Member Info for Tyfoon

Agreed, altho correct me if I'm wrong but I wouldn't have thought that BMN/BE would be in a position to participate in this new project? We don't even expect to be producing electrolyte until next year and Eskom needs help immediately, if not sooner.

finally... The AMCU strikes, including the secondary strikes which could have affected BMN, are now over. Hallelujah!! :-)

https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/amcu-mandated-to-settle-with-sibanye-stillwater-19983771

https://www.miningmx.com/top-story/36380-amcu-dealt-double-blow-as-fails-to-block-sibanye-stillwater-restructuring/

Alfa, I think you missed these:

TheManTheLegend
joeybaron1972

https://ewn.co.za/2019/03/19/eskom-s-power-crisis-not-symptomatic-of-a-governance-crisis-in-sa

Excerpt:
"JOHANNESBURG - Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday that Eskom's power crisis is not symptomatic of a governance crisis in SA.

Gordhan made the comment during a media briefing on the current state of the power utility. Eskom board chair Jabu Mabuza and group chief executive Phakamani Hadebe were also in that briefing.

The minister said South Africa had a governance issue but that the president took steps to rectify that. Gordhan mentioned the state capture commission, the new head of the National Prosecuting Authority and the Special Investigations Unit as examples of the steps taken.

He added South Africa was a recovering government, and laid the blame of load shedding with state capture.

The minister said South Africa would get it right: "It will take about two years but we will.""

That timeline appears to fit very well with BBNs opinions re the two-phase 1,440MWh distributed battery storage programme which Eskom have announced, and the timing would seem to be right for Bushveld Energy to be able to produce the VRFB goodies necessary - assuming, of course, that they win one or more of the Eskom ESS tenders.

It looks to me that the Eskom/BE ducks are lining up quite nicely... :-)

Thanks Alfa, excellent piece, roll on Part 2... ;-)

"Coal lobby in court to quash South Africa renewable deals

Coal Transportation Forum to ask court to set aside power deals with projects run by likes of Enel and Mainstream

South African truckers will go to court next week in a bid to get dozens of power deals with renewables projects cancelled, as the nation’s powerful coal lobby continues its campaign of opposition to its clean energy ambitions.

The Coal Transportation Forum (CTF) will ask the Guateng High Court to set aside power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed by state utility Eskom with more than 2GW of wind and solar projects under Round 4 of South Africa’s REIPPPP procurement programme, arguing they were concluded without following due process.

The CTF’s action sweeps up projects involving some of the biggest names in global renewables, including Enel, Elawan and Mainstream Renewable Power.

The renewables sector believes the CTF’s case is weak – but the action is another unwelcome challenge for South Africa’s clean energy ambitions.

The Round 4 projects were offered power deals as long ago as 2015, but only finally signed last year after a long standoff with Eskom that tested the patience of investors in the sector.

Efforts to shift Eskom and the rest of the South African power sector towards renewables have run into stiff opposition from the country’s powerful and politically well-connected coal generation and mining sectors.

The CTF's trucks have previously blockaded Pretoria over the issue, and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) failed in a court bid a year ago to halt the signing of the PPAs.

Brenda Martin, CEO of the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), which is leading the sector’s defence against the CTF’s challenge, said: “Change can be painful. However, instead of approaching the courts and discrediting IPPs, lobby groups and interested parties should regard the energy transition as largely progressive, play a leading role in managing it and prepare their members accordingly.”

South Africa is due to launch the fifth round of REIPPPP soon."

https://www.rechargenews.com/transition/1730015/coal-lobby-in-court-to-quash-south-africa-renewable-deals

I think Ophidian is probably the best person to answer this but I do know that Evraz used to add the V slag from their smelter to the Mapochs ore in order to reduce the cost of their V processing, so I figured that if they saw the financial benefit in doing so then perhaps BMN might do the same, and possibly at Mokopane which is next door to Ironveld.

Ironveld production is probably a year or 2 down the line at least, but that may actually mesh quite well with the start of Mokopane production.

