Gordon Stein, CFO of CleanTech Lithium, explains why CTL acquired the 23 Laguna Verde licenses. Watch the video here.
I been busy in work due to Covid 19, can someone please do a post that explains the significant posts and milestones in last month. I am constantly on works laptop due to virus and very little me time.
What i really want to know at the end is are we likely to come out smelling of roses or sucking our thumbs
Mole had other issues to deal with that were more important than this at the time.
What you also find with Mole, is that he only says something when he has facts or has heard from very reliable sources.
Mole had a lot of money in this , although thats not to say others with less shares do not. Its relevant to wealth anyway.
Mole was also in good contact with FRR, and i think that all communication was cut, probably on the say so of legal team.
Last i heard from Mole, was that he was not overly excited by the prospects, but that could be due to lack of info and the losses we may all face.
When Mole is ready and has something newsworthy i expect he will pop in and say so. Till then , as with FRR we just have to wait.
So Mole has not abandoned us, he just has nothing to share right now and may still have more important things to deal with.
Like most on here, i look forward to him popping in with news, i suspect he reads a few posts now and then.
It certainly sound like Hope is now happy to negotiate with FRR and thats a huge positive.
Why now?
Well it could be something in discovery, that hammer blow that has been talked about but never actually seen.
That could be on practise that OMF/ Hope can now be proved to have done wrong, or its release in public could implicate others in the mess which hope really could do with out, that sounds feasible as the discovery was kept private, so why private? I suggest because FRR wanted to show the evidence but put the ball in hopes court on its release in court.
Not a good idea to have big enemies in the financial world or political world.
The other possibility is that Hope/ OMF suddenly realised that if they won, there would not be a prize to collect. Whilst FRR have been in arbitration with GOGC the court case has been unhelpful distraction. We are at a point that Hope Could win the case and FRR simultaneously then throw in the towel with arbitration. Hope left to pick up a huge legal bill and a empty prize from FRR, with everything passed to GOGC.
What ever the reason this is of course positive news.
Arbitration, we just have to trust the lawyers on wording of PSA, if what Zaza has said in interview is true, and i believe it is, then GG have caused the non payment to employees. I remember before Christmas Zaza was sure we were weeks away from sorting the mess. Then suddenly it broke down again.
It's been suggested for a long time this was alot to do with Russian Influence, this of course makes perfect sense as this really does effect Russia in many ways both Geopolitical and financially to top the list.
I would also suggest that the proof of spend can be proved, it includes wages including to the BOD, as well as drilling costs , 2d and 3d scanning and other field work. We have infrastructure including a gas compression station and pipeline. Oil needed lots of trucking and storage all that is very expensive.
The arbitration would be first on my list, and i am fairly positive of a fair outcome. The informal discussions with OMF - FRR is a huge sign, the next step up is mediation. That is a good place to be (Mediation) so we really are at a level where both sides seem to be happy to talk and deal, on there own.
Think this is where i put the champagne to chill, just in case
One thing, it would make a damn good film about corruption, dirty states, politicians with agenda and liquid black gold,
But wuld that film have a happy ending?
There are a number of issues
1. The things we know that we know.
So those things are the arbitration is on going, WE have been taken to court by Hope and that hope is off the board.
We know also that the asset has been moved. We also know that BHGE and BP were in the mix in some manner. WEalso know that Zaza and SN also had millions invested and would want a return (aligned somewhat with us)
2.The things we know that we do not know.
Firstly we know the box is not empty but unclear just how full. The Arbitration, we have no idea how that is looking or what evidence both sides submitted. With both arbitration and court we have no idea if talks have been conducted between parties and if they have, how much progress has been made. We do not know if BHGE and BP are still involved, if a new major(s) are looking in or if that loan is still on the table. If any are then we also do not know what criteria needs to be agreed for them to initiate as part of the plan. We also know that we do not know if oil or gas is being produced, how much and by whom.
We also do not know if Zaza has a plan B to get money back for himself, if this falls apart, I.E money produced from oil since delisting has gone to their accounts to ensure they are not out of pocket. We do not know if Yorkville were paid off completely either. We have no idea if we are in the plan going forward if we survive. We know also Russia has a vested interest in FRR not selling a highly productive field in this region. These are the things we Know that we do not know.
