowest and our risk factor is down there with it. We are closer to getting the gas out of the ground than ever before. Lesedi 3 and 4 surely cannot hold out for much longer. I thought this was the opportunity of a lifetime - I hope it is not longer than that.
Pity you were not here when Donkey refuted that there risks of heat loss on the TL. I wondered if you are him because he considered himself some sort of authority on Botswana, right down to the boozers in Gabarone.
Tlou have modified a generator to run on less gas than it was designed for i.e. Selemo. We are using contractors to do the TL and substations. Connecting Serowe to Lesedi is therefore routine.
So the imponderable bit is gas flows , as it has been for the last 7 or 8 years. Lesedi 4 and 6 with 3 and 5 in the background will hopefully shift the water and release the gas. As you say when is all important for the share price.
Exponential growth is needed from water to gas to electricity to income to more dewatering paid for by income! That is TG’s plan and it isn’t a million miles away.
Bots, to invest a lot of money into a company you need to be one dimensional surely?
I split my money across 5 , HMV a black and blue chip, and 4 AIM ventures.
Sirius (Potash in Yorkshire), USOP (Oil in Nevada), Avanti (Directional Broadband from Satellites) and TLOU. Without TG in charge I'd have lost the lot!
TG succeeded twice in Australia with CBM projects in less than 10 years.
Switched to Botswana in 2010 with TLOU and by 2015 he had TLOU listed on 3 exchanges, was producing electricity from Selemo gas , and that is still running in 2023.
Under TLOU management Selemo was dewatered in 2 or 3 months, and the modified generators were in and running within maybe 6 months. At that time producing CBM canisters within a couple of years looked easy. The Govt looked agreeable to everything and I am sure TLOU saw the RFP was for Companies already supplying the Govt with CBM!! Clearly not intended and it could have been redacted. The Govt decided to start again and I am sure TLOU and Sekaname as the only two permitted to race, learned their lesson and read every word over and over, while questioning every bit of pigeon english. The malaise had started!
Once the RFP and RPA reduced the field to TLOU , we were dewatering Lesedi 3 and Lesedi 4 was underway. L4 quickly reduced the gap between L3 and L4 and then Covid and lockdowns struck. During a long lockdown with no end in sight, it was prudent to minimise costs so pay cuts for directors were volunteered 75% from TG himself. We went backwards in Botswana vy closing off Lesedi 3 and lowering the costs on Lesedi 4 dewatering. How many guys were working on site to do that? Apart from GG , we were confined to Australia and Ireland (CC).
Since then , with no income we are well on track again. And in the interim if Synergen Met had developed their lance for CBM by Xmas a couple of years ago we could be producing Hydrogen commercially. We had the gas they needed! And that gas would have beeen ideal for Crypto mining if it worked out. Covid is not finished yet but our poles and wires look a better option. How the time wsted on Crypto and Hydrogen could have been used to benefit us is a mystery to me. Cost us little!
More reading .... have not seen this before but it looks very informtive.
https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/t/LSE_TOU_2010.pdf
You are describing KE not Sekaname, Bots.
They started Selemo and surrendered it to TLOU.
That deal included royalties payable by TLOU to KE/Sekaname , about 12% from sales of gas , or 3% of the revenue from bi-products, such as electricity. We dewatered Selemo and produced electricity to power the site. A drill to expand Selemo is still down there after it jammed or broke or both. I wonder if using the power on site results in royalties being due?
Imho, I think TLOU moved on to Lesedi because it is outside the plots where royalties are due, and maybe expecting dewatering to be as easy as it appeared at Selemo. BUT HOW LONG WAS SELEMO DEWATERED BEFORE WE TOOK OVER? That is why I query how long Selemo took? Did KE dewater there for years before surrendering?
KE/Sekaname 100% threatened to pull out unless the PPA was big enough to make it worth their while. Perhaps KE demanded , and Sekaname responded to the RPF after the Govt complied with KE's request/demand. The Govt needed competition for TLOU or they'd risk them potentially having them over a barrel.
I think you might be confusing Sekaname with Saber Energy or Talon Metals. What the relationship was with them and KE , I'm unsure. Poster Donkey on here referred to the royalties but I was never sure how KE fitted in - and Donkey preferred to talk in riddles to explaining what he understood.
You might like this article? The birth of TLOU before I heard of TG? Nathan Mitchell and Tony were a team until Nathan became non-executive.
https://talonmetals.com/talon-announces-mou-with-tlou-energy-on-the-saber-gas-project-botswana/
Sekaname was created by Kahari Energy for the first Request For Proposal (RFP) . It was an office in Gabarone and it qualified them to be a Botswanan company. KE demanded a large order as part of the RFP procedure or they’d withdraw. I concluded from that they needed to bring in new funds so 100MW was the carrot!
