Member Info for faramog

I regret not largely selling down at 40 ... I just did not need the money at that time ... and just either did not pay enough attention, or got taken in my the endless BS or a mix

So yes ...

Exactly BobbyAxe .....

We were all taken in and having a 'vision' is not the same as being able to execute it. The luck that Vanadium spiked probably pushed this date back but also enabled the very high risk investments into Energy side. The world as it turned out, was just not ready for that (changing now).

No shame in that at all and pretty much most folk backed it

What I cannot forgive is the clear lies and misleading on operational state, stability, maintenance etc and instead of recognising FM did not have the competence to navigate that from his ivory tower, the BOD and several (like you pdub) kept spouting the 'In Fortune We Trust' mantra

He spotted a gap in the market

He spotted an asset that could build into it

He made some great early deals (I think people thought he was nuts and sold him the bits)

He took a high stakes gamble on world energy timing and rode the Vandium Spike

But he failed miserably to recognised the unravel and do something positive about that

So forgive me Pdub .. you can expect push-back from all and sundry if you keep spouting about how good FM was ... he wasn't.. he was lucky early on !

And so glad its all free-carry for you now .. not quite the picture you used to paint about 'will I see it all before I die' stuff ... how nice you were such a sage as to sell largely out on the spike but still ra-ra the hell out of it for 6 years ... who knew a retired geography teacher would turn out to be the next sage of Nebraska !

Give it a rest man

How predictable.... Cherry pick a golden age and no owning your many hard put downs of those who dared to point out failings of FM as the SP kept tumbling

I look forward to your silence

All just IMO of course

DYOR

Given the clarity of the mess FM created...how anyone can go 'but but but'

And as for Mokopane... What did he do with it... Nothing ... And the licence expired

Craig is providing some real operational clarity and communicating openly taking every question as it came... Despite many attempts to get FM to engage he did not... Now we know why... He barely had a clue

Sorry pdub... Take your blinkers off

And the news you mentioned earlier in the week that would propel 5p by friday ?

Now there is a question for the next IM ... 'any plans for the large Iron Ore pile ?'

Wonder if any interest at Highfield ?

He didn't mention a recovery cycle change or upgrade that might deliver 30+mtv a month ... at least I recall some chat about that a while ago and there was something I read recently that made me think there was something about it.

Would help explain some of the increased figures and the ability to cover for the shutdown periods

Anyone got any thoughts ?

But the s-l-a-g intro if/when Highfield gets going will make a big difference to Vanchem's output

Makes you wonder if she thought she might be arrested for something ! ....

It was to fund the 'operation' .. he did say Capex, but I reckon a slip of the tongue as he had already repeated that all the capex funding needs were covered by the funding round

What do you mean by that ....

I read the published terms as debt gets paid off and we have n opportunity to buy back a chunk of CLN in 2 years time

Way I read todays session is that Capex costs and debt repayments are covered for 2 years, that lowers the gearing substantially around (or maybe a bit below) CC's 50% long term view on max gearing

Nothing has changed .. the deal(s) are survival .. what has changed though is that Capex and debt payments for 2 years will be divorced from sales revenue .... a very good place to be at the bottom of the cycle.

I voted for all the SGM motions as a result

No sign of this rise yet @PD101.. but a 6% drop !

So I guess with the dumping of 'Energy' with the exception of Belco (assuming they get some sales in Q1) will anyone be selling more % of their holding ?

3/3

Vanchem kiln fail after refurb - not sure what this means .. re-lining every year is needed. Was a bit overdue in June this year and had to take the calculated risk of pushing it out a bit. Just run out of its use and now needs re-lining (limping along he said), but bringing works forward, but 2nd wk of Jan going to shut down for 10 days to bring works forward from the plan of Q2

Plans for dual-listing .. not even on the radar ... not got the level of credibility yet .. not out of the woods yet

Tanya - she didn't leave .. I suspended her . Failure to disclose ... lives in London and cannot get to SA so there is a process for a disciplinary in Jan (so she might be back !!! - lets hope not !!)

Cellcude and Lemur funds go to debt reduction .. More than enough cash to pay for Orion in 2024 & 2025 .. so no burning need .... looking for value back

... WOW ... the package means 24 months Capex & Debt funding .. a really really big deal !

When does vanadium pricing have to increase .. model . mid point Oct & Nov (so probably around $32 I guess) .. Even at that price has noticeable positive EBITDA ... so long as pricing does not really drop too much further is OK... not enough to fund all Operations next year but can make payments in 2024, 2025 and some in 2026 .. anything north of $35 will be absolutely fine

Cellcude and Lemur funds go to debt reduction .. More than enought cash to pay for Orion in 2024 & 2025 .. so no burning need ....

... WOW ... the package means 24 months

When does vanadium pricing have to increase .. model . mid point Oct & Nov (so probably around $32 I guess) .. Even at that price has noticeable positive EBITDA ... so long as pricing does not really drop too much further is OK... not enough to fund all capital next year but can make payments in 2024, 2025 and some in 2026 .. anything north of $35 will be absolutely fine

2/3

One of the significant investment choices (discussed in earlier IM's) was the need to build a new Barren Dam. How long (assuming all packages are approved) will this take and when could the bottleneck of it be visible in increased throughput ? - phased approach over 2 years .. unconstrained output in 2025 after phase 1

Do you have a figure and timeframe in mind for the sales of Cellcube and Lemur given the long term high level of sunk cost ? - would like to dispose of cellcube asap but looking for max value ....

