Copper - Cobalt - Gold - Zinc outlook, page-37

Hi mate,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've been flat-out lately and completely missed that email! Immediately registered.
If they can get the Namibian project off the ground and it becomes the one thing that turns this company around, that would be supreme poetic justice, don't you think? The project that made the company, then broke it, will now.... make it again? It would be a tale worth telling your grand children!
Considering the downright dreadful sentiment in the markets right now, I reckon Cobalt is the only bright spark in a sea of red. Sure, its price hasn't moved a smidgen for a long time now (months?), but the news keeps coming in that hint at substantially increased demand down the track. Just take a look at the massive order that Qantas placed for new Airbus jets. Cobalt is used extensively in the jet turbine superalloys. In short, the resumption of jet travel is a boon for this metal.
Then you've got the demand from EVs that's not going away too. Yeah, they keep talking about engineering Cobalt out of the batteries, yet tech-billionaires (Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, etc.) are going into JVs to explore for more Cobalt? I mean, these are people you would least expect to be in the business of exploring for metal, yet there they are looking for Cobalt of all things. That must tell you how crucial this metal is.

One of the things that has taken my attention away from CLA was the drama that has been unfolding at AVZ. Have you guys had a look at what's been going on there? They have been pedalling a stonking Lithium-Tin resource in the DRC, purportedly had a 75% stake in the project. Lo and behold, it looks like they are being screwed by the DRC Gov (more likely corrupt individuals in that Gov), with a cashed up Chinese company now in the picture. I think the lesson to be learnt there is, if you're in a jurisdiction that is known to be corrupt (or had a track record of being corrupt), it is best to own as close to 100% of the project as possible.
For what it's worth, and it ought to make us feel safer in this regard, we own 95% of the Namibian project, and 100% of the projects in the Philippines.