Member Info for lootgaloot

The big question for me is; if we are not competitive in the N. American detergent market then why does John believe we can be competitive in Europe. In a recent interview John described the European market as "larger but more competitive". John needs to explain why we are investing in European manufacturing capacity when atm, the whole business model seems flawed. There's a lot of cope going on here with "diversification". This is still a start-up situation; diversification and exploring new markets is a given. What is more concerning is whether we are even competitive in our existing market.

They admit that they are not competitive in their main market. I'm not sure what you were expecting. This has a lot further to fall once the gravity of the announcement is fully understood.

With hindsight, the focus on the N. American market was wrong. This used to be a UK based operation, they shipped everything over to US and now I'm afraid it's back to square one as it seems only the European market can sustain their price point.

It seems like we've wasted the last three years and in some respects this is true but perhaps this was a lesson that needed to be learnt the hard way. We still have the other 50% of revenues that are hopefully more sustainable on both sides of the Atlantic and we now have a better understanding of what we can't do as well as what we'd like to do.

We are well equipped for success in Europe, much wiser and with a cash pile to spend prudently. Super absorbents? Leather? Coatings? One of these simply gas to hit the mark and that's where the risk lies.

Lets not kid ourselves, this has much further to fall and much longer to reach JS $100m business, Still hopeful, albeit with a 5 year rather than a 3 year horizon.

I've worked in the industrial chemical sector for 35 years in both technical and commercial roles, in large multi-nationals and in small start-ups. One thing I've learnt is that you cannot charge a premium simply because your product is 'green'. Unless there is strong regulatory pressure to phase out an existing chemical, all you can really hope is that your green credentials make for a more compelling sales pitch. Yesterday's news is just further evidence that price and performance will always be the prime considerations. We operate in a low margin, volumes business and there's nothing wrong with that.

Unfortunately, ITX haven't just lost 30% of revenues with an important customer, we have lost an entire market in which we are clearly not price competitive. Believe me, all customers in this market will have exactly the same price expectations. JS has probably known this for quite a while, the inflated revenue numbers looked good on paper but were unsustainable. It finally it became time to lance the boil. I wonder how many other revenue streams are unsustainable?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting anything underhand. This is a growing company, trying to find it's niche. You need to chase the business, try to make it work, stick with it. At some point you need to accept you cannot compete in all sectors of the market. Take the hit and move on. These setbacks are necessary to mature and to realise that no matter how 'green' you may profess to be, ultimately you need to compete on price.

What worries me is that the detergent market was the one area where we were told we could compete. It would be nice to know the specifics around who the customer was and the exact application but I understand that the company are under no obligation to provide this level of detail. Clearly the company believe that the European market is different and the investment in European manufacturing capacity may not be a sign of growth but one of necessity. If so, it feels like we're starting all over again; wiser? yes! and with a decent cash pile behind us; but still a massive reset that takes us back to where we were two or three years ago.

Must admit I sold about 25% of my holding around £2.40 last week as a pull-back is almost inevitable. The money is sitting in my account ready to buy back in when/if we get to £1.80. People sell for all kinds of reasons, even if you believe the general direction is up.

My Grandma always said to judge a man by his shoes. I'm only now realising she may have been on to something.

The big question for me is whether Jensen jumped off a sinking ship or whether he was pushed.

The retraction of the Pit Optimisation ASX on 24th July was highly embarrassing. Basing production targets on an inferred resource seems amateurish and I wouldn't be surprised to see heads roll. On the other hand, that was three months ago. Its difficult to know if Jensen's resignation is related.

Jack Sedgwick has taken over as interim Executive Director. It's a shame its only interim as he sounds a much more credible professional. I can't imagine Jensen giving a interview like this...

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2lmkPxWCaph1ZMFL1q0I3O?si=zDuduDUZRq6o28zRL1InEg&nd=1

Unbelievable error. I've given management the benefit of the doubt up until now but it's clear that Big One/Arya has been one error after another. Strangely, it seemed to me BHA was reasonably well managed (although not the result we wanted). And what about this guy appointed in January...

Mr David Drakeley BSc (Hons), an experienced field geologist who has worked as point on CCZ’s drilling campaigns in Broken Hill and Queensland, will oversee designing and implementing all future exploratory work across the group’s portfolio.

Should this guy not be on top of this?

