If you would like to ask our webinar guest speakers from WS Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund a question please submit them here.
Kyle - they have not even completed the share buyback. By my calculations that have only bought £155k worth of shares in the last 6 months. So they have awarded themselves £750k in shares and only delivered one fifth of the buyback that they promised.
Amroq minerals is an interesting analogy from where Ajax could end up. They are a Greenland focused mineral company that have a focus on gold in Greenland. Obviously, the point that Ajax have two very experienced Greenland operators on their board in the form of the ex-Bluejay mining pair Michael Hutchinson and Eric Sondergaard will not be lost on astute observers.
The interesting part about the Amroq portfolio is that they have followed a fairly similar strategy to that which has been set out by Ajax. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Ajax are following a fairly similar strategy to that which has been set out by Amroq.
Amroq have acquired a past-producing gold mine in Greenland and are developing this alongside the acquisition of high-impact exploration assets that could have a major impact on their future share-price. It is a sensible strategy and one that has served them well to get their market cap up to the current level of over £100 million.
Amroq also state in their latest presentation that they are aiming to feed into the global green transition and that they intend to use the cashflow from the Nalunaq gold mine to develop their exploration assets in Greenland. Again, this is very similar to the strategy set out by Ajax in their recent interviews.
Although Ajax announced the other month that they were likely to focus on North America, their reasons for this were cited as: positive rule of law, regional stability and that safeguarded the rights of foreign investors. All of these criteria could easily be applied to Greenland also.
Obviously it depends on what assets Ajax are able to acquire but their strategy seems to be similar to that of Amroq which has been a proven success.
I sent Benton Wilcoxon the email I talked about over the weekend and received a very reassuring response this morning. Details below: of both the email I sent and the response I got.
Dear Mr Wilcoxon,
My name is xxxx and I hope you recall meeting me last month in Austin. I know that you must be very busy but please could you take the time to read the following press release from Epione Swajal Solutions (ESSIL)and confirm whether or not the content is correct. It was my understanding that all of the Next-ChemX membrane technology IP was wholly owned by Next-ChemX and not licensed in from elsewhere, but this release suggests that this is not the case.
If you have time I would greatly appreciate it is you could give a short response to clarify this situation for me and give me your permission to post your response on a London-based investors forum on which I share information.
Thanks very much for your time,
Xxxx
Dear xxx,
I can clarify, that your understanding is correct, in that NEXT-ChemX Corporation owns its proprietary and patent pending portfolio and has no partners. However, we have contracted for “engineering work” with the best experts wherever we have found them for both their engineering experience in building pilot plants related to other membrane technologies as well as to secure good value for our company.
The fact that Dr. Anirban Roy has other patents is not directly relevant to us or our pilot plant, but means he is a very bright and innovative engineer in taking ideas and academic concepts and developing them on an engineering level to a commercial product. He has successfully done this with a medical application as well as a water treatment application, which means to me that he is a solid proven individual with documented expertise, so that we do not need to teach him the basics of the use of similar type of membranes as is the case with most well known engineering groups which I met with to bid on engineering. Dr. Anirban and his company is under confidentiality and he is known to have high integrity and is very excited to be involved with us in a new application that he has never contemplated before our discussions started over a year ago.
I trust that this answers your questions.
Best regards,
Benton
I was lucky enough to meet Benton Wilcoxon last month when I was in the US. He is a very impressive man btw. He talked about his ongoing projects in ChemX, which led me to invest both here and in ChemX itself. One of the things that he said to me was that all of the ChemX technology is using was developed by them and is their intellectual property and they have not bought in any technology from anywhere else. He made a big point about this because he believes that this technology is going to totally change everything in terms of DLE and be worth an enormous amount of money in the years to come.
I am not sure what this ESSIl announcement today relates to, but it cannot be to do with ChemX buying in their technology as this is not what he said to me. I assume that they are simply contracting in the best chemical engineers they can find in order to complete their pilot plant which if I remember correctly is going to be ready at the very end of Q2 or the beginning of Q3.
