Member Info for steward1

Radika - not sure that anyone should follow my investments! I've had some major losses in the past which I hope I have learned from. Biggest lesson is not to panic!

Talking about VAST, in particular, looking at the history, AP has made some mistakes in the past but he also had some 'bad actors' moving against him (this is where the real damage was done a few years ago). I wouldn't underestimate his determination to turn this around . Personally, I wouldn't say that this is a lifestyle company.

Risk/reward here is massive - market cap of under £2m, good, transformational news on a number of fronts is imminent, low commodity prices which are expected to rise, potential takeover target, etc. not to mention the diamonds and Zimbabwe! All the bad news has been baked in here! I've begun to wonder if the value of the non-BP projects would merit a higher market value! Yes, still risky (that's the case for every investment!) but a very, very good entry point - aimho!

Joey - I agree with 1p+ as a target in the not too distant future. I'm inclined to think that AP is finally earning his large salary! The re-financing announcement will be major!

I'd like to hear about the progress of the BP reorganisation too. Completion of this, in itself, should see a re-rate. It's clear though that the Romanian authorities are supporting VAST and are happy with the reorg given that the Government awarded the extension. I'd also like to hear more about the other projects and potential projects, especially the gold.

As for the diamonds, these would be a bonus but rumours and speculation abound! The big prize is re-starting ops in Zimbabwe. I think we'll hear something about this once BP has been sorted and that the re-financing is in place.

Earlofaim - I took the view at the end of last month that something had been leaked and that's why around 1 billion shares were traded in one day. A number of folk think this month is THE month for VAST. Dr Jones added last month too. The turnaround is imminent, I reckon.

I'd be happy to get to £20m market cap... which I now believe will be reached very soon!!

Market cap sitting just shy of £2m... only £2m!!! I'm expecting multibag territory as and when the financing gets confirmed.

With this extension and the reorganisation being completed, it's looking good. It has, absolutely, been a mess but looks like the mess is being cleared up now.

DrMicho - I hope so! I think all the bad news was priced in - the drop to these levels was way overdone imho. If we can get confirmation that the reorganisation has been completed, that they're seeing the benefits of that reorganisation and that the re-financing has been sealed then, I think, we should see some recovery!

Perfect! Finance confirmation should come along now!!

They've just had a consolidation - please do your research before posting drivel!

In answer to the previous question, I think we'll see a rally in the sp as and when finances are sorted (anytime now?) and when we see the improvements feeding through from the 'reorganisation'. All the bad news has been priced in and, if anything, the drop has been overdone.

Don't know if anyone was watching CNBC earlier this morning but I believe there was a guy from BHP saying that now was the time to be going after copper and lithium producers, amongst others, because of the low prices... on the basis that demand will increase for a whole load of metals in the future. Could AP get VAST to a point where BP is producing profitably and a candidate for a takeover?

I agree, joey. This is a big month for VAST, I believe. I'm expecting positive news.

Well, for me, it was as positive an update as one could hope for at this stage. Feels like good progress has been made and that it's on target for late this month/early next.

The 'sell on news' crowd will soon be gone and I expect the sp to rise and stabilise for the rest of the month... aimho.

Not sure what the answer to your question is but the way I look at it is that this is AIM and CLON follows the same trend as most AIM shares... news followed by a lot of trading activity then silence and then the sp slides until the next piece of news. Included in the mix are bundles of new shares being issued for costs and salaries and awards. Specifically with CLON, it doesn't have a great track record with potential assets, the focus is on the Bolivian potential (and there's a lot of competition) rather than the wider potential of the tech and getting to proof of scalability seems way too slow. Remember CLON is a minnow... it's tiny in terms of staff, etc.

This time round, though, it is clearly different with Team Europe and a German household name involved... for me, the chance of some form of success is much higher. As and when we get news of progress on any front, we'll begin to see significant moves in the sp. If we get scalability confirmed then I'm expecting the market cap to multi-bag... add success in Bolivia and it will multi-bag again. Risk/reward is one of the best around, I'd suggest.

AIMHO!

