I asked a question during the meeting about the chemical plant...

I asked a question during the meeting about the chemical plant feasibility study that the Federal Gov chipped in $6m for that hasn't really been mentioned since. Gareth indicated they were currently doing conversion testing and need to be sure resource size will support a long life asset like a chemical plant. I think he referred to the technical complexity of chemical plant compared to concentrate only. He didn't give much more away in front of the meeting.

Was good to see Gareth's laser focus on getting the company through the transition to producer. I still think there is more to this story than he is letting on as per Stu360s 20 International/Korean VIPs.

I spoke to Gareth and Malcolm after the meeting. Initial just Malcolm and then Gareth approached us and joined our conversation.

You certainly get more out of the side conversations than the formal proceedings. It's guarded, but insightful as you can explore aspects of the project and gauge their response.

My take away is that Gareth is playing down Stage 2 expansion and being vague on timing to put some space between Stephen's vision and his delivery so when it is realised it is on his watch and attributable to his leadership.

Gareth is an ambitious CEO, he's with CXO to prove his stars as a leader in a minor miner that's becoming a mid tier cash cow miner. Very approachable, genuine guy. Like I said came over to join conversation, didn't just stick with the CXO team. Would be a good professional networker.

Malcolm indicated they may shift head office from Adelaide to Perth for talent attraction/retention (pre Gareth joining conversation). For me it was a good sign that they plan to continue to transform board and build out team from explorer to producer.

We spoke about connecting to Darwin's electricity grid, as currently running on diesel genset. Gareth quite right with his indication this was necessary for fast start up.

We touched on original plan to connect to grid as this was a strategic advantage compared to other lithium sites in WA.

My position was connecting to grid would reduce operating costs but wouldn't be cheap however it would get ESG credentials up without further enviro impact on local vegetation as they could do offsite grid scale solar PV or enter into Power Purchase Agreement for grid scale renewables owned by others on less sensitive land.

Once cash flow positive and operations are stable (approx 12 months according to Malcolm) I encouraged them to reduce carbon so they could target Korean, Japanese, European and US supply chain rather than be limited to selling into the Chinese who will be fixing one problem with another problem.

Before Gareth joined our conversation Malcolm agreed JV pathway was more likely for. I referred to the PLS JV where they can get up to 30% and he agreed that was a more plausible outcome due to the technical complexity and cost.

No point going to these meetings if you don't ask questions during meeting or converse with members of the team after formal proceedings.

EV_RE100