Good morning, all. A couple of days ago I had been pulling...

Good morning, all. A couple of days ago I had been pulling thoughts together in response to your post above, @MusCabout, specifically to your comment that "We may never know what transpired in 21-23 with chem plant." I had decided not to post it, as it was long-winded and hindsight reflection on the downtrending global market. It does however speak to many of yesterday's concerns, so here it is:

Perhaps after finance is in place and our strategic partner/s secured, management will one day be able to inform us of the ins and outs of these fiercely constrained past couple of years (with consideration to NDAs, of course). Until then, my best guess is that earlier this year the strategic partner/s we were in final stages of due diligence with paused their plans (in line with the rest of the industry) because of the abysmal macro environment. Between ever-dropping SMM prices and OEMs/battery manufacturers suspending production plans due to uncertainty of the continuation of the US’ IRA pre-election, we’re all painfully aware of the relentless “bad news” sector-wide globally.

The media regularly reported during this time that those seeking lithium supply hadn’t wanted to buy at the top of the market, then when the slide began, they wanted to see pricing stabilise. This appears to be happening at the moment. Hallelujah.

Prior to those heady days of $80K p/t lithium carbonate 2 years ago, we were still developing our project, btw. During 2022, we doubled the size of our pilot plant, sending product samples to potential customers. We completed Karibib’s FEED, hired our GMs, updated and improved our DFS economics and conducted drilling programs, which led to the upgrade of our MRE at the beginning of 2023. All the while, the US DFC continued their meticulous due diligence.

So to the criticism from posters above regarding the passage of time, our share price/market cap and our cash balance: Lepidico pretty much are in the good company of nearly everyone all along the lithium supply chain. Even Ganfeng is more than 80% down from their Sept 2021 highs, recording their first mid-year loss since going public in 2010.

On the other side of the world and other end of the supply chain, the much-lauded US-based Rivian is currently 92% down from their listing price 3 years ago (after Volkswagen announced their staged $5B investment in the startup a few months ago).

Nearly every lithium company has had to raise capital this year, from ASX minnows like PAM to more advanced companies such as NMT, all the way through to the world’s largest lithium producer, Albemarle, who conducted a $2.1B raise earlier this year. They recently announced a $1.1B loss and are cutting 500 employees—about 7% of their workforce.

Therefore, to those who criticise our management, I ask what companies are you comparing to Lepidico? As numerous mines and also downstream operations announce suspensions, what partnerships, JVs and projects are you seeing lift off, getting funded? Lepidico is not operating in a vacuum and our management are not on the board of these other companies, so who or what do their shareholders blame?

If Jefferies and our management team have attracted solid interest in P1 partnering and/or interest in starting up Karibib to sell concentrate to converters, bloody well done! I wish them all the luck in the world and extend them my full support and gratitude for determinedly persevering through these extremely challenging times.

Will post this now, scroll back and reread recent comments, then do my best to respond and fill any gaps. GLTAH