This x100!
Agree 100% that the comms is pathetic. I hold SYA and AXE as well, the way those teams engage and inform is like a different planet to VRX, but...
The bedwetting on here about the logistics is one reason why Bruce labels HC full of crazies.
There's always going to be a grey area between what is going on to bring a resource to production, and the need and or right of a company to keep shareholders informed. I'd hardly suggest the VRX team is copulating with arachnids - after the fact, we always seem to find out there is work going on behind the scenes.
I have some visibility on some of the logistics issues, and the tiki torch stuff on here
is borderline crazy. It is my understanding that both PEC and VRX discussed rail transport costs with Arc. But from what we are seeing now, it seems the numbers for a rail option don't stack up. Not surprising, when the cost for a signalled connection to the mainline - before you pay for the rail loading kit - would be in magnitude of $3m). Plus someone i.e. VRX & PEC would be on the hook to pay off the cost of a dedicated wagon fleet to put the silica into. Rail really only works for large tonnages over long distances, and both AN and M are probably not far enough away, nor 1mt/pa enough volume, to be in the sweet spot.
It's no wonder Qube or someone else has come along and given a number for the first 1m export tonnes that stacks up better than using rail. That may change when we open a second and third mine, and the tonnages multiply, but the choice to use road to get us earning cash - if it's saving us $2/t on our export costs, why wouldn't we?
As for the port... the GPA has a reputation of being an order of magnitude better organised/easier to deal with than KPA, and the logistics of loading a ship is their bread and butter. The lithium producers in the Pilbara don't seem to have too much drama trucking thousands of tonnes of spodumene to a dockside warehouse then loading ships from there, so I'd wager the GPA has had more than a casual chat with Bruce & Co, and provided a scale of rates based on tonnes delivered to port. KPA would have an even easier job of that, given they already have Hanson's Muchea SiO2 trucked in and stockpiled... they'd already know exactly what the numbers to handle it onto a ship are.
Would it be nice for us to know the details of this stuff? Sure.
Are we 'entitled' to know? Probably not. I certainly wouldn't want any of our competitors to have a leg up in determining our production costs.
Does it materially change the value of our investment? That depends whether you log onto your trading platform and see a sea of red and no announcement from VRX for months, or if the numbers in our Feasibility Study fill you full of dopamine every time you re-read them.
Like I said once before, Bruce isn't your friend. I reckon he doesn't really want to talk to us. If you really need someone to talk to about VRX, buy a dog. And maybe call it Sandy.
DYOR - bring the receipts - GLTAH