Is any relationship with MUST now over ? - 15% of MUST ... will not sign a revised share agreement.. 'I think that says it all'

The proposed dilution (in Dec) is without knowing if the Orion Deal is final and done ... why should we vote for it without knowing the final picture ? - No expected changes from 29 Nov .... conditional on BEE aand Bank approval .. basically, gotta vote dec to allow completion process

Benefits of group structure simplificantion - a bit tricky to unwind but efficiency is key. Moving from a centralisied model to a decentrelised allowed more local accountability, reward and faster decision making .. reduce the decision making inertia. Does not yet know the size of the savings possible in operations - that is sometime in 2024 to review and simplify - got 10x suppliers than should have and half are not on contract ..

(has spoken before about outsourcing 'Projects Management' giving a 50%+ saving)

What is happening to BE ? ... a bit vague but we are going to cut the umbilicle ... so aside from Electrolyte BE is gone ! Energy will not be part of the business going forward .... That is a big statement (bye bye MN ..)

Mini-Grid - could run 'tomorrow' at full capacity - waiting for a (legal) compliance cert from Eskom - just a process ... its ready to roack 'n roll

Belco - (update earlier). Just waiting now. If nothing is forthcoming by the end of Q1 will have to start looking at options (to dispose). Not going to fund Working Capital forever .. again .. real focus !

Appropriate level of Gearing following the re-structure .. 'a lot lower than now' .. really want less than 50% as it is cylclic ... can live with 80% at the top of the cycle but not the bottom (where we are now)

(Looking at the next 2+ years of debt repayments covered by the deal, would bring the gearing down to below 50% .. the bigger operational picture looks rather clearer now)

What does BMN look like in 5 years time ... currently at around $30/kg, should be closer to $40. For every 10% in price $20m EBITDA .. so at $40 will be making $50M+ ebitda .... 'would like to see volumes significantly higher'. Irrisponsible to speculate on numbers but Kiln-1 but in its heyday was doing 100-150mtv/ pcm ... 'I see a Bushveld focusing on mining, but has significantly higher revenue, significantly more capacity'. The challenge is to make the base in 23/24 is much leaner and efficiencies in place as the 'new norm'.... doing excepti

As requested @HS ... 1/2

$18.5M Raised

SPR - $12.5m, + Acadia & Orange Trust

$4.7m for orion re-structured at 3p (around 123-124m shares)

$42m proceeds

$1.5m further right by end feb amounts to 39m shares

4,300-4,500mtv at production cash cost $26.0-$27.0 cost per kg

Clearly more cost/personnel savings will start next year in operations

========================

Are you planning more fund raises or a share buyback - no new words.. buy backs not being considered at this point

Update on lemur - a non core asset and looking at exciting

Electrolyte - 9 international customers qualified .... no update yet, but of the 9 batches, 3 have so far approved as preferred supplier and 2 wanted additional vols (5k litres) .... very positive

Vanadium price projections based on VRFB ... just using industry data

Lowest All-Sustaining cost that can be achieved .. expect costs to decrease over time

Working with FM ? - didnt work closely for very long. No longer working with him now Cellcube going .. no payments

Sustaining capex 24m now .. v 7 lst .. is this a failure of previous management ? (Slide 4 is a 2 yr window, so 12m pa) ... this says all sustaining capex for 2 years will be there and not dependent on sales. Looking at projected capex over 5 years and the initial bow wave is through, the steady state is aroun $8m ... so higher than historic, but far more realistic .. very necessary to play catch-up

Why expecting cash costs to remain flat when production costs change ... still struggling with some assumptions but there is 9-10% inflation and additional maintenance costs. (Vametco is 30% more than 2023, in real terms 20% more) but very necessary to get the bow wave done so not forever, but initial

2025 production estimate - expect production to be 'significantly' higher than 2024 ... the Barren dam is a large bottleneck .. looking to have unconstrained production in 2025 ... no figures,

(so what does 'significant mean .. 20%, 25%, 30% ??)

On the Investor Meet (29th Sept) Craig said "would love to buy shares ASAP and is very frustrated he cannot due to inside info. He said he would use entire salary to buy if he could". This was widely seen as a strong vote of confidence, and whilst a purchase is a personal decision, does Craig have a comment on why his allowed purchase into the placing was so small and what message does that send given earlier comment ? - 60% of commitment made .. a bit vague .. said 60% of first 4 months salary mmhhh !!

When these various deals and placing are done, what assurances do investors have that this level of dilution is it and there will be no more placings in the next 12-18 months (at least) ? - not looking for anything for at least 24 months

For which the money has been raised .. so does not need to come out of sales

Maybe I was just using FM's maths ... perhaps that is why the accounts are so messed up !!

just saying !

As I said ... wrong way round ... you can play with stats all you like but if you save $1.5m and make 4m kg .. that is $0.37 per kg saving

Small, but not insignificant

Ah ball .. late night xmas bash, no coffee .. wrong way round .. so $0.37 saving .. you are right HC ... gonna go back to sleep !

@HC

Question: what is 4,000,000 divided by $1,500,000 ?