General Discussion AGY, page-17772

You're addressing Sdaji in this post which is weird since you're talking to your $tr@w m@n.

I said a year or two, not six months.

But no, it's not true that if we were given the permit exactly six months ago we'd have announced our funding and offtake partner exactly six months ago. It would have taken at least some time for any company, and we all know AGY isn't exactly the company with the track record of doing things as quickly as one could imagine. And yes, of course, six months ago would have been better than today which would be better than in six months from now, but we weren't going to start building it two years ago while we were still constructing the 2,000TPA plant. That just wasn't going to happen and that's what I was saying.

The reason I said 1-2 years rather than six months is that yes, I agree, it would have been useful for us to have it six months ago, though probably not as useful as you seem to think. The difference between having it six months ago and tomorrow is not a full six months of benefit to us (and again, yes, I'd love to have had it 6+ months ago, I'm not saying there would have been no benefit to us at all). The closer we are to full scale production, the easier it is for us to convince partners etc that we're the real deal, the easier it is for us to make a deal and the more favourable it is to us. The closer we are to full scale production the more we know and the better we can build the next plant (though I would totally agree that we have now passed the point where this has significant relevance, but I was talking years ago not six months, and all the same there will still be some minor benefits in this respect). I don't at all think we would be constructing the 10,000TPA plant right now if we had the permit six months ago, and your assertion that if we had the permit to build it six months ago we'd have started building the plant six months ago is just ridiculous, I'm surprised you would make that claim and act smug and denigrating towards me.

The main point I was making which you dodged/missed and replaced it with something I didn't say, is that Argentina wants to see evidence that we can actually do it before giving us the permit. Yes, we're further ahead than someone who hasn't started, but there comes a point where if someone is saying "I'll have it done next week" continuously for a few years, you begin to suspect that if you get a new person in and they start from scratch they'll get it done sooner than if you let the person who never meets their deadline and has never demonstrated success will get it done. Finish your first project before I green light anything else. The main point I was making was not about the potential benefit to us, but the motives influencing the decision of the Argentinian government. Your reasoning does not at all take into account that while AGY shareholders needs AGY to make money in order to make money, the Argentinian government does not care which particular company makes money, and probably doesn't want to reward a company which spends years saying "I'll have it done by next week". AGY shareholders would be devastated if we were bought out by another mob for 28c next week and that company ramped up to huge levels of production within 3 years and make incredible amounts of lithium and profit. The Argentinian government would be thrilled if that happened.