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Hi Terry,
in simple words - what is your expectation for next week ER and CC?
Do you think we'll get some final news of next acquisition as stated by Dennis Gilles in idahostatesman?
Happy Sunday!
If so I guess that Feld & Volk (via MacRumors) knows about used inserted logo of the iPad mini chassis but they called here "very extraordinary" ...
They just have that license for products in CE ... so what
They won't get any revenue which is countable by Apple for products in CE but when they really get the honour to be the Apple-Logo inside of an iPhone .... they have the most available "revenue"!
More presence is not possible .... from a marketing perspective!
I think it has a chance of being LM. but only a slim one.
... a pun? This is what LM is made for ... to be slim!
Anyway ... how do you think the logo surface is made of? It looks very smoothy or how would you call it?
separate polishing? - Never!
I think this is what it comes out of a moulding machine ... a little liquid appearance!
He won't be present at the CC next Tuesday ... for any requests
Whatever machine this logo made for me it looks like LM material.
The surface and precision of making looks like injection moulding.
Another point is the size and it seems to match 80g per shot easily.
When you think about it makes sense from a special point of view. AAPL is a strong(est) trademark and I guess that this logo is going to be the strongest part in the iPhone as well.
Latest article by 'venturebeat' confirms my guess that there is no LM-frame. It seems likely to find some smaller parts inside made out of LM when using a magnifier.
No surprise at all and by the way not the best horse in the barn.
Let's change the place regarding more realistic manufacturing processes where 'our' Mgt is able to say something about it.
I hate this explosive quiteness!
http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/06/apples-iphone-6-line-will-sport-faster-wi-fi-improved-fingerprint-reader-a8-chip-confirmed-exclusive/
Yap, Management is pleased to provide adequate information regarding shareholder questions. Give it a try!
Pardon but "second quarter of 2014" is not the third one or later. Correct me but the 2nd one ended on June, the 30th. It looks we have TalkMaster and not a project manager ...
Elon Musk (Chief Designer and CEO SpaceX)
"Through 3D printing, robust and high-performing engine parts can be created at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional manufacturing methods. SpaceX is pushing the boundaries of what additive manufacturing can do in the 21st century, ultimately making our vehicles more efficient, reliable and robust than ever before."
http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/07/31/spacex-launches-3d-printed-part-space-creates-printed-engine-chamber-crewed
Marginalia
Army Technology (Focus: 3D Printing)
http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/c/downloads/352196.pdf
Liquidmetal Technologies Inc (OTCBB:LQMT) Shaky Despite High Volumes
http://www.hotstocked.com/article/87717/liquidmetal-technologies-inc-otcbb-lqmt-shaky.html
What is your message?
Gorgol,
I hope your 'game changer' will keep staying in the U.S. - I don't need that stuff here ...
If you're looking for some gains or revenues with LQMT then your 'game changer' hopefully will never ever working.
Man!
Let's hope that capability of industrial process will go ahead and is working some day ... anything else is ... nitpicking!
SWATCH: CEO Nick Hayek takes the fight on against Apple and their planned "iWatch". The Swatch Group itself is entering the booming market of fitness bracelets. "We are in 2015 all fitness functions in a Swatch Touch to integrate", Hayek said in an interview with the "NZZ am Sonntag". Although it remains a clock, but will include all commonly used today fitness functions with which the body is monitored. The Swatch Group can draw on the existing expertise of the subsidiary EM Microelectronic for this step. Experts predict that the market for electronic health bracelets is to reach $ 7 billion by 2018. The report, according to which the Swatch Group and Apple "work together in a number of watches of different brands" are, according to Hayek is "a duck". He denies that there is a collaboration to build a Smart Watch with Apple.
Translated from German to English with support by "babelfish.de"
NZZ am Sonntag = New Zurich Newspaper on Sunday (Suisse)
http://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/newsticker/presseschau-vom-wochenende-30-2627-juli-1.18351830
U.S. Geothermal profits heat up
Now in the black, the Boise company is looking to add to its energy portfolio
Six months of retirement was enough for Dennis Gilles.
