Stratmin Global Share Discussion Threads

[comet5d] 11/5/2016 14:20

Variety & intensity of #storagewars picking up (also see Dyson's announcement): A New Energy Storage Gigafactory

[comet5d] 11/5/2016 14:18

"Dyson could become next Tesla with its electric car" says WMG's Prof David Greenwood via @guardian

[illuminati1] 11/5/2016 07:27

Jim LSE There is a possibility is there not that the DD is related to what Stratmin might do once they've disposed of Graph Mada? If so the 2 things could be related and form part of a plan - whether it was plan A or a fallback plan in the event Bass didn't come up with the second tranche payment... who knows.If it is related then according to LSE AIM listing rules Stratmin HAVE to tell us what they plan to do after the disposal, so they have to lay out the choices for us rather than ask us to vote on disposal then stiff us by telling us the hair-brain scheme following disposal.Agree there is still some time to wait but we must be so close to the Bass DD completing , which is when we will get the details of what is actually on the table, hopefully including Bass's funding plan. Once we have that funding plan we will see whether or not tranche criteria are likely to be met, given the size of the planned investment. I believe the tranche criteria are there to protect Bass and Bass's accrued tax loss position by providing a staged funding model whereby neither Stratmin nor their funding partner takes a controlling stake of Bass via the equity issued because of Bass's currently tiny mcap.E.g. agree the entire fund raise in principle, but make it dependent on meeting criteria. That way when they raise the first chunk of money, Patersons take less than 30% of the enlarged equity. If there was an unconditional plan in place then the VC would be deemed to have a much larger stake in the fully-diluted equity of Bass and there would be a takeover in play, putting Bass' accrued tax loss at risk.So instead I believe (and I am only finding this out from patchy sources) Stratmin and the VC will use the tranches as steps to add equity in tranches and keep below thresholds.To mitigate the risk of Bass not providing the necessary resources to meet tranche criteria there will be some safeguard, maybe in the form of a buyback, but that will have to be agreed also with the VC as the whole reason the first Bass deal fell apart I'm told is because Bass didn't own enough equity in Graph Mada for leverage on the loan.Anyway - this is how I'm piecing the information together in my mind. I'm sure we'll find out more solid info soon enough. Been here over a year now, I know others have for far longer, so what's another month, 2 months or even 3 months. We'll know where we are well before the summer's out.

[illuminati1] 11/5/2016 07:26

TOTAL MAKES BILLION-DOLLAR BATTERY BID FOR THE NEW OIL | SAFT TAKEOVER SETS MARKER FOR NEW ERA IN INDUSTRY French oil and gas conglomerate, Total, has made a bid to acquire Saft, the Paris-based battery specialist for $1.1bn.The news is the first major foray by a fossil fuel producer into what is emerging as a major new growth industry.Saft is a specialist producer of a variety of different battery types including lithium ion technologies in aerospace, utility and transport applications. The French company invested $76m into battery R&D in 2015, the equivalent to 9% of its sales.Mass producing lower cost and denser lithium ion batteries is the key to cracking the renewable energy conundrum that has failed to take off since developments began in the late-1990s.The battery industry has only seen serious investment in R&D over the last three years, however Benchmark Mineral Intelligence is now tracking at least 12 lithium ion megafactories due to come online...Continue reading for free on Benchmark's Blog.

[wskill] 10/5/2016 19:45

Why bother talking about the Graphite market STGR have no assets at all after this so called take over this is a shell company nothing less no business is left and at a time when the graphite market is taking off and we are producing 94% grade product .

Not to worry if BSM cannot even afford the tiny cash element 1.5% of the asset cost for all STGRs assets after spending over £35 million to buy the mining assets and plant this bunch will accept more vows and promises and shareholders will be left with nothing this is theft from UK holders of STGR.

It is one of the most brazen acts of destruction of share holder value ever seen on AIM and still the FCA have not even questioned these disgusting directors who have planned this.

[comet5d] 10/5/2016 19:09

Total to Acquire Saft as Lithium Battery Market Momentum Continues

[comet5d] 08/5/2016 23:35

Apple seeking 800,000-sq feet of space for car project as team reaches around 600 people – WSJ

[thegrumpster] 08/5/2016 09:55

Stratmin must be good for a fundraising or two before then?


BSM a bit short of the cash they were expecting to have by now?

Two of the three scheduled payments (cash or shares) from Liongold, did not seem to be in the BSM quarterlies...unless I was looking in the wrong place. Maybe it's all coming as a lump sum.....sometime.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

A$850 at $150k per month from Dec 31 2015. And $1.3m split into three installments, but cash or shares.


