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I agree Marc and I am just as guilty of that

Worth remembering though that we all want BMN to do well.

Faramog I did include a lot of facts in that post. I clearly stated some speculation but it was absolutely not all speculation. Anyway I agree just differences of opinion and certainly not worth arguing over. In the end we are at the bottom of the food chain so we will just have to wait.

Thank you for health enquiry. The fortnightly cycle is 4/5 grim days then a little respite. This is day 4. Nuff said!

Over the years I have been invested in or observed shares where a large overhang is being sold down and in just about every case it has done to the share price exactly what we see here. Indeed we have a historical example with BMN.

And in most cases all sorts of conspiracy theories abounded and most were nonsense.

Significantly the selling period was followed by a share price recovery in those that I have experience of.

I go back to my point … KISS.

Sometimes the obvious answer is staring you in the face.

Faramog the points have already been made that indicate that Duferco are likely selling. However I will do this one last time. If people don’t believe it that is fine but I am not explaining my views again on this.

Duferco had an asset to sell, Vanchem. Duferco have a large industrial division and I doubt very much investing in BMN was ever part of their plan. They wanted to sell an asset.

I don’t believe BMN were in a position to pay cash for that asset but given their standing in the Vanadium world and their history of vanadium asset purchases, they were the perfect buyer. So a deal was hammered out that involved CLNs as part of the agreement. No one has ever put on this bb any evidence that Duferco were looking for shares in BMN.

The CLNs were issued as year 1 and year 2. The year 1 shares were entirely sold during the year after issue so in answer to your point yes they were selling through last year. Fact.

This also clearly demonstrates that they were not interested in being long term shareholders in BMN. It really isn’t that difficult!

The second issue was renegotiated to increase the amount of shares issued, I suspect to help BMN cash flow. However the most important part of that that I think some here have forgotten is that they also renegotiated the time constraints that limited when Duferco can sell those shares. They had that clause removed altogether. There were now no restrictions. They could start selling as soon as the shares were issued. Now surely I don’t have to explain the significance of that!!!!!

And sure enough we know that 11 million shares were sold quickly, even at a time when it was borderline whether they were achieving the 10p face value.

Since then the share price lifted, we had further large sells going through that would have returned Duferco a nice bonus. Those large sells continue to go through, as they did yesterday. If Duferco were the sellers they have made a tidy bonus return already. And if not them then who? Any other large holders significantly reduced they holding on the register?

I see nothing changing with regard to Duferco being ‘investors’ in BMN. I think they just want their cash.

They have a track record of late reporting so I don’t believe the share holder register number just released and in time I believe we will see significant selling in both March and April. We will have to wait for confirmation of course.

I agree with UKsteveg’s assessment that in March they may have sold up to 20 million shares and possibly similar in April. Of course this is just speculation but it is a common sense interpretation of what is already known.

I have yet to see a convincing fact based argument that counters what I have written. If you have facts that contradict what I have posted by all means fire away. I am interested in knowing the truth, but not idle speculation based upon conspiracy theories about behaviour of pi’s with large holdings unless there is evidence.

That is it

So Marc you don’t believe Duferco are selling. Why not?

Or perhaps the simplest and most obvious answer is correct without the need for conspiracy theories.

Large Duferco overhang being sold into the market.

Finite number of shares and therefore will eventually be done. Brakes off.

What’s that expression? KISS might apply here.

If you are correct UKsteveg, and I. Think there is sound logic behind your comments, then I hope there will only be a few more weeks of low share price. We may even see a lift in anticipation.

Good time to buy? Some might think so. I have no spare cash so won’t offer an opinion.

Interesting theory UKsteveg. I think it has some merit.

I did think about 20 million shares plus or minus a bit was the likely Duferco March selling and I guess any pi purchases would likely show up on Nominee Accounts.

I believe.Duferco have a history of late reporting.

However if they have placed a very large disposal order with brokers (ie 10’s of millions of shares) I understand they are not required to report until entire order is completed.

I certainly do not believe they haven’t been selling. And if not them then who. Someone with deep pockets has been selling. Duferco are absolutely the prime candidate in my opinion.

That is not for Kiln 3. That is a statement for future expansion once Kiln 3 is up and running. By then hopefully with expanded production and profitable V prices expansion plans may at least in part be self funded.

Disgruntled given that I write in plain English I have no idea how you can misquote me by saying “stellar performance”. I realise that is exaggeration for effect but in serious conversation it is not worthy. I have never used those words to describe management performance this year.

Do I think the BoD did a good job in 2021? Yes.

Why do I think that? Well let me quote one of ZQ33 ‘s more intelligent comments:

“ … production is all you have, the most important aspect of the BMN business …”

I totally agree with that. We all know that the ageing Vametco plant had issues that were affecting production. Issues that had to be sorted. The management took this problem head on and got it fixed. We have now had 4 Q’s of consistent production at Vametco …. That is exactly what they needed to do and they delivered.

Previous targets were clearly unsustainable so more realistic ones were set that were achievable by the plant. Those targets have been reached. That is exactly what they needed to do.

They also targeted reducing costs …. And they have delivered, even in this latest Q when costs were already significantly lower at start of period. That is exactly what they needed to do.

