Can you all remember the time when NB signed a confidentiality agreement with Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, nearly four years ago, and we were told that NB will hit the ground running with financing as soon as the FS is out?
Can you all remember MS saying time and time again (pre-FS) that a whole number of potential investors is in the starting blocks, anxiously waiting for the FS to pull the trigger?
I guess I mentioned already the famous investor telephone conference in November last year, where we were told the same thing (post-FS) and were made to believe that financing was imminent?
Then we were left to believe that the 3rd party technical review would be the last and final hurdle for financing. It was NOT!
Because then came the revelation that potential investors did not buy the FS' assumptions on Scandium and Niobium markets and that a third party assessment on these markets would be needed prior to financing, and once again, we were let to believe that this report would be the last and final hurdle for financing. It was NOT!
Because then came the revelation that a major technical redesign with regard to dewatering was needed, partially because they were facing significant issues with the 408 permit as early as February 2018. Of course, we were not even told about these issues, but had to read about them in Jim Sims' written testimony to the Senate months later!
So here we are, a year after the FS release, and still not the slightest indication that financing will be announced within the next 12 months.
Al we hear from management ist: "Financing? Oh, yes it's going great! It's been going great for months and years indeed!"
Anyone who expects an honest update on how financing is really going and what to expect in the next couple of weeks from MS tomorrow is clearly delusional. We will NOT be hearing anything on
- how the preliminary approval for cover by the UFK (German loan guarantee programme) is going, which should have been received months ago if everything was going like planned,
- what the independent market reports on Scandium Niobium were saying about future Scandium pricing and its potential vis a vis the assumptions in the FS,
- how NB and IBC are doing on the joint Scandium products which were supposed to be tested for commercial purposes months ago,
- how Nordmin is doing with regard to the Canadian export guarantees,
- whether potential investors have any other requirements that might take another 12 months to fullfill.