"2
1.3
On or around September 2015, the Company was approached by Bass and commenced negotiations on a possible settlement of the Proposed Sale,
the Proposed Subscription and the Proceedings.
1.4
The Board wishes to announce that the Company has today entered into a deed of settlement(the “Deed of Settlement”) with Bass for the full and final settlement of (and includes) any and all claims made or that may be made by Bass in respect of the Proposed Sale, the Proposed Subscription
, the Proceedings and any underlying facts in connection with the Proceedings(the “Settlement221;).

2.
PRINCIPAL TERMS OF THE DEED OF SETTLEMENT
2.1
Agreed Settlement Sum and Payment Terms
In full and final settlement of all claims the Company and Bass has or may have against each other arising from the Proposed Sale, the Proposed Subscription, and the Proceedings, the Company and Bass have entered in to the Deed of Settlement pursuant to which they have agreed, inter alia:
(i)the Company will make payment of the sum of A$2,500,000 (the “Settlement Sum”) to Bass in the following manner:
(a) A$300,000(the “First Instalment”) to be paid in cash on or before the entry into the Deed of Settlement.
Following a verbal agreement between the Company and Bass on the terms of the Settlement and to formalise the arrangement that the Deed of Settlement be entered into on the basis of such agreed terms, the Company had, as a gesture of goodwill, satisfied the First Instalment by two (2) equal payments of A$150,000 each to Bass on 15 October 2015 and 29 October 2015;
(b) A$850,000 (the “Second Instalment”) to be paid in cash in monthly instalments of not less than A$150,000 each on or before the end of each month commencing 31 December 2015 and ending on and including 30 June 2016, or in any event until the Second Instalment has been paid up in full; and
(c) A$1,350,000 (the “Third Instalment”) to be paid in three (3) equal instalments on 29 February 2016, 31 March 2016 and 30 April 2016, in the manner to be decided in the full and absolute discretion of the Company, either:
(1)by cash; and/or
(2)by the allotment and issuance of fully paid shares in the capital of the Company(“Shares”)to be listed and quoted on the Catalist
Board(“Catalist”) of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (the “
SGX-ST”), subject to the approval of Shareholders and the SGX-ST(where
required).............."

---------------------------------------------


We still have to see if the rainy season has significantly affected operations. Must be about at the end of it, so if operations were affected, they should be back on track by now. With the small amount of money Bass have coughed up so far it seems like it was a waste of time getting involved with them in the fist place.

It might not have been their deliberate intention to stitch up Stratmin in the first place but the lack of expected funds arriving on several occasions can not have had a beneficial effect on progress. And with each delay they seem to have put themselves in a much better position.

Ask a BSM investor if they prefer the September deal, or the latest one. No contest IMO (For them).

On LSE they suggest a delay of a week or so to get hold of a competent person to sign things off after a site visit, before Patersons kick off.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.... is probably the best that can be said IMO.

[thegrumpster] 07/5/2016 13:16

Might well be called Tirupati before then.

[the stigologist] 07/5/2016 13:00

Not from stratmin is my guess

[comet5d] 07/5/2016 12:12

Where will Europe will get it's graphite? Volkswagen targeting 1.5m EV's by 2025 - Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Volvo?

[thegrumpster] 06/5/2016 08:33

It is not wasteful if you are then finding a use for the so called "waste".....micronising it (fine powder) or whatever.

Uncoated spherical graphite is just chunks of graphite of a certain size with the corners knocked of. "Rounded" Graphite would be a more accurate description.

At about $3000 per ton for spherical compared with 3x $1000 for the raw material, it would hardly be worth the effort if the waste was not also used for something else.
(For a very crude idea, compare the volume of a sphere that closely fits in a cube...roughly half of the cube has to be removed to produce the sphere)

If you google image "manufacture of spherical graphite" it is rounded by blasting it between two abrasive discs and probably is (or should be) well within the capabilities of STGR.

But as it looks like the machinery can be added as a side track, to the end of the existing processing plant, it is more likely to be BSM that reaps the benefit. IMO.

No point in shipping off three times the amount, with the half to two thirds "waste", to somewhere else to be processed.

There are quite a few interesting diagrams in google images, for spherical graphite processing .