TLOU were keen to prove they could provide CBM gas and planned to self finance expansion of a small supply into a larger supply at the going price of gas at that time rather than the time of the RFP! Clearly expecting rises!
KE asked for a extra time delaying the decision. And once both parties put in their proposals the Govt asked them to review their Proposals because neither company had a history of providing CBM to Botswana - a pre-condition from the coal industry proposals imho? I think that was to be redacted for CBM.
The rerun was not treated as a formality any more and dragged on 18m+!
The parties agreed on 100MW with KE quoting for over 90%.
KE fell by wayside at the assessment stage by not responding to RFA (assessment).
We eventually got a PPA for up to 10% and are aiming to produce 20% of that just as TG planned after lorries to transport gas cylinders turned into a TL to Serowe from Lesedi at 66Kv.
TG has been in catch-22 situation for 4 years or more.
To survive he cannot spend his money quickly , and if he does not , we have the stagnation we see. Raising money at 1.3p per share will soon increase the share issue - I am sure TG is limping to towards being operational at any capacity to prove we are viable. If he can increase the share price and the demand for shares he'll be able to raise cash from much lower share issues.
Two guys with a 100% success behind them in Australia is bad news in Botswana?
You lost me on that one old chap. Without Govt coque up on the RFP that cost us 2 years, and Covid another 2 yrs , and that 4 yr loss which has cost us even more , TLOU would be operational by now. For starters theshare price would not have dropped below 5p imho! And out billion shares would have raised a lot more working capital The 2 year option none of could take up would not have failed. I don't blame TG for any of that? We have a lot to thank him for imho.
bots, i have , and do , have absolute faith in tony.
i underestimated the financial difficulties he was facing - but it took the latest placings to reveal how bad things were! his undeniable frugal approach is 100% the only reason we are circulating the track - we'd have been dead and buried under 99.99% of ceo's long ago?
as for my honesty , i should have said that no posts from anyone on here was the main reason for ignoring this site - and the sight of those effing videos were not a replacement for the lack of news. i have tried to avoid others seeing no posts by always posting something if i visit. and mu hope was they;s be a catalyst for replies or new posts - an essential to gather new investors to my mind. good news would be better but that is too sp****!
tony brought loads of it , but undermined his credibility for many.
1. crypto
2. hydrogen.
3. selemo dewatering in a few months (nut when did it really start) and lesedi expected to match it! he told us it could be months or years but once one well dewaters, subsequent ones are usually much quicker. lesedi must b too remote from selemi to benefit? and we await evidence many years on.
4. dewatering took us in to covid lockdowns and universal financial disarray.
5. tony has kept us living within our means - and without the pension fund a few years ago , and the ongoing support of the dr. those means would have dewatered (dried up) long ago.
6. selemo is still supplying electricity to the site afaik , saving us a fortune on diesel, after at least 6 years (somewhere between 2014 and 2016 i think).
the core business agenda is still the same and cbm , cbm powered electricity and solar energy are still alive and moving a foot or inches , not exactly kicking !
we need lesedi 6 and improved lesedi 4 to reduce dewatering to months.
the tl are close, the substations developments are under way , plugging generators into the gas has been tried and tested. once we have a light bulb moment and light a 40w bulb in serowe from lesedi that will be the trigger for new investors appearing en masse.
synergen met are sure to throw a spanner in the works , that us murphy's law , their revised lance will come good at the worst possible time. and if none of this materialises then a crypto plant could result to save the day. and then there is the pipeline from mambo to orapa?
1.4p for a share in tony's vision? the bargain of a lifetime surely?
the pity is that only the doctor can see it and we owe him so much for backing that belief with his hard-earned. long live the dr.
I rarely view these pages these past months, so I therefore do not post.
i am sure that pleases many of you. But the reason?
Those LSE videos that pop up most days with one of a couple of unattractive people presenting something I have never listened to. Ironically they did not appear when I loaded this page.
Perhaps because the exchange is closed as it after 6pm?
Thanks for the link to the paper, Bots, - Masisi wooing Oz business is very welcome - as is another reference to Lefoku Moagi being pro-active too.
This is a few years old, but GG is quoted, and I don't remember him saying it. The public's interest in water production and putting cash into BSE and GG's words are promising, if true.
" Tlou Energy : Botswana Has Sufficient Methane Deposits - Moagi
October 29, 2020 at 05:06 am
The Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security Mr Lefoko Moagi says there is sufficient methane deposits in the country hence his ministry will include the coalbed methane into the integrated resource plan approved by the cabinet.
In an interview, after the tour of the Tlou Energy gas exploration site near Sandveldt farms in Central District, Minister Lefoko said Tlou Energy Company had been operating in the country for 10 years and he found it appropriate to tour their projects and check on how they are progressing.
He said he was happy with the progress at the site and the company had proven that there is gas in the country.
