Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
GFD, I think there might be some part of you misremembering, but that's besides the point.
I do have some experience with investing in Lithium (and mining generally) but that does not make me an expert on all aspects of Lithium and its uses, nor does it make me an expert on the process required to convert between LiOH and Li2CO3 and the relevant costs involved in that process.
Google is a wonderful thing, but I would rather be belt and bracers about a subject by conferring with fellow investors than assuming that because I've gone down a Google-search rabbit hole I therefore must be an expert on the subject and therefore don't require further investigation (or hearing alternate opinions).
GFD, I wasn't looking for an excuse to post negatively, I was simply trying to clarify the importance of LiOH vs Li2CO3 and the relevant uses of said compounds. To my failing, I'm not immensely familiar with the conversion process and was simply trying to get my query/concern answered. This is what I use the share chat for, to be challenged and/or have my queries and concerns answered; if that constitutes "clutching at straws trying to justify posting negatively", so be it.
GFD, All of that would be nice, however the project itself as it stands at the moment is doubtless going to lead to some quite significant infrastructure pressures for the local community and the Malian government. After all they would be going from some likely poor quality roads with limited heavy goods vehicles on it, to regular heavy goods vehicle usage as well as the normal traffic they get currently. To get the infrastructure to the level necessary to deliver a good return on investment for shareholders, as well as getting a good and reasonably-priced product to market; this will require investment. But you have said, much of this will likely be addressed at the ESIA.
GFD, in excess of what you mentioned earlier, I believe that a fundamental piece of infrastructure necessary to maximise the profitability of the mine would be the roads. If you compare the Bald Hill mine in Australia to our own, Bald hill has access to a modern road system leading from the mine all the way to the coast (jn particular Perth). As well as this, there is also a lot of modern 'social' infrastructure near Bald Hill; namely in the towns of Kambalda West and East. While infrastructure of the Australian standard may not be necessary in Malian context, I happen to believe that a certain amount profitability of Bald Hill may come about as a result of this infrastructure.
I actually have some sympathy with the views expressed by Horne. I too don't believe we are going to see any real return on value until the road to production is clear (though willing to be proved wrong on that). When the results of our JORC came out in which we were in the top 30 in world lithium resources, the growth was good but totally unsustained and we slowly shrunk back to the 0.13 levels we were at prior to the release of the JORC. The ESIA is again an important step on the road to production, but again I can't see why it would lead to a sustained improvement in the SP.
The simple answer is this: I don't know where the funding for the plant is going to come from, and while sxx's comparisons (particularly surrounding the Bald Hill mine) are useful, I am unsure whether that particular model for funding (particularly regarding the time-frames) can really be applied to a small-cap mining company in Mali; KOD is somewhat of a pioneer in this regard. I also have to say that I doubt that KOD will reach production by the end 2019; such claims seem to have little basis (though as before willing to be proved wrong on that).
@dazaliam
It depends what you mean exactly; criticism of KOD is totally fine (and occasionally justified), however when you in particular make constant references to BGS it bring into question your reasons for being present on the board.
Earlier on you said "Any sign of favouritism at this stage of Mali's diversification to Lithium will be a huge red flad for foreign investors. " can you explain why it would be?
True, but thus far all operations by Ansarul Islam have taken place in the various departments of Soum Province, as before a minimum of 400 miles from Bougouni. When it comes to Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, see what I wrote regarding the Tuaregs.
I'm not trying to deny the serious socio-political issues that are taking place in the region, but I am more concerned with the road to production than I am about armed gangs.
While there is undoubtedly a great deal of political instability and violence in Mali (and the broader region) at present, Kodders can take some reassurance that violence is overwhelmingly taking place in the North-Eastern section of the country (named Azawad by the local Tuareg tribes), a minimum of 400miles from Bougouni.
One could also infer (and has been suggested by others here on this chat) that the eagerness of the Malian government towards Lithium production is the wish/need to diversify their revenue streams, and of course the Malian economy itself.