Abrasive chamber/discs here:



Spherical graphite machinery/making/plant here:(price for 20 sets)

[comet5d] 05/5/2016 22:49

"Global graphite production is roughly 1.19 million tons per year, global production of large flake graphite that's suitable for use in battery grade materials is roughly 380,000 tons. The process of making spherical graphite granules for lithium-ion battery anodes from large flake graphite is wasteful and it generally takes 3.3 kg of flake graphite to produce one kg of battery grade material"

[comet5d] 05/5/2016 22:35

Some more good news


'To be clear, Musk expects Tesla to be producing 500,000 vehicles per year by 2018, a target that was moved up from 2020.'

[illuminati1] 05/5/2016 12:43

Regular Graphite exports from Madagascar to India ports (sabarmati, mundra & vizac sea)Could be Graphmada's (STGR)shipments to India (see RNS)

2 May 20t value $21130
21 April 66t....$41300
13 April 20t
11 April 20t
31 March 66t
25 March 20t
23 March 20t
18 March 20t
....

[illuminati1] 04/5/2016 17:44

GRAPHITE DEMAND FROM LITHIUM ION BATTERIES TO MORE THAN TREBLE IN 4 YEARS4th May 2016Batteries, China, EV, GraphiteBenchmark Mineral Intelligence Demand for graphite (carbon) used as anode material in lithium ion batteries is set to increase by over 200% in the next four years as global cell production surges on the back of maturing pure electric vehicle demand and the inception of the utility storage market.New data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecasts the anode market – which is nearly exclusively served by naturally sourced spherical graphite and synthetically produced graphite – to increase from 80,000 tpa in 2015 to at least 250,000 tpa by the end of 2020 while the market could be as large as 400,000 tpa in the most bullish of cases with no supply restrictions.Taking the most conservative case, Benchmark estimates that over 360,000 tonnes of medium flake graphite will be needed as a feedstock source for the spherical material by 2020. This is nearly a doubling of the flake concentrate market in 2015 should the natural-to-synthetic demand proportions remain the same in 2020.At present, China produces 100% of the world's spherical graphite which is predominately sourced from mines in Heilongjiang province in the country's north-east.Demand is being underpinned by major expansions in the lithium ion battery industry that are underway worldwide as the sector matures from megawatt plants to gigawatt scale operations.Benchmark is tracking at least 12 lithium ion megafactories worldwide, seven of which are located in China and two in the US. By far the largest plant under construction is Tesla Motors' Gigafactory 1 in Nevada – a $5bn investment set to reach its 35GWh capacity by 2020.However, nearly 70% of new lithium ion battery demand for raw materials will be coming from China as the country's major cell manufactures, such as ATL and Lishen, expand their operations in a race to become the world's lowest cost producer.Investments in new lithium ion battery capacity out to 2020 are in excess of $12bn and rising according to Benchmark data.This is set to have a significant impact on demand for graphite anode material as cell manufacturers seek to lock up long term supplies of the material.Battery DemandNatural or synthetic?Today, 65% of all battery anode material is sourced from natural spherical graphite, 30% from synthetic graphite material and the remaining 5% from other alternatives such as lithium titante, silicon and tin used in very small amounts in different technologies and testing of new anode formulas.Analysing the consumption trends over the last 10 years, there is little doubt that battery consumers prefer naturally sourced graphite which is much lower cost to produce and has a lower environmental impact than synthetic graphite.However, consistency of supply remains a problem for the material as the feedstock flake graphite is sourced from multiple mines in China, each of which have different raw material 'signatures' – impurities that vary from mine to mine.With synthetic graphite, as it is man made from lower quality carbon raw materials such as petroleum coke, producers can offer a more consistent product albeit it at a higher price.Prices: Graphite versus lithiumWhile lithium prices are experiencing their strongest ever surge, graphite has lagged behind.Flake graphite – the feedstock source for spherical graphite – is seeing little to no upward pressure after being weighed down by a lack of demand in the steel sector, its primary market.However, new price data from Benchmark has started to show rising prices for uncoated spherical graphite, 99.95% C, 15 micron in size, FOB China.Price ranges in the market have risen from $2,500 to $3,000/tonne in Q4 2015, to $2,800 to $3,200/tonne in Q2 2016.It will take some growth in the battery market – which is presently the second largest end market for natural flake graphite in the derivative spherical form – before it begins to have a meaningful impact on the flake concentrate price. At present, the steel industry, especially in China and the US are far more influential factors.However, should the battery market grow as expected and consumption parameters remain at today's levels, it will overtake refractories as the number one market for flake graphite by 2020.

