VIDEO: VR8 gives update on Steelpoortdrift development, page-28

VR8's a cracker, I agree @Johnyb888.

Perhaps one reason its under the radar status is due to the mine's location in South Africa.

The average Aussie punter looks at Oz first and foremost, hears sovereign risk drilled into them at every turn, and probably moves on.

If they look a little deeper, they'll find SA has been built on mining, and the industry is still a bedrock today, as the world's largest producer of chromium, manganese, platinum, and vermiculite; the second largest producer of ilmenite, palladium, rutile, titanium and zirconium, the world's third largest coal exporter and third-biggest iron ore supplier to China, the world's largest consumer of iron ore; and No.3 worldwide producer of vanadium .

I've spoken before about South Africa being amongst the hardest working countries in the world, and compared to the Oz vanadium hopefuls, our Opex is lowest, our Capex is lowest, plus don't forget the ESG TCM process producing titanium and iron products. Tonnage and grade in combination is a stand out, and the Aussies don't get close.

The other main reason IMO would be the DFS is still around six months out, too long for today's ten-b*gger now now now mindset.

A couple of my other battery/energy storage mineral plays faced similar SP drift, and initially I was frustrated as others seemingly accelerated away. Stepping back though, re-examining the fundamentals and confirming my confidence in the companies, I realised it was simply an opportunity to accumulate whilst the time to significant announcements ticked down.

One, a South Australian graphite miner and processor, has since tripled since the end of its drift period in Dec 21. I topped up a little early in December, but of course wished I had gone harder. The other, a Queensland nickel producer, has just started to move up after a long side-down trend, and I am glad I since went very hard there.

For those confident in the company, there is still time to increase our VR8 holdings at the ridiculous MC of $35M, but the window will narrow before too long. I'll be looking at my day job paydays and mindful pruning of portfolio laggards to top up here. GLTAH!