Frontier Lithium Inc V.FL

CEO Change Conclusive: Perceptive, Knowledgeable Investors

[lithomon]

In reviewing FL forum comments by knowledgeable mining industry investors, the apparent is conclusive, a CEO/President change is required to redirect the highest grade Lithium development in North America.

In a lower lithium price environment, the peer lithium developers PMET and CRE experienced rising share prices on Thursday and Friday (PMET up 65 cents on Friday, approaching $8 a share).
During this concurrent time, Frontier Lithium was massacred in the capital markets and struggling at 50 cents.
A clear indication the "street" is fatigued with the Frontier Lithium non performers.

Although FL's lithium deposit is higher grade than PMET, nonetheless, PMET has the best mining sense, capability and experience to know who to engage (Brinsden & Way) to drive its lithium development to the finish line in just a few years of active exploration, leaving FL standing at the platform in a rubble of talk, incompetence and failure, the result of FL exec's & Directors spinning their wheels for over a decade. 

Given the nepotistic management structure of Frontier for the past decade, preventing the typical normal flow of mining project achievements and timely progressive developments, therefore, the time has now arrived where, if this Board of Directors choose to make an attempt to prove their pedigree of industry capability, either the Chairman of the Board needs to be sidelined or the CEO/President be replaced by an accomplished industry operator or both of the above needs to occur to redirect Frontier on a development pathway similar to its peer, for instance, Patriot Battery Metals (PMET). 


Given FL's progressive market massacre and from the following compilation of forum comments by wise and perceptive FL investors, it is apparent investors and the street have lost confidence in Frontier's mismanaged group to deliver this high grade (ultra low iron) lithium "gift from nature" to some meaningful level of lithium concentrate or compound production.

Just imagine.....an ore body (ore bodies) like this and screw up so badly the timely developments.

A compilation of investor comments are the following (a sampling only, not inclusive of all):  


RioTinto......."Our young CEO is over his head and does not have the requisite experience to deliver here. All talk, no action. All hat, no cattle.  Where is Daddy Reg Walker??  Where is this nameplate Board of Directors? Certainly not here.

A great asset but family arrogance coupled with an ineffective Board thinks they can trump the market dynamics. They can't. I have no confidence in this management team and even less with the so called ineffective, unproductive pedigreed members of the Board.

Time to....demand change because these jockeys are not going to deliver for us."


RidetheWinners......."The ore body will bring the value. Nope. Not until we see some evidence of progress anywhere.
The DFS will have roughly the same effect as the PFS did, nothing. 
The PFS was 18 months late...... 
This company needs a new beginning. A better, clearer business plan, a symbolic show of strength from insiders, and some attempt to reach out to shareholders. 
I do not sense any urgency, any plan, nor any competence. I think it is time for management to change......... 
.....the lithium good ones made sure they had the cash, had a funded drill program, and can withstand the bad times. That is the first duty of the board, and they have failed miserably." 


Diabase comment....."they are pathetic"


Further insight by RidetheWinners......"There has been 70 MILLION shares issued in the last 4 years.
Insiders cannot fund this, they got the company into this mess by not raising the needed capital, but they have not chosen to buy any shares, even at these depressed levels. No moral support even, just silence.....
.....The better the asset actually is, the worse management looks." 


Margin commented........"They need to advance the project in a big way.
There is a HUGE high quality (high concentration and low iron) resource well situated (wide deposit near surface) for surface mining." 


Tiger comments......"The guy running Patriot right now (Ken Brinsden) has a tremendous record of getting plants built so I would in theory be open to some sort or a merger between PMET and FL. 
Walkers.....don't have what it takes to get us where we need to be. Take your buyout and off into retirement you go.
.....this is just business. Don't take it personal. Unless your name is Walker... then just take the money."

More Tiger insight......."I don't have faith in the Walkers to be honest as they seem to prefer hiding to answering questions and providng investors with reasons to stick around. 

Yes, the resource is top notch.....but my hope is some real Austrailian leadership comes in at some point.  These folks *****can't get a road built never mind a mine or a processing plant."*****

Replicator......."Most lithium juniors are starting to slowly recover. We are still going backwards!"

Raff......."two days in a row that Morgan Stanley is unloading"

Further insight by Tiger......."If the family and Board are so commited to this project I would expect them to be purchasing shares to display confidence in the project......at least to provide shareholders some reassurance. The communication from Trevor and the Board is pathetic and almost negligent....
If the grade was not as high as it is, I would be long gone based on management alone. 
I hope at some point a grown up mining company....gets involved and gets this project on track..... It's been long enough." 

SFCT1978......"I would definitely like to see some communication from the company on the winter road status, status of offtakes and/or partnerships...or just an update of WTH is going on.......Why isn't Rick, Trevor, all the management team not adding to their positions at this cheap price point?"

Mookster comments......."Chart below shows that Phase I mining of the higher-grade Pak pegmatite (10 mmt @ 2.0 % Li2O) remains highly profitable...." ($92 million annual operating profit)

Operating profit C$/t milled	$230/t
Operating profit  C$/annum  (@ 0.4 mmt/a milled)2	$92 mm

 m73hx454 commented....."large player will make a take-over offer soon for Frontier...so cheap now.....just try to buy it....in case the lithium market moves into deficit in the future, and then if need be, they will **pay for the road themselves**.
Not a problem at all for the major global mining companies."

Along the same line of thought as Mookster and m73, Lithomon comments......
"initially, Frontier can almost begin lithium operations by drilling, blasting and crushing "high" grade Direct Shipping Lithium ore and trucking or railing to the Quebec lithium processor.....It is now up to Lithium Legends like Ken Brinsden of PMET .... to acquire the likes of Frontier in the pennies and accomplish what Frontier leadership was not able to deliver to shareholders.......PMET has the right "hard rock" lithium experience and leadership and brings the backing of Albemarle with capital and downstream lithium processing capabilities and distribution network."

Lithium advisors/investment bankers Howard Klein (USA) and Rodney Hooper (Australia), in previous podcast, Frontier Lithium is referred to as moving at the pace of a tortoise.

Finally, Mr. Lithium, Joe Lowery (originally from Buffalo USA area) makes reference to Frontier Lithium in podcast, Oh....Frontier, "they've been at this for YEARS & YEARS & YEARS." (painfully & comically expressed by Mr. Lithium)

Conclusion and General Investor Consensus:

The Issue:

This extended MBA learning experience seeking out a minor in mining industry knowledge at the cost of shareholder investment dollars (return on capital invested) needs to be brought to an end.
(if haven't learned how to get it done in 10+ years then this learning exercise must swiftly be brought to an end by the company Directors)

The Result:

In the attempt to successfully micro manage the highest grade Lithium development in North America to ensure continuous family control at every project step at the expense of not being in production at the height of the Lithium market pricing fundamentals,....well.......all the comments above have concisely detailed the end result fallout and current status of Frontier's stage of lithium development and corporate position. 

The Remedy:

The VP Exploration/Geology (my understanding, the seasoned Cameco guy) who systematically proved up Frontier's high grade, high value lithium resource is likely the best individual at this time to oversee the company getting to production in as short a time as possible (to turn back the clock sort of speak and redirect the timeline to production).

I have confidence this individual will make the right contacts and act on the right advice and experience to fast track Frontier Lithium to some degree of lithium/spodumene production as Frