General Discussions, page-20574

'So to think China is playing clean and fair now would be a mistake in my view'. @TenX

I agree! To add to the complexities of building a modern mine is the extraordinary efforts going into revamping supply chains. How they plan to be resilient is mostly missing in these discussions. You can't build a modern mine in the previous way anymore. There is no blueprint for guidance. These concerns are mostly discussed behind scenes but we can guess that our project is at the very least being talked about at the highest level. Hence, DC being seen with POSCO and SA Premier Peter Malinaukas in Seoul Post #:64169447, and more recently at a government roundtable discussion. Post #:66463131

What the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) decides is critical to world economic outcomes and stability. Countries all across the world have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, OECD members (just to name a few, US, UK, Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia, ie, sovereign-trusted countries) are currently working out how to future proof themselves to secure raw materials so that they are more resilient and not subjected to ongoing geopolitical pressure or another pestilence situations. Basically, OECD members will make (or have already made) recommendations from 'governments to multinational enterprises' – that's what they do! So, these will be the guidelines that become the standards for responsible business conduct across a range of issues such as human rights, labour rights, and the environment.

For us mere spectators, no matter how you look at it, RNU is perfectly positioned. The solution will more likely see stronger ties with sovereign-trusted countries, in safe jurisdictions that have large in-country resources. Therefore, it's hard not to see RNU's highly advanced graphite project not being a tier1 beneficiary. As Australia scores well above average in terms of its resilience and has a high ESG track record.

Ignoring any current economic headwinds, OECD decisions are made by 'consensus' and will have an overriding factor. So, when they next meet it will be very interesting (live meeting on 17 march).

As a potential clue, I wonder why China's Xi has mixed feelings about CATL's battery market dominance? IMO CATL marketshare is about to be seriously challenged and Xi is playing it as cool as it can. Recent comments by Xi hints that he is worried about CATL status as the world's largest battery maker and how they can rapidly expand abroad and move to undercut domestic rivals. See Reuters story.

We are at a cornerstone moment in history. So fortunate to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right commodity.

All IMO, DYOR, GLTA(patient)H