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Errm ... you can't go in and spread bet on this now but you were able to do so not so long ago and those who came in then still have skin in the game and are making money on their 'going short'.
It very much looks to me as if at least some (or most?) of the 'derampers' are colluding spread betters going short on SYME.
Given that some of the worst of the 'detractors' are now either silent or no longer overtly negative, it might be that the SP is now at a price where they will want it to go up so that they can go 'long' - that is their game after all.
I didn't mention the efforts the Chinese government was putting into dampening demand for iron ore back earlier in the year as I didn't think they'd be so successful in doing so. It was widely reported that the Chinese government were warning the steel makers in China to cool things down but the draconian method used has taken many by surprise not least the Chinese property developers.
However, China has to build more residential and commercial/industrial buildings and the roads to go along with them so I don't see how this artificial lowering of iron ore/steel prices can be sustained for long. Currently the steel makers are being forced to sell off their steel wherever they can at a loss and similarly the ore importers - can only go on for a time. There was a lot of speculation by many (all?) of the steel producers and they are being punished by Central Government.
Demand for steel is only going to grow when the Chinese government removes some of the constraints (which it will have to) and the US and Europe begin their recovery projects in earnest. That China have it in for Australia and want to avoid buying ore from them could very well be to the advantage of developing other plentiful high grade ore deposits such as in Grangesberg.
I don't see copper prices fluctuating anything like as badly as iron ore but they will fluctuate but the drive for copper (Plus zinc and lead) will, so long as the 'green agenda' continues (and it looks to continue a long time), keep copper ore high and possibly a lot higher.
"...but it just highlights how violently things change.....especially these days!" - that's exactly the point Yammy. China has made a massive concerted effort (ordered directly by Jinping if you follow the international observers on this) to get the price of iron ore down because of China's projected need for iron ore going forward in the coming 5 years and beyond.
The success in lowering iron ore price is necessarily temporary and once the Chinese steel makers start to ramp up production again (which they will have to) iron ore price will rise and on top of that the US hasn't even begun to implement it's infrastructure plan (over $1trillion has been allocated and most likely more will follow ) nor have the major EU economies.
The current moderately low price of iron ore won't last imo for the above reasons.
If you were posting your comments after the new CEO had been 6 months in the post and nothing or very little of note had happened, I would understand where you were coming from.
However, he's only been in the post for 6 weeks not 6 months and to be sniping at him so soon (you might not think of it like that but that's what it is) is not only unfair but unhelpful to the BOD at AYM as well.
What does being so negative before 'Jo' has barely got his feet under the desk seek to achieve other than feed the spread better who are going short on AYM?
"I agree Suzki, there is a possibility he will be stifled, not given the latitude to take the necessary steps to progress the project, or simply that he won't be bold enough to push past the inertia that has beset this company historically. Certainly the Annual Report was not particularly encouraging, given it was much of the same old platitudes rehashed, the only sign of JBs influence perhaps being the spin about modern tech metals thrown in."
Staggering negativity. Have you ever been headhunted to a senior position? Have you ever recruited anyone to a senior position? If this new CEO hasn't thoroughly checked out how the land lies at AYM with regard to his brief and ability to do the job of a CEO I'll be amazed. His background does not speak to me of someone who is so naive as to not have addressed the things you mention which any mid-level manager being recruited would expect to address let alone someone taking over as the CEO.
Have you ever held senior positions in a company where you make operating, budgetary and recruitment decisions? You don't come over as someone who has.
"I was simply addressing your specific point that demand for iron ore will rise significantly due to iron-air batteries, and this will be good news for AYM."
Again you don't step back to see the big picture which is what I've been saying to you for a long time. If this catches on, and given what my engineering and scientific friends (who are involved in this field) are telling me coupled to those slightly well known business types who commissioned a lot of research into this before investing very large sums of money (you know ... Bezos, Mittal, Gates et al) it looks as if it will, these batteries won't be set up in small numbers. Each battery site will hold thousands of these batteries and there will be hundreds of thousands of these sites. So, not an inconsequential amount of iron pellets will be needed. Doesn't end there though does it? The battery sites need large buildings with steel frames and structures to house the batteries which batteries themselves will need frames and racks and other fittings and facilities all of which needs infrastructure in and around the battery sites which mean a significant additional demand for steel which originally starts out as ... iron ore.
