Hi Stann,In 2022, the company stated on several occasions that...

Hi Stann,

In 2022, the company stated on several occasions that they were funded until FID. From the annual report from 2022
https://lakeresources.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/lke_annual-report_27-oct-22.pdf



The "funded until FID" was dropped after the annual report. Recently, the company stated they were funded until the DFS. From the annual report of 2023
https://lakeresources.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lke_annual_report_to_shareholders_29-sep-23.pdf


They held in excess of $180M in cash at one point in 2022. That has dwindled down to $60M in just over 12 months. That is for a company that has
1) Drilled to expand the resource
2) Reinjection tests
3) operate a pilot
4) general ongoing expenses.

In short, it is A LOT OF MONEY for a company that is still pilotting.

You might think that $60M is not too bad. I agree it's not too bad, and normally, given the cash burn rate, you might think it would take the company through to say end of Q1 2024. However, in the annual report, we also had this little tidbit. KPI for the KMP for Calender year 2023 to maintain the cash balance > $35M USD = $55M AUD. It's a conflict of statements.




So $60M cash in the bank end of sept, spending at a rate of $20-$30M per qtr, its hard to see the current cash on hand being above $55M AUD. In which case, it would look like the KPI will not be met.


That said, do I think they will raise funds or VA? I think they will raise funds. They should be able to kick the can down the road for at least another 12 months. I've seen other lithium wannabe's kick the can down the road for longer.

How much they raise and when? Good question. Other companies that have raised on market have offered discounts of 20-35%. How much would they raise? No idea. In the webinar, the company talked about offtake prepayment mid 2024. Do you believe they will get that? I don't. Who else has been getting offtake prepayment in the past 12 months?

In short. Yes, think they will kick the can down the road via a CR sometime late 2023/early 2024 at 20% discount for around $50M which would extend the runway until Q2/Q3 2024, at which point they would be needing to raise a shite load of money if they do what they say they will do (which I don't believe they will)