Yes, I did see that Alfa, and they were talking about going into prod way back in 2015 on the back of the 2014 DFS but that has obviously gone nowhere. And there. but for the grace of FM, go we!

However, their 14 February 2019 RNS, "Update on bulk sampling programme" had this to say:

"Further to the announcement on 18 January 2019, the Company can confirm that the potential off-taker has now concluded its metallurgical tests. The Company will hold discussions with the potential off-taker over the coming weeks with the aim of reaching agreement on the terms of an offtake agreement.

The Company also announces it remains in detailed discussions with two potential development partners for the Project, who are currently engaged in an extensive due diligence process that may lead to offers that would facilitate the commencement of smelting operations by the Company. The Company will provide further updates to the market in due course.

Peter Cox, CEO of Ironveld, said:

"We are very pleased with the interest shown in our high-quality ore. In addition, the interest from the potential industrial partners is highly encouraging. I look forward to updating shareholders in due course.""

Now, I realise that talking to an off-taker may be a million miles from actually having an off-taker under contract, but it does open up the possibility that someone may see a nice potential profit from going into business with them. Unless of course, it's just another ploy to keep investors interested and the directors paid. I guess only time will tell...

I did a little research into Ironveld (also on the Bushveld Complex) this morning which has revealed a potential opportunity for Bushy somewhere down the line.

Altho they are still some way from production, Ironveld are working towards becoming producer of High Purity Iron as their main product, with vanadium and titanium sla g as by-products. This excerpt is taken from their RNS dated 18 January 2019:

"Vanadium and Titanium slag containing commercial grades of vanadium and titanium will also be produced and sold."

I understand that V sla g is generally of much higher V grade than is found in magnetite and I also know that Evraz used to add V sla g to their Mapochs vanadium ore to increase the V % during processing.

Bearing in mind that Ironveld are literally just around the corner from Mokopane, there surely must be a strong possibility that we could become an off-taker of their V sla g once they start production. A nice win-win situation for both companies?

A lighthearted but informative look at #Vanadium

https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/01/13/v-vanadium-versatile-valuable-and-very-colorful-12378

Good find SG. I've been keeping a fairly close eye on this issue but this is the first time I've seen the word 'vanadium' mentioned in reference to the secondary strikes. Thank goodness the Judge found against the AMCU, altho I notice that they're going to appeal the case. It seems to me that the Judges' reasoning was sound so let's hope AMCU lose their appeal too.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47581585

They're doing what my generation failed to do and that is to force politicians and businessmen to wake up to the fact that there's only 1 Earth in our solar system and when we've used up all its assets and polluted the hell out of it we've got nowhere to run to.

The End.

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/amp/sport/motogp/2019/march/motoe-championship-in-doubt-after-catastrophic-fire/

All 18 MotoE bikes destroyed but luckily no-one was hurt. And all those Li-ion batteries! I wonder what could have caused the fire...

Further info on p/e ratio and EPS, it's all explained here:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price-earningsratio.asp

Hope this helps

Ok thanks mate, we're all hungry for news (and something new to discuss!), but a little more patience is required.. :-)

BP - have you found the research note? If so, could you post it on here pls?

knuttie, sorry to hear the latest re Liz, sending best wishes to you both

Some are just really s-l-o-o-o-w...
others are so cautious they want 100% certainty...
and others still want to news to be confirmed officially...
...before investing.

By which time the sp will be much higher than today and it'll cost them a lot more to get in when they finally see their particular 'green light'.

IMO, in BMNs case, the old proverb is true - the early bird really can catch the worm!

LUCAN I doubt it very much. Since 2013 I've been keeping abreast of all things SA which may affect my investment here and I've read so much in the SA press about this Koko character and the other toerags at Eskom that I could write a book about them and their corrupt practices. If they want to take me to court they'll have to take most of the online newspapers in SA to court with me.

I stand by what I posted 100%, now go away and 'advise' someone else...