While there was a lot of good in the document, and the team seem...

While there was a lot of good in the document, and the team seem busy, there were also some key issues raised.

The main one for me is that the ESIA application has not even yet been submitted for approval, which is needed to go into the ML application. Given what time the company has previously said will need to be taken for the latter application to be considered once readied, there is simply no way AVZ will meet the stated timeline of end of May for ML approval.

The lithium hydroxide study was also stated as progressing in line with the planned program, without mention of it actually being well overdue.

Everything with the government was, "anticipated" to be signed and anticipated to be agreed, like extension of our exploration permit etc. There will need to be some more concrete show of the government's support before I'm comfortable that they plan to back it. The SEZ update was good on this front, that would be a major derisker for me if it does occur at end of May. It was only the real firm piece of positive news from this operational update IMO, even if it does set up another self-imposed deadline for us.

Will the financiers want the bankable feasibility study finished before jumping in with some sort of agreement, even at MOU level? Is the stated finance MOU in April now a thing of the past, and we're going on the mid-year timeline mentioned in recent interview? Some clarity there would have been nice.

Also plenty of discussion on the agreed off takes, but no word on PLS status and extra tin - both slated for completion last month.

AVZ power sounds like its progressing well, and a lot of other smaller study tasks ongoing and keeping the team busy. Bit of a mixed bag here really I feel, with a number of tinelines likely to push to the right- but nonetheless with plenty going on. Let's hope SEZ by end of May could arrest our downward slide, increase confidence and bring in some bigger investors.