[comet5d] 04/5/2016 17:16

"If you own something and the fundamentals are good but the stock price isn't, just hang on." Larry Robbins at #Sohn2016

[illuminati1] 04/5/2016 10:33

Bass £8.6M offer = 5.3pCounter bid possible.Other parties interested.The ground is now laid for an explosive rebound. Starting shot imminent.Downstream opportunity with Tirupati's expertiseUltra pure, expandable, micronised graphite. $$$

[illuminati1] 04/5/2016 10:24

Jimbobtechstock LSEI agree - however I believe the stages must also have something to do with regulatory issues around the transaction. If you think about it, given Bass's mcap, if Stratmin takes equity in Bass to even £2m at an early stage in the transaction it will end up in a merger/TO/RTO situation which will potentially leave both companies suspended in the market for a period of time. It might also have a knock-on effect on one or both company's accrued tax loss situation.Whilst I do understand and have taken on board the concerns about the tranche criteria, it also offers a way forwards for Bass, Bass's future investors and Stratmin to maintain a shareholding under any threshold for entering TO phase.I raised this point with Stratmin's CEO and he told me he couldn't talk about the details yet, but I pressed him on what would happen if the tranche criteria were not met and Bass managed to take the asset at a minimum cost. I asked him directly if there would be any buy-back clause or other safeguards against this and he said that would certainly be something a deal like this would have. (He clearly can't tell me any details during this close period).I then did some digging with my contacts and I firmly believe Stratmin have a deal that looks after our interests, funds graph mada properly to consistently deliver quality flake on a low cost base and de-risks our future. I have raised the point repeatedly that the deal seems to cap our upside potential and increase new risks, but I keep coming back to the fact that this deal also massively de-risks funding - and I think anyone looking at the mcap here right now can see the problem with relying on AIM to get that money.So I'm fairly confident that we'll get an acceptable return from the Bass deal, that we will retain shares in Bass that will give us access to some of the upside - yet limiting the downside.The issue under discussion though is rightly the points in your last post. We should be discussing the Bass deal, other alternatives, and the risks it brings us, and the potential rewards. Mine output is not as far as I can establish a major question on the table right now.

[thegrumpster] 04/5/2016 08:55

From LSE

Just about sums it up.

---------------------------------------------------

adamsrups
Posts: 7,816
Off Topic
Opinion: No Opinion
Price: 1.75
Arminus
Tue 21:20
Correct me if I am wrong. We are no longer going to be a graphite producer, will simply help another company (on asx) to become one. In the mean time that company that is buying the producing asset will give part of the purchase monies that will be used funding our bods to assist in getting things on the move, Then stgr will be funded the rest with a Qty of the asx shares which will depend on the asx share price The final payment, if you can call any of it payment, will be piddly royalties which will take how long to hit the 5 mil. it will probably have been worked out that the royalties should cover stgr overheads (bods continual years of lifestyle) while it exists.

----------------------------------------------------------

[illuminati1] 03/5/2016 15:47

Every company has risk but there's an awful amount of value/upside chucked in at this Market cap.

Stratmin Global.......£2.85m
Bass Metals.............£2.85m!

Not much volume on ASX, Aussies seem to be waiting for the deal to go through before the buying frenzy starts. Once deal goes through Bass-Stratmin Market cap on ASX will be...?

Let's see what our of Australian non-producing graphite peers, years away from production, not generating any cash, are valued at...

Australia (ASX) May 3, 2016

Magnis market cap tripled to now $243 million!

Kibaran Resources....A$35m - £18m
Volt Resources..........A$35m - £18m
Talga Resources.......A$42m - £23m
Magnis Resources...A$243m - £126m
Syrah Minerals..A$1.16 Billion!! - £600m

Madagascar peer (TSX-Canada)
Energizer Resources..C$33m - £18m
Production start 2018

Stratmin/Bass.....................£;2.85m!
Hmmm

Chris Berry, Graphite Mining Analyst:

The point of this note is not to pick winners or make companies look bad, but rather to point out some of the inexplicable dislocations in the graphite space.

How can STGR, a graphite producer, have the lowest market capitalization and enterprise value of its peers? Regardless of the industry, shouldn’t a company generating revenues be more valuable than one that isn’t?

A Graphite producer ought to have a higher valuation than aspiring entrants.

After all, the proverbial boxes have been ticked:

Permitting, sufficient infrastructure, customer base, real producing assets (as opposed to highly speculative land with evidence of graphite), revenue and operating cash flow.

As always DYOR
GLA