Ann: Court Rejects Appeals Against Vittangi Mine, page-154

It's good to see that you have now moved away from the permitting, as that has been successful. You are now saying that Talga have a product that can't sell.

Let's keep in mind that the EIB (and the rest of the consortium including government-owned export credit agencies and European commercial banks) have done "an extensive process that included comprehensive independent market, technical, financial, and environmental due diligence reports. The independent due diligence investigation was undertaken by a number of leading consultancy groups acting for the financiers."

Talga has expressions of interest exceeding its debt target, and has now completed their selection. Do you think these financial institutions would be lining up to fund Talga if their extensive due diligence exposed that the company had a dud product? No.

It probably is an easy downramping point to say that Talga hasn't sold a product or signed a binding agreement yet. However, let's consider that they were predominantly in the graphene side of things for a long period. The difference between the graphene market and the anode market is that what currently is in place of graphene additives is "good enough". There isn't really an issue, so customers are set in their ways. There isn't an urgency and the market remains underdeveloped. That is not the case with the anode.

The other issues that are about to be cleared are permitting and finance. Let's see how soon purchase agreements occur once this hurdle has been completed.

If you have time, I suggest you watch the debate Euromines had yesterday. You can see from the automotive perspective that securing supply and having the ability to track how minerals are sourced/processed is a large concern for them. ESG rating and battery passports will prove to be a massive headache for companies that do not secure sustainably produced supply chains. The EU will be auditing these companies regularly (every 2 years).

At this point in time, Talga are the front-runners, being the only anode producers in Europe and ACC probably have first dibs at limited supply. I think securing a long term contract is a no-brainer.