I have an email address for Benton Wilcoxon and I will drop him an email and see if he replies. I am not sure if he will as I only met him once and for a brief period of time, but if he does I will, with his permission, post the response here. However, even in the absence of a reply I am confident that ChemX own all of their technology and are not subcontracting it in. Hope this helps.
Interesting movements here in the last few days. It could be that we are getting closer to an acquisition or it could be that we have somebody accumulating shares and a new TR1 notice may be imminent. Either way, it demonstrates what we already knew, which is that the price on AJAX can really shift on relatively minor buying.
I am a big fan of what the CEO has said that they intend to deliver here. Minerals for the energy transition and specifically lithium and copper are hot now and are only going to get hotter as the EV market continues to grow, so this is a perfect space for the company to be in. I think that the sector is also only going to get more interesting as new technologies come in to make extraction processes more efficient. In short, I think that the green minerals sector will move forward and become as powerful a force in the markets as the oil sector over the forthcoming years.
I have been looking at the potential that Ajax could have and it seems as if it could be very large. If anyone else is interested in this then have a look at Amroq minerals (AMRQ). I am not suggesting that you buy AMRQ and I don’t hold there, btu they are a £100 million + market cap company and I think that they provide a good example of what Ajax could grow into if the right acquisitions are made. Let me know what you think.
Much higher
The debts are totally manageable on the cashflow that the company is now delivering. The market has not responded as expected to this morning's announcement but this is just a blip. The company is now on solid foundations and the share-price will reflect this in the very near term. Now is the perfect time to accumulate new shares. It is undervalued and all of the risk is gone.
Which poster are you all talking about and what happened?
In my opinion, Ajax's strategy to invest in North America is a wise decision with several advantages over setting up a project in a developing country where bureaucratic hurdles are more prevalent. By investing in North America, we can avoid the challenges associated with obtaining ministerial-level approvals, paying bribes, or facing license withdrawals due to political reasons.
Furthermore, North America's focus on securing its own supply chain in energy transition materials ensures a consistent demand for locally-produced resources. This allows for easy supply agreements and cost-effective transportation to US-based refineries.
Although asset acquisition in North America may be more expensive compared to the developing world, the benefits of this strategy still outweigh the drawbacks. Success ultimately depends on acquiring the right asset at the right price, but Ajax's experienced team is well-equipped to accomplish this goal. We can now wait for an acquisition announcement with confidence.
The resource types that Ajax Resources have stated that they are now focused on developing are all key to electric vehicles with the exception of gold.
Copper – is used for the wiring in electric motors to create the magnetic fields that deliver the torque as well as for the batteries and charging connections. EVs use three times as much copper as internal combustion engines so the demand for it will keep growing.
Nickel – is also used to create the cathodes in EV batteries. It helps increase the energy density of the lithium-ion batteries and helps deliver longer driving ranges.
Cobalt – is also used in the cathodes of Lithium ion batteries for the same reason as nickel but it also increases the stability of the batteries and helps with longer driving range and better performance.
Tin - is used in the anode of lithium ion batteries to improve performance and lifespan.
Lithium is obviously the key component of electric vehicles as it is the primary component of the batteries that power them. It is the key material that enables their batteries to store energy and allows the vehicles to operate.
Rare Earth Elements – are used in electric vehicles primarily for their magnetic, thermal, and electronic properties particularly in the manufacture of the magnets that are key to making electric vehicles work.
It is now clear the direction that the company is going in and if they can acquire a sensible assets then it looks like they could be on to a very good thing. I am going to spend some of the weekend looking into other public companies that are in similar areas to see what the potential for Ajax could be but it feels very exciting to me.
This RNS signals further progress forward towards a successful acquisition. After the recent tweets and this RNS we also know much more about the direction the company is going in and I like it.