Then the things we do not know, that we do not know.
This is the very dark area, these are the things that we are not aware of that we do not even know that we do not know about. This would include conspiracies that we have not even thought of. For example it would include the GOGC being part of a deal with Zaza to take the company from us, and see Zaza alright with a single payment later. Thats not a realistic option but there will be many things we do not know about and not considered. These can also be good things too, so its not all dark and mysterious.
Lastly the things we do not know that we know.
These are things we have seen but not registered as facts, For instance we know that BP were in a Confidential agreement with FRR, but we seem to have forgotten about that and that BP would not want a few millions barrels of oil. We knew how much oil we were producing and the cost of oil, so maybe we know what money has been generated over this period. Often the truth is right in your face but we can not see the woods for the trees.
So what does all this mean?
It means we know what we know, we need investigate what we know that we do not know and expect the unexpected with the parts we do not know, that we do not know.
As for the things we do not know, what we know, may be we need to step back and look at the bigger regional picture
Im staying off here tonight its full of fish and frogs
Even Coggy could end up being CODdy
Frog Froggy Picean and kipperman
We also have a crab or lobster poster too
Perhaps some famous fish quotes will help
Even a fish could stay out of trouble if it would just learn to keep its mouth shut.
Fish in another man's pond and you will catch crabs.
The biggest fish he ever caught were those that got away.
Don't be a fish; be a frog. Swim in the water and jump when you hit ground.
With that i am going to swim away and hop off
We have alot of new posters here that were very quiet when the share was live, just stating that first.
Drango, says a little sarcastic comment about getting a job i Georgia.
Fair point mate.
However does that not lead on to it being rather sensible to negotiate with the employer you have and work something out that is practical for both sides.
Best option is probably not to stamp your feet and down tools with threats when the other side is already with its back to the wall and fighting to survive for everyones sake. negotiation would probably been the better option.
I have no doubt things were difficult for all, but i also believe the path taken made things almost impossible
FG, it happened matey, i chose to vote not to strike, but majority voted strike, so i had to go with majority, no pay when on strike. So yes been there.
I do not think its just FRR fault that pay was impossible every other month, but they were paying bi-monthly whilst they sorted it out. It appears that some of the fault is with GOGC and thats most likely Russian influence.
Pawns in a political game i am afraid, not nice, but i feel they chose the wrong path that led to it being even more difficult to pay them.
Imagine you have a small building business, You have 5 employees. You finish a job, and customer does not pay the bill. You need that money to pay for your workers.
You have some cash, but much of it is for equipment for the next job.
Your choice is
1. Pay all workers fully, but then tell them no more work as you have no capital to continue.
2. Pay what you can, part wages, keeping enough for the next job and so they have on going employment.
If you do no1 its all over
if you do number 2, its a little hardship, then maybe you can make it up in the future, you may be able to claim the money owed in the courts too.
Plus you can go to the bank for a loan, but only with no2, because bank will want to see the order book to ensure the money is safe.
Sound familiar, it should do because thats how i see the situation that FRR were in.
Very busy as can be seen on the floodwarn facebook page, i was up until 4am Sunday morning. I warned at 10pm that a severe flood warning should be issued but it was not. basically it was issued after the flood had entered houses. A bit like closing stable door after the horse has bolted.
Emergency services have been amazing thou, but risk is high of further localised flooding tomorrow night.
Zaza did ask them to assist the company in the difficult time. He assured them they would get paid but the company had to make difficult decisions to keep the company alive. Lose the company and everyone loses out and that includes jobs lost permanently. It seems someone decided to lead a move that unless they paid up now, workers would stop all work and cause issues.
This move obviously would cause more harm than good. I wonder if Russian influence led these workers down a one way path instead of negotiation and cooperation.
As painful as it is to not be paid half of your salary for 2 years, (11 from 24 months) You sometimes need to look at what is reasonable and possible. Chances are they would be being paid now and some back pay coming soon, instead they went down a road that means its even harder for the Company to pay.
I think they should have assessed the consequences and perhaps used a better negotiator that could see a way forward for both sides. Its almost like someone wanted to make a poor situation worse for political propoganda.
