Yes, and don't know are the two answers. I don't know anything from management that isn't made public, so I'm waiting with bated breath like everyone else. Management can't give an accurate idea, because they can't control it. They were hoping to have STAMICO signed off this year, not next, but African time can take a while.
What I do know is this:
- management have been working on this for a couple of years
- management recently restructured their board to fast track into development, and the elevation of John Park (who, btw, didn't need to come back and work) as Tanz man on the ground was partly also driven by John's extensive experience with Merelani (given he helped establish and run it previously).
- management have discussed this with ThyssenKrupp, and while I don't know what was discussed, ThyssenKrupp obviously have a sufficient level of comfort to commit to finalising an off-take agreement with some product coming from Merelani.
- Richland (STAMICO's JV partner) have already agreed in writing to our deal
- Management in recent months met with the regional head of the Merelani area, and they had discussions with the President about both Epanko and Merelani (and photos were published in news articles at the time).
What I can surmise from all that is that the final Merelani deal is highly likely, but of course we won't know for 100% certainty until the deal is signed off and announced. I would hope it will still be signed off this year, and while it's frustrating from a timing perspective, it's not a concern for me from a risk perspective at this point. In fact, I'm even more confident with the recent TK off-take LOI. If management had even an inkling that the Merelani deal wasn't going to go through, they wouldn't have risked a deal with someone like ThyssenKrupp by including Merelani. The fact they included Merelani was a big sign of confidence (and for other reasons that I've previously posted, KNL are the most logical party for this deal with STAMICO. We might be subject to the vagaries of Africa time, but Stamico don't have much of a viable choice other than us).
KNL Price at posting:
25.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
