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Kitson House is a large asset but illiquid until it is sold. Is there anything to prevent them taking a mortgage on it which is then repaid on sale? It would not affect the sale potential surely.

I agree, they will still be here when the market picks up. Most of their competitors will not have a balance sheet like them and personally I would be happy to see them pick up distressed companies in their sector, as others with similar cash positions like Galliford Try have done.

At the moment with the cash equalling the market cap, we are getting the whole Nexus-Tamdown business for free.

And right on cue, another issue of equity.

Purebond may decide to take it private?

Https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2023/06/30/offsite-specialist-ilke-homes-falls-into-administration/

Bad news, not sure how much if anything Tamdown will get of the money owed. Terrible news for the Ilke employees, must be a real shock.

Yes it is very fast compared with a mine but this is basically a process plant so a mine is not the same, no need to worry about strip ratios, grade control, mine life plan, blasting and crushing, mining contractors, remediation etc. Therefore BFS should be a lot simpler.
I think RBW are looking at really proven optimisation to justify debt funding. My theory for why it is talking the time, alternatively they could just be faffing about, but I don't think so!

I must admit I tend to switch off now to all the talk about Rare Earths and the strategic value , I know all that. What I am really interested in is timing and this has stretched my patience and I have been wondering whether to sell as there seems no sense of urgency, at least looking from the outside. Going back to Jan 21, I think it was a IMC presentation, I pinned George down on indicative timing for Phalaborwa, he gave pre-feas end 21, BFS Q2 22, Spade in Q3/4 22, 10--12 mts ramp up then full production Q4 23.
Now its a bit unfair quoting this as George had only just taken the project on and was giving the best assessment he could. However this is a low capital project and the first-sight timing does not look unfeasible if that was the priority. It looks like , dare I say it, maybe they are "making the perfect the enemy of the good"?
To check this further I looked back through George's history with MDM and he does indeed have a great background of projects delivered and so too the people working with him. I think the backing from the US may be significant, they have 2 directors from the State Department for goodness sake, and these backers are the ones they have to satisfy I think , not us retail shareholders so much. Its interesting that George talked openly about an equity raise to fund the pilot plant. This has not been mentioned of late and now there is more talk of debt and off-takes. I could be wrong but if non equity funding is confirmed then this could be the first decent push to sentiment and share price for a while. Likewise any off-take agreements. I just think maybe I have to be patient for a few more months, maybe no more than 2 for the pilot funding.
Who knows Burundi could drop at any time too, meeting there end of this month.

dbentley, Your posts on Dekel over the years have always been sensible and balanced and that you are now at the end of your tether says a lot more than the average poster. For myself I first bought in the IPO promoted by Optiva, when it all looked so promising back in 2013. I'm out of it now but after 10 years involvement I keep an eye on it. There is potential here but it needs a catalyst for change and I can't see it. A new dynamic leadership team at the company would help.

Todays announcement is typical Dekel. I know we are due the Cashew numbers next month but there is a little teaser implying Cashews are ticking along... but why not say what is happening? If I went to the plant today would I see it running at full chat or at a standstill? Even given the numbers are to come in April, they could say whether they are at now running at 50% line rate or whatever. I suspect little is happening otherwise on past practice we would have a short video of the plant running with piles of work in process and finished stock.

Its a shame they don't produce manure, they would capture the world market. There is no energy to get anything done. A simple thing like RSPO , they blathered about that for 8 years. This from:
25 August 2015

DekelOil Public Limited ('DekelOil' or 'the Company')

Strong Progress Towards Gaining Certification to the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil.

Strong progress, glacial more like.

My impression is that the Cote d'Ivoire in-country team is actually quite good but they have no support from London. The palm oil plant was put up on time and to budget but that was a turn key project from Asia. The same team was put into the cashew plant project but cashew plants are more complex and the separation process is more critical as parts of the nut are poisonous. Oltremare were not a great sourcing decision as they are a smallish outfit and seemed unable to control the various vendors and manage the project, and there was no project management or vendor chasing from DKL management in the UK. The guys in Cote d'Ivoire were left waiting for important equipment for about 3 years! How often does the senior management visit Cote d'Ivoire, if at all? Honestly this feels like a lifestyle company and it is a shame as there is real potential.
Last thing, look out for the net debt they have. Every time they increase debt they write it up as restructuring at lower interest rates etc. The increase in debt is cloaked in positive comment.
No advice intended, I've lost money here so may not be entirely unbiased! DYOR.

