Member Info for lootgaloot

The huge investment required at project M make JLP another mining play and will dwarf future investment in Roan. Fair enough, but a far cry from what was originally proposed. I've got plenty of copper mining stocks already thanks.

"the $90mn cash proceeds (including deferred cash payments over three years) wipe out the last reported net debt of $40mn"

Well there you have it; the debt stays with JLP and the $90m proceeds used in part to pay off the debt. This deal just gets worse and worse.

I think it also explains the dilution part of the announcement. A slap in the face for PIs who were told it wouldn't happen. My take, Slater gave Leon an ultimatum. We're turning off the PGM cash cow and ringfencing Zambia so tell me what you need to make Zambia a success and that's all you're getting. Leon couldn't resist his very last chance to argue for one more dilution.

@Chatmandu, you've hit the nail on the head. Deliver on Zambia but you're not going to parasite off the cash generating side of the business. This has 100% come from Slater.

If your house is burning to the ground you'd better remove all the valuables as soon as possible.

This news appears to make no sense from any perspective and can only be the result of Slater and other institutional investors throwing in the towel. Rescue anything of value and leave Leon to clean up his own mess in Zambia.

I am also disappointed that Lanstead are still at 4% shareholding. Am I correct in saying that August is a hard exit for Lanstead? In other words, should we expect 4% of the share capital to be sold into the market in the space of the next 3 months?

The only thing worse than a company continually releasing bad news and a declining share price is a company that continues to release good news and a declining share price. At least in the first case one can hope for a turnaround in fortunes. In the second case, one can only wonder what the market is pricing in that I'm not seeing.

I sold out last week for a 25% loss. I simply cannot see how future good news is going to move the share price where previous news has failed. Perhaps the artisanal mining activity is more of a concern to the market than we have considered on this forum?

Yeah, if she can string this out long enough she can make her money back on her salary.

Unfortunately anyone visiting this board will see a lot of low-information posts from a single poster and move on. Not a fair reflection of normal board activity but there you go.

Only ever surged upwards? LOL. I think you're looking at the chart upsidedown.

And we made it onto the top 'risers' board on LSE home page. Maybe drive some traffic to this forum?

I thought some of the questions were a bit negative. Understandable given the share price but could have been phrased better. I wonder what potential investors watching were thinking. Even institutional investors, who may be expected to have done their research, must think twice about joining such a disgruntled group.

By the middle of the Q&A it was agony and felt like early momentum had been lost, a pity because the substance of the presentation was excellent. The team handled the negativity well and I think rescued it by the end. The question directed to Mr Rosser regarding a past involvement with a completely unrelated entity was especially regrettable; especially as this had already been addressed on this forum.

I feel the shareholders have let the company down today. Its easy to sit behind a keyboard slinging arrows but some understanding must be given to the fact that the team put a lot of effort into today's presentation as an opportunity to talk directly to a wider audience of potential investors. I know if I wasn't already a holder I'd probably come away from todays with a very mixed view.

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK-DgXM3I2I

China also process 90% of global Rare Earth Metals. I'm not sure where Trump thinks he can source these vital materials for high tech civilian and military applications. China has a lot of levers it can pull if things get nasty.

Smartinvestment, I normally agree with most of your posts which are generally thoughtful and well balanced. However, I think you're being too pessimistic re Best-mid-worst scenarios. My take, for balance:

Best case scenario: Tariffs on China removed. Big bounce to share price. Certainty returns to market. Any impact on relationships re SPARX is short/medium term.

Mid-case scenario: A lower level of tariff is eventually negotiated between US and China. Possible but more likely that Trump realises there are some jobs which US workers can't/don't want to do. UK workers are not going to be stitching Nike trainers in a sweat shop nor are they going to be mass producing base chemicals. Eventually we should see tariffs on some but not all products. I suggest base chemicals like itaconic acid are never going to be produced in US and will eventually be tariff exempt. How long is eventually? Not sure.

Worst case scenario: A complete de-coupling of trade with China. Unfortunately this may be the most likely scenario as long as Trump is in the White House. In this case ITX need to move lock, stock and barrel to UK. 10% tariff on the finished product is better than 145% on the raw material. Yes, reduced margins for ITX but the company survive. It's a shame this option has been ruled out by JS.

I should point out I'm not a shareholder at the moment and have no intention of buying while this nonsense continues.

3rd April RNS was for Lanstead crossing the 5% threshold. Is it possible that they are completely out now? Buyers waiting on the side-lines until Lanstead exited have rushed in today?

MAGA is bigger than the Republican party. Trump holds 'the base'. By the time the unthinking masses wake up it will be too late. All institutions will have been captured. We are a privileged generation to have seen the last free and fair elections in the United States.

Production of Itaconic acid is a batch fermentation process; inherently more expensive than acrylic acid derived from the traditional petrochemical supply chain. That Itaconix exists as a business is down to the ingenuity and hard work of the Chinese who have strived over many years to get itaconic acid to a viable price point. There will be a lot of IP known only to the Chinese manufacturers. Also, the chemical industry is one of scale. The Chinese have built a large customer base and therefore have the economy of scale. Let's not fool ourselves into believing that ITX can simply flip a switch to onboard a new supplier (Donald Trump, take note. This also applied to many other industries).

Finding an alternative non-Chinese supply is a non-starter imo. ITX can either hope for the best or offshore manufacture (preferably to Europe). Those are the only two options afaics. The message from JS is that EU manufacture is not viable. He needs to row back on that statement asap before the market adds one and one and comes to the obvious conclusion. If JS statement was made in the context of 'old normal' and he has since changed tack then he needs to make that clear very soon.

Nobody expects ITX to start building a European factory tomorrow but allowing the market to draw its own conclusions based on previous statements is not on. The most obvious option is to toll manufacture with an existing European partner. Even this option may take a few years to implement. What's important here is the message JS sends to the market. At the moment it seems like he is ruling out options rather than building in contingency.

'Sit and wait' is all very well but JS cannot wait for the market to draw its own conclusions on ITX. Ruling out European manufacture at this early stage was a major own goal. JS has forced his own hand, he needs to clarify his alternatives. He would have been better off saying nothing.

JS needs to come up with a credible plan for the next 4 years (and beyond) of the Trump presidency. One year of raw material stock isn't going to cut it. A trade war with China may sort itself out but if it doesn't, ITX is in danger of becoming uninventable. Finding an alternative supply from India (for example) is no guarantee that Trump won't turn on that country as well. I'm not satisfied with JS reply that European manufacture is impractical at 10% capacity. Quite simply, all options need to be considered now. I can understand JS 'wait and see' approach but he needs to row back on his statement ruling out European manufacture. 104% tariff on China is an existential threat to ITX current business model, the market may not have woken up to this yet so JS needs to pre-empt this by making it clear that European manufacture is, at the very least, an option.