Member Info for nomlungu

I rate the NAUTILUS magazine highly so found this article interesting even though I am not a fan of uncontrolled space adventures. "The Profound Potential of Elon Musk’s New Rocket - An aerospace engineer explains why SpaceX’s Starship will change everything."

https://nautil.us/issue/100/outsiders/the-profound-potential-of-elon-musks-new-rocket

Worth a read: "A potential new vaccine developed by members of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute has proven effective in protecting monkeys and mice from a variety of coronavirus infections -- including SARS-CoV-2 as well as the original SARS-CoV-1 and related bat coronaviruses that could potentially cause the next pandemic."

https://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/new-vaccine-blocks-covid-19-and-variants-plus-other-coronaviruses

Solar flares are a danger most do not consider - some are speculating this new cycle could be one of the worst in a few centuries.

"Now, the next solar cycle has ignited, with peak activity predicted around 2025."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-sun-is-getting-stormier-just-in-time-for-a-total-solar-eclipse

It is not coming to that extent - a fleet of drones is susceptible to an electromagnetic pulse weapon.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2020/06/25/china-develops-first-strike-capability-with-electromagnetic-pulse/

'How the UK military supports Israel’s combat operations against Palestinians'

Not much in the media about this from the left or the right; why are Palestinians third class citizens?

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-15-how-the-uk-military-supports-israels-combat-operations-against-palestinians/

But...

https://observer.com/2020/10/de-beers-open-us-lab-diamond-factory-oregon-mass-production/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2021/05/06/lab-grown-diamonds-gain-even-more-credibility-with-pandora-and-diamond-foundry-news/

The Millennials was cheaper and greener bling.

More signs of the expectation of inflation:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/a-new-era-of-short-bets-against-german-bonds-is-beginning?srnd=premium-europe

"There’s an unwritten rule in global bond markets: never short Germany.

But when Europe’s safest asset is in the midst of a retreat that threatens to push yields on bunds above 0% for the first time in more than two years, a paradigm shift may be underway.

Toronto-Dominion Bank was forced to close its recommendation for investors to buy German bonds last week, after yields climbed above their stop-loss level. NatWest Markets are calling for investors to sell bunds, hailing the end of the “supercycle” that has seen the securities rally for the best part of two decades. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and ING Groep NV are among banks who see yields rising to 0% by the end of the year."

Might hit Mumbai with heavy rainfall in next 36 hours. Just what you need in a Covid outbreak...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-16/india-s-west-coast-braces-for-cyclone-tauktae-amid-virus-woes?srnd=premium-europe

https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/science/cyclone-tauktae-live-updates-impact-of-cyclone-tauktae-mumbai-gujarat-goa-tamil-nadu-kerala/2252708/

Hyaline Z2: The Future of Transparent Polyimide Films Today - for foldable phones and roll up TVs. Remarkable stuff from Zymergen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0lQSS2d_fI

2 youngsters on the radio; 1 from Gaza, the other from Israel. They finished the calls when the guy in Gaza had to hang up because of bombs going off nearby.

A sad day again.

All this talk about shortages makes me wonder if investing in foundations was such a wise idea even though I am up a third in a few months on that investment in Van Elle?

Troajan,

The game has changed - it is new demand, not a temporary shortage:

"An energy system powered by clean energy technologies differs profoundly from one fuelled by traditional hydrocarbon resources. Solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, wind farms and electric vehicles (EVs) generally require more minerals to build than their fossil fuel-based counterparts. A typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car and an onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant. Since 2010 the average amount of minerals needed for a new unit of power generation capacity has increased by 50% as the share of renewables in new investment has risen."

https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions/executive-summary

I know there are shortages everywhere but when supply ramps up I expect prices to fall. Some things cannot be ramped up fast -it takes a long time to build a copper mine. Lumber shortages are just temporary though?

I have been doing some work getting resource prices into a spreadsheet - this is quite useful:

https://metals-api.com/

50 free calls a month which returns the data below which can be used to populate fields in a spreadsheet. I cannot see an easier way to fetch metal prices, and these still need playing with when figures are returned in ounces - who prices Tin or Copper in ounces?

Troajan,

Some price rises that fuelled the CPI increases in the first world will reverse and there will be months with no inflation or even deflation. Emerging economies where food makes up a more significant portion of household spending may be in trouble for a while.

kenny,

Trump brought the GOP red meat voters and alienated many of their centre-right voters. Their only hope back into power at the moment is with Trump and his base, so they are pandering to the Big Lie as they will be out of power for generations if they lose many from both pools of voters.

It is a shame as it allows lies to fester and encourages low life to take pride in wallowing in swill whilst trying to paint their more moderate opposition as commie child killing barstewards. How QAnon and belief n the Rapture have spread as far and wide as they have is beyond me.

The scientists tell us that Covid jumped from a bat to a human (which is called zoonosis). So this makes sense, right?

https://www.businessinsider.com/india-doctors-warn-smearing-cow-dung-body-not-fight-covid-2021-5?r=US&IR=T

It is like a bad children's novel from the late fifties:

'But he has refused to accept her ruling and is trying to overturn it to avoid the risk of being suspended as an MP.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9580509/Inquiry-Boris-Johnsons-Mustique-holiday-says-failed-say-financed.html

Has a PM ever been suspended from Parliament? No, according to Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_from_the_UK_parliament

I am in Florence's corner but please remember that Redcorp currently own 85% of LS with a Portuguese GOV entity owning the other 15%. So, unless they negotiate the remaining 15% from the GOV then MAFL end up with 20% of 85% = 17%.

silverknight,

Some start from the assumption that LS should be valued starting with the Preliminary Economic Assessment prepared in September 2019. That was prepared using the resources defined at that stage and conservative metal prices - a new resource estimate is expected soon [much larger] and metal prices have gone up significantly. See the link below:

https://www.ascendantresources.com/English/Operations/PEA/default.aspx

That made a very conservative valuation of a discounted after tax NPV of $106m. MAFL stand to own 20% of Redcord with owns 85% of the project to your "Residual value of 20% ownership of LS USD1,000,000" could be upped to $18m in an optimistic viewing even disregarding the increase in resource and metal prices.

My expectation is more than a doubling of resources and a doubling of profit margins - LS should be worth a minimum of $50m and MAFL's share of Capital Investment will be covered by Ascendant and then recovered from free cash flows from the mine before MAFL start seeing any returns - probably 5 years into the future. I think that JV may be tempted with an offer for MAFL's share of the project if it was a fair offer; mainly because he is no spring chicken and his 30% of the company could make for a more comfortable later life.

[I am biased]