Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
I don’t know about the younger generation... everyone I know is self-isolating but I keep seeing old people waking around without a care in the world. My 70 year old mum even went swimming yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that there were only 2 others in the pool. My dad was drinking at the golf club with a friend who lives with his very elderly mother who has just got off a ventilator.... so far to me it seems like everyone under 50 is losing their jobs so that the oldies can go out and have fun... half being sarcastic, but it is pretty infuriating. I have to give my parents a stern talking to
6 months break-even EVEN on a lower pricing scenario than the already low prices - that's impressive. This global CV situation has really opened my eyes to how unstable even the most well-known companies are, and especially small ones. with many businesses running in to problems at just a couple of weeks in, it is extremely reassuring to know that BMN could run now for so long even under dire-straights scenarios. This will be the beauty of the fully integrated model moving forward - practically bullet-proof.
This is the reason I want us to move from AIM. For well over a year it hasn't mattered how good this company is or any of the progress that has been made. Almost all good news, even before CV, is met with a decrease in the SP. How is that going to attract new investors? Or ii? Its OK for us lth, i've got a 5-10 year plan here. But we really need something big to help us be viewed seriously.
I've long thought that one of BMN's main 'problems' is that what they are doing, and plan to do, is relatively complicated - unless you have done a bit of research. Most people don't know what vanadium is, don't know what it is used for, don't know much about energy storage etc etc. It is just isn't a simple business, like for instance a coal miner or drinks manufacturer. My hope is that understanding increases, perhaps with the help of BMN and their partner companies, or just the growth of energy storage in general. No one understood computers back at the beginning.
Thats a good point that you make about the financing of new mines. It's often been said here in the past year that BMN have a 2-3 year head start in terms of vanadium mining - that head start has got to have increased now.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I assumed that the minigrid would be used as backup for when blackouts strike, as this is such a problem in South Africa. You can't make money when your machinery is out of action for a few hours at random times.