Discussion with DC

Good morning all.

just thought i would convey the messages i got in a 45 minute phone call i had with David the other day......i found his comments and commitment to the company quite reassuring in these extremely difficult times.
firstly, the most important and obvious one - cash burn and liquidity to ride out the current conditions. He made mention of our current cash on hand - as of last announcement regarding this, we were sitting on under 2mil in cash.....and he forsees this to be quite a good buffer to weather the storm for the next few months at least.....if we start getting to the 12-18 month mark it will present problems of course, but operation costs are being minimized currently to preserve this - which is all that can be asked i believe. I also floated the idea of reduced salaries (similar to what has been implemented by quantas for example) to which he replied this has also been considered.....obviously our mgmt are not in the same pay scale as Alan Joyce, but i found it comforting to know this had even been discussed- makes me believe they want to see this through to production.
2- we were looking pretty good in terms of securing an offtake agreement prior to this mess, and he advised that these discussions are still ongoing....albeit much more difficult atm. He is keenly aware that this will be a key requirement to help us achieve finance for project, so it remains a priority for him.
3- share price. We have been decimated during the last....well 12 months really. He is obviously aware of this and believes we will re-rate once conditions improve. He and ther members participated in buying share as announced, and hoped that would inspire confidence for market - but as it stands the current conditions are tough. I asked whether this in his opinion was related to oversupply from Syrah, and he advised that that was potentially a contributing factor.....but the main reason (he indicated) remains our lack of BOA. Hence it remains his main focus.
4. Clarke Family. I probed as to whether any attempts had been made to secure an off market transfer for their shares, to which he advised there was. He also doesn not believe they are selling at the moment....as they are needing a higher sp like everyone else......my take from this is it is therefore retail selling? Thats imo.....
5. Future? This is a tough one for any MD....but i liked his train of thought. We discussed that when things get back to normal, projects like this will become even more necessary for state and federal governments. They plan for the workforce to be predominantly local, and (from memory) there is nothing opposed to getting the operation going apart from gov applications (which they are delaying due costs currently) ...he reiterated we sit on the lowest cost quartile.....and really wants to persue vertical integration of spherical graphite. Which again seperates us both from a safe jurisdiction perspective and as a producer. I also mentioned the benchmark minerals projection for graphite supply (watch interview with Simon Moore from BM) which DC believed was going to be important in the future as we move through the oversupply demand ratios
all in all i found him to be extremely committed....and was grateful for taking the time to discuss at length the project and co direction with me.
i am going from memory here so i hope have in no way misrepresented what he said (i believe it to be accurate) and would encourage people to take the time to communicate with our management. They are in this with us i believe. If you can hold tight, then we have as good a chance as any in this crazy market i beleive....good luck everyone and keep healthy!