General Comments & Banter, page-13840

I agree with you JM that the local government is very important with respect to support and approvals for the project development.

Whilst it's obviously important to keep the impending national election on the radar, IMO the outcome of the election and impact to the investment risk of AGY at Rincon is minimal.

There are a few balancing points to consider:
1. AGY aren't seeking funding for a start-up project (as such). They are well progressed on their path to production and have options as to the scale of size and funding required to progress things further. They already have tenements, ponds, pilot plant and most importantly, a proven process and product - as well as a track record of demonstrated local government support. Investment/funding considerations at this point are on more solid footings (ie less of a leap of faith), with both the investment return and product supply realisable in a relatively short timeframe (especially in terms of the industry resources sector!)
2. AGY aren't just starting on the road for seeking investment/funding. Mitsubishi for example have had 18 months to see what AGY can do, and decided to go ahead with an initial OT deal. Likewise, the Korean conglomerate have been in the mix for several months now (6+ months?). Both Mitsubishi and the Koreans aren't amateurs in business... they'll have known the Arg elections were going to happen this year. Likewise, as many analysts have been saying for quite sometime now, the heavy lifting for lithium investment is going to be done by the automotive industry... again, these guys aren't amateurs in ensuring supply chain, and will be used to navigating international politics and considerations.
3. The Rincon project is owned by an Argentinian JV company, of which AGY has the right to own up to 90%. In other words, the coalface ownership is at a local level (and brings with it local employment and economic injection for ancillary services and businesses), and not some international consortium/company... so in theory, there is little political mileage to be gained by a new president using the Rincon project as a votes winning football by trying to stuff around with stalling investment or progress of the project.

Personally, I view the election as a possible speed bump, but not a critical risk factor in the project's progress and/or success.