Member Info for Mikemine

I actually missed this part of the Twitter. Its more straight forward than the last link of the Twitter. Seems VLS are saying they are covered for losses, along with ENVIA, but can't actually say so.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-energy-risk-develops-performance-insurance-for-tcg-global-supporting-delivery-and-installation-of-tcgs-revolutionary-gasifier-300670158.html

Couldn't really understand this but its meant to be reassuring I suppose as VLS deemed it worthwhile to put it on Twitter.

https://www.velocys.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/NER-Conference-Presentation-BIO.pdf?platform=hootsuite

Could be that the loss of production is covered along with any debt losses.

Just got home and its blue. Rebooted the PC and its till blue. Had to happen some time.

I know the projects are far out and the leak situation has lingered but this is well oversold IMHO even allowing for the placing.

Don't know what to say that hasn't been said so I won't say anything. Hopefully we are on an upward run. We'll see in the next few days if the SP can gather some momentum.

Clearly Red Rock has a lot of local support.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv3SazxFzhk&feature=youtu.be

Yes, I got that also they have had 200 plus enquiries of interest from all sorts of entities.

All 3 were very positive and enthusiastic but also focused on what they are doing.

It certainly didn't come across that VLS was failing like the SP suggests.

Thanks so much Tillyhoney. Surprised that there weren't more questions although most subjects were covered.

Havealot, much of what you say is true however VLS is a minority shareholder so they will not be supporting ENVIA on their own. It would be good if VLS released any figures about the revenue structure but we were told that 200 gallons a day was breakeven. Clearly they are below that level and will be until both reactors are functioning.

I don't understand why the situation is dragging on. I know insurance companies are involved but this leak started in early May and its now almost August. Disappointing to say the very least. I would dearly have loved to have been in a position to ask questions in the call but I wasn't. Surely someone would have pressed VLS on this subject as this is the elephant in the room at the moment and its been terrible for the SP and therefore for the fund raise.

IMHO, the price atm is indicating that VLS is failing. Its priced at around £30mn but, with the latest fund raise, should have at least half of that in the bank. So £15mn for the company.

Apart from the leak, which is under Envia's direct control, the company has had considerable success this year. Its even received revenue which is a definite plus for this type of company. It has attracted high end partners and has government backing. It is focused on 3 projects any of which should provide plenty of profit.

There's plenty of risk like any other disruptive company but is it failing? If you think it is press the sell button. If you don't think its failing, the multiples from this level look mouth watering.

Tillyhoney, do you remember what the 3 questions were and what were the replies?

https://www.velocys.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Velocys-jf180716.pdf?platform=hootsuite

Taken from 2017 results "Key capacity milestone of 200 barrels per day reached in October. Finished products meet customer specifications and sales started to be made to off takers"

I seem to remember I read 250 barrels reached but, after a quick scan, I can't find that quote, but it seems feasible that, if they reached 200 in October, the figure of 250 could well have been reached subsequently.

Its water under the bridge now so 250 must still be their target when the 2 reactors are fully operational.

I'm not at all sure that these last few trades at 10p were sells at all.

Yes, SAS, I didn't think you were correct but, fair do's, you called it.

Looking back to the last fund raise, I see that the SP hardly, if at all, dipped below the strike price. Then we had a largish spike on the RR news and then this current unfortunate event destroyed any gains. So where are we?

It looks like the MMs walked the SP down. Certainly it was noted that even when buys clearly outnumbered sells the SP still retreated. It also looks to me that VLS knew it was very possible that they would have to foot whole bill or a good part of the whole bill for correcting the damage caused by the leak as they surely have been organising the fund raise for a while.

Now I presume the whole Envia leak episode can be put behind us, after correcting the problem and getting the reactor back in to production of course. It shouldn't bear on the SP any more. So, we are now in future news territory and there was plenty of indication that our CEO will embark on a PR exercise to update the Market on whats happened and whats happening. Get a RR type of piece of news and we should expect a spike IMHO but generally, as milestones are reached extra value should be given via the SP IMHO.

A big chunk of doubt has been taken away and the way is clear for VLS to progress. I expect it will be a bit bumpy but there's plenty of scope for profit here in my humble opinion.

Yes, at some point whatever is causing the SP to be walked down will end and then we'll have another pressure which might well take it in the other direction. This usually happens in a quiet, no news market where volume is low, and boy has it been low recently.

Should a big piece of news comes out, like a new order or final resolution of the leak, that will overcome the current pressure as the volume should suddenly increase.

Its not pretty to watch but thats what happens on AIM it appears.

