Thanks everybody for the comments ..
At first pass I get ; “Altura is one of the key new global lithium concentrate suppliers and has established an upstream supply position aligned with Tier 1 suppliers of battery pre- cursor products....
“The process plant is only the second combined DMS and Flotation lithium concentrate plant operating globally”... I wonder where the other one is ? Does anyone know?
I like James Brown’s last comment too ; ..“Our marketing is made more amenable by having a clean, on specification product that continues to draw positive feedback from end users. We look forward to the next 12 months that will cement Altura’s place in the global lithium supply chain.”
That Altura has appointed Azure Capital to sort our refinancing is interesting too:
See last week’s story from The Australian ( September 24) with Azure update noting a French financial services giant, Natixis, with a strong bias for ‘green’ businesses recently bought a majority stake in the firm .
French financial services giant Natixis will prioritise green-friendly loans as part of a broader shift to ensure its €127bn ($205bn) portfolio mirrors a growing investor push for faster action on climate change.
The firm, which bought a majority stake in Perth-based corporate adviser Azure Capital in May, launched its “green weighting factor” on Monday in Paris. It ranks companies on a seven-level colour scale with green the lightest risk and brown deals such as coal ranked as the heaviest risk.
Colours will be assigned to the asset or project being financed or borrower based on the deal’s climate impact and extra environmental factors such as water, pollution, waste and biodiversity.
“Basically we want to put a penalty on dark brown projects and give a little incentive to the green projects in order to change the trajectory and evolution of our portfolio,” Natixis corporate and investment banking head Marc Vincent told The Australian while visiting Sydney. “It’s going to be a very significant evolution in the perception of the market.”
Analytical risk weighted assets are reduced by up to half for green deals while those with a negative environmental impact see their assets raised by up to 24 per cent.
Natixis has applied a rating to 70 per cent of its corporate and investment banking balance sheet, with its present nominal exposure split between green at 43 per cent, brown 38 per cent and neutral 19 per cent.
While it will not divest current loan exposure at the dirtier end of the spectrum, Natixis hopes the move will put its business on track with Paris climate targets to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Natixis will set out targets for its transition to the Paris accord in the next 12 months.
“We clearly want to increase the proportion in our portfolio of green assets. We know we can’t do it overnight,” Mr Vincent said. “This is not just a matter of us talking to our issuers but this is also a request and demand from our investors. It is amazing when you talk to insurance companies or big asset managers to see the influence of millennials who are asking them to invest in green projects. Frankly, it is becoming more and more of a requirement.”
Natixis, which also owns a majority stake in Australian fund manager Investors Mutual, has been among the leading financiers behind a boom in Australian renewable energy projects in the past few years. It has provided funding for Total Eren’s Kiamal solar farm in Victoria and Edify’s north Queensland solar farms.
Natixis said there had been a slowdown among renewables developments in Australia this year because of transmission issues and regulatory changes but it remains confident in the long-term outlook for clean energy.
Azure plans to open a Sydney office targeting deals in resources, private equity and infrastructure after the Natixis deal, which marks its seventh M&A partnership globally as part of its strategy of winning deal-based market share through local tie-ups.
Azure had said it expects opportunities tapping into sizeable private equity war-chests along with the east coast’s two other growth markets: resources and infrastructure, which are two areas where Natixis wants to boost its market share in the next two years.
The West Australian firm was founded by several deal-makers including John Poynton, a director of the Future Fund and Crown Resorts, and Reserve Bank member and Fortescue Metals Group director Mark Barnaba.”
There’s plenty of well financed ‘on side’ parties out there now, and with debt obligations waived (?), it seems the way ahead is clear, and all that is left is to do us continue riding out the downturn