We know that Ajax are only planning to work in stable jurisdictions including Canada, USA, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana. It also seems like they have a real preference for Nort America considering that they have just incorporated two subsidiaries there.
We also now know that they are looking at minerals focused on green energy and that these will most likely be Copper, Nickel, Cobalt, Gold, Tin, Lithium, and Rare Earth Elements and that they are looking to acquire both production and exploration assets which seems like a nice balance.
The RNS does not give us any further details on the expected timescale of the acquisition and we could do with some clarity on that as this will be key for a big rise upwards. But the fact that they have now reached the stage of seriously evaluating acquisition opportunities suggests that significant progress is being made behind the scenes. I will keep watching and accumulating more shares as things progress.
It is unlikely that the CEO would be putting in £160k of his own money into acquiring shares on or off market if this was a joke of a company. It is very clear that there is something big brewing and the CEO intends to deliver a significant return on his investment. He now owns more than 22% of the company and so his ambitions are totally aligned with the rest of us investors.
Also Superex, looking at your history, only 28 days ago you wrote on the Wildcat board “Better to buy Ajax Resources and get multiple return. “ What has changed your opinion by 180 degrees in 28 days, especially when the CEO here has put £160k of his own money where his mouth is?
Great news that the sidetrack has now been successfully drilled after all of the difficulties that the company encountered in drilling it. Remember that this is a drill that has been failed in the past by very big companies due to hole collapses so it is a tribute to the dedication and perseverance of the Angus drill team and management that the overcame all of the obstacles in front of the them and successfully completed the drill.
Obviously, we need to wait until we see the flow rates until we know exactly how much additional revenue will deliver to the company but it is clearly going to be very substantial and worth many millions per month. There will be no further problems with making the hedge and it is blue skies ahead for investors. To paraphrase WG818, it is no longer a case of “how much gas and by when”, it is simply a case of “how much gas”.
Well done to all of the Angus team and fellow investors. The future is very bright from here and to quote another well known oil and gas expert (alongside WG818) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjD3EVC1-zU
“… We've been broken down
To the lowest turn
Bein' on the bottom line
Sure ain't no fun
… But if we should be evicted
Huh, from our homes
We'll just move somewhere else
And still carry on
… Oh
(Hold on) hold on
(Hold on) hold on
Ooh, aah, baby
… hold on
(Hold on) ooh ooh aah
… The only way is up, baby
For you and me now
The only way is up, baby
For you and me now”
The CEO purchasing another 1.425 million shares on-market it a massive endorsement for the direction that he thinks the company Is going in. This is an investment of another £160k, so a serious statement of intent.
Clearly, the fact that this purchase has been made now means that no news on acquisitions is to be expected for another few weeks or he would not have been able to buy the shares. However, it would not surprise me at all if his visit to Indaba has yielded concrete progress otherwise what would be the point of making the share purchase now. He must feel that the share price is going to rise soon and therefore it is a good time for him to buy more.
It's good for us too. It suggests that progress is imminent but also means that we have a few weeks before news for us to load up at these prices too.
To be fair to Angus they also said on their timeline that 12 days was an estimate and it could take up to 20 days so if they finish on Friday they are still well within their current timeline.
As Jholder says though, the important thing is getting it right this time. Who cares if it is delayed a day or two as long as it works.
Things are looking really good here.
1. Steady trades going through each day with volume staying stable and building.
2. Price coming back up to test the 14.5p 52 week high again.
3. Really tight capital structure with only 46 million shares in issue and 30 million of these held by 8 significant holders – meaning that there us really on 16 million shares available to the er market so it will go up on any significant buying.
4. CEO owns almost 20% of the company and seems to consistently be buying.
5. According to the company twitter the CEO is in Capetown at the moment at Indaba 2023. Presumably he is busy looking for acquisition opportunities and news will be coming soon.
