Firstly, I am not an operative nor an employee of AVZ lol.
Secondly, and like others, I too am disappointed that none of the company's self-imposed April targets were met on time (see below), especially as I believe that those deliverables could have otherwise created fresh volume demand and a SP of closer to 30c (IMHO). The good news is that the deliverables expected for April now carry over into May and June, and so the pipeline for news flow is even more stacked i.e. plenty to look forward to. Thus I maintain my SP targets based on the below deliverables + a favourable MSEZ all being executed.
Thirdly, overall I was not overly impressed with the latest operational update as it did not cover all of the deliverables that I had previously have earmarked, and also signaled further delays to the ML and FID. Having said that, the MSEZ decision by the end of this month was certainly a welcome piece of news and IMO certainly achievable by end of May, given that Tshisekedi's new government is finally established and AVZ are on the front foot with well-respected Congolese national & in country AVZ director Serge Ngandu leading the negotiations. A favourable MSEZ would be a MASSIVE confidence booster for the market and would drive instant volume demand for the SP IMO.
Also, should the MSEZ be granted, then the awarding of a ML to AVZ is a foregone conclusion IMO.
Finally, if shareholders concerns with management's performance, then IMO they would be wise to attend the shareholder briefings in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth later this month and voice their concerns in person. It's also a unique opportunity for shareholders to come together, ask the tough questions and voice our concerns as one (where we all agree). Management need to hear what they sometimes don't want to hear in order to enact change and an improvement in culture and investor relations / communication. So speak up there & not here if you are miffed IMO.
My focus will be on management's failure to adhere to self-imposed timelines (the overpromising and underdelivering in presentations and interviews really needs to stop) as well as ensuring that retail shareholders are being protected from the forces of evil, including ensuring that the below statement from NF is front and centre of any discussions regarding sourcing future equity for the project.
Externally, the news couldn't be any better at the moment and NF knows this. As he recently suggested to another shareholder friend of mine, 'we have an upper hand'. To me that's no great surprise when we can see demand exceeding supply. But NF still needs to execute and importantly not to the detriment of loyal retail shareholders.
Lithium Hydroxide prices (= PLS price x @2), SC6 & Tin prices have already exceeded AVZ's 20-year DFS estimates and in all likelihood there are further price gains to come due to insatiable demand over the coming years.
So IMO wait until we see DFS 2.0. IMO it is going to be one hell of a beautiful study when you include higher prices over extended LOM, updated reserves, optimised pit design, higher feed grades, and potential cost savings arising from optimised FEED, MSEZ, Transport etc. etc.
Combine this with
and then add the below ingredients of
[sidenote: 6 million passenger EVs = 8% of the total vehicle sales worldwide = pretty close to the below s-curve scenario / trajectory]
....plus 433 known EV models in the pipeline so far this decade with 108 models to be launched this year alone according to EV Volumes,
[note: above 2021 OEM sales forecast and 433 x EV model count courtesy of @Stephan9015 on Twitter ]
and IMHO you have an ultimate recipe for sweet, sweet success.
In summary, I agree with NF in that 'we have an upper hand' and that 'the company has an incredibly busy June quarter and I look forward to keeping all of our shareholders up to date as we achieve each of our stated milestones'.
Thus, I look forward to NF and his star studded team of Jan, Ben, Serge, Michael, Graeme, John et al to go ahead and execute the deliverables in a reasonably timely manner and on behalf of all existing shareholders.
ALL IMHO however, so please DYOR !!
GLTA
Cheers
Elpha
AVZ Price at posting:
14.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held