AKE (ASX) Banter and General Comments

Originally posted by triage: ↑

I think you miss the point. If the company were in steady state, operating several well established, well performing projects in a mature sector then yes sure, one or two ASX announcements a quarter would be sufficient and appropriate. But this is not the profile of this company, nor this sector.

Orocobre has just merged so should still be bedding down processes and projects and the company needs to convey to the market that that work is going smoothly.

On top of that even if you were to consider Olaroz stage 1 and Mr Carttlin to be in steady state (Olaroz stage 1 is not - it has yet to hit nameplate capacity so continues to be a work in progress) then you still have Olaroz stage 2, James Bay and Sal de Vida which should all be ticking through various milestones. Shareholders and the market should be informed of those milestones as they are reached not in some omnibus announcement every few months.

A third reason for timely updates is that now is most probably a crucial period for the lithium sector where the players are positioning themselves for the coming years: decisions made now will likely determine the winners and losers for years ahead. Martin and his team will have to decide whether Orocobre has enough fire power with its 5 production projects and one processing project to remain a key player. Does their current corporate form leave them exposed to competitors or predators. Are there any junior lithium plays around that, if acquired now, would add value to the company. Given their push to be a chemicals company, not simply a lithium company - Allkem, not Lithkem - are there any opportunities around for a brine specialist at the moment. I think it is important that the company demonstrates it is fully aware of the situation.

I think it is natural for a management team to go quiet for a while after a major acquisition - a bit like a carpet snake that's swallowed a possum - but I would prefer that Martin shows to the market and the sector that Orocobre is up on its toes ready and able to keep moving forward. He can do that with a steady flow of updates, keep them factual but keep them coming.

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From my point of view, all the things you articulated so well fall into the category of building the company - which I trust/hope/pray they are doing 24/7. I don’t think that they need to publicly announce anything that does not further those causes (just for the small investor to get a warm and fuzzy feeling).
I say this because I know how much thought needs to be put into every publication by top management.