It is a not that great an announcecent reallyI am guessing the...

It is a not that great an announcecent really

I am guessing the "commercial agreement" is just an MoU

In return for, potentially, being granted an export licence Galan will have to pay a hefty 7% royalty, which will push up their AISC and push them to the right of the cost curve. The broker analysts will figure out the numbers on this

Galan may also have to pay "advanced payments" on top of this, which of course they can't afford right now

Also any future conversion plant will have to be developed in collaboration with the local govenerment, on terms yet to be decided. This is unusual.

In other words the Catamarca government seem to have extracted a heavy price for a, potential, lithium chloride export licence. This is not a great look for the local government, but I am guessing they were not that crazy on the lithium chloride strategy (ie not converting in country). It also suggests that the local market for the product may not be that strong, although this could be disproven if Glencore finally step up.

The company is out of cash and now having to rely on the ATM. Bizarrely, it still seems addicted to its unfunded construction project.

All eyes have got to be on Glencore and whether they come through with their pre-payment deal which was announced over five months ago.

Sincerely hope that Galan pulls this off