https://twitter.com/jorgem_yescas/status/1338323535496822785?s=20...

https://twitter.com/jorgem_yescas/status/1338323535496822785?s=20

I wouldn't be surprised if Urbix announces the JV with BSM. This would mean they have covered stage one to stage three. This is of course only speculative. The mine is in Madagascar, not in the United States. However, since they could secure graphite from different sources it would still make absolutely sense. On the pro side, a JV is probably not too expensive for Urbix considering the market cap of BSM and their negotiating power.

Also good, the BSM mine could be up and running at a small scale for further testing. And there is the huge potential to scale it up for large scale mining. BSM has been negotiating with Urbix for well over a year now (there was a six month period announced initially). As I wrote in other posts many mining companies will ship very small amount of graphite to a potential JV partner for their testing (processing/refining) first and in the Urbix case also (anode production). If initial tests are successful they will order bigger and bigger numbers (going from kilo to tonnes). If everything goes well they will discuss how the mine should be set up and scale up. Then both parties can announced the JV deal. Huge advantage that BSM was in production - this means Urbix can be sure that the Bass team will be able mine graphite as promised.

Considering that last December both parties claimed everything is going good we can still hope that this deal will go through. Looking from the outside on this potential JV deal it would definitely make sense. Therefore also the timing (being back in production in 2024) makes sense considering that the mine and their infrastructure would need be adapted to the new JV partners needs. Therefore, I remain very optimistic that BSM will survive and the market cap will be up this year in anticipation of a good DFS or a potential JV deal (or both).