He took overseas trips he'd had no time for in 23 years as an executive at California energy company Calpine Corp. He tinkered with his 1967 Ford Mustang at his home in Sonoma County. But drinks by the pool got old. He was bored.
So Gilles accepted a position in 2011 on the board at U.S. Geothermal, a tiny company in Boise.
"I was still antsy, still feeling I had a lot to contribute," he said. "I was well known and well connected in the geothermal world. I wasn't done by any means."
Less than two years later, Gilles succeeded founder Daniel Kunz as U.S. Geothermal's CEO.
The groundwork was already laid for the company to turn its first profit in 11 years when Gilles took over in 2013. Now, Gilles says he plans to build U.S. Geothermal into a large-scale power company.
The company reported a $4.1 million profit in 2013 after having lost $20 million since 2010 developing power plants near Vale, Ore., and San Emidio in northern Nevada. Those plants, which together cost $172 million to build, are now making money.
Sales nearly tripled to $27.4 million last year as Idaho Power began buying power from the Oregon plant. The company is developing additional projects, including one in Northern California and a plant in Guatemala that could become its best producer.
"Now that we're profitable, we don't have to go out and sell shares - and further dilute our shares - in order to keep the lights on," Gilles said. "We're not in that boat anymore."
FOOT IN THE DOOR
Geothermal plants don't take much manpower to operate. U.S. Geothermal employs just 48 workers spread among its three operating plants and its headquarters at 390 E. ParkCenter Blvd.
The trick to making money starts with finding a spot that has an abundance of water more than 3,000 feet down that is heated to hundreds of degrees by the Earth's molten core. Finding those spots is hit or miss, said John Van Haren, who oversees U.S. Geothermal plant operations.
"Once science is able to say, 'Drill right there,' then it'll be a no-brainer," Van Haren said.
The second trick is scraping together tens of millions of dollars for drilling from banks or investors who can't be sure that the location will work.
U.S. Geothermal found a less risky first project by buying Idaho's first and only geothermal plant near Raft River, about 50 miles west of Pocatello. The U.S. Department of Energy invested $44 million drilling wells and built a test plant there during President Jimmy Carter's administration in the late 1970s, Kunz said.
The Energy Department ran the plant for a year before shutting it down and shipping its equipment to a site in Nevada, Kunz said. Gilles said the department's only goal for the plant was to test a new design that transfers heat from geothermal water to a refrigerant to power generators, instead of using steam. Afterward, the department closed the plant and shipped its equipment elsewhere. Sagebrush grew in its stead.
Kunz had developed mining sites before starting U.S. Geothermal. He liked the idea of a mininglike venture that would do little environmental damage. He saw Raft River as a chance to acquire a proven site without paying the average drilling cost of $5 million per well.
"The idea was to build something that's profitable, that is attractive to investors," he said. "But it's also this whole green energy thing, creating electricity that we all need. It's like the air we breathe, and it should be done in a way that doesn't have a huge impact on the earth."
Kunz launched U.S. Geo-thermal in 2002. The company leased the property and invested $40 million building a plant on top of the existing wells.
"I was financing the whole damn thing in those early stages," Kunz said. "I want low risk. I don't want to be drilling holes. I don't want to be guessing what resource is there. We were blessed with the Raft River site."
The plant went online in 2008 and now produces 10 megawatts of electricity, which the company sells to Idaho Power - enough to power about 10,000 homes. A 1978 federal law requires electric utilities to buy power from independent producers. U.S. Geothermal partnered with Goldman Sachs on the project and secured an $11 million Energy Department loan.
It is the formula that U.S. Geothermal has employed since by acquiring its San Emidio and California plants. Future acquisitions - which Gilles said are on the way - likely will follow the Raft River template.