I wonder how many wish they had stayed and at least had some money coming in rather than the zero now.
Maybe time the workers went back to Zaza, and negotiated a return with back pay in future and income now for some positive work to enable that to be realised.
I do feel for them but feel they shot them selves in the foot or rather got led like lemmings over a cliff.
Yes, and i think thats part of the issue zaza states when he says about when things start getting interesting the problems start with Govt.
I suspect BP wanted a large farm in.
I wonder if BP wanted to buy in and the 80m is what Govt want if they did as a percentage payment from the amount being offered.
Not sure where else Govt could think FRR owe 80m from
60m sales but owe more to govt
something not right there and seem to be missing part of the puzzle
Awesome post
Sounds also like Govt were stopping us from increasing production, now if we had a major wanting in, that would be a hurdle. If this arbitration goes our way, it could open the floodgates and maybe we will see one or more majors rush into Block 12, farmin or takeover.
I will take no pleasure from repeating something i have repeated many times
You do not fight over an empty box and this box sounds huge
Again Shah Deniz is mentioned and in a meeting Zaza indicated this could be of similar geology and size.
One day we will be millionaires rodney
What i find interesting is the arguments by state oil company
The emphasis is on the non payment of the workers for 11 months over a period of 2 years
Now not only can FRR argue part of reason for that is the issues GOGC are causing, but also is the management, paying of wages part of any agreement? I would suggest not.
So that comes across as clutching at straws or trying to win over public or some one else on " look how bad these are"
Unfortunately for GOGC this will be arbitrated over facts and written agreements not on morals.
Secondly the main argument seems to be over money spent, they suggest that the money spent was grossly over normal, now unclear if they are suggesting fraudulently or due to incompetence.
Now FRR could say reason for spend and little oil produced is this was exploration to determine quantity of oil in place and the best method of exploiting it.
How i would see this, would be no outright winner. I suggest it will be determined that FRR should or could have kept GOGC informed and minimised the costs by producing more oil as they grew. I might be wrong as we do not know what data FRR hold.
Both sides seem to be playing the propaganda wars.
Either we will have less of a costs used rebate against future production, or we could lose a percentage more.
I would expect the former.
Management obviously think there is something in the box worth fighting for. GOGC also must think so ( Why worry about that huge number if only a small percentage of that was ever coming out of the ground) Plus poor mr Stephen Hope who thought enough there to risk his tens of millions of dollars in threatening the company whilst on the bOd.
I suspect GOGC know a lot more now and they worry that a $b will be sold before they get a penny. In some ways you can not blame them for that. Plus with workers not paid perhaps they are worried FRR will take that much then disappear leaving them with very little.
I have a feeling something good will come out of this, but we will lose something along the way
IMHO
Few possibilities on this
1. They were owed by FRCC so without any income in that shell company no money to pay at this time.
Oil sales going into another entity, but if FRR pay them from that account then it links the two in a way that gives grounds for administrators to close in and seise. So for now its no way to pay without opening a can of worms.
If the arbitration is sorted then the loan that can be closed up with payments to those owed.
The other option is that the workers were laid off as the company become delisted, possibly with just BHGE on site taking oil and using their workers, with FRR having share of payment.
Frr MAY have suggested when sorted workers will have some pay, for time not working, when sorted. Like us the workers thought just few months, however its dragged on and some of the reason sits with GOGC. The workers wanted the extended holiday pay (what ever you want to call it) fast and FRR of course not in position yet to pay. So Zaza had no option but to threaten them by saying work with us. The workers may be making situation worse by taking action which could mean they never get paid, rather than extended period till they got paid.
The news on arbitration must be out there, did Zaza not say late January things would be sorted.
I think some communication is required to us now, the goal posts can not be moved constantly and at some time explanation will be required to at least explain moving goal posts.
GLA
My thoughts are with you and your family.
This really does put this in perspective, all the best from here in Wales
1. not on about this particular BB page, its the only share your account has EVER talked about !!
Never talk about other shares? Strange unless of course you hold no shares
2 You say you have invested in a share before. Now is that really invested or shorted?
Now lets say invested, can i assume the reason the only share you ever talk about is FRR so that means its the only share you are invested in? or do you only talk where you can not buy or sell a share? Strange!
