Comparing Tony & co with the current RWD management is like chalk and cheese. The same applies to comparing Lake Way with Lake Disappointment. The barriers to developing Lake Way were so low compared to Lake Disappointment (or Lake MacKay) that given the Middlemas money trail, an excavator and a water pump, Mickey Mouse could have done what Tony has done so far. I am being slightly dismissive but Tony and his mates were strategically hired by the Apollo Group to do the shovel work. They have done a very very efficient job of building a relatively simple project but they have not been challenged in the way RWD or AMN (and the others to a lesser extent) have been challenged. Of course, this has made SO4 an attractive investment.
So as to not look completely biased I will use some examples from AMN. They acquired the data from RWD in July 2014. They reached a NT agreement in November 2017. Note RWD relinquished the tenements due to holding costs and to focus on LD but the prospect of a lengthy NT process had dampened enthusiasm at Mackay. If look at RWD, they announced a deal with Indigenous Energy(Joe Proctor)/Martu in 2008. 12 months later they were in court. They eventually registered an ILUA in December 2012 Bottom line, Native title in sensitive areas takes time, SO4/Tony didn't have to deal with this.
Secondly, look at environmentals, AMN started work in 2016 with anticipated completion in 2021. With RWD, environmental work started in 2013, completed 2020. SO4/Tony didn't have to undergo formal assessment across the entire project and certainly didn't have a public review or Federal process to deal with. Lake Way is low value from an environmental perspective but the EPA process is still probably the final step before they get their debt package.
As for RWD management, Ruane started the WA SOP/feed the world thematic on the ASX before the first potash boom. They had Canadian investment lined up before the Martu deal fell over (verbal report from retired director at an AGM). Whilst having some base metal interests in the early days, RWD was created as a potash exploration company with an extensive list of tenements across Australia and not just brine targets. You can look this up, it varied over time but it included MacKay, Carnegie, possibly one or two in the Goldfields and deep targets in Carnarvon & QLD. Also of note is that Jason Baverstock was a top 20/40 RWD holder, he pegged Lake Wells and teamed up with Middlemas to form SO4. Savich at AMN was the analyst at Blackswan equities (no longer exists) and was involved in a RWD issue and liked the SOP story so much he set up his own SOP company. DNK used to called South Boulder and they jumped on Lake Disappointment East during potash boom 1 when they were primarily a nickel company.
Ruane has a PhD Chemistry. Most of the early trial work (and much of the current work) was/is done in house and reported by Ruane. This is why you don't see the same degree of referencing to outside labs. You can easily search Greg's most recent background, Uranium. It seems to me that those deemed to be most successful in Uranium, were the ones that managed to offload projects before Fukushima. But Greg has dealt with big miners. He has the MBA and was hired to complete the PFS and progress the project forward.
The team is small but this currently reflects the decision to obtain approvals with minimum cash burn. Leading up to the DFS they had Dan Tenardi up at LD coordinating field work. I have no doubt that they will need someone like Dan very shortly. It should be noted that the team at AMN is also small and working out of an office in Nedlands. You don't need a big, in house team like SO4 had to produce a DFS.
I have been to a number of AGM. Don't underestimate GC & MR. MR has a number of interests in small gold miners. He clearly likes to wheel and deal. Make no mistake about his vision, he has bigger ambitions than Tony. The exploration at Officer is an example. It isn't immediately apparent but RWD is arguably still leading this sector. The other guys have followed, for example Smoothy at Beyondie was RWD's chopper pilot and got the idea about SOP on his leases from RWD geologists.
The other companies have done things that RWD has not. For example, catchy name changes. Using media companies to produce slicker presentations and catch phrases like "Grow with us". Trade marking their proposed products and hyping up potential product solubility. And don't forget the creative use of financial models. Apparently the analysts lap this stuff up.
I'm not sure if RWD will actually change that much. I also think they may have played their cards closer to their chest than the other guys.
Cheers
RWD Price at posting:
16.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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