I finished my last exam on Friday, before going down south for 4...

I finished my last exam on Friday, before going down south for 4 days with my fiancée. Was an ideal time all things considered.

With the share price continuing to deteriorate, it's understandable that people are getting emotional, upset, agitated and confrontational. We are all disappointed with the share price performance and I think it goes without saying that we are all in the same boat in terms of our expectation of 2017 not being met to the degree any of us imagined 12 months ago.

None the less, 12 months later, besides the share price moving backwards, the company have moved forwards. Not smoothly, but forwards none the less.

What did we have 12 months ago? A 200ktpa Phase Two plant yet to be commissioned. Our cash position wasn't fantastic and much to our disadvantage we still had considerable debt if I recall correctly.

We had all patiently waited through 2016 for the three shipments of plant parts to make it from China to India, we even enjoyed tracking the shipments and guesstimating their arrival.

Where are we now? We have a working, running, 24/7, 3 shifts a day, 365 days a year 200ktpa plant producing the required grade to sell to our repeat customers.

November 22:


What did this tell us? Xinhai are in India, working on finalising the right design for our next plant so that the next plant works perfectly from the get go and takes everything they have learnt from the first plant to make sure the second plant has it straight off the bat.

What else did this tell us? The company are continuing to work towards their previously announced goal of achieving 2.5mtpa by the end of 2019. The extra 2mtpa in plants will require a lot of approvals, design work, all of which the company are working on or will be working with the goal of having it in place by December 2019. Whether they achieve this timeline is anyone's guess, but the point is, the goal posts for 2.5mpta have not moved, as the company have not told us otherwise.

November 1st:


What did this tell us? The plant is running at nameplate. Whether it was for an hour or for the past month is unknown, but it was achieved none the less and the company continue to sell ore to their repeat customers.

October 30th:


What did this tell us? An order from BMM, which we were advised would commence in coming days at the time, in parallel to ongoing deliveries to Minera.

What else did this tell us? The company chose to leave out the commercial terms, for which I believe a very intelligent and sound reasoning has already been suggested on HC.

If you were going to negotiate with someone, would it be smart for you to put out on the internet the prices you are accepting from other clients, or would you perhaps determine that the smartest option would be to stop releasing commercial information for the sole purpose of satisfying shareholders and instead focus on sales to instead satisfy shareholders in the long run with operating cash flow?

This is completely debatable, but I personally believe it is in all of our best interests to not have this information constantly flowing to our customers for the sake of helping all of us feel more informed.

Just in these three announcements, I can immediately see we are in a better position than 12 months ago. People are nervous, which creates the downward pressure that creates more nervous holders, the same thing that applies when prices go up, but instead it's FOMO instead of nerves.

Fundamentally though, what is so bad? We have cash flow. Most companies don't have any, we at least have some. We are in the final stages and have the required funds to purchase our next plant, which will have a higher chance of not having as many teething problems as our existing one clearly has.

We have a company like First Samuel, willing to invest for the long term at 2.5c. People who do proper analysis and have standards and procedures to meet. Sure they can make mistakes, but do you think they are worried if they are buying in when everyone else seems to be getting so frightened?

If the share price were 4c today, would everyone feel the future was so bleak for NSL? Or would we all be comfortable in our position and be excited about the future? I think things would be pretty different.

I have believed in NSL for a long time. Sometimes out of pure ignorance, sometimes rightfully so and sometimes out of pure desperation and needing it to achieve for different reasons in my life.

With that said, I have always believed that this company is special and is going to achieve "something" significant, that no other company has or will achieve. Unfortunately, that "something", just happens to be success in a country where success doesn't come to the impatient or those who give up after the first 100 hurdles.

As far as any of us know, the volume as of late could be down to a single individual, a bunch of people or a certain company that has the money to do what they desire. To think that the "market" is writing NSL off or is speaking for itself is not an informed an opinion, it's a speculation.

Everyone has their own reason to sell or their own reason to buy. Taking what is on offer when the share price is decreasing may be all people have as an option to meet other obligations. It does not say that NSL is a failure, nor does it say that their future is bleak.

The company have always powered through despite the naysayers or those who consistently wish for them to fail. They were sub one cent once and were repeatedly crushed. They reached nearly 5c later and once again they are sub 2c.

This doesn't reflect what they are doing, only that the share price is not moving in the same direction as the fundamentals. I will be the first to agree that investor relations and lack of information is a contributing factor, but I genuinely do not believe our current share price anywhere near reflects reality and really only reflects what a few people were willing to buy and sell at.

In the long run, NSL is still just as solid as it was 6 months ago and I still believe it will be even more solid in 6 months from now.

For the sake of my own sanity, I'll be continuing to avoid HC as I am running on very little patience for some of the diatribe and repetitive conceitedness being thrown around. Long term, this company still retains a bright future.

The share price is not a mirror reflection of the actions by the company, the posts on HC, or the temperature outside, it is a reflection on the actions of others, some of whom may have no choice and others who do, but will either live to regret it or smile back upon it.