So whilst you look at the demand for iron pellets - still likely to be significantly more than you think - a few steps back from the rock face might have had you understanding what I was alluding to.
In addtion to this and in the event of this technology coming to the fore (as a lot of very highly qualified and factually driven people think it will) there is the added bonus of it leading to an increased demand in copper (and zinc and lead) as well because at the moment copper is and in the future is certain to remain a 'go to' product for a great deal of any country's means of moving and utilising electricity.
So yes, (1) I see this technology as starting to be be rolled out widely in the short term and beyond; (2) it will lead to a significant increase in the demand for iron ore in a world where the demand for iron ore is only going to go one way over the next 10 years and (3) the beneficial consequence of this is that it will increase the demand for copper in a world where the demand for copper is going to be at an unprecedented level for all the points that have been made by me repeatedly over the last year.
You are right of course - my bad.
Barely time to get his feet under the table would you not agree? If, as must be the case, he has been brought in to take significant steps forward, he will have a great deal on his plste right now.
Did you really expect there to be a flurry of RNS' given that year end has just been published? 'Jo' will be aware of the need for strategically managing information released by AYM given his background.
Bob - the new CEO has only been in the job a week so give him a chance.
Getting the communications from the BOD (or any official spokesperson) right is quite a difficult balance to achieve imo. Too much vacuous verbiage and all communications become devalued. I think the new CEO ('Jo') is, given his impressive background, going to be much more aware of the need to keep investors informed and given how things are tracking on the need for 'green this and green that', he's going to have much more relevant material to disseminate than was the case only a year ago.
I'd be very surprised if in 4 months from now investors will be unhappy as to how AYM are managing their 'corporate news feed'.
Try reading what I actually said and not what you'd like me to have said. Your entire post is simply a 'straw man' and a further example of your projected negativity towards AYM. Are you even invested in AYM anymore?
You've been silent for some time SW and here you are back and again missing the point altogether just as before - I wasn't saying that it would create a huge additional market for iron ore but it won't be insignificant as you say if this takes off - not at all. As before (this is not a new point between you and me) you don't see the big picture because you are a mining engineer and too close to the rock face to see clearly.
Nor was I saying that this new technology is in some way a huge additional reason for investing in AYM as you are trying to read into what I wrote - the reason for doing that is, as I have been saying for getting on a year, the huge demand for copper, zinc, lead, iron that the'Green Revolution' is causing and will increasingly cause. Just as the the Director's report made out in the Full Year Accounts.
Nevertheless, this technology is 'grist to the mill' and very much a positive despite you seeming to not want it to be.
The technology is not very many years away from commercialisation from my reading of various articles on this. Indeed, if it proves itself the roll out across developed economies can and probably will be very quick indeed given the advantages it affords and the tight timescales imposed by governments to reach key targets.
I have made it clear in my posts that my normal area of activity is primarily in the world of high value commercial tech and have never claimed great expertise in the world of commodities but I can spot a trend and I have worked on contractual negotiations to build chemical and other large industrial plants and in my experience, negotiations - even in different business sectors - are broadly the same whatever the subject matter of the deal although each sector has it peculiarities, regulations and legislation to deal with.
You rubbished my posts in the past when I pointed out the 'green agenda' and its consequences and how that would have to affect demand in all the key areas for AYM which in turn would directly benefit AYM and it looks as if I was right and you were spectacularly wrong.
You have built up quite a following as a 'go to guy' for costing mining operations and I claim no expertise in that realm but I can read what proven experts say and consequently took the view that you were far too close to the rock face to see the big picture and here you are again proving it to be just so.
