I concur @Thesi, and I love that term "optionality". To me the...

I concur @Thesi, and I love that term "optionality".

To me the "Vibe" of the call was that our lack of debt, the POSCO sale and the upcoming SDV J/V decision were all about opening up to our options. The position we find ourselves in now is that we have the freedom to choose our partners based on what strengths and abilities they bring to us that go way beyond finance.

Early in 2018 there were a number of articles suggesting that this year in the lithium space was going to be the year of mergers and acquisitions, and it is shaping up that way, but with an"IPO twist". It is all about staking out a position in the lineup where only the big and connected will survive.

FMC with Livent as a spinoff next month, ALB with its new focus on multi stream product development, Gangfeng listing on the Hang Seng; there are adventures aplenty.

Our position is debt free and nimble - we have resources, mines, cash flow and capital. We have equity in a very clever processing developer in LPD which may or may not tie directly into our plans.

We have no need to nail our colours to the mast just yet, we can see what the various offers are that suitors bring to us for SDV.

Vertical integration, mine to end user, will be the core of the successful operation of the future with one caveat - producing for which particular technology?

That is where "optionality" really comes to the fore. Having the ability to react quickly enough to cover changing end user requirements. I did get the impression in the discussion on the new yield optimisation circuit that we can now tailor the chemical profile and composition of our spodumene to the client's requirements.

Yes, there's something cooking. It is going to be exciting, but it's still a bit mysterious.