General Discussion Topics, page-26722

I think he truly thinks that Investors will sell out their positions in Sayona based on his ' Know Nothing ' posts which contain absolutely ZERO information or analysis about the stock. ......LOL It's as if he reckons he can actually influence that outcome.....double LOL

And that's the difference between him and me. I don't care what others do about their Sayona Investment or whether they Buy , Sell , or Hold. I only care about what I do , am doing , or intend to do with mine.

Only thing I can think about is that Sigma has a much ' Tighter ' project focus and timeline window with it's Brazilian projects ( not that it will make them , as they haven't up to now ) and which is pretty much locked up by the Berkshire Hathaway 5% backed Mitsui & Co.

So while they only started to break ground on the civil engineering works in June - July this year , they really only have the ONE project as against Sayona's several projects which ALL require moving forwards instead of just the one. And this can obviously cause some hiccups in the internal ' competition for capital ' between these projects and the level of Market uncertainty which goes with that..

Sigma have the same Engineering outfit with the Primero Group who were part of Sayona's world class NAL bid team as well as being significantly involved in the design and engineering of Altura's former plant. So there is the common pedigree with the development of these similar projects is there.

Piedmont also appointed Primero Group as their preferred contractor for its spodumene concentrator back in June 2020.

But people need to remember that Sigma has been thereabouts on their projects since as far back as 2013 - 2014 and before the late 2017 rise and rise of Lithium Mach 2 with their share price being at similar levels to current when they rose from 673% from Dec 2013 to Sept 2014 ..... but only rose 147.37% from Aug 2017 to Aug 2018 when other Lithium Companies like Altura rose 192.31% in HALF the time to January 2018.

Sigma didn't even hit the same percentage as Altura when it hit a 163.16% increase in Jul 2020 some 2 years later ....and yet had always been a much the much or like for like potential producer to that of Altura.

Keep in mind though that the Brazilian Real has dropped almost 40% relative to the US dollar since August 2017 to now and only 21 % to Aug 2018 ....so their ' Input ' costs are now much much cheaper relative to their projected US dollar denominated off-take sales.

This compares to only the 1.59% appreciation in the Canadian Dollar to the US dollar from Aug 2017 to now , the 4.88% appreciation in the CAD to the AUD ....and the 1.6129% increase in the AUD to the US dollar in that same time period.

So in relevant currency comparisons , the Canadian projects have less expensive in terms of requiring US denominated ' Inputs ' 1.59% less $US denominated benefits from sale of products , 4.88 % more costly in terms of ' Capital Costs as expressed in Australian dollar terms ...LESS any benefits we get from our Association to I.Q and lower overall costs of funding.......and slightly less repatriated revenues , but lower potential taxes due our 1.61% increase in the AUD relative to the US dollar.

So Sayona's recurring staff and administrative expenses which are paid in Canadian dollars are also 4.88 % more expensive relative to what we record as expenses in Australian dollar terms with no significant countering boost from US denominated product sales as is the case with Sigma who pays it people in its local currency from its same US denominated sales contracts. It ( Sigma ) also pays its Brazilian local labour component with Canadian denominated shareholders funds where the CAD has risen even more against the ' Real ' than the US at 40.5% in the period from Aug 2017 to now.

So even considering it ( Sigma ) loses 1.59% of its US denominated sales based on the current exchange rates , when it repatriates and re-states and reports in its books it's revenues at the Parent Company level , its recurring expenses in Brazil are still some 39% less that Sayona has to pay in the conversion .

There is also the obvious fact that using a Mining Engineer as an example - In Brazil , they make an approximate equivalent of US$23,587 in annual salary against its US counterpart who earns around US$94,873 ...which equates to around US$45 bucks per hour versus just over US$11 per hour in Brazil. So relative qualified workforce make comparatively less in wages for similar functions.

And so this would be the case with most of these South American lithium producers balance sheets and operating expenses circumstances. And that's what makes them in part appealing from a cost structure point of view. However , as we've seen , their Freight and shipping costs components are also much higher than that of Sayona's. And probably at least 3 to 4 times more.

Sigma doesn't really have to worry about the significantly higher cost of funding in US dollar terms either if it sources funding locally in ' REAL ' terms and because significant amounts of the early funding is coming from its off-take partnership and contacts. But Sayona has significant comparative advantages as well in terms of lower cost funding and access to US , Canadian and Australian Capital Markets.

So there are a lot of things to look at - However in terms of overall ' Tonnage ' , logistics and transport to Markets , Integration of supply chain proximity , and ready made operating plant with infrastructure , Sayona clearly should be winning hands down in a like for like TOTAL valuation comparison.

And that's just my opinion and why I continue , and will continue to stick with this Sigma Lithium comparison.