All good questions. As the cashew was in the 'final stages of commissioning' last September they really should tell us what it is producing now, not wait until the 15 April. It suggests problems, if the number was good in January, wouldn't they have told us? Endless delays and how are they off for cash, can they fund the delays and the coming stock builds? It may be this is completely wrong and the cashew is just about to take off so the share price is an absolute steal. They have just given an update so shouldn't be in a close period so why no director buying? Anyway there are plenty of very good investments in the market at the moment so no need to stay with this faffing about. In the words of the Dragons' Den, "I'm Out!" For the sake of LTHs I really hope I am wrong and this works out for you. I'll watch with interest (and maybe regret!) but it is just too frustrating for me!

The lack of information on this cashew project is appalling. Apparently "currently transitioning to full scale commercial production" what does this mean? It could have been said at any point in the last 12 months...
They seem to work on the basis of whatever you tell them Lincoln, tell them nothing!
A share-holder focussed company would tell us exactly what point they have reached, proven capacity per day, and timing to hit stage one production volume. Not much to ask is it?
It may be as some have suggested that they have run out of nuts to process and the plant is at a standstill. Well if so, why not tell us, its an understandable, if disappointing, account.
Like many here I'm well under water but am optimistic about the cashews ultimately doing very well. Its odd how guarded they have been throughout on this project when the communication on the palm oil side has become quite good.

Looks like some seriously large director buying. Over £1m ?!

https://www.investegate.co.uk/bank-of-georgia-grp--bgeo-/rns/director-pdmr-shareholding/202209021656211703Y/

Last year they borrowed 3m and, despite effectively having 2 high seasons in the one calendar year, ended the year with 1.5m cash. A lot was spend on the cashew project. This year they have borrowed no more and had no placings. We won't know the current cash outflow on the cashew project until we see the H1 numbers but I suspect conserving cash is why they strongly prefer to issue the shares.

The June figure was 1200 rugs? I haven't worked it out myself but the average June for the last 3 years was 2691 so its not great.
The RNS was light on Cashew project detail. Thank goodness for the high CPO prices, that has really bailed out the Cashew delays and saved DKL raising more cash. Why has it been so bad given that the CPO plant was installed on time and to budget on a green field site, and they apparently used the same team to install the Cashew plant? Cashew production looks a lot more complicated than extracting palm oil. Oltremare have clearly not performed but DKL have been guilty of bad project management. Communication to the market has been poor, they have used optimistic language with a lot of wriggle room like 'imminent', 'final calibration' - more Gok Wan! So I wonder now what defines shipped? Hopefully it means the shelling machines are on the boat, probably ex China. Actually I really liked it when Lincoln told us it was likely to be a bad High Season, appreciated the open communication. But communication on the Cashews has been bad.
Well we are where we are, and if they do finally get the Cashew going into production and all goes well then the current share price will look cheap, and us long suffering shareholders should finally get a return on our money. Of course 'if' is doing a bit of work there!

Keith, thanks very helpful on the geology. Re 'soft rock' and 'hard rock' guys and gals I read this in a geology article:

I once met a retired sedimentary geologist who argued that “soft rock men” are always the more thoughtful. It came, he mused, from thinking about the formation of sedimentary rocks. One rock unit formed from the quiet accretion of layers of sediment over many millions of years. The slow, slow formation of worlds. And what about hard rock geologists? I asked him. “Hard rock men are all bastards,” he said.

Interesting article on the strategic position miners and producers are in.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/17/the-race-for-rare-earth-minerals-can-australia-fuel-the-electric-vehicle-revolution

The fall in the market this morning on the Burundi news alone seems about right. This is AIM and confidence is a big part of the pricing and this has shown some RBW vulnerability and so dented confidence somewhat. However the real game changer for RBW is Phalaborwa. All efforts should be on getting this immensely profitable project into production as early as possible. The potential gains dwarf the current market cap and hence the share price. George inherited the Burundi pilot project and paradoxically this news may have done him a big favour. Burundi needs expenditure on exploration and big capital investment to ramp up. By putting Burundi on the back burner all management focus and capital allocation can be on Phalaborwa. If they were starting from scratch which project would get the attention?

Totally agree Falling, the government as I recall influenced cocoa prices just before the election. The producers may like to keep the CPO price at 800 euros, and the farmers keep the high price too, but if world prices fell below 800 it would be hard. That said, I'm OK with them pegging the price now at 800, its important the local population is protected and it is still a very good price. As you say RSPO will give us premium prices for exports. The big thing is the volume increases which have continued from last year, hopefully a sign that they are at last cracking the glass ceiling on volumes and all the maturing planting from the last few years, together with more recent fertilising, is coming good.

Thanks oogleflugal. Lincoln is very upbeat in that interview, good to hear.