3 Your facts : be careful with that one. Are they really facts or assumptions.
As shatner said and it is FACT....companies that de list dont come back to market....well he didnt exactly say that but a good and unfortunate example of his history in AIM...
So that shows two non facts. One your quote was not a actual quote ! Then I have been in companies that delisted and come back. The one i think about lasted just a short few years after , but exception not the rule, yes but can and occasionally does happen. The important part is why it delisted. What led to it, reasons, probably important main points are was it due to finance and the business stopped trading, was it so they could walk into sunset having fleeced investors?
Your posts are very negative, then holding or at least not ever taking about any other aim shares on LSE makes this look very suspicious.
I will tell you something. i have never held shares in a company that was delisted for longer than 12 months and still alive without re-listing in that time frame - I HAVE NOW.
Here are the facts that you like so much
1. Lights still on up until Friday 24th January
2. Fighting over assets FRR hold
3. Only asset FRR have is Block 12
We may be on life support, but the blood is still flowing supplying life. Lots of information out there that is contradicting its self. The wages being one. Its been reported this is 11 months of non payment. Its been suggested from similar sources that this is 11 months over a number of years, so not straight months. Each month now it MAY get reported 12, 13, 14 months which means nothing as its not increasing money owed just length of time owed. There are, and you surely agree, big political games going on, USA, Georgian and Russian. I take two things from that. Firstly seems something to fight over, secondly Russia and to some extent georgia can be very vocal in spreading misinformation especially on local news source and social media.
The Number 1 fact is the last paragraph.
I have nothing to lose, i can only stay same or gain. Do you agree? FACT!
The company is still surviving today - some how - FACT?
We will all have to wait to see the final outcome - FACT?
Shorter's are in a more precarious position than investors - Fact?
I believe from what i am being told, the small number of Shorts that have been paid out were just initial Short without any profit. They were closed as equal to day short opened or day company stopped trades.
best case they get their st
You do not have much to say about any other shares do you?
Have you ever invested in a share?
Lastly, can you help me identify who the fickle person who said the following is? they seem to change their tune quite often.
it is VERY rare (but not unheard of) for a company to re list having been de listed, unfortunately that is fact but in the event they do however unlikely IG will reinstate all long positions depending on which market it re lists on...
Why should i stop saying it?
There have been disruptive posters on here trying to put the fear of god into people. They have said for over 12 months that this was GONE.
Well thats was not the case then, its not the case today.
FRR is still breathing although in intensive care, whilst some have been trying posting here with what i can only refer as a strange strategy without any purpose other than to cause fear and misery for those who invested, i have tried to keep a positive but realistic feeling here.
I do not apologise for being positive and glass half full.
I have too much going on to write much
However as i have been saying for well over two years
YOU DO NOT FIGHT OVER AN EMPTY BOX
I can never say we are definitely going to be fine as shareholders, but i have tried to keep the positive vibes going here as i believe what we have is worth a fortune.
I think the latest info posted by others goes someway towards proving my fighting over boxes phrase is correct.
GLA
I think they probably are checking under every stone, they will check what assets where transferred , when and how.
The Liquidation will only effect FRCC in my opinion, however they may decide that debt needs to be paid from the assets moved.
I am not overly worried at this stage as i still believe this was a stalling tactic by FRR, and that if a loan comes they will be able to clear any issues that way. So this all still sits with the result of arbitration.
Administrators always look at accounts, where assets where sold or moved and the terms of other subsidiaries of companies. there have been many bunkrupt companies that were under the umbrella of a larger company. It does not effect the unbrella company or its other siblings. Look at Mr Phillip Green and others who have let part of their portfolio go down with out that effecting them or other parts of their business - of course some harsh words about underhand tactics etc
its obvious by this that Hope is still after Block 12, after all what else does FRR actually have in terms of any value? So again they are fighting over this very full box.
Now have FRR done this legally and cleanly? We do not know. However if i am right and this whole process was to do two things 1. Remove Hope from Board and 2. Play for time to sort the loan, then all in between will just be noise.
We wait with baited breath