I'm glad management has reset expectations now by airing out all the dirty laundry. It should be easy to under-promise and over-deliver from here on out. I don't blame all the people panicking now since the announcement was disappointing, but it's still just a short-term problem. The resource base didn't disappear, we just need a bit more time to get production issues sorted, and they certainly will be.
Improving the recovery rates over time is standard for miners in early production, and the flood prevention measures are already being developed.
We have plenty of positive announcements to look forward to:
- Improving the recovery rates from 50% to 70-75%.
- Ramping up of the DMS plant.
- Fleet Space's exploration results.
- Drill results from the doubled exploration budget.
- No debt, and still more cash coming in to fund operations.
- DFS for BP33.
Having too much hope and expectations is not reasonable, especially for a startup producer. Things will turn out OK, but it'll require patience over the next year. The quarterly guidance is currently conservative, so I'm confident they'll exceed their milestones. Gareth can't risk over-promising and under-delivering now.
Our competing lithium producers will also encounter issues when they start coming online, we just got there ahead of the pack.