The fundamentals haven't changed.

We shouldn't confuse SP performance, which lets face it is dire, to company performance which not been dire, quite the reverse in fact. We've had a leak but it will probably turn out not to do with VLS's part in the project but otherwise things have been going well, grants, recognition, revenue from Red Rock, hook up with Shell and BA to name the obvious.

VLS have a fully commercial product which will be needed in the biofuel sector which the kid on the block atm and will be for the foreseeable future. It has proved up at Envia that smaller scale biofuel plants can be built and produce high grade biofuels and they can be duplicated. That is bound to attract attention from other companies with lots of feedstock hanging around. VLS is in a very can do country which is not afraid of something that is different, look at Tesla, Apple etc.

Despite the leak which was unlucky, VLS has a lot going for it.

Its from a local newspaper and obviously means a great deal for the locals. No wonder the local government guaranteed the loan. That could be a blueprint for the future.

I like this bit " No facility like it exists anywhere in the world, but if successful, preliminary plans are already in the works to develop more in the United States and possibly Australia to create a more sustainable, clean renewable fuel source for the military and civilian aviation industries." I read somewhere that Red Rock intend to built 10 more facilities and I don't suppose they will be building them one at a time. More news of different projects will do VLS no harm at all.

Have a good weekend.

"‘New growth’

“This is a dream come true,” said Lake County Commissioner Dan Shoun. “Our local industries have weathered through tough times, but this is the domino that creates new growth. This will be a model for the rest of the western United States – it will clean up our lands to make them more productive and resilient.”

The process to reach the groundbreaking was not easy, and at several points the project seemed likely to fail amidst tricky negotiations. A strong bipartisan effort matched with bonds created in collaboration with Stern Brothers and Goldman-Sachs, and the ongoing support of military-backing, helped carry the proposed facility through many regulatory, environmental and contractual pitfalls.
“Financiers told us we had a 20 percent chance of financing it, and we thought, ‘hey, that’s pretty good!’” laughed Terry Kulesa, CEO of Red Rock. “We deal with hard projects that are hard to do, either we’re too dumb to know better or we’re geniuses. We knew we had the right technology, we knew we had to get the right combination of financing together, and everyone who worked on it was just phenomenal.”

Guest speakers for the groundbreaking ceremony included Lakeview Mayor Ray Turner, Diana Carlin of the Air Force Research Lab, former Navy representative Chris Tindal, Joe Murdoch of FedEx and more. All seemed jubilant that despite many pitfalls and times of doubt across seven years of difficult work that a revolutionary way to sustainably supply the aviation industry in an environmentally conscious way was finally going from the drawing board to construction.

‘Turning point’

“This bio-refinery marks a turning point,” said Red Rock Chief Financial Officer Jeff Manternach. “It will help this mill town continue to be a place where things are made, and it will combat global climate change. This is the first of its kind in the world, and you all made it happen. May this be the precedent for a great highway fueled by courage and innovation.”

“We are on track, but there’s a lot that can still go wrong,” added Kulesa. “When we started I would tell people there were a million things that could go wrong, now we’re down to just a thousand things that could go wrong.”

Ends

"New jobs

Over 100 jobs are estimated for the construction, and once fully operational Red Rock will provide around 35 full-time jobs for operations. Additionally, approximately 75 jobs will be needed for trucking and materials gathering, utilizing private and public forest lands as well as waste product from regional sawmills and wood products manufacturing sites.

While Red Rock’s corporate office is based in Colorado, the company was drawn to Lakeview thanks in part to the previous work conducted by Iberdrola Renewables – a Spanish renewable fuels company that had done extensive environmental studies to develop a facility in Lakeview until the deal, and eventually the company, fell apart. Red Rock picked up the proverbial baton, salvaging Iberdrola’s work while recognizing the area as an attractive site for a fuels facility because of its railroad and abundance of forest fuels and wood biomass waste products available regionally.

Soon after, the company partnered with the military, followed by contracts with Southwest Airlines and Federal Express, which will be the primary clientele for Red Rock’s fuel supplies.

“This is a monumental day for Southwest,” said Michael AuBuchon, fuel supply chain director for Southwest Airlines. “Red Rock will help us make our environmental goals as we have a continuous eye to reduce our carbon footprint. This facility is key to our strategy.”

Economic impact

While it is impossible to gauge exactly what kind of economic impact the facility will have once operational, praise of its potential was unanimous by representatives from the offices of Gov. Kate Brown, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, Congressman Greg Walden, as well as State Rep. Werner Reschke and State Sen. Dennis Linthicum – both present for the groundbreaking. In a letter, Wyden called Red Rock’s development “a significant economic multiplier for the entire region.”

