Agree 100% on all things!
Looking through the personal lens a bit deeper i.e. Chris's point of view
Chris Ellison is very proud of his humble beginnings, a boy who travelled to WA in his early years to work in the mines with his friend. Learned the trade by getting his hands dirty, falling in love with Mining and then starting what is MinRes today with 10,000 bucks.
He has run this business well for several years and reached sky high valuations ($15B plus) using his commercial acumen , authoritative leadership style, making good strategic decisions and backing himself against powerful critics. Chris is a tough man to negotiate with - Ask Albemarle!
He was the first ones here to identify the potential of lithium and developed Wodgina and Mt Marion ahead of the demand. Arguably, his timing was early and he had to wait for few years to see the cash rolling over his head. On slow Iron is mean to be his legacy - this is where he has used ALL of his teams capabilities(Construction, engineering, customer relationships, Services division, access to capital) in making an otherwise stranded asset into a world class mining project albeit at a very difficult time with China's economy struggling and Simandou, the Pilbara Killer, threatening the longer term prospects on WA iron ore.
He is at cusp of realising this dream - 9 months away from 35mtpa!
Chris has enough strength and relationships to see this through. He will be humbled by this experience. This is the time for him to show what he has got - had mentioned "pulling several levers" a few times and HE HAS. Trafigura US$400M, MSIP A$1.3M. We need one more to the tune of $1B and that will silence the bankers. I think Bald Hill is the one he is least emotionally invested in. Package that up with exploration tenements, pegged ground and strategic investments like Delta, Kali- That could attract a buyer with a long term horizon. May have to give away Mt Marion as part of that.
He also went to London to meet with Albemarle. There must be discussions happening around Wodgina as well.
Then there is like of POSCO who may be interested in picking up another 10-20% of Onslow. Chris will not mind that if he retains the Services/Infra revenue. Korea delegation was in Perth last week and PM had a private dinner at the MinRes HQ. There are jobs at stake, election is upon us. Things can happen!
Long post but I am passionate about MinRes and I have been a SH for a long time. I support Chris 100% to come on the other side of this stronger. I also appreciate there is a very high risk here and therefore everyone should form their own view as to if this is suitable for you or not!
(20min delay)