FIRST ONE'S HARDEST
The geothermal industry is littered with bankrupt companies that ran into problems building their first power plant, industry analyst Alex Richter said. He is a former board member of the Geothermal Energy Association, a former energy analyst for an Icelandic investment bank and founder of ThinkGeoEnergy Magazine.
The industry mirrors mining and natural gas drilling, Richter said. Their companies search for a resource. They require speculators to invest millions to start projects. They offer high-risk investments.
Many geothermal executives come from sister industries, including Kunz, who left a job as president and chief operations officer at Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. to found U.S. Geothermal, and then returned to mining last year.
The difference between geothermal and mining, Richter said, is that mining offers speculators the potential for a large, quick payout if miners find a mother lode of gold or natural gas. Geothermal plants basically operate as utility companies. Successful geothermal projects reward speculators with metered profits spanning decades.
Banks in the U.S. won't touch many geothermal projects because of the risk, especially from unproven companies, Richter said. Financing foreign projects is simpler because international banks and the federal government's Export-Import Bank are less averse to geothermal, he said.
NEAL HOT SPRINGS
Raising money from bank loans, investors or stock sales becomes easier after geothermal companies can show off a successful project. For U.S. Geothermal, that was Neal Hot Springs.
Located 90 miles northwest of Boise, the site was the company's first start-to-finish development that proved it could find geothermal heat and secure $128 million for drilling and development. Most importantly, the project proved U.S. Geothermal could make money. The site's four wells pump hot water to the surface spin turbines that generate a net of 22 megawatts of electricity, which the company sold for $15.6 million in 2013, again to Idaho Power, under a 25-year contract.
To finish the project, U.S. Geothermal sold a 40 percent share to Canadian energy delivery company Enbridge Inc. The site also received a $97 million low-interest loan from the DOE, a $33 million federal grant and a $7.3 million business energy tax credit from the state of Oregon.
"It's a premium asset, the hallmark going away from the Raft River and San Emidio template," Kunz said. "Neal Hot Springs had a lot more risk, but with a lot more understanding."
U.S. Geothermal was prudent but also lucky that Neal Hot Springs was successful, Richter said. Instead of stumbling like the companies that abandon half-completed projects, U.S. Geo-thermal now has a star in its portfolio that will help the company secure financing for future projects and solicit investors, he said.
The company's newfound profit allowed it to buy a site at the Geysers Steam Field, 75 miles north of San Francisco, in April for $6.4 million. Previous owner Ram Power Corp. invested $96 million developing the site but had to give up after a project in Nicaragua lost money, Richter said.
A BIG-NAME HIRE
Kunz laid much of the groundwork for the company's ascent into profitability: Raft River, Neal Hot Springs and San Emidio started on his watch, as did the development of the El Ceibillo site in Guatemala. It has the potential to produce 50 megawatts of electricity for a regional power company.
Kunz, 62, left in April 2013 to pursue mining projects with his new Boise company, Daniel Kunz & Associates.
"Early-stage development that's extremely high-risk and laden with pitfalls that can cause a company to fail at any point on the road - that's where my expertise is," Kunz said. "At the point it was self-sustaining, it was a perfect time to bring in a new guy who can take this thing to the next level."
Gilles, 56, was the contractor who built Calpine's first geothermal plant in 1989. He later joined the company to manage a plant and eventually became a Calpine vice president. Since then, Calpine has grown into the largest independent producer of natural gas and geothermal energy in the U.S., producing around 26,000 megawatts of electricity. U.S. Geothermal now produces 45.
He retired from Calpine in 2011 at age 53 when the company asked him to move from California to Houston to oversee natural gas operations, a job he didn't want.
Gilles said he turned down several offers to become CEO or a board member before taking the board position with U.S. Geothermal, a company he'd targeted to buy when he was at Calpine.
"To hire Dennis in the last phase of building plants and now running them was very, very smart," Richter said. "He has experience with running plants and not just building them up. It's a classic startup scenario where the actual founder is not the best person to run the company."
