It was exciting last year when Blackrock and Vanguard Group emerged as shareholders in PLS. Validation par excellence.
Nominee Companies are used to camouflage the names of the real owners.
Blackrock have some USD6trillion in FUM (funds under management). Vanguard have something like USD5trillion FUM.
Needless to say, PLS is tiny for them.
These whales will manipulate a Company's share price. They'll set large low bids and short the market down to it. Or if a large offer comes in they'll snap it up and then short the snail trails of small bids under it. They're like rock spiders. Ultimately they want their net daily activity to accumulate long. They don't worry that their level of shorts increasebecause their longs increase at a much higher rate as they scare the market.
The higher volume of shorts lends itself to people saying "someone in the know must know something".
We're in the orphan period and you can be sure the level of shorts will keep increasing.
There are so many brainhacking agents of doom projecting to PLS shareholders any number of unfounded problems.
Project delays
Cash flow problems
Lithium oversupply
Lithium converter hard rock congestion
Shorts increasing
All rubbish.
Now we have somejuan suggesting LG Chem can't make EV batteries. Huh???
"While Ganfeng and Great Wall will probably have no problem converting lithium concentrates into lithium carbonate or hydroxide (either by themselves or with the aid of a Chinese converter), it’s not clear at all how LG Chem will proceed from there given its lack of familiarity with that kind of production."
This somejuan also said PLS won't bring SC6 to market on time for LG Chem. He wrote that article last November and its now been reproduced under current date. The PLS Stage 2 Project delivery timeline has been in the public domain for nearly a month now.
I recall KB saying last year that PLS won't be a takeover target until it starts production due to the known risks of starting a mining venture.
The level of shorts won't come down until PLS starts production or perhaps macro trends dictate, like ETFs back on a buying spree. Or perhaps when a takeover offer by a large Company who recognises PLS's future value, is presented.
When production starts and first ore on ship then PLS will declare Stage 2 PFS and eventually FID. Then LG Chem will have the surety it needs to sign a binding agreement.
These further steps also revolve around the impending resource upgrade. At present the 80.3mt resource only represents a 16 year LOM at 5mtpa. An increase upwards of the 156mt reserve might be a bit hopeful but preliminary comments by KB and JH suggest resource and reserve will be huge. The bigger the resource the greater the argument for Pilgangoora Stage 3.
Then of course there' Mt Francisco. First drilling was expected last November but access delays put it back to March 2018 and now Q2CY2018. JORC define a resource there and AGO will be begging to DSO it, let alone develop it.
PLS Price at posting:
83.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)