For what it is worth, Ajax was also mentioned last Friday in Zak Mir’s bulletin board heroes https://www.share-talk.com/traders-cafe-with-zak-mir-bulletin-board-heroes-friday-3rd-february-2023-via-vox-markets/ It starts at 3 mins 18 seconds in and he states that from a charting point of view he said that he expects the share price to hit 18 pence as soon as the end of this month.
Sorry, website link should read: https://www.mondaq.com/oil-gas--electricity/366832/oil-and-gas-in-greenland--still-on-ice#:~:text=Greenland's%20estimated%20oil%20and%20gas%20potential&text=The%20Arctic%20as%20a%20whole,world's%20undiscovered%20natural%20gas%20reserves.
According to this website: https://www.mondaq.com/oil-gas--electricity/366832/oil-and-gas-in-greenland--still-on-ice#:~:text=Greenland's%20estimated%20oil%20and%20gas%20potential&text=The%20Arctic%20as%20a%20whole,world's%20undiscovered%20natural%20gas%20reserves.
the three major basins around Greenland are estimated to hold up to 52 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This breaks down into 17.5 billion barrels of oil and 148.2 TCF of gas. These are massive resources but the majority of them appear to be offshore so are going to be quite expensive to recover.
It could be an exciting opportunity if the company chooses to get involved in Greenland oil. However, in my opinion, they will be going for mining assets not oil assets in Greenland. They already have two mining appointments on the board who both already have significant experience in operating Greenland mining assets and if the company went for an oil asset then a lot of their core skill-set would be redundant.
Since the company have made it pretty clear in the RNS about the appointment of Eric Sondergaard as consultant geologist that they are looking to acquire an asset in Greenland then we probably need to start thinking about what this is.
I found an interesting video about investing in Greenland from the Greenland Mineral Resources Authority Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB3FFqyN8mo&t=210s
The video is from three years ago and obviously, it is an investment puff-piece designed to get companies to want to invest in the territory but it has some very interesting information in in – including a short interview with our very own Eric Sondergaard (54 seconds in).
Key elements are:
1. Greenland want mining companies to invest and develop there,.
2. It is a stable political climate with honest government and no corruption
3. It has clear legislation for mining and there is a lot of public support for the industry.
4. There are currently no major players in Greenland so it is still a place mostly for junior explorers
5. There is a lot of historical information available to companies about previous exploration which saves companies a lot of time.
6. You can see a lot of the geology on the surface which makes exploration easier.
7. They say it is very easy to start exploration in Greenland as a non-Greenlandic company.
8. The permitting process is five times quicker in Greenland than Canada.
9. There are lots of deepwater ports in Greenland so it is possible to bring in very large ships and keep logistical costs low.
10. There are already service companies in Greenland who provide all the infrastructure for exploration camps (water infrastructure etc).
11. There are still massive unexplored areas of Greenland so it is a bit of a blank canvas.
Ajax seems to me like a medium risk- high reward play. We currently have a shell where there are only 46,862,500 shares in issue. According to the significant shareholders page on the company website: https://www.ajaxresources.com/investors/significant-shareholders/ 29,761,000 (63.51%) are held by 8 different entities and 14,100,000 (30.09%) of the company is locked for trading until April 7th 2023.
If we assume that none of the eight significant shareholders who are currently listed on the website are going to sell in the next 3 months (and bear in mind that 14 million shares cannot be sold in the next 2.5 months for any reason) then this only leaves 17 million shares that are currently available for trading. This is an incredibly small float and means that the share price is going to move very considerably once there is any significant buying on market.
We are waiting for more information about what the company plans to do next, but it is fairly clear from the latest RNS that they have their sights targeted on an asset in Greenland. The share price has already moved from 3p to 9.5p since September and as more information comes out about potential assets I can see this doubling or more from here even before they formally acquire a license.
As to the discussion about whether the company is likely to acquire an oil asset or a mineral asset, we cannot tell for sure. However, in my opinion all of the signs in the board appointments strongly suggest that this is going to be a mining operation rather than an oil operation.