An economic study by Business Oregon estimates that 520 jobs in metropolitan counties such as Multnomah have the same equivalent economic impact locally as just one full-time job in rural, low-population areas like Lake County. Multiply that economic impact by the 100 jobs estimated with Red Rock’s development, and many anticipate a boom in the area from new housing and businesses, to increased tax revenue with Red Rock serving as the foundation for Lake County’s future.

With a local populous of barely 2,000 residents, Lakeview’s leadership anticipates that the necessity for new hires will result in many people moving to the area for job prospects, bringing with them spouses who may open ancillary businesses, kids to increase school enrollment, and more patrons for local business. It is beneficial for forestland management organizations as well, and regional companies like Collins Pine and Green Diamond Resource Company who will sell their waste products to Red Rock. To celebrate the groundbreaking, Green Diamond even provided several potted tree saplings that were

Found by Donatron on ii. I'm having difficulty in copying and pasting so I'll post in sections

"Fueled for the future
Red Rock Biofuels facility breaks ground in Lakeview
By KURT LIEDTKE H&N Staff Reporter

LAKEVIEW – Remember in the iconic “Back to the Future” films when Doc Brown placed garbage in the time machine’s engine to fuel it? From science-fiction to science-fact, a similar process will soon become reality fueling aircraft nationwide once the Red Rock Biofuels renewable energy plant is built.
On Wednesday, members of Red Rock Biofuels, political dignitaries, corporate representatives and a large community contingent gathered on the outskirts of Lakeview for a groundbreaking ceremony for the $320 million renewable fuels facility. Taking woody biomass waste products such as pine needles, agriculture waste, sawdust and slash piles from forest thinning projects, the facility will convert materials that might otherwise fuel raging wildfires into jet fuel — around 15 million gallons worth each year.

The facility is an economic and environmental game-changer, according to the project’s developers, and a grand collaborative experiment combining military, commercial and bipartisan political efforts to bring it to fruition. No facility like it exists anywhere in the world, but if successful, preliminary plans are already in the works to develop more in the United States and possibly Australia to create a more sustainable, clean renewable fuel source for the military and civilian aviation industries. Funded through bond sales, grants and a military contract, the project has been seven years in the making to reach Wednesday’s groundbreaking.

Wood to gas

Surprisingly, the technology is not new. The facility utilizes the Fischer-Tropsch method, a scientific process developed by Germany during World War II to create fuel. Red Rock will intake woody biomass products and heat them to approximately 1,800 degrees in an oxygen-free high-pressure environment, which converts it to a gas. The liquid hydrocarbons produced are then refined into jet fuel, diesel fuel and naptha fuels.

Similar gasification facilities are already in operation in South Africa and Qatar, but none to date utilize woody biomass for its raw materials, making Lakeview’s new facility the first of its kind anywhere. Many who have worked on the Red Rock project see it as a blueprint to be replicated across the western United States as the future of renewable fuels, while simultaneously keeping forests healthy and more resistant to catastrophic wildfires by reducing fire fuel sources.

The site, located on Kadrmas Road on the southern end of Lakeview adjacent to the railroad lines, will be prepared this year for delivery of large modules to be delivered next year that will house the majority of the plant’s processing parts. Fuel deliveries are expected to begin by December 2019."

CF73, I can only conclude that you are right about the insurance's company tardiness since VLS said this "ENVIA has since implemented modifications to rectify a design flaw in the ancillary coolant system serving the second reactor and has also modified operating procedures."

From this is would be fair to say that the first reactor could have been up and running weeks ago unless it was damaged by the leak.

Even allowing for the lack of understanding of the technical issues by the insurance company, I still think its talking a long time. Your comparison with car insurance is not correct as all claims I've had, not many, have been dealt with very quickly. Its the repair side which has taken the time. I think its more to do with culture IMHO. I've spent some time in the States and its different there. I've spoken to a few people there who have made various domestic/car claims and the process is painful and seems to be designed to wear you down so you give up. My daughter moved and took out special insurance to cover damage to her furniture in transit. Her dining table was damaged by water, don't ask how, whilst being moved and the insurance company flatly refused the claim citing some obscure clause. When she looked in detail at the policy it seemed that there was almost no cover at all. The company was a fairly large one and sold loads of these policies. Its just one example of the stories I've heard. And don't get me on to incompetent attorneys. Its different over there.