Yes Arf, he was quite non commital in his responses....understandably too.
He had spoken to Brett yesterday.
But, continuing with the spin of
lots going on in the background and we are very busy......stay with us as there is lots of newsflow.'I pushed him on a few points, particularly-
The possible exit out of the 200, current;y at 227, but he was quite adamant we will stay in and not be ejected....
(how does he know that?....Average MC for the quarter, I wonder if they have worked it out)
Newsflow- Sticking to the timelines stated in presentations.
Told him that of all my stocks, this was the worst company for sticking to these timelines, and then offers no explanation to the market why. I then unloaded that we are still making basic accounting errors in our comms.
He came back many with we have more staff, new office etc...should improve, and I said
thats what you told me at the AGM last year, but nothing's changed!He then countered with we got NAL back up and running on time and on budget, while others are having cost and timeline blowouts.
I said I completely agree, the execution has been first class, but you are missing the point, that is not the issue.
He said they have a big retail following, but have been busy trying to attract more institutional investment, and been busy spreading the word worldwide. ( That got my back up a little. Reading between the lines, I think they would gladly lose retail hands in favour of institutional. Thanks for the support our loyal retailers, but its time to move on....)
Spoke about 40-60000 retail members, and we could fill Marvel stadium, so I said go for it , but you may have 60000 people yelling at Brett as a joke...
While we were on that, I did mention there would be a big contingent of retail investors going to the AGM. I encouraged him to read the forum, and informed him there is few angry heads on there at the moment, so be prepared.
I said the issue is you make statements in investor presentations worldwide, trying to attract more institutional investment, yet you cant stick to a basic carbonate PFS date, when Dougal has already stated it was with the board a month ago.
Who the hell is going to invest in us if you cant stick to what you are telling these big investors around the world ?
Moblan PFS disappeared, the NAL DFS disappeared for a year then reappeared, Carbonate PFS with the board....nothing, first shipment of product next month, and nobody knows where SYAQ's half is going...WTF? I'm invested in companies who are not delivering until 2025/2026, and they know where their product was headed a year ago...how can this be?
He countered with they are busy getting it worked out...same old. I said.. so put something out to that effect...
Talked about the SP/MC, it was 29 when we entered, and now we are at 18. Spoke about Lake and Vulcan a little, and PMT. Vulcan's cr was a disaster....so at least we have held the CR price.
He mentioned the shorting since we entered is holding us back, so I countered with getting starting a conversation with a forensic accountant, to look into the trading activity. All you need to do is send a couple of emails, or call a couple of these guys, and then put a comm out to the market, that you have initiated a dialogue with companies who can examine the trading activity, and watch the rats scatter off the ship. The few times I have seen this tactic employed by listed companies, SP/MC's improve 50% within a couple of days. Its just a couple of emails/calls, wont cost you anything, and puts the market on notice. Very easy to do, well within your rights, and is simple to initiate.He was quite receptive to the idea...so it will probably go no-where!
So I asked, when are we going to get newsflow??
It better be June, which is pushing nearly 3 months overdue for some items, with no explanation mind you, and continual spruiking of April and May in all your investor pressos... yet nothing.... carbonate prices are up, get that bloody PFS out!!! Product soon being shipped, where the hell is it going?
I pushed him on June, and he conceded there would be news in June, but by this stage I was firing hard, so he was probably just trying to get rid of me... he tried to end the conversation a few times, but I stayed at it.
He did comment a few people had called him, I guess that included you Arf.
So, nearly 9 months from the last AGM, and not much has changed for me, and when I say that I mean-
I get it, the fundamentals are great, the vision is great and continually improving, but the areas where we need to improve, where we have always needed to improve have gone no where.
We called it growing pains in the AGM, can we still say that now, so far down the track?
Comms are still flaky and their timelines unreliable, accounting has still has mistakes, we still don't know where our product is going, we still don't know if the carbonate has a green light, where's the money from PLL, where's the money from Soquem?
No more free rides here.......get the cash owed and stop the dilution to keep operating!
Our investment's being watered down to a fraction of what it could be worth. How do we not have any government funding yet...is anyone even pursuing that avenue...there's billions on the table? Spruiking DOD and DOE GM, Ford at the last AGM...well where is it Brett, if you can sell your product so easily, who is buying??
I once heard a story about Samuel Clemens.
You would know him as Mark Twain and was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced", and "the father of American literature".
His story goes like this-
Like many people in the mid-nineteenth century, Samuel Clemens headed west to try his hand at mining. Fortunately, he failed at that, opting to be a humorist and writer instead. Here he was much more successful, writing mostly under thenom de plumeMark Twain. Amongst his many purported quips was, “the definition of a mine is ‘a hole in the ground with a liar standing next to it.’” Given his experience, and the experiences of many others, that is a statement that has been too often true.A hole in the ground with a liar standing next to it....so you always have to ask yourself, with any mining project, is this the case here?
It's not as far fetched as it sounds, and there certainly has been a lot of mayo dished out from time to time for numerous projects...and I could literally name dozens of hopeful miners that have gone no-where, but sold the dream. Some I invested in, shared the dream and was bitten hard.
The sceptic in my psyche, has been built up from the failures in these endeavoursWith Sayona, we undoubtedly have a bright future. Something monumental is being built here, and I am glad to be a part of it.
Full disclosure, I bought some more the other day.
No doubt in a few months time, all will be answered. and my inner sceptic can relax and recede into the shadows.
However, our shortcomings feed the sceptic in me...things that defy my logic and do not add up to me...they bother me..I feel it in my gut.
So please Brett, don't feed my inner sceptic.
Sort it out, keep things on track, and lets continue to build the best lithium play in North America we can...and how about you keep us poor retailers informed along the way
Good luck everyone...
(20min delay)