I hear you mate...
From what I could understand from the GM, the priority is being placed on Belfast and recycling.
If this part of the business takes off, and they do indeed build a commercial plant in Belfast, it does put them in a great position to continue to roll out the tech to France , Italy, Germany and the US.
So if they are close here, I can see why Makuutu would go on the backburner and all the energy, focus and available funds are targeted to Belfast.
They did make the statement that it was probably the closest and best opportunity they have to generate ROI for investors.
I understand their strategy, and how Makuutu fits into the game plan.
It is a big resource, fairly advanced, easy and cheap to mine, and with a decent amount of heavies in its basket, they have the opportunity to become vertically integrated and refine their own MREC into oxides.
Going back through the timeline of IXR, they took control and developed Makuutu around 2.5 years before taking over Seren Tech in 2021.
Interesting hypothetical-
Do you think IXR, ( Oro Verde at the time) would have pursued Makuutu if the roles were reversed and they had purchased Seren Tech first?
I reckon if it was the other way around, and they enjoyed the same engagement with Ford and LCM and The UK government, they may have not pursued anything else, including Makuutu.
Unfortunately, that is not how it transpired.
If they do well, and have money coming in to develop Makuutu, and require additional heavies, then I can see us continuing the development, and using Belfast to refine the Makuutu MREC basket into our own oxides. Ionic Tech have already tested this with great results.
However, if all the engagement and opportunity is recycling..recycling...recycling ...
Uk, France, EU, US etc....then it posses the question, do we really need Makuutu?
Even if we were flush with cash to develop it???
For me, the jury is out there, particularly if the recycling gets BIG, and we can generate enough NdPr and heavies to satisfy our partners, and make no mistake, as
@roblun has shown, Ford's Halewood will be a big consumer, let alone if we end up involved with the DOD/Military and sovereign defence capabilities. Or if we supply into the European auto industry....
Additionally, if we start running out of cash, does it become a divestable asset?
A project we could sell to keep us going until we really hit our strides with recycling???
If we are close with locking in recycling deals and the coffers are running low, do we sell Makuutu?
The Chinese would probably buy it, they seem to love Africa.
You would have to have all the figures at your finger tips and run multiple analysis and cost benefit models to try and determine the best strategy, so only the BOD could tell you.
Maybe going forward, if we tell our partners we are thinking of selling, Ford may come to the party and support us at Makuutu, as they may need as much product as possible, to make Halewood a success without using Chinese supply.
We just don't know what is happening behind closed doors, but at a minimum, Makuutu probably gives us the optionality of divestment, or development, to ensure our future.
But one thing I do know, is that the boys know the pressure is on to execute, and the pressure is on to do it soon.
Just hypothetical ramblings....Food for thought...
(20min delay)