RE:RE:RE:RE:Alex Holmes interviewed by "Proactive Investors" at PDAC Hi Popeye,
That "veeeeery sceptical" you mention is what have been behind PLU underrating since always, but before you press the "sell" button I have to tell you (you may already know this) that PLU has two different proyects, which are very apart from each other: Macusani Uranium Project and Falachani Lithium Project. Right now the company is investing most of its resources in the latter, with the PEA currently underway and drilling about to commence to convert resources into reserves. From recent (not official) information we know that Falchani construction is projected to begin at some point between late 2020 and early 2021, and you should know that Falchani does not depend on uranium legislation, as most drilling there hasn't intercepted any uranium. in fact, this no-dependence on uranium legislation was confirmed in a recent interview Ulises Solis granted to "Rumbo Minero" peruvian magazine.
But as Dr. Stefan pointed out last year, there's so much uranium in Macusani that it'd be a commercial sin not to exploit it, and that's why the Company has taken advantage of lithium urgency to press for the uranium legislation that would allow PLU to get the full value out of its assets.
How the Folk sees Uranium Mining in Peru? Well, Peru is a mining country, so when a new resource is found, like has been the case with uranium and lithium, the question is not "are we going to explit it?" but rather it is "how are we going to exploit it?", "who will exploit it?", "what will be the benefits of the project?, "who will be the beneftiary?", "how are we going to minimize the impact?" and so on. Uranium mining can be dangerous for people but more dangerous is being extreme poor. The good news is that at the government they knows this, and after PLU announcements the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute (INGEMMET) has been prospecting the whole peruvian territory to see if they can find similar lithium and uranium footprints.
How the Folk sees PLU projects? Well, they certainly don't "see" them, and I think that on this we can blame peruavian press; they haven't kept people informed about PLU progress, and when they have informed they have made false or imprecise statements, like saying that lithium is "entangled" with uranium, that lithium mining would be "undergound", and so on. As a result, very few people in Peru speak about PLU projects, so to know these opnions I had to dive deep on the web. Quoting my previous post in this thread:
Since the project was publicly announced I have been monitoring the different opinion forums and spaces of ideas exchange in Peru, and I can tell you that, although the level of misinformation is somewhat alarming, in general I have not found any significant opposition to the projects of PLU. There are some skeptics about lithium due to the “oversupply”, other pessimists (due to the election of Aduviri) who believe that “exploiting uranium in Puno” is like “walking the tightrope drunk”, and others who are very excited about the potential of the project to reduce poverty in Puno. However, the vast majority assumes that the project will be successful, and that the Government's efforts should focus on obtaining maximum benefits and minimizing harmful effects, such as pollution. Even the opponents of the project maintain an attitude of resignation, because they believe that nothing will prevent "the corrupt government" from opening the doors to the foreign company in order to get their “slice”.
Regarding that "uranium decision" that is getting nearer and nearer, it shouldn't be considered as a "decision". Right now PLU is allowed to mine uranium by the General Mining Law; what needs to be regulated is just transport and export/import of uranium, which Government have been doing trying to follow the best international practices. Once the required legal framework is developed it will be passed to Congress when it's going to be debated and hopefully approved without significant observations, which I think will be the case, since the majority of the Congress is right-wing.
But it's also true that this year PLU will get an above-normal exposure in Peru as PEA figures are published and the uranium legal framework is debated. The few opositors of uranium mining in Peru, mainly leftists (we have no national environmentalists), will make their best efforts to put public opinion against uranium mining, and the company will face what in my previous post I called the "litmus test". But opositors don't seem very optimist about these efforts, as you can see by reading the "Open letter" from Marco Arana to President Vizcarra about uranium mining in Peru. Why does Arana "sends" the letter to Vizcarra and not to his fellow congressmen? Because he know he will be defeated in Congress, so his only hope is to send the lleter directly to the president and make it public to see if he can influence public opinion. But the letter was sent in August last year and ever since there has not been any meaninful reaction from the Folk.
This year there are going to be many blog posts, articles, columns written on these affairs, that's for sure. But think it twice before pressing that "sell" button, you could be a victim of misinformation.