re: Diving deeper on Standard Lithium?

quote:

---

What was the deal with objections to the guys background and what can't be "admissible in any court in the country." They got on his arse about not being able to produce numbers.

---

SLI won't give number because they are the only ones that have any and it's still in development. I agree with SLI telling them to get fuq'd. I thought about going, but I'd be throat punching these dumbasses.

Reconvening tomorrow at 9. I believe they got to all of their evidence and witnesses today.

If anyone wants a layman’s opinion, I think another delay is more likely than a royalty decision. Setting aside my hopes, I can’t get around the argument made by the landowners’ attorney that the commission wanted more financial info in December and they still haven’t gotten (won’t get) it. I don’t know how they move forward apart from the companies giving in in a big way.

I was thinking less about profit info and more about them wanting to see something like a Lanxess brine supply agreement to help with:

quote:

---

The mineral is worth a % of the retail cost when it’s in the ground and not refined, and that’s it.

---

Right and no one seems to know the retail cost of what's in the ground, only the cost of lithium carbonate/hydroxide after processing. Brine supply agreement would show how much the raw brine is being dealt for, but I'm sure it's all tangled with infrastructure fees anyway.

It really is a fascinating argument they're having all around. Obviously I'm pulling for a swift resolution, just not feeling great that we'll get it.

I don’t see why they don’t just make this simple. Look at that Ernst & Young Lithium royalty study and make the royalty the average. ~2.6%

quote:

---

Obviously I'm pulling for a swift resolution, just not feeling great that we'll get it.

---

I'm very up in the air.

Listening to the proceedings, it certainly doesn't sound like they are ready to make a decision. That being said, this has been delayed so long and there are so many big parties with interest now, I feel like I'd be shocked if they didn't come to an agreement here.

Unfortunately I'm really just not familiar with how this process works, at this point. Do they have to either approve "the big 5" proposal, or reject it outright in favor of opposition and a new proposal starts from scratch? Can the parties negotiate a number at this stage to be approved today? That doesn't seem likely. Can the commission simply unilaterally set a royalty that neither party has recommended and that's that? If the commission approves the Big 5 proposal, are we then subject to appeals and what not that can drag it out further?

The numbers the commission is trying to run right now are simply not how this process should be analyzed. It's unsettling how little they know/understand about the process.

Opposition kind of fumbling in closing arguments here.

Sounds like he's scared the commission is going to approve the proposal outright and is now saying he doesn't need a rejection, he was just hoping for something in the middle. He's saying the numbers the opposition proposed were just 'in example' and he didn't mean to imply they wanted rates that high. He's literally admitting to mistakes in his counter proposal right now.

Fun.

I've been listening on and off yesterday and today. I was at first sold they the counsel was gonna set it at 10%. After listening to the SLI/Exxon side, Im thinking it will be 5.6%

What's everyone's guess? Farthest off has to host the Wine Mixer.

Yeah I was surprised the opposition closed with a proposed sliding scale royalty. Something like 3% if lithium price is under $10k, 6% if it's $10-30k, 10% if $30-50k, and 12% if over $50k.

To which our lawyer absolutely windmill dunks on a 12% royalty since some way or another a 12% royalty can result in a project participant who is:
-not paying for the plant
-only paying for brine
-and getting lithium carbonate almost for free.
Opposition admitted that he hadn't thought of that.

After today I have no clue where this is going. Opposition said in his closing that he doesn't want this to go back to square one but that they will appeal if the 1.82% is accepted. Lunch should be over soon and hopefully we get a favorable resolution this afternoon

Hows the stock going to react to this?