@ScarpaWhen I mentioned the FID above, I am supporting AVZ. I am...

@Scarpa

When I mentioned the FID above, I am supporting AVZ. I am also supporting regular shareholders to sober up of things do go sour. (Unlikely but keep it provisional)

it’s difficult to have this discussion. Because AVZ have only provided pieces of events - there is little chronology for what led up to May 4. And I hazard a guess AVZ doesn’t want to string it together.

but what is known, from scraps released via proxies to show how AVZ was resisting Zijin, was for example, protesting to the “green lady” aka former DRC portfolio minister (a Kabila stronghold electoral representative) in September 2021 about Cominiere and Zijin. Around the same time AVZ is pursuing a CATH deal (I am not sure but it seems there was no FROR to other JV partners - perhaps - AVZ considered its majority ruled out an FROR).

The DRC Business Africa Forum, was a major promotion that AVZ appeared heavily involved in organising and it was due to commence in October. AVZ allegedly wanted to exploit the DBAF fanfare to sway powers that be, it’s a good idea to sign the collaboration agreement and implicit is issue the mining license.

October was when a Dathomir stooge made an account here and said a forewarning is forearmed. No one here took it seriously and was forgotten as an anomaly. But it has been published by AVZ that there was a letter by Dathomir counsel declaring on May 14 2021, share purchase agreements cancelled. It was a long letter and by one of DRC’s more powerful legal figures, Mukendi.

Do note this May 14 letter is dated prior to AVZ lodging its PE / ML application. It also comes at a time Zoe Kabila is facing a back lash. We are seeing perhaps pressure on Kabila clan by Tshisekedi and may be AVZ had support from some Congolese figures.

You mentioned technicals, I believe there were technicals that involved a back and forth bureaucratic stalling. It’s hard to say how material this was or not but it did one thing clearly buy time.

Notably, CATH published the RCCM file number for Dathcom within the announcement on its 24% TIA with AVZ. On the AVZ side in the ‘enlightened’ Anglosphere, we are not supplied the RCCM file number. AVZ ought to have known that RCCM file. It ought to have known what CATH was saying about the TIA deal. CATH ought to have known about the JV ** or conflict. It reserved its place likely of the view AVZ could succeed in its collaboration agreement proposal with the DRC.
The effect of AVZ not publishing the Dathcom RCCM file number is one of culture and legal necessity I believe, because AVZ seems to only show suchen registrations for ASIC compliance as it did for the Yibin Tianyi placement for example. I say of culture, because (and it’s interesting because here on Hotcopper we are held to a higher standard than a ASX company when it comes to substantiation.) - because - AVZ has been opaque before or can I say complacent? for example, if AVZ had published the BRNs etc of Chinese entities it purported are behind BNB, we would not have seen referende to State Power Group, or SPIC (nor State Grid (equity in SPG out to 2015) as backup deflection).

So to drive the point here, if AVZ had published the RCCM file like its partner CATH did for its shareholders and market integrity/ transparency, I believe we could have discovered the chaos as early as February 2022, and would have been alert to Zijin’s annual report in same month or March 2022 detailing 15% in the Manono lithium project. In fact this publication alone is enough reason for AVZ to go into a trading halt and make announcement because the legality of Zijin’s action is not the sole test but that there is potential disruption to project progress is clear here, and investors ought to know what MAY affect.

Back to 2021, when the DABF - rescheduled - was being promoted in November and commenced on or around November 23 2021, At the same time Jincheng was being registered on the RCCM. I’m not sure if we mortals could have viewed and updated RCCM file — and I’m not contesting legality - just the fact it is happening shows a hidden collision course at a time we were all euphoric about DRC partnership that to announce by November 25 the illegal changing of the RCCM register on GOV side would have certainly nosedived the SP, but worse, AVZ would not have been able to obtain $75M USD SURELY???

as you say Scarpa we can not blame AVZ, — it’s a hard one to argue otherwise indeed however, the deeper question here is, AVZ reliance and reluctance to tell us about it, on Chinese know-how. In 2021, the Road to Manono was complete except up to Manono by 114KM. Yes Kabondo Dianda was proposed instead but again that road was the subject of a late 2017 announcement with a CIG, as AVZ termed it, a Chinese investor group, was facilitating. Again the importance of the collaboration agreement and for investment in infrastructure beyond AVZ capital was critical to get the project running smoothly. This didn’t happen despite tremendous efforts to woo.

What could be argued then, is this project is / was Icarian, a flight of Icarus, after Klaus left with his mandate to SDS, secure define and sell, knowing too well the climate to get to mining after CATL refused to invest on AVZ February 2018 but went for TTX and floated its IPO listing by May 10 2018 (/ Klaus dumps by May 6). AVZ with Nigel and Ninja had to keep the ball moving. Some of us know what that looked like. And that’s one reason I revisit 2018, because the failure then leads us to try once again with lithium sector sentiment frothing once again in 2021-2.This time with a plan not as aggressive as the 2017 AGM with commercial production by early 2020 set out in the TPD target Pathway to Production.

So I am not sure “blaming” is the matter here, it’s a matter of how much value could AVZ could continue to harvest before it can no longer hide the conflicts. The Congolese were trying hard. I have on good word from my HKTD, . The Congolese failed to impress upon the ASX to make an announcement. This must have happened as early as October 2022 with Lomela1 turning up. Which leads me to a deeper darker question, that ASX and ASIC knew something was up more than us. So if we want to press the blame game and ask ChatGPT in its infinite wisdom what’s what, we could also apportion blame to ASIC and ASX for letting AVZ run the gauntlet - perhaps because DLA maybe Steinpag as well, was on the phone and not Nigel or Ben and Jan.

it’s looking complex to apportion doubt on ASIC as well. But I for one would want to know that Dathomir is deadly serious about the SPAs, about the profession of Cominiere and the Green Lady not helping -/ suggests to me there is a case for the market to know and it’s not optional, scarpa, the objective test is not subjective.

As for corruption on Congolese side, have you ever delved into how AVZ acquired this project and tallied it up with the 2024 AVZ sponsored piece with Matt Birney? It doesn’t make sense considering Dathomir International was sold on August 2023 to Huayou so to speak of Cong, for me, is a gas lighting affair to narrate why AVZ had to pay Cominiere for Dathomir’s 60%