For those unfamiliar, AVZ is a lithium explorer that rode the wave of lithium euphoria to a $4.6 billion valuation at its peak in April 2022. Blessed with a lithium deposit known as Manono - which is estimated to be more than twice the size of Australia’s richest lithium mine, Greenbushes – everything seemed to be perfect. In hindsight, it was too perfect.Why did I have such a keen interest?Well, unfortunately, I (Chris) am one of the 21,100 shareholders who are about to have the value of their holdings – some $2.6 billion in face value at the last traded price of 78 cents on May 13 last year – wiped out. After many long and ongoing legal battles regarding true ownership of the project, AVZ has made the decision to “not seek reinstatement” on the ASX (the stock has been in suspension).Blame is flying around thick and fast. Shareholders blame AVZ and overseas corruption, and AVZ blames the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as Chinese and Congolese mining rivals. I blame… myself. I’m a seasoned trader and investor but I admit that I got caught up in the hype. Now, the money I stand to lose (and rest assured, I will lose it), is less than 2% of my portfolio. It’s less than 0.1% of my net worth. I’ve probably spent more on a big night out here and there. But I will tell you this for free - It burns. It burns badly.It burns not because of the money (although I do hate losing money). It burns because I let myself get caught up in the lithium hype. And it also burns because I should know better than to invest in a mining company operating in a jurisdiction like the DRC. I broke two rules I should know better than to break, and I’ll take my lumps. The only saving grace is that I knew better than to risk anything but a small amount on the trade. As always, there are lessons to be learned and unfortunately, we humans seem to learn them best when there is some sort of pain involved.To all my fellow wipe-outers, venting on forums and cursing the company, I hope you find some peace. And try to remember that, as the Buddha said, Peace (and good investment decisions) comes from within.So this article appeared in the market index report today. Is this true. Investors will just lose everything if AVZ is not relisted?
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