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AS. I agree with your sentiment but not with your timescale. I think it will be a lot quicker than that.
Time is a funny thing and in many ways an abstract concept. I went to the British museum the other day. They have a skeleton of a dinosaur. The guide told me it was 165 million and 8 years old. I was amazed. How can you date it so accurately, I asked. He said, well, I've worked here for 8 years........
Sammyy, same for me. Born in Brentford and lived in Bristol for 30 years. I'm a farmer or a ****ney though not remotely either. That's the thing about regions though. I tell a joke in Bristol about when a girl tells me I'm like a brother to her, I take her to Norfolk. The same joke told in Norfolk I would say I take her to Bristol.
I must confess to being conflicted. On the one hand the valuation of the Company is clearly ridiculous. But on the other hand I have added another 50,000 to my target which is not something I can achieve quickly.
All in all I'm happy for the SP to be suppressed for a while. I have a timescale measured in years (looking at dividends) and the opportunity to keep buying at these levels given everything that the Company has achieved and the future prospects and the whole sustainable energy, battery storage tsunami about to engulf the world I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to keep buying a Rolls Royce at Ford Fiesta prices.
I stand by my dominoes theory though.
So I'm wandering down to the greasy banana leaf to get a full South African to soak up the previous nights Amarula excesses, like you do. I pick up a Johannesburg Metro on the way, like you do. Stone the crows who’s sat in the corner with a large Amarasi doing the same thing?
It’s only Ramphs! Hey Cyril, you look like I feel mate! He looked pleased to see me. I could tell by the way he sobbed and tried to cover his face with his hand. Hands like shovels he has. I’ve told him on more than one occasion he should have played in goal for the Kaiser Chiefs. Does he listen? Does he b*ggery. He usually mumbles something about the greater good and guiding his country into the light.
They could do with new floodlights at the FNB stadium in fairness but who am I to comment? As you know I am not one to say anything controversial or offensive to anybody.
So when you going to stop p*ssing about and sort out the country’s electricity supply and economy by utilising the country’s massive natural resources and leading the world in mining battery storage metals and technology procurement then Cyril?
He went a bit quiet. You know what he’s like. Here, I shouted over to Kungawo, two more teas. 7 sugars.
Numpty, he said. Always uses the formal version of my name does Ramphs. Never Calls me prick like most people. I am trying but, well, you know there is Gwede. He doesn’t exactly help.
Let me stop you there Cyril. You’re doing a grand job in the circumstances. You can’t stop a few hundred years of intrinsic graft and corruption over night. You are doing good mate.
First smile I got out of him that morning. Thank you Numpty. We need to stop the traditions introduced by the British. Well I would have had something to say about that but then there was a tapping on the window. Tap tap tap tap. I know what you’re thinking but you’re wrong. It wasn’t Greta Garbo. She' been dead for 30 years for Fortune’s sake.
It was Fortune Mojapelo. Dressed up to the nines clutching a spiderman lunch box. Cyril waved him in. Kungawo shouted across, you cannot eat your own food in here. Fair enough innit. Bring me some Biltong and a tea. 5 sugars, Fortune sat down with a sigh.
What’s going on Mr Mojapelo? You have the largest natural resource of Vanadium being mined in the world with the highest grade and lowest production costs and a deficit is round the corner with steel strengthening alone. VRFB's are quickly becoming recognised as the superior technology for stationary grid scale energy storage. You’re building an electrolyte plant, have interests in a number of OEM's plus a lot of other stuff I’m getting too pi**ed to bother mentioning and the SP is in the toilet?
He looked at me a while and a smile slowly came across his face.
Numpty, do you play dominoes?
Evidently. I must admit I have toyed with the idea putting together the collected wisdom of numpty5. There are reasons not to of course. Firstly, who the hell do I think I am? Sounds a bit arrogant to think more than a dozen people might be interested. Secondly there isn't really enough material yet and whilst I admit some of it is good, some of it isn't.
I did consider an e-book/pamphlet at a peppercorn price with the few pence that might raise going to a cancer charity (that being the de-facto cause of this BB) for no other reason that people on here may persuade their friends to read it and subsequently take an interest in VRFB's in general and this great Company in particular.
I just haven't got that drunk yet.
Thanks for your kind words though.
Hello there. Remember me? Senior Vice president of Mortimer Mortimer Mortimer Churchill and Mortimer? Well, I used to be. Uncle Mortimer demoted me to assistant to the deputy junior aide for stationary logistics. So I don't do the investment malarkey any more. Now I'm something to do with pencils and paperclip removers or something. It's a frightful bore and doesn't attract half as much totty I'm afraid.
I should have listened to Jocasta after all. You remember her of course. Cracking nuts. Well she tried to tell me about that Vanadium Company Bushveld something or other. If I had paid as much attention to what she said as I did to trying to get into her bush then it might not have all gone as ghastly wrong as it did. Did I mention her cracking nuts? I expect I did. Well, you've all seen her year book picture from Rodean I'm sure.
Funny thing is I can remember everything she said now. Steel strengthening. Buildings not falling down in earthquakes and killing the natives. Then there was all that battery stuff. Your B9 powering Cairo and all that. I even looked it up later and would you believe it they actually do have electricity in the colonies. Apart from Madagascar I believe. I expect somebody will do something about that before long as well.
Yes, I really should have listened to Jocasa (cracking nuts) and I was going to, I really was. However, you know what it's like being senior vice president of a big financial outfit. The work could take up an entire afternoon a week if you let it. All for a paltry few million a year at that.
So, I was going to take her advice but then I had a great stroke of luck. Or so I thought at the time. Of course you remember Rupert? Well I was waiting for him in a city bar, into my second bottle of Bolly when I met this awfully nice chap who also happened to be from Africa which is where that Bushveld outfit were from. Now it so happened that in his part of Africa - Nigeria I seem to remember - they had just discovered a powdered water mine. I couldn't see the benefit myself but apparently there are places so short of the stuff they have to drink their Scotch neat. Can you imagine that sort of hardship?
Then the icing on the cake, the Company with the mining rights was owned by this chaps cousin Prince something or other. All they needed was a few hundred million to buy some buckets and shovels and everyone would be rolling in lolly.
I suppose I should have smelt a rat when he told me his cousin was usually to trying to get that sort of money out of Nigeria. He seemed an honest sort of chap though.
So there we are. It's all biros and rubbers now. Fortunately Aunt Beatrice had the good grace to pop her clogs and leave me a few million and a country pile so I shouldn't complain. I dare say there is the odd person worse off than me.