Okay, great to meet Kmac at the AGM. It is not often you get someone canvassing the crowd for particular posters of HC, love your work.
This post is my opinion only and is in no way a recommendation to buy TLG. Clear.
Someone on HC talked about the mood at these AGM's and I believe that they have hit the nail on the head around a feel for whats going on with a company. Let me say, the excitement was evident and looking around the room at the nodding heads and murmurs of agreement from the shareholders present, it was VERY apparent they also thought that we are into something special. (Hence the SP rise today)
I will start by drawing an analogy and ask if you could have invested funds, in someone in the world, who knew the more about plastic, steel or cement and its potential applications, than anyone else on the planet, all those years ago. Would you have done so?? Mark Thompson IS IMO, one of the worlds most knowledgeable people when it comes to graphite/graphene. He know the science, the markets, the applications (currently available), the potential applications, the pricing and really importantly he knows the competition. I have been investing for many years and have never come across an MD of this caliber. I have spoken to him a few times and my judgement has never wavered in that I would trust this bloke with my last dollar. I feel this is why the likes of Creasey, Grigor and other have invested in the company. MT also mentioned there is fund managers invested in the company through the various nominee structures. It seems MT and the Swedish ambassador are close also.
Okay so MT starts by saying that he is bound by the ASX blah blah blah about information releases, however he will put some "colour" into the info in today's meeting. Great scene setter.
So he began by discussing how the company is transferring from an explorer into a supplier in the next 12 months. Their view is they are virtually no longer exploring but moving quickly into a commercial supply situation. (At the end of the AGM he discussed the topic of customers in detail. They are so mindful of the quality of the graphene that they are very careful who, what and where is going to end up with the product. They are talking with everyone from European governments to very large corporations to top military personnel) The product of graphene is in a situation where the applications are so diverse that people are trying to get their head around its usages. (eg Proctor and Gamble - as an additive to plastic, 10% of the food produced and sold in plastic containers is damaged as gases enter and spoil the food. Add a small amount of graphene additive to the plastic and it stops this completely)
Talked about the resource and he did a comparison with TON. When Vitt deposit was only 1 km long, the current resource just mentioned by TON in their recent study showed their deposit was 3 times the size of Vitts/Nans.(As TON stated the biggest in the world) With the recent drilling they now know that the resource at Vitts/Nans runs for some 32 kms and it is all very high grade. Hope this explains it okay.
They have stopped drilling and view this as a bit of a waste of money as they know the resource is huge, open wherever including at depth. They could spend hundred of thousands of dollars drilling but feel there is simply no need. The recent discovery at Jalks was a very pleasant surprise as they weren't aware of its existence when they made the project purchase from TEC. Feedback from the scientists is that the graphene quality at this location could be even better that at Vitts/Nans, apparently it is more buttery??
The quality of where the resource is, both in country and region cannot be understated. It is surrounded by many huge mining operations who are all extremely profitable. Indeed a nearby underground magnetite operation produces their ore so cheaply, there is only 2 companies producing in the world who do so cheaper. They prduce 20 million tonnes and make a bill in profit. This includes companies who operate out of low cost areas such as Chile. All infrastructure is of the highest quality and indeed the product does not even need to go to a port as it can be shipped via railway straight into mainland Europe. The railway infrastructure is built to cope with iron ore cars so very very robust. Access is no problems. The appetite in Sweden for these operations is enormous hence the tax breaks. The Fraser Institute ranking is extremely important as the big funds use this as a gate opener in their stock selection methodology. They can also use this ranking to offset their investments in riskier countries around the world. (eg I want to invest in that project in Angola so I need to also invest in a company in Sweden to offset this risk in my portfolio) He also said that anyone who talks about not being able to mine all year round does simply not know what they are on about. All the current operations mine all year around without the risk of torrential rain, earthquakes, typhoons etc
The development of the project is very low risk and indeed they could commence producing graphene with current cash in bank. As you can see the operation uses no conveyers, no bins, no heat, no pressure no acids(like China needs to remove all the crap that's in their product) so its footprint is very minimal. Great for all those greenies around the world (my thoughts were capturing the ethical investment piece that is growing each day) I couldn't quite understand the refinery process but judging from some of the people in the crowd ( looked like a lot of science folk to me) it is so dam simple its laughable. Apparently $7mill out of the stated $29 mill capex is made up of stored fluids that are used in the process. PAYBACK IS 1.4 years hahaha.
There is a graph that shows the pricing of graphite and he made special mention of the fact that the red and yellow lines are basically world coming to an end for graphite (what all the arm chair and other punters are saying) would look like from a pricing perspective. The top line is Nirvana and the blue line is bullish sentiment. So what has ACTUALLY been happening is the black line. There are very solid markets for graphite and the pricing is strong.
He actually has some samples of graphite from TLGs deposit and from deposits around the world. Our ore is a very dense black and quite layered and heavy with what appeared to be no impurities (obviously a drill core sample) He showed how this is placed and the graphene is simply peeled off the bottom like you would take a peel of the bottom of a spud. The Chinese graphite sample was grey and look to me like a smooth bitumen road so you could see where they have their issues around purity.
Folks I was trying to listen and write at the same time and I must admit I was fascinated by some of the topics MT was talking about so missed writing a fair bit of info. So I will leave it there. I hope this provides a bit of insight as to what I heard today at the meeting. Any questions put them out there and I will try and answer them.
This is all my thoughts only and you should make your own decision before investing in Talga.
TLG Price at posting:
31.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held