This technology looks very promising and if it's taken up by Electricity Generation Enterprises (private, government owned, a mix) it will be a game changer for mass storing of the energy that is produced by, e.g., wind farms and the like when there is no demand or very low demand for electricity (though EVs will have an impact there of course).
What makes it relevant for AYM is that it works by converting Iron to rust when discharging and rust to Iron when charging.
If this catches on (I can't see how it won't - see linked article and do a bit of Googling) then the demand for iron ore is only going to increase significantly and, for obvious reasons, that's even more good news for AYM.
Here's the article (it's just one of many and YouTube has some good stuff on the technology as well):
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/25/form-energy-raises-240-million-on-iron-air-battery-promise.html
Fair enough - apologies Suzuk,i I was hard on you in my post. I just feel so positive about AYM and especially now that this new CEO is on board that I don't understand the beef. I've spent a large part of my professional life negotiating large commercial transactions in some capacity or other and deals take time. It's relatively easy to agree the heads of terms or some kind of 'statement of intent' or some such but getting the actual agreement to signature (T&Cs, schedules, appendices and so on) takes time and not a little patience and all the while you need to keep everything confidential until the signatures (digital or ink) are on the documents for the reasons given before.
The new CEO only started on the 1st of Sept but there is no doubt at all in my mind that he has been brought onboard due to serious interest in AYM and its potential by at least one serious player (quite likely more). I don't have any inside info just more than three decades of working on deals and this fits a pattern I have seen over and over. Could be wrong but I don't think so - not for one moment in fact.
Don't you get tired of constantly being negative? Did you buy too high or sell high and now want the SP to drop?
The world has changed and is changing dramatically which is why 'Joe' is onboard to take advantage of what the RNS talks about. The demand for Copper, Zinc, Lead and Iron in particular is going to trend north significantly over the coming years. If you are already invested, it's just a matter of time (as in months) before solid news comes out from the BOD.
The new CEO knows that some encouraging news needs to be released but he only started yesterday (though he will have been preparing for some time) so just have a little patience or just sell.
These are happening as also referenced previously:
" ... It concludes that solar photovoltaic plants, wind farms, and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) generally require more minerals to build than their fossil fuel-based counterparts. According to the IEA, a typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car and an onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant."
They could have mentioned the IoT and robotics as well which will also impact on the demand for copper and other minerals to a significant degree.
Also as mentioned by some over the months and recently:
"Amid resurging demand and as the world recovers from the pandemic, trillions of dollars being invested to rebuild infrastructure as well as transitioning to a green economy, the outlook for copper is extremely bullish. Governments around the world are launching huge stimulus programmes focused on job creation and environmental stability, leading to the potential for a multi-decade commodity cycle ahead driven by decarbonisation of the global economy and a shift to cleaner energy."
As we all know, ore prices for copper, zinc, lead, silver, etc ... are very high at the moment and has a very positive effect on AYM's financial projections: "Using these June 2021 parameters [i.e. prices for the key ores in question as at june '21] , the Case C pre-tax NPV10 doubles from £96 to £193 million, with pre-tax IRR as 38.2%, which clearly demonstrate the sensitivity and leverage of a Parys Mountain mine to higher metal prices.]
Of course ore prices will fluctuate over time but it's difficult to see that they will be on a downward trajectory in the forseeable given the move to the Green Economy (referenced in the RNS and by some on this BB on many occasions). In fact, it is likely that the price of these key ores will keep rising and possibly rising significantly in the next 10 years. Iron ore is going to benefit as well since everything to do with the Green revolution requires steel (a bit ironic I know) and so AYM's Canadian and Swedish interests will, imo, increase in value.
I realise that as an investor in AYM I want to paint a rosy picture but I really cannot see how all that the BOD and others on this BB are saying about demand for the ores in question (for the reasons given) coupled to the new man with his highly relevant background coming aboard as CEO is anything but very (very) encouraging news. This will rise significantly on the smallest piece of solid news which we could have before the end of October though more realistically end year or very early '22 - deals and especially the contractual provisions often take time to negotiate).