Https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/interview-castillo-copper-asx-czz-initial-pit-optimisation-delivers-a-28m-npv-for-big-one.7477462/

Its also strange that there's no mention of the discount rate for the NPV. Anyone know why? Quoting NPV is meaningless without mentioning the discount rate. Is this yet another clumsy omission from the company? Seems a crucial bit of information to leave out. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something?

Somewhat disappointing. Only 6,266 tonnes recoverable from the 21,886 tonnes resource due to deeper drilling being uneconomic. CCZ say a standalone mining operation can be developed; I assume that's true but who's going to partner on a rather small resource? They'll have to go it alone? That will be another cash raise. They've also mentioned mineralisation extends to the southwest and down-dip. Good but how much is that going to add realistically?

I'm disappointed not to see any mention of the anomaly to the north which was mentioned as potentially greater than the current resource at the time of drilling. Instead, mention of 20 incremental resources waiting on the wings. The word 'incremental' suggests small additions to the resource rather than any big game changers.

Nevertheless, I'm happy to se we are finally talking about Big One again. I hope this is where the focus stays. I can't se us securing a strategic partner at current copper prices but at least we have something, even if we may need to fund it all ourselves with a cash raise. A long road ahead I think.

Just glanced at results again. Actually even the very best 30% at pH = 1.0 was a complete outlier. To be commercial at pH = 4, we need 50%; we are only getting low single figure percentages. Dead as a dodo. Need to get back to copper at Big One.

Https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/pdf/CCZ/02675634.pdf

Bit of a disaster I'm afraid. Should be achieving around 50% TRE+Y under pH = 4.0 extraction. We only got 30% and that was at pH = 1.0. Some talk about sampling from other areas and moving to more expensive acids is just clutching at straws. Simply not commercial imo. We still have a relatively high value magnetic content but, judging by the tone of the announcement, they know the figures don't stack up.

Falling fast on ASX. Now 1.0 cent, equivalent to 0.53p. So we could fall another 20% on AIM and still be higher than ASX.

I'm putting the latest falls down to disappointing Chinese economic data this week. The Chinese yuan is weaker and that's putting the breaks on commodity imports. At least I hope that's the reason.

CCZ really need to find a partner for either Big One or Broken Hill. I don't think we have enough cash to do any meaningful drilling so waiting on good metallurgical results from Broken Hill to attract interest.

Thank you for your contribution to this board BushyTailed, you've saved me a lot of money by selling most of my holding at +18p.

Now in April. Need to announce acquisition by 20th or we're delisted.

https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/pdf/CCZ/02631425.pdf

Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) remain uninspiring in terms of ppm. However, today's announcement looks promising in respect to the high value Magnetic REO (Nd+Pr+Dy+Tb) present at 38.9% of the TREO.

Given that these grades are just below the surface, in clay soil and located very near road infrastructure; Broken Hill is starting to look interesting. Let's see how the market reacts.

I wont take up the offer. I can buy at the same price on the existing market.

https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/pdf/CCZ/02622952.pdf

A limited drilling campaign in late 2021, designed to test several large airborne electro-magnetic and ground resistivity anomalies, confirmed a low-grade graphite system that won’t be further explored (refer Appendix B for assay results).

Now why didn't they just say that at the time instead of hiding the assay results from us and hoping to sneak it out now. As a shareholder I don't expect every drill to be successful but I do expect the company to be transparent and frank.

Other than that, today's RNS is a bit weird. Estimating mid-range of 4Mt @ 0.6-1.0% Cu for Big One is all very well, but the estimate seems to be based on nothing more than a few surface rocks and a lot of wishful thinking. They may be right, they may be wrong; but I'm really not interested. Stick the drill in the ground and then tell me.

Nevertheless, I will be very happy once we return to the NW Queensland copper prospects. The Lithium, Cobalt, Rare Earth merry-go-round really was a pointless distraction.

Trading at 1.5c in Australia so I think we are in for a +20% drop here very soon. The remaining assays from Broken Hill have still not materialised.

Announcement will be re. cobalt, drilling assays at Broken Hill expected. Also, possible library assays. Not expecting news on Big One just yet.

Yes, trading halts on ASX are common but I have confidence this is significant news. The trading over the last few days suggests some news has leaked. Very embarrassing for the lab if this has happened but it's not the first time those 'in the know' get a head start on these things.