Speedyl I’ll address one issue you have raised, namely the question of Chile’s “raised royalties and taxes”. CORFO’s negotiations with SQM relate to CORFO’s assets in the Atacama. SQM is effectively a contract miner for CORFO. LPI in complete contrast, owns its tenements outright. Further, some of the ground is grandfathered under an old 1932 mining law which has positive permission implications. Other than normal royalty rates LPI, as owner not tenant, will not be subject the same terms as SQM or Albermarle. As an aside Chile has been mining friendly for a lot longer than the newly appointed Argentinian government....lithium projects require a 20-30 year view.
The SQM - CORFO announcement is what has sent the LPI price down from 65c+, fundamentally unfounded. Gekko mentioned it’s about where we’re going that counts. In the next 6-12 months:
- battery grade LC from pilot plant
- upgraded resource to 3.5-4mt
- improved final FS from new resource- potential for $1.2 - 1.4bn US$
- offtake / equity partner completion
Congrats on AGY, excellent returns. The question is, does AGY have the catalysts to increase 3x from here in 12 months? I don’t know but I’m confident LPI has that potential regardless of technical analysis.
LPI Price at posting:
44.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
