Wow,
What a disgraceful management team headed by a CEO who has routinely over-promised and under-delivered (I even use the latter term generously the delivery from KMP, vs what was guided, until recently has been neglible).
If a Hot Copper shareholder posted lots of spill on potential US manufacturing plant and constantly alluding to coming EU and US contracts with a view to pumping the stock up to sell stock (ahem - peanut aside), ASIC would quite rightly look to pursue the offender.Yet when a CEO does it, apparently it is all just all normal business. I was ironically just before this, reading a decent Bloomberg article that surprisingly included a comment from our rumpy, pumpy CEO:
'phone lines ringing hot from the EU and US' are they? Yeah, from brokers eager to do your capital raise as well its seems - what timing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-11/china-is-using-its-control-over-rare-earths-to-push-back-against-trumpSeriously, Rowena needs to go on a simple performance measure basis like any other employee. Pre-positive cash flow CEO's of course have to do a merry dance between engaging investors and raising funds, but Rowena spends far too much time pumping ASM alluding to big US and EU contracts (and even an American Processing Plant) rather than actually operationally delivering on the few small contracts they have actually achieved in 2022/23 i.e. NS World, Noveon, USA Rare Earth LLC, from a KMP plant open since May 2022! And she ascended to the CEO role from a Chief Operating Officer role!!
She is not quite as bad as David Woodall was (she replaced him as CEO in July 2022 [from COO role]), but not far off.
KMP should now be a net cash earning asset some 3 years after opening in markets starved of ex-China supply. Instead it remains a cash consuming liability - were Dubbo exploratory and preparatory cash outgoings not impediment enough to the balance sheet.
Rowena has vastly under-delivered vs her own guidance on KMP and has overseen capital raisings at $1.73 $1.16 and now what? $0.55 or something? All in a market era with literally almost no ex-China processed RE/CM supply in the last 3 years, demand crying out for such supply, which Rowena and co. could not garner any remotely significant top line revenue against, from an allegedly operationally ready KMP 3 years after opening.
Come on guys, I know I seem like a perennial bagger of RS, but she is from an operational background and the KMP has produced negligible revenues and consumed capital for 3 years after opening, in a world starved of ex-China demand.
(20min delay)