RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:BIG Enviro Issues At Sangdong. @5ilver what info do we have to state the equipment is being stockpiled instead of the plant being built? To my knowledge there have not been any pictures of the construction site in a long time, so how can we know? In his last presentation LB stated that he has a tonne of pictures but no time to put them on the website. Loan drawdowns keep happeing as per the drawdown schedule, what are they doing with the money?
Just about every mine I’ve ever watched being built has had their share of environmentalist types opposing the project. These people have no limits in what they are willing to do to sabotage the construction of a mine. Lying, orchestrating misinformation campaigns and illegally protesting is not beneath them. I’ve watched environmentalist chain themselves to projects and get Hollywood types involved to attempt to get public opinion changed.
Is the source of this news reputable? One should be able to google this and get all kinds of articles on this by multiple sources instead of a poorly written and researched article fraught with errors.
The article states that Almonty owned the Sangdong mine in 2007 when in fact Almonty bought the mine in 2015.
The article states that POSCO is the EPC on the project but this has not been the case for well over 2 years.
The article states: “On August 26, Yeongwol-gun issued an order to purify the soil to Almontie based on the results of a soil investigation, but it was disobeyed.” Disobeyed? Does this sound realistic? Would management or directors not have been put in jail by now? Would there not have been an injunction against the continued construction of the mine? Would this info not have had to be released to all stakeholders? Would this not be all over the news?
The article which is dated December 2022 states that “After a transparent deliberation, a decision on whether to approve the project will be made within this month.” There was no news on any such deliberation.
The article also states the following:
Meanwhile, an official from the countermeasures committee said that Almonty chairman (Lewis Black) and German bank officials who visited Sangdong in early October had agreed to meet with them, but they could not meet due to a unilateral cancellation.
They “are angry at the arrogance and ignorance of the local community by a foreign company that ignored the local residents and unilaterally canceled the interview . Lim said, “If the government wastes even a penny of people’s tax money on mine development that harms the right to live and the environment and ecosystem of local residents and hinders the national interest, it will cause resentment from not only Sangdong-eup and Yeongwol-gun, but also the entire nation, and cause a headwind . It will be,” he declared.
LOL so KfW, the German state owned bank that relies on its reputation of 100% success is not only aware of but complicit in this? Again, the article in dated December 2022 yet during Q1 of 2023 KfW agreed to the 4th drawdown of funds by Almonty for continued construction of the mine. The above statement has NIMBY activism written all over it.
Additionally the mine is being built to ESG and Equator Principal standards. This was forced upon the company by KfW as a condition to them lending Almonty the money for construction of the mine. It stands to reason that if the soil was contaminated we could now no longer meet those standards yet KfW bank keeps agreeing to additional drawdowns by the company.
Also KfW bank took 4 years and 12 days to do their (as LB put it) “exhaustive and forensic” due diligence on the company before approving the loan. It’s really hard to believe that they would have missed something like this if it is something that could jeopardize the project viability.
If anybody can easily find this info on the internet surely Insiders, Directors and Management would be aware of it right? So why do they all keep investing additional money in the company through capital raises?
My impression is that the organization making these claims about contaminated soil seems to have no “teeth” to enforce ANYTHING and may not even be a government agency. “The countermeasures committee” LOL that’s cute!
If all of this were true it would indeed be fraudulent misrepresentation by Almonty Management and Board of Directors. But that’s precisely the point, does it make sense that they would risk it all? Everything they’ve worked for? Their personal reputations, the financial well being of their families, criminal records etc? Personally I won’t be pressing the sell button just yet thanks!