RE: 1m25 Oct 2024 22:55
I value Extrader's and MM's posts purely because of the background information that they provide that I do not have the time to seek out.
Extrader is far more realistic with his information than MM over on the other board. Extrader is quite willing to read a different opinion. MM however seems to consider that anyone who has a different opinion to himself is either a deramper or an idiot.
When it comes to Zioc though, there is no doubt that they are sitting on a huge asset. However the management of the company is poor, and has been for many years. Having Glencore as the dominant partner (and they still are with owning the distribution rights) has not helped management at all though.
The presence of Glencore has ruled out any involvement by other established mining companies (Fortescue, Rio, Vale etc). Why would they want to finance the mine when they have to buy the ore from the mine from a rival?
That basically leaves China and Saudi. China already have Simandou. I have never been convinced they would also want Zanaga, despite their supposed involvement over the past few years (anyone remember COIDIC). Saudi is still a step into the unknown for them as regards iron ore mining. They definitely will need the green steel further down the line, but every steel producer in the world will be falling over themselves to sell it to them.
The share sales over the past few days have me very concerning. I am not worried about Zioc going bust - they will always have the ability to issue more shares to keep the lights on. However something clearly has come up that will delay the Feed stage, and that has caused the sales.
I do not see any positives as some have said in granting months ago the shares to Marty that vest on November 1st. When they granted those shares. Zioc would have had no idea whether he would actually be any good at what he was employed to do . The shares were purely an incentive for him to have a positive effect. If he has proved to be useless - and his careless tongue earlier this year did not show him in a good light at all - then I can't see how anyone can say that granting him the shares must therefore be a certainty he is doing a good job. He clearly is not, but then then can be applied to the company as a whole. They are sat on an asset that should be hugely in demand, but they just cannot seem to get anywhere near the stage to attract finance. Contrast that with Simandou - lower grade ore being mined at 3 or 4 times the cost of Zanaga, yet first production in 2025.
Management incompetence? Glencore presence? Congo issues? Who knows, but plenty of PIs like myself (and Beardozer) cannot feel anything but anger.
Sorry if this sounds bitter, but I have wasted 7 years of my life invested in this shambles when I could have used the money to enjoy my advanced years. My fault entirely of course - this is AIM after all.
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