Share
3,091 Posts.
lightbulb Created with Sketch. 217
clock Created with Sketch. 12/10/23
10:19
Share
Originally posted by BRProject:
↑
Agreed.. but expanding your sentiment to not only OPEX but also CAPEX. That's what really got me interested in Prairie Lithium and I've had them followed (company progress) since the first CR. It's a very fascinating development, especially when it comes to their cost - it's hard to believe for less than $20M raised overall they've commissioned 3x pilot plants (plus a 4th they don't like mentioning for some reason) in just 3yrs. Mauer also got this deal with oil&gas explorers to sell their (expensive) drillings to him if they hit brine for $1 (to save on the big cost to fill them back up). This "4th" pilot plant (you'd think they'd run out of money but it's so cheap to build for them somehow) would also determine how to further cut cost, what is more economical, 1x big fixed plant vs 10x small modular ones? They don't even need much geological surveys since oil&gas explorers have been doing that at Saskatchewan for decades. Prairie Lithium was a private company prior to acquisition so their financials aren't publicly published but one can quantify from how much capital they've raised since the company was established in 2019 vs the speed of their progress and results (built and acquired assets) to then be target of acquisition. I note again, AZL was very detailed with their assessment of Prairie Lithium and therefore valuation. They already have permit to mine and enter production. Feasibility is really just for show of independently verified economics to fund scaling to industrial production. In contrast, how long has it been since Big Sandy applied to drill, 2-3yrs? No offence intended. How long has LKE been raising funds? What about VUL, how much have they spent knowingly how expensive electricity and gas in Europe before they can start using their touted geothermal? Saskatchewan is a much more progressive jurisdiction to mining compared to Western Australia (let that sink in). Canada has $4B fund to support "net zero" and compete against IRA, in addition to NAFTA allowing Prairie project be considered under IRA anyway, Australia can't even add copper into the list of critical materials (at least not yet and not in a timely manner). PLIX just got $1M just for this financial year alone (Canada's FY ends 31/Mar), which they came up with by buying ingredients from local shops originally - I guess if bootstrapping you kind'a have to be cheap? Check the tax incentives in Canada and likely more taxpayers funding a leading DLE tech of the country.
Expand
Prairie owners were paid half the exorbitant price in cash, and half in AZL shares that were put into "voluntary escrow" for several tranches of various months. Each time some of those shares were released, the price dropped, indicating Prairie owners no longer believed the company had a future. Probably took the proceeds and invested them in E3.
(20min delay)