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NFT what news are you expecting & how do you know it will be 'soon'?

I am increasingly thinking we need to be taken over by someone with some energy & determination - maybe Oxilio. I cant see us making any progress with Ridell, he just treats NFX as a part time hobby. The latest in a disastrous series of disinterested Chairmen/CEO's we have been dumped with over the last 2 years,

And on a related issue I hope Dan is hopefully following up with other potential licensees not just on 002 but also 004. Who else are we going to hire, and on what potential incentive terms, to strike deals for us on 002 & 004. There really is no 'CEO' role left now the lab has gone, and Dan has all the financial incentive you could hope for.

Well the one company that he was in 'intense' discussions with was Kissei, reflected in that was whom the Japanese agent was specifically hired to negotiate with. Given their role in the development & patent of Tranilast that was/is potentially key to a fast track regulatory approval for NXP002.

My hunch is the main target of Dan's role is to try to get Kissei back on track for the NXP002 deal that was close in 2020. That may not be possible after the catastrophe Blackwell dropped the ball, and who could blame Kissei for losing interest, but my hope is the Tranilast/Covid results will re-ignite interest. Its the easiest route forward for co-crystal regulatory approval in a major 'Western' market.

Timing quite important when "..active discussions are ongoing..." and have been for 8 years now.

Exactly ATG looks like it started circa 8.50 & now a few hours later they want the suckers in.

I am hoping the Glencore review of stakes, that has been much discussed in the financial press, will force a decision. Would Glencore & ZIOC sell 51% of the mine to a third party who would then take it forward? That could be a path to an eventual £2-3.

If not, a sale of Glencore's stake would surely likely be based around the current ZIOC market price, even if they got double it is still small change. Perhaps AT has been on to something with his EPP work the last couple of years. Undertake a cheap, small 1m scheme to prove ore can be mined & shipped to the coast & then sell the mine at a better price than the current one. That would be a path to 50-100p, otherwise I don't see how we realistically get out of the doldrums.

Is there a pathway for us getting a deal for NXP004 now, or is it years of endless trials that - as per NXP002 - never seem to hit the dreamed of 'inflection point', and we drift ever downward 'guided' by our existential BOD?

Going back through some of the old RNS statements I found this comment from Freyberg in February 2011, he was clearly heavily involved then:

"Xstrata Coal Chief Executive Peter Freyberg said: "Our decision to exercise our option to acquire management control of the Zanaga Project enables Xstrata to evaluate in greater depth the potential of the project, as part of our strategy to build a meaningful iron ore business over the medium term."

Thats a useful link to the RNS, 99. The main mutual restrictions however seem to largely be simply transferred from Xstrata as a partner in Jumelles to Glencore. It could be the NPV clause has been retained & the call option refers to a different matter. I mention this because another investor who used to be a big shareholder in ZIOC told me management had told him the NPV clause was still applicable for a Glencore bid for ZIOC. That could be covered in this para:

"· The pre-emptive, change of control, call option, and tag-along provisions have been modified, reflecting the changes in ownership since the JVA was signed in 2009:"

Mars thanks for those important details. You are doing a way better job giving shareholders grounds for hope than our wretched BOD.

Interesting, never heard that before Marcus do you have a reference

But isn't there a clause in the agreement that Xstrata/Glencore original contract that they could only purchase ZIOC at the project nav?

While we wait for long overdue news, I am interested what other LTH's thought are on the potential 'CEO role'. Now we don't have a lab to manage/obtain work for, what else is there to do? First, overseeing the various trials; and second, marketing 002 & 004 to potential licensee's. But Dan seems to have carved out the key role in the marketing of 002, so the new CEO (or BDD) would really only have a totally free run at 004. Is that a viable enough role to actually get a reasonable candidate? In a lot of ways it frankly looks like a part time role, maybe that is how it will be eventually filled.

Thanks Extrader, of course I appreciate the Zanaga stake came to Glencore indirectly via Xstrata, and they are likely to have written most/all of the costs off. Nevertheless it is quite extraordinary for a potential mine to have $350m spent in pre production costs, many mines would spend around 10-20% of that, to get to that stage. If you apportion it, it works out around 44p per ZIOC share! Whilst I don't expect Glencore executives do much 'emotional attachment', Peter Freyberg was a senior Xstrata executive at the time of the deal so presumably aware of the value the senior management saw in the mine then.

The hope must still be that the Nagle review will result in some action being taken by Glencore regarding their stake - sell or develop.

That was the figure AT mentioned in a recent podcast. That must make it one of the most 'proven' iron ore mines out there. Why aren't Glencore trying to do something/anything with it, especially as they seem to be offloading other stakes?

Are we due any news in May - we had a project update last May? Otherwise I guess its just going to be the annual results end June. Without any news emerging this is just going to drift downward, really a struggle to stick around in these circumstances.

I want some positive news asap, but lets have it once Easter is out of the way. No point big news dropping when half the market are on holiday.

Thats got to be the hope Filter. That they have now got the necessary 'housekeeping' out of the way and we can start getting the positive news that will make the Lanstead structure make financial sense for NFX shareholders.