Gilles earned $881,342 in 2013. In his last year as CEO in 2012, Kunz earned $279,518. Kunz remained on the payroll as a consultant for the following year with a $94,736 salary.
EMPIRE BUILDING
Gilles took over and promptly looked for sites to buy. He started with Geysers, a site where previous owners drilled five wells. U.S. Geothermal also acquired nearly $70 million in tax credits and $3 million in casing and drill pipe. The company will either develop a steam project to sell to a neighboring power plant in a year or build its own plant in two years, Gilles said.
Gilles relishes the chance to build an empire, which he couldn't do at Calpine. He said the company will announce another site purchase in the same vein as the Geyser acquisition by the end of summer.
The company is studying other sites for additional expansion. It is not considering moving its headquarters from Boise or selling, Gilles said.
"The next step is growing," he said. "There's a whole fleet we're looking at to see if there's something there. With each we look at, is that site just a patch of lawn? Or is it an attractive opportunity?"
Zach Kyle: 377-6464, @IDS_zachkyle
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/07/23/3291847/us-geothermal-profits-heat-up.html?sp=/99/103/
Materion Is Getting Better And Taking The Valuation With It
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2315125-materion-is-getting-better-and-taking-the-valuation-with-it
They were more intelligent enough not to make a MTA with Apple then a multi-year supply agreement ....
http://www.ceramicindustry.com/articles/93590-gt-advanced-technologies-enters-sapphire-materials-agreement-with-apple
Sometimes it's more easy to post a question then make your own DD?!
Liquidmetal in Future Apple Products?
http://seeknomore.blogspot.de/2014/07/liquidmetal-in-future-apple-products.html
I don't know when 'target' was setup here but it's soooo funny!
1y Target Est: 2.36
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=LQMT&x=47&y=17
GE Aviation is getting more and more familiar with 3D printing for serial production of jet engines.
One step before 'next' materials to print?
http://www.engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/8048/GE-Aviation-to-Invest-50M-in-Alabama-3D-Printing-Facility.aspx
U.S. Geothermal is Building Up Steam Again (HTM)
http://www.smallcapnetwork.com/U-S-Geothermal-is-Building-Up-Steam-Again-HTM/s/via/1789/article/view/p/mid/1/id/470/
Moderators - where are you?
Since yesterday we've got some news and they're called 'mid-year update'!
Thank you!
page 7 (corporate presentation)
"... 2014 Annual Generation --> 294,400 – 338,100MWh"
http://www.usgeothermal.com/PDF/Corporate_Presentation_June_2014.pdf
Mid-Year Update
" ... The total generation from all of our units for the first half of 2014 was 173,272 megawatt-hours ..."
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/us-geothermal-provides-mid-year-update-tsx-gth-1929239.htm
I guess that total generation will go up to 340MWh in 2014 because of already finished maintenance and so far medium summer. JMO
U.S. Geothermal Provides Mid-Year Update
Neal Hot Springs, Oregon
reflecting a 27% increase
San Emidio, Nevada
this was offset by second quarter generation falling short of prior year generation by 13% as a result of an extended outage taken in April.
The extended outage was required to perform a one-time warranty modification to the turbine that added a squeeze film damper, or 5th bearing, to the unit to reduce vibration. Squeeze film dampeners were also previously added successfully to the three units at Neal Hot Springs in 2013.
Raft River, Idaho
reflecting a 7% increase
The total generation from all of our units for the first half of 2014 was 173,272 megawatt-hours, compared to 150,341 megawatt-hours for the first half of 2013, reflecting a 15% increase over the prior year period", said Dennis Gilles
El Ceibillo, Guatemala
As a result, we now believe that the underlying resource plume is much more expansive than was previously thought, and to fully access it for maximum production, additional surface leases were required. We have successfully negotiated a new lease, which increases our surface lease position from 17 acres to 97 acres.
