I think that hilltop at Wyndham is a place called Five Rivers Lookout - my first FIFO job was at a place called Kununurra building a sugar mill for a small team of high performing engineers Schultz, Tait, Greig who'd specialized in sugar refinery projects.
Wasn't a long project, maybe 6 months or so, but back in the day where shared ablution facilities were the norm, A/C worked sometimes, fridges same deal, internet, mobile ha ha ha - there were public phones which had a line of people waiting a mile long each night & the isolation, heat & humidity, groundhog dayism sent a few people troppo but they carried on, came to work the next day - atlhough I think you had to be a bit troppo to take the job on in the first place.
From memory because it was so remote, flying out was about a 6, possibly even 8 week cycle. So weekends we did get out & travel around the area - El Questro, Grotto, Lake Argyle, Ord River & of course Wyndham - the croc farm & Five Rivers. Can recall this place as there was a flotilla of grey nomads parked on the hill & due to I guess whatever conditions the meeting of 5 rivers created, there was evidently an ever present up-draft - so paragliders were launching themselves off the hill & seemed to spend an inexplicably long time in the air.
Grant was excellent as usual - I'm very impressed not just with his knowledge of but close association with Benchmark Minerals - I've followed what they have been doing for a very long time & if what Simon Moores team put out into the public domain is an indication of the quality of their subscription content, it would be unbelievably good. Keeping track of the 409 Gigafactories planned in itself a task & with the finger on this pulse demonstrates the neccessity for this service which can be relied on to figure out where the raw materials are going to come from.
Just before the zoom, I watched the Benchmark Fluorspar intro video - some key points -
• Current EV 100kwh battery - weight 500kg - Lithium 10-13kg, Fluorspar 83-136kg
• Calcium Fluoride is the source, 48.7% is Fluorine by weight
• It's in all 3 main components of a Li-Ion battery - Cathode, Anode, Electrolyte (LiPF6) & also the binder (PVDF, PTFE) - This is important as different versions of Li-Ion battery used different chemistries - ie. some use no cobalt, don't use Nickel, next gen are going Lithium metal doing away with Graphite/Silicon altogether.
• Also used in Solar panels
• 1 Million Tonnes of Fluorspar per TWh of storage - haha "we can be lazy & say that Elon Musk said we need 240-300TWh of storage"
• China has 7 years of Fluorspar - 6 Million Tonnes production a year, they have 35.8MM tonnes but best estimate is closer to 60 Million Tonnes
• So the transition will need 240-300Million Tonnes of Fluorspar - worldwide reserves are currently only 260Million Tonnes.
• And then the video ends.
I've worked with people who have lost jobs in the past when something went pear shaped within the resources sector - this happens more often than people realize & it is life changing for many - imagine relocating family, kids settled in school, relationships/friendships developed over time, investment in property etc in an area in an industry that looks like it'll be going forever & then all of a sudden there is no demand & hence no job for you. And the flow on to the town, impact on family & your own well being that would have
This cuts the other way also - the investment in people these companies also make - training, building a culture, knowing there no substitute for experience, only to find that the business case that was there no longer exists & the decision to close the operation has to be made.
To me this is most interesting what the sector will do over the next 6-12 months. A lot of very good people with regular income may find themselves without work - Nickel, Lithium Sectors are feeling it most at the moment but it is not only this, project developers (Engineering) suppliers, construction workforce, commissioning expertise doesn't grow on trees. Cancellation of Capital Expenditure, shut down of plants so no C&M Opex, Sustaining Capital Projects delayed or cancelled.
So from where I sit, I certainly think that a low capex, what appears to be a high growth in demand commodity, with what we have in the team at TIVAN, well if I was a major mining company, here is a project where I'd certainly be running the ruler over. Reset, Review, Renew & now I'm thinking about Redeployment in terms of not just plant/equipment which Grant talked about, but most importantly, people.
(20min delay)
