Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Once again a significant part of our business is leaderless, though given the insignificant contributions of Ulla Sandborgh since her appointment in 2022, will we even notice? I think it's actually a positive thing.
In respect of the 'review' and the cessation of activity on the Kallak project, it will be at 2025 before any submission of the environmental application in my opinion. The work scheduled for 2023 was anticipated to take roughly 12-months give or take, with the submission at the end of 2023 if the RNS are to be believed. So following the review, and the work re-commencing, unless something has changed in the application process, the back-end of 2024 is the very best investors could hope for - It's then back in the hands of Swedish Bureaucrats. So no mining in 2026.
Assuming of course, the review reveals other plans for Kallak? My guess is that the focus will wholly shift to Grafintec. We simply don't have the resources for Kallak, and Grafintec OY has significant potential. Blomqvist appears to have a handle on progress, or at least, if the RNS are to be believed.
Standby for Sandborgh making a guest appearance for a month to assist the new CEO of Jokkmokk Mines AB.
The Sami appeal didn't drive the SP down to 3.16p did it? The Sami appeal didn't drive the SP down to 2.06p when it had remained steady at 6-7p, albeit down from the heady heights of 20p post concession.
The board of Directors can lay claim to that achievement all on their own.
The current malaise is the doing of the company, no one else.
The fact is EricDraven, we don't even know where we were in respect of the planned workstreams. Kallak may or may not have started to progress? Who knows? If you recall, I was generally quite critical of the lack of specific timeframes in respect of all of the outlined plans. And that's has borne out I'm very sad to say.
Having multiple directorships is not uncommon, nor interests in multiple companies. My main issue has always been how the valuation of Vardar was derived, and as you say, the cosy relationships between Budge and the Vardar guys.
And yes, all very opaque - For which there are usually good reasons.
And it's difficult to go into any detail as I'm working from my phone today. Flip flop Friday...
And put this way - BEM own 61.1% of Vardar Minerals. We don't know the actual ownership structure, but it's safe to assume that Luke Bryan and Adam Wooldridge own the rest between themselves.
So if it's correct that the company has £3m net assets, then if the company were to be dissolved, our share net of liabilities would be £1.8m. That means Bryan and Wooldridge have been very well rewarded for selling nothing more than a shell company to BEM. £1.2m between them in fact.
They started the company on the 11th November 2016, and it limped along until BEM became involved.
Just a thought.
Start looking at the structures EricDraven... It's a bit of a web.
Christopher Davies was appointed director in 2022. Röstin was appointed in May 2023 so you'd think they would have a handle on what's currently occurring at Vardar.
Luke Bryan is director and Weaver Financial act as conpany secretary. Luke Bryan also happens to own... Weaver Financial. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it starts to become a web of intrigue.
Vardar submitted it's 2022 Accounts on the 8th August 2023.
Unaudited micro accounts, so it's near impossible to decipher. Needless to say, it states that the company held £2.9m in net assets, capital and reserves at the end of the accounting period. How those assets are constituted is not clear. It could be cash and a valuation of assets, one or the other or both.
And that's up to the 31st December 2022 - A lot can happen in 8-months.
Take a look at companies House.
And EricDraven, there is no handshake. No secret agreement between third parties and BEM.
If the Swedish government, and let's face it, we've seen a few, really wanted Kallak, it would be a mine by now. The fact is, there is now appetite for it.
And as I've stated previously, H2 Green Steel do not care where they get their ore, as evidenced by recent deals in the US and Brazil. They simply want to make money.
Leadership that had run its course, possibly with a difference of opinion, evidenced by the hasty departure of Budge.
A company stretched far too thinly, with three projects showing little if at all progress. - Project drift.
Grafintec now looks the most promising of the the projects, but we received mixed signals from the company, given the review and then subsequent RNS from Grafintec.
Kallak always looked a tall order, but given the optimism expressed in the RNS, how were investors to truly know? It all looked too good to be true.
Vardar? That just looks like outright abuse of company funds. And it's for the company to demonstrate otherwise.
The silence from the company is unforgivable.