San Emidio, Nevada
As a result of the delays experienced in permitting these additional wells, we have determined that it is not possible to complete the Phase II project within the development time frame required in the existing 19.9 megawatt NV Energy power purchase agreement ("PPA"). If this additional drilling is successful, a new PPA will be obtained.
WGP Geysers, California
We applied for a 12 month extension for the Sonoma County Conditional Use Permit to construct the 26 megawatt power plant, and it was approved on June 12.
An application was also made to the Sonoma County Air Quality Board for a permit to conduct flow tests on the four production wells drilled in 2009. The Air Quality permit was approved on June 19th.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
We have one acquisition where we have agreed to terms and are finalizing documentation, and if completed we would expect to announce later this summer. We have also completed our initial due diligence and have offers pending on a few other opportunities, and are in active due diligence on several other excellent opportunities as well. We are optimistic that several of these will come to fruition. We also continue to evaluate other strategic growth opportunities.
REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT UPDATE
Senate Bill S-2260 would extend the current tax credits available to new geothermal plants for an additional 2 years. Under the proposed bill, plants that begin construction by December 31, 2015 would be eligible for a 30% Investment Tax Credit ("ITC"), or alternatively a 10 year Production Tax Credit ("PTC").
Senate Bill SB-1139 has been introduced to legislate that 500 MW of the replacement must come from new geothermal development.
Similarly in Nevada, SB-123 was approved and signed into law, requiring the closure of ~1200MW of coal plants, and required that the energy be replaced with at least 600 MW from renewable energy facilities. NV Energy is planning to issue three 100 MW RFP's beginning in late 2014.
"Natural gas prices in the United States are seeing a recovery from their recent lows. These rising gas prices are expected to create additional demand for renewable energy within the western United States, particularly for non-intermittent resources, such as predictable and dependable, base load, geothermal power. With a strong potential for improving regulatory support for geothermal energy, we are very optimistic that we will see an increase in demand, and with the anticipated approval of the Federal incentives, that we will correspondingly be able to offer new geothermal resources at competitive and attractive prices", said Dennis Gilles, Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Geothermal Inc.. "The expansion of our generation pool and development pipeline, should position us well for this anticipated opportunity."
Ohhhh yeahhhhh!!!!
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/us-geothermal-provides-mid-year-update-tsx-gth-1929239.htm
Great fight yesterday and a deserved winner Germany ...
I had a dream!
Thomas W. Steipp
Bonus $137,015
Wow - bonus?! I can't find the words.
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=547624&ticker=LQMT&previousCapId=2038991&previousTitle=LIQUIDMETAL%20TECHNOLOGIES%20INC
Just a second ... from my point of view we don't have to have a look whether there are some more workers then 14 at LQMT site or not ... Apple has a MTA with LQMT is allowed to manufacture and is (more) professional with machine capabilities then LQMT will ever be ... and that's ok. LQMT still don't need a facility for production as well because that is not the core competence ...
Main problems are still Mgt, no revenue with contracts and public relations. Everything else "we" can handle!
Nice Sunday ...
24 years later .... I hope it works!
Brazil --> 4th star after 24 years of the 3rd
Italy --> 4th star after 24 years of the 3rd
Tschallaaaaalalllaaaaaa .... Schland!
A Real Iron Man Suit for the U.S. Military Still Needs a Hollywood Touch
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/07/08/military_project_talos_tactical_assault_light_operator_suit_they_re_hiring.html
Pictures?
Here?
To ponder?
What is your message?
Good reminder, watts ...
So, there is one man in Apple team more who is more than familiar with LQMT and LM alloys in watch cases ...
Next piece in the puzzle in the over 400 million one ...
Google it ...
Apple hires sales director of Swiss watch maker TAG Heuer for anticipated 'iWatch' launch
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/07/04/apple-hires-sales-director-of-swiss-watch-maker-tag-heuer-for-anticipated-iwatch-launch
Geothermal energy may be undervalued in the US
http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/geothermal-energy-may-undervalued-us/8518193/