The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
Good to see Sr. Ferreira stepping up once more and increasing his SAV position with continuing on market purchases. He will have pretty much cleaned out any loose stock and this will provide a strong base for an assault on 3p plus. As well he is a major player in Portugal and lends enormous credibility to the company locally while providing a clear endorsement for investors from outside of Portugal
"The offer is good evidence and support of future demand and the pricing horizon," said analyst Tim Hoff of Canaccord in Perth.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-miner-pilbara-minerals-accepts-pre-auction-offer-spodumene-cargo-2024-03-14/
The results are significant - grades and widths are right up there, means Pinheiro will be a lot more than just a starter pit, will up the NPV of the project as will enhance early cash flows and shows there is plenty more in to find and can only add to the overall mineral resource.
Some serious Portuguese heft coming on to the Savannah share register with an initial 4.26% shareholding
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1rio_Ferreira
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) have successfully test-fired the nation's first high-power laser weapon, marking a significant milestone in the realm of defense capabilities. Mounted on the robust Wolfhound 6x6 armored vehicle, this cutting-edge weapon system targeted aerial threats in a demonstration of precision and power.
https://armyrecognition.com/defense_news_february_2024_global_security_army_industry/breaking_news_uk_successfully_tests_dragonfire_laser_weapon_mounted_on_wolfhound_armored_vehicle.html?utm_content=cmp-true
The money spigot remains open for strategic investment in critical raw materials such as lithium - here the UAE will tap its sovereign wealth fund to invest in Australian projects
https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/australia-eyes-uaes-billions-for-critical-minerals-investments-in-trade-talks-c-13685295
Interesting to see Russia extending its destabilisation operations into the Iberian Peninsula with the objective of promoting institutional conflict in European countries and economic damage. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a3d12182-1181-465e-95b2-1489a0f3405e?shareToken=2409f63b4633a77ab2fbacb295df613a
There is growing concern about the threat from Russian influencer operations: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/02/01/allegation-that-latvian-mep-is-russian-spy-has-eu-leaders-on-the-alert-metsola
Over the weekend, in debate with a representative of the People-Animals-Nature party, Pedro Nuno Santos the General Secretary of the governing party in Portugal, PS, came out strongly in favour of the development of the lithium industry in Portugal and advocated lithium as a key pillar in reconciling economic development and environmental sustainability. He said that the Portuguese people deserve to live better and in a richer country.
https://www.dn.pt/5030618034/pedro-nuno-olhou-o-litio-nos-campos-mas-ines-recordou-a-trapalhada/
One key point to remember is that there is a long pathway of innovation ahead for Lithium ion batteries that will deliver cheaper batteries, providing longer range to EVs and faster charging times leading to more adoption of EVs
And here is one illustration: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/battery-breakthrough-ev-single-charge-b2492598.html
APA, the Portuguese environmental regulator, rebutted the claims made yesterday by the anti-mine cell and one of its fellow travellers as published in some Portuguese newspapers.
APA reaffirmed that the Barroso EIA approval process was carried out wholly within the scope of and in accordance with the regulations of the respective legal regime. APA went further and said that a rigorous evaluation was undertaken by an evaluation committee and government bodies with vast experience in the technical subject matters with an in-depth analysis of water resources, ecological systems, cultural heritage and landscape amongst other subjects.
https://www.lusa.pt/article/2024-02-08/42303254/l%C3%ADtio-apa-garante-validade-da-declara%C3%A7%C3%A3o-de-impacte-ambiental-da-mina-do-barroso
Interesting news article that PortugalInsider has highlighted although I think the content of the article represents nothing more than the fever dream hopes of her and the other members of the local antis cell. The newspaper took the bait of these hearsay comments allegedly made by the Public Prosecutor hook line and sinker and published them. I wouldn’t wish to rain on her parade but the last time I looked Portugal still operated as a democracy which includes an independent judiciary. It is for the public prosecutor to prosecute – that’s it. It is not the role of the public prosecutor to judge.
So there is a very, very long way to go before there is any result even if the result is one that is negative for Savannah – the investigation has to be concluded, the public prosecutor has to decide if it wants to go ahead with a prosecution of the individuals that have been mentioned, it has to decide who it will prosecute, the case has to be heard, a judgment handed down and any appeal process has likely to be worked through. This is before you even get to the point where there is any semblance of an established case to withdraw the EIA. Fever dreams don’t cut.
Judicial processes are notoriously slow in Portugal. By the time this all happens, if it happens, Savannah will have already gone into production and produced many thousands of tons of lithium.
Nothing like repurposing a spare investment into cold hard cash if BATS were to lighten its shareholding in ITC Limited as foreshadowed by the CEO today. Heap good medicine either for net debt, share buy-backs and would underpin the deliverability of future divvies to all the naysayers
Had a look at what is in the companys presentation from a few weeks ago. There are a lot of good things buried in the last few pages to look at.
The post tax npv is US$953m at lithium price of $1,464/t. The NPV is 23 times the current market cap of savannah which is $42m. The lithium price is $1,000 at the moment. The sensitivity analysis shows that a 20% drop in the price of lithium to $1,171/t gives a NPV of 650m – still 15x the current market cap so there is more than a little headroom.
Also the comparative cost curve is really interesting. Shows Barosso operating costs compare favourably with the world class Greenbushes mine and the other Australian hard rock producers. So it is a very robust project.
There seems to be a big discount applied for something in Europe but this discount should close as the Portuguese political pantomime is shown to be just that and as value adding steps such a drill results, upgraded resource, partnering, RECAPE and a development decision come through. Once in production will earn a share price premium for being a Euro producer. I'll read all presentations from the back from now
The article from Negocios is a generally accurate and unbiased report on what the ceo said on the video from the investor conference last week
Https://www.jornaldenegocios.pt/empresas/energia/detalhe/ceo-da-savannah-foi-ma-sorte-que-um-primeiro-ministro-se-tenha-demitido
Qinetiq and team leading the way: “This is a really innovative application of science and engineering and is the fruit of sustained investment and effort. DragonFire uses cutting-edge science and technology and delivers much greater performance than other systems of a similar class. DragonFire provides a step-change in our ability to deal with high-performance and low-cost threats.”
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mod-outlines-future-steps-for-dragonfire-laser-weapon/
Northvolt continues to bulk up and has concluded a $5 billion raise which will no doubt help with the development of the Galp/Northvolt lithium refinery down the road from Barroso at Setubal
https://electrek.co/2024/01/16/northvolt-secures-a-landmark-5-billion-largest-green-loan-ever-in-europe/
While the Portuguese political clown show and the associated shambolic investigations stumble along, Savannah is quietly moving Barroso forward. When you read Savannah’s releases you can see that it is putting its usual solid work with the more routine part of the environmental approvals process continuing with the RECAPE work while the strategic partnering process is also being worked on with the assistance of two major investment banks. Drilling is ongoing so there should be some good results coming out soon and looks like we will be hearing more at the upcoming investor event
Lithium – Rio Tinto forecast a 945% uplift in Lithium demand over the next 10 years
https://www.share-talk.com/sp-angel-morning-view-todays-market-view-thursday-7th-december-2023/
Agree HappyInvestor100. Combustibles are challenged which is hardly new news and the impairment is only a recognition of this. The BAT share price decline over the last year or so really has already taken this into account. The balance sheet remains strong, free cash flow outstanding and dividends are being maintained. With interest rates toppy and likely going south this is a bond like play with a modest growth overlay. Topped up this morning.