The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
I always like to read comments from anybody but it seems that there are more posters out that in.
A bit surprised that AP comments about PP have surprised anybody. In my POV he didn't say anything new, PP is making money but this money is to be reinvested in Eureka, and probably later Giant. This is why I always thought is was worth it to get rid of it with SSGI all together. I am under the impression that SSGI doesn't want VAST completely out though, they are just investors and I believe they want to keep VAST to operate PP and maybe Eureka. Just a thought.
GLA
Basically the offtaker will give VAST a loan and you want that VAST force them to respect a timeline. They will take the time that they need to do the DD. Nothing that VAST can do about that, this doesn't mean that I am happy with the situation but you need to be realistic.
If you ask for a loan or mortgage in your bank they will take some time to check your income and asses the risk. You won't be able to force your bank to give a timeline and don't break it, and what if they do? what are you going to do?
Yes, just wait.
Yes Sandy they made quite clear that was not in VAST hands, this is why I say that I am not expecting anything yet. Lawyers problems will be same as with Mercuria.
I envy people who sold and were able to buy lower, it never has worked out for me. The only thing that works for me is that as long as the fundamentals of the company don't change I keep invested in and I top up whenever I can. Fundamentals have improved as we can already mine Baita (we just need money) and Marange could be close, Marange had a 0% chance when I invested. Financial situation is very bad though but everything changes very quickly in AIM.
LOL. Probably not so faint in some cases.
It would be nice if at least they notify in the GM that there is already an offtaker selected and that is just a problem with lawyers now, maybe is too much too ask. I am not expecting any imminent news even though the 3 to 6 weeks I believe have gone already.
FTB. From the article “Sources close to the ongoing negotiations between Anjin and government told the Independent the miner would tentatively resume operations in July with Alrosa and the other community-based company set to commence diamond extraction early next year.”
So if VAST is this JV then not expected to start till next year which will concur with James Campbell comments.
Anyway all this could change very quickly as from comments from Zimbabwe government, they are planning to scrap the 51-49 ownership rule for platinum and diamonds.
https://zimbabwe-today.com/state-control-on-platinum-to-go/
Hopefully when the contract is signed we will get a clear view on how the JV is going to work.
I have said this before but from my POV this year is going to set the foundation for Baita and Marange start to be productive next year. I will be surprised if we start to generate any money from these two projects by the end of this year. This doesn’t mean that the SP is going to stay at this level till then, hopefully will start to reflect the potential once that we got the actual financial situation sorted out.
To be honest it will be nice to get a RNS showing some important advance in the projects that we are expecting. It has been like 6 months, since the Baita Licence, that we don't have a relevant update.
Baita Finance sorted out will be nice as it will make possible to get a clear path to production, same for Marange where signing the contracts is going to be important but we will need Finance to move forward the project. Looking forward to hear how are we going to finance Marange.
I don't think that AP will lose the opportunity of breaking his own timelines again. If he delivers before next Monday or Tuesday I will take it as a sign that something really is turning around here :-))
No expecting anything till the end of the month.
AP Has brought also Marange, yes I know still is not signed but we have a very good chance after all the Mining Minister did announce VAST as a company to be allowed to mine diamonds, that has been AP work and selecting the right people to join VAST in Zimbabwe.
IF we get them in one year we could be mining diamonds but definitely this will put VAST in the spot, IMO we could have an impressive rerate when the market take notice of the potential, when this would be is anyone guess but I honestly believe that the rerate will be way before that VAST start to pick up any diamonds.
In the meantime moaning, complaining, cursing, ... or anything that helps to get thru this stage.
I got a feeling that things are starting to turnaround for VAST, IMO it doesn’t need a lot to change course and everyday I am more confident that is achievable. The way I see things the company is going to be completely different before the end of H1, not generating cash at that point but with a strong footing moving to H2 and next year.
The main problem here is the financial situation of the company but I believe that is going to be sorted out, we are looking for finance to develop assets that we already own and that are in a short term (6 months to 1year) ready to mine, that is quite different from its peers of AIM that are looking for more money for drilling and find out if they have find anything at all which is worth to mine.
The most important change that I have seen is the refocus of the company in Baita, Diamonds and getting rid of SSGI loan. It is a pity that this change of priorities didn’t come 6 months ago though.
For me VAST always has been a long term investment, 3 to 5 years, it’s the way I believe you make money. It is easy to look at any company’s chart and think “If I bought at the bottom I would have make 10 bags”, the problem is when is at the bottom is because the company is going thru a bad time, not an easy choice to invest money at that point.
When in doubt I always come back to my question: If I was out, would I buy VAST shares at this sp? IMO is very undervalued and a lot of people will get in once (IF) the finance is sorted out. Finance sorted out is the last piece to get, at least, Baita in production which should give us a mcap few times where we are now.
GLA
Sandy you could be right, the timing on the news is critical. There was no point from Winston to reafirm his position toward VAST, the only thing I can see is to assurance a third party looking to finance VAST Diamonds operations.