Minister Moagi also said that he found out that one of their wells had been producing gas since 2009 and also he was impressed by the company's plans and what was on the ground.
The gas project, he said, would benefit the country because it would open up opportunities for a number of other industrial processes.
He said the project would improve the community in the area because the significant amount of water that would be produced as part of the process had the potential to be used for local agriculture which could increase production in farms.
Tlou Energy, executive director Mr Gabaake Gabaake informed the minister that their exploration started in 2009 and they had already found that there was gas at the site.
He said the burning of the flowing gas had been going on for one year and eight months and there was also a clear trend that the flow rate of the gas was increasing.
What was only left for the company, he said, was to get funds to construct a transmission line to Serowe Botswana Power Corporation sub-station.
Mr Gabaake further said the gas that they were mining could not only generate electricity but could be used to make liquid fuels, different kinds of fertilisers, different kinds of chemicals and could also be bottled for sale.
He said the gas project could create direct or indirect jobs saying once the project took off there would be growth in terms in the industry.
Further, he said when other operators start producing, a lot of activities would take off because of the availability of gas in the country.
Source : BOPA
Copyright Botswana Daily News. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English"
Have received today a warning that fees are payable in October , less any commission paid on fewer than 3 commissions. £24 per quarter (1st July-Sept 31st) and LSE commission is £8.
I know there are several IG customers on here. I have just made 3 purchases of £88 GBP on ASX which cost me 10 AUD each incommission! 10AUD is approx £5.50 so I saved £7.50 ish and will have frequent trader status in October (£3 commission for LSE, still $10+ for ASX). On ASX the minimum buy is clearly less than £90 GBP . I bought at 3c or 1.52p and got over 16k TOU shares for my money.
Very fair of IG to provide the warning/notice in plenty of time to avoid the charges, following several years of being immune due to frequent trading (3 x £3 a month or £27 a quarter - heaper to pay the Custodial charge in fact?).
I don't think TG will double the shares to 2bn - he aims to use any income to expand production to avoid share issues. Here's hoping that will be exponential growth. It's taken a decade to print 1bn shares ....... another 1bn looks out of the question! Gas flows after initial dewatering usually accelerate rapidly .... I have faith that TG knows what he is doing.
The last 2 Tuesdays saw the BBC showing documentaries on the UK energy policies or lack of them.
Peaks and troughs abounded on all the various methods. Nuclear, Solar , Off-shore wind, On-shore wind , Hydrogen , Heat pumps, more North sea gas etc etc - all looked to be the panacea to our problems in turn.
But , having made the case for each , the troughs followed and the common factor was polical stagnation for decades and/or huge extra costs on top of those to accomodate each method.
A bloke who accepted a heat pump for his large house then found his whole central heating system needed replacing , pipes and radiators costing him a fortune.
This is in the UK , so the 10 years it has taken TLOU to get where they are looks pretty good to me. Hydrogen looked the answer, and I was chuffed to bits! Then they covered Hydrogen production which had several avenues - all held up for decades by politics - and very risky for each would-be Hydrogen producers.
TG went to Botswana in preference to going for a third Australian success. He saw politics increasing in Oz , margins reducing , and thought Botswana was better on both. If he can get a foothold in Africa within 20 years it might be a huge achievement. And that looks to be the odds-on favourite?
Is the logic that accompanies TG's lack of news.
I find little evidence of TG having much to buoy the company up.
My original thoughts on the Doc were similar to MM's - the risk of a hostile takeover looked clear - so MM got out , the clever bugger! I thought TG was allowing Doc to get away with a peaceful takeover , and rewarding fellow directors and himself with cheap shares.
I was an idiot to believe that - it appears shareholders , the pension fund and folk like us , have decided we have put too much money in - every purchase at multiples of the current price of 1.5p - so nobody has the remotest chance of recovering their investment. We are faced with huge losses or putting our faith in the Doc staying onboard long enough to see revenues commence. He is faced with huge losses despite getting in at a much cheaper level than most of us.
We are getting closer , slowly but surely , to production and providing TLOU do not go broke there will be an upturn in the SP. News of dewatering and much increased gas flows will do that overnight and then there will be a stampede for our shares after the prices escalates from 1p to 5p or 6p. At that point the big institutions will take an interest and financing problems will disappear. News that Mamba is independent of Lesedi leaves a sell-out to a senior oil/gas outfit. Their money will bankroll Lesedi expansions and maybe Boomslang and Solar?
I have always felt grateful to TG for keeping us going , and I reckon he gas worked miracles getting the Doc to have faith in TLOU. He is near to making us an up and coming company - we should have known the TL was delayed for unknown reasons or the substations would have been started earlier. No news is better than bad news - keeping Mum makes sense to me! As sad as that is! TG is fully aware that he has been too optimistic on everything - I am gld he has spared us the pessimism cos there is a lot of that for certain.