ASI - I'm just catching up on posts. For me, you've helpfully hit the nail on the head - the scalability proof is the real prize here. Yes, we have a focus on Bolivia but as and when we get that confirmation of scalability, the sky is the limit. My understanding is that there is a whole load of confidence around this but, of course, it has to be shown... any news of progress would be very welcome... even if it is just confirmation that the samples are on the ship!

Market cap is only £6m!

Here's a wee list of some of the news which could be heading our way over the next few weeks and months (not in any particular order!) -

Completion of pilot plant commissioning.

Successful testing of synthetic brines.

Confirmation of promotion to Stream 2

Confirmation of shipping of samples

Pilot Plant funding from EU

Start of production testing

Confirmation of scalability and production costs

Confirmation of progress to Phase 5

Confirmation of interest from others to use CLON/NextChem DLE technology

Naming of offtaker

Funding support from EU and offtaker

News of projects in other countries.

Confirmation that the updated 2017 Lithium Law has passed.

Confirmation of JV

Award of licences

Potential bid from a 3rd party

I've heard that figure before, EGTP... £200m... and it was someone who I consider sensible but I'd be happy with half of that... in fact, I'd be very happy to get to £20m. I think the only holding I've had an interest that has had that kind of meteoric rise is PREM... so it does happen but look where that is now. Just posted elsewhere that August is shaping up to be a very interesting month... VAST, CLON and HE1 all have big news due!

I guess this bounce back isn't surprising - traders would have sold at last month's highs and are buying back in for next week's news. Just need to look at the chart for the last couple of months and you can see how quickly and far the sp can move... even ignoring the unfortunate update at the start of June where the sp dipped to 0.02, the sp jumped from 0.04 to 0.12 in only a couple of days early last month.

Things are shaping up really well - would love to get confirmation that DH and the rest of Team Europe are heading out to Bolivia!

Not sure that I'll survive the excitement of August - CLON, HE1 and VAST all expecting to announce big news!

My guess is that there's something leaking about re-financing which, I'm sure, will now be dependent on the re-structuring at BP. The placing, I believe, was primarily to get the BP re-structuring done, which in itself, suggests that progress has been made. My guess is that this will be the next piece of news.

Fair comment, greentrader. I have some sympathy with that view. I think that there's enough life in this one to recover and because the market cap is so low, any recovery could be in multibag territory.

One other point to make is that AP only took £600K from the market this time... whilst placings are never easy to swallow, I think he's taken a lot, lot more in the past. Suggests to me that the turnaround is almost there.

I think that trade just shows that there were some shenanigans going on when that 2nd tranche hit the market on Tuesday - hiding both buys and sells. Almost a billion shares traded so it's clear that whatever churn happened is over. There wasn't anywhere near the same volume traded when the 1st tranche hit the market... which is strange, is it not?

I happen to think that there was a scramble to buy on Tuesday (not sell - remember for every seller, there's a buyer and vice versa). I'd also speculate that there was some leak. I'd go back to the placing RNS and highlight that the placees were also getting a warrant to exercise at 0.4 by next July. To convince them to take part in the placing and accept the warrants, they must have been given some information to reassure them that there would be good news very soon and that there would be quite the turnaround before July next year.

Accepted - the history here is deplorable but I reckon most holders are staying put because they're hoping for a massive turnaround and that there are a few who hold a lot who are confident that the sp is going to be more than 4 times it is now. Mr Jones added 3-4% on the day after the placing RNS and there's been no RNS to say that he has since reduced.

Quite apart from the sp drop being well overdone, I'd suggest that something good is coming along very soon!

Still not there!

Yesterday started off with even lower volume so I wouldn't take that as an indicator.

Generally, my view is that the drop has been overdone as is the case in the majority of AIM shares (Market Cap is only £1.6m) and is due a correction on the upside, regardless of anything else happening. Over and above that, there is potentially news on a number of fronts. Yesterday's movement, whilst welcome, is just a small tremor compared to how this might move when news drops.

I suspect that yesterday's movement was driven by a leak.