And now they are delivering on the other key production target which is the commissioning of Kiln 3 at Vanchem which has the double benefit of allowing then to shut Kiln 1 for repair and maintenance without loss of production and by year end with both kilns in production there will be a big jump in group production. That is exactly what they needed to do.

And we have good progress on the electrolyte plant which will provide another source of revenue. That is exactly what they needed to do.

Anyone who thinks that is not a good year’s work by the BoD in my view is … well let’s just say a tad out of touch with reality.

Of course there are areas for improvement. Certainly PR and Comms leave a lot to be desired. In the long term though that is irrelevant by comparison to fixing production issues. And BE has been a disappointment. In fairness I think the entire VRFB market has been slower to take off than most here hoped for and the court case was an unexpected time waster. I think we need to cut some slack there. I was pleased that he didn’t dodge this issue in the broadcast and said the BE Update would come in due course and did refer to enquiries being made to the company.

So whilst I have never said stellar performance, so please show me some respect and don’t misquote to serve your own purpose, I do believe that overall they have done well in managing the vanadium side of the business and if that forms part of the remuneration package I am sure the correct result will follow.

They have delivered on all my targets for them in 2021 into 2022.

The share price is disappointing but I believe this is down to Duferco. Sooner they are gone the better in my opinion.

Hope that helps.

All just my opinion.

Why do you feel the need to ask that question Disgruntled?

Have a nice day ZQ33

ZQ33 “ You and a few so called LTH defend the company as if you are blind, or are a paid agent with an agenda.”

You wrote some reasonably intelligent comments in your post then you let yourself down with this childish cr*p. You have my sympathy for your paper losses but not for the manner in which you present yourself on here.

ZQ33 you wrote this on 14 July 2021:

“Common, the production is all you have, the most important aspect of the BMN business and he does not have the time or willingness to see to it that we don’t keep missing our targets quarter after quarter, year after year.”

Well how wrong you were. The company have spent more than a year focussing on establishing a sustainable and consistent production rate at Vametco. They have absolutely delivered on that, as confirmed for the 4th successive quarter. Go read that RNS again and understand it delivered EXACTLY what you were demanding.

I repeat YOUR words .., “ production is all you have, the most important aspect of the BMN business …”. I totally agree and they have delivered at Vametco and Vanchem and they are consistently meeting the revised more achievable targets. AND they are delivering on massively increasing production by year end with the commissioning of Kiln 3 at Vanchem. EXACTLY what you demanded.

Now engage your brain and stop behaving like a child.

I believe your answer will speak for itself ZQ33.

ZQ33 from the gobbledegook in your post I am not sure that you and I read the same RNS. The one I read was certainly very positive and gave me the answers I was looking for.

The remuneration scheme was devised in 2018 when the share was doing well. After several years of having no pay rise I think Fortune was entitled to some of the spoils for taking BMN from nowhere to becoming a Vanadium producer and doing it by pulling of a deal to acquire Vametco that was described by analyst John Meyer as one of the best deal he had witnessed.

People forget that it wasn’t just about high Vanadium prices at the time (which by the way Fortune had predicted though clearly not as high as they went). The genius of the strategy was putting BMN in a position where the company and its shareholders would benefit from those high prices. No Vametco, no Vanadium, no profit, no high share price! 2018 was certainly a vintage year. Oddly no one complained about management salaries then. Too busy counting our own profits, paper or real!

A good reward scheme especially for people at the top of a business should be multi faceted and not just about share price. Measuring management performance is far more complicated and should relate to all aspects of running the business, which is exactly what the BMN scheme does.

BMNN cannot control the share price … just look at all the outside influences that dominate it, not least of which is the very volatile Vanadium price. What they can be specifically measured on is achieving the company targets, and especially those related to growing a sustainable large low cost vertically integrated vanadium platform. Anyone who has read the last update and listened to the BRR conference call and us capable of understanding the issues discussed must surely realise that they are delivering on their promises. For that they deserve credit and I am sure shareholders will benefit, particularly when Duferco are clear.

Just my opinion.

I don’t agree. I think Duferco are selling. Of course they would like a higher price but with such a large amount of potential cash tied up in BMN it is more likely that they will want to clear this as quickly as possible. That is likely to mean that they would look at an average price for disposal, whether at 13p or even below 10p as I believe we saw in the early stages. However neither of us know the answer so pure speculation on our part.

It is useless complaining about shares being issued by AIM companies to enable growth of a company, in this case the purchase of Vanchem when a fantastic opportunity arose to expand the business but the cash was not available. That is exactly why AIM was created. To allow companies like BMN to more easily raise funds. People that don’t get that quite simply should not be investing in this high risk exchange. I am astonished at how many posters seem to have forgotten this.

The Duferco shares are finite in number. It is very painful for shareholders to go through this but there will be an end, and I hope they dump these shares as quickly as possible so that the drag on the sp is removed and we see true value. If that coincides with the present higher V prices then great. And I note V prices flat today. Let’s hope t hat is a good sign.

Just my opinion

Agecoz a very thought provoking post. You make an excellent point!