RE:RE:SALT DOMES Absolutely. I was watching VRTX as it rose. I can understand how it rose so quickly. SALT saw the same rise last Summer to $4.48. This was based completely on hydrogen hype and investors not understanding the dynamics.
The first alarm bell for me was that while ATCM was closing it's first tranche of the PP (50 cents), the share price rose to $1.60-$1.70 before closing and management did not adjust the PP pricing. Fine, they had protections in place and the deal was likely subscribed for. However, admidst this management increased the PP two-fold and did not increase the PP issuance price all while the share price shot to $2.32. The message to me with this series of events is that management & knowledegable PP participants still valued the PP at 50 cents for the base on the PP based on the assessed risk. As management, if I saw an easy path to raise additional capital...I'd take it. That didn't happen. I'm actually surprised VRTX hung in the $1.60-$1.70 range so long in the last week or so post PP.
Now those that got in on that ride are hoping ATCM gets the same treatment. One can't rule out that the hype train doesn't take one on a ride as well. At some point ATCM & VRTX may find domes suitable for storage. However, the big question is will they find targets that are large enough to house enough caverns to make them econimically viable. The other thing that people are overlooking is that it's not like there's not already a well-rooted player with world class assets already well ahead from a development perspective. TPR already has identified a dome with enough confirmed storage potential for all of the West Coast hydrogen plays. So, not only are VRTX and ATCM competing to find useable assets amongst themselves, they are also up against an established, sizable asset already in play. My guess is both a trying to find domes that someone like GH2 would maybe buy for its own project based on physical proximity to the projects so that these players can avoid the TPR play. Right now both companies are raising capital to do surveys & drilling to hopefully strike it big.
The other thing I see posted is that some say that if VRTX/ATCM didn't have 'the goods', they wouldn't engage RESPEC for additional non-survey work. I disagree. In the case of a salt dome, neither will know if they have anything remotely viable unless a firm like RESPEC does the analysis and tells these companies what they may/may not have. There is no question they have possible domes. Are they economically viable is a different question that they need RESPEC to help answer and that can't be done unless the additional work takes place.