Hi triage,I initially wondered if the 9 months timetable also...

Hi triage,

I initially wondered if the 9 months timetable also allowed for the election as you suggest. But the more positive ann's on the process since then have me wondering if something will come through earlier. As you say maybe it will be announced after or maybe in the run-up. Or maybe we'll hear soon. I don't think anyone knows.

My understanding is a large part of the politics of Bolivia is driven by an unrealistic notion that simply having the lithium as a raw material should empower the country to be a major player across the whole industry - ie. participating in the vertical markets of battery production and maybe even more. It's unrealistic given lithium represents only a small part of the battery components and it is unviable to import the rest. I would imagine some work has been done since the decree was issued to address any of the wilder expectations that may have been influenced from across the border through education of how the industry actually works. Similar to Australia I guess where we largely export our raw materials to overseas secondary industry due to the economics involved.

That's not to say the decree was all about this as there appears to have been an element of clarifying the nature of the industry in this to establish certainty, according to reports. My view is that it's probaly a discussion that we have had to have - but the delay has not been helpful to the SP (now unbelievably below 2.00 after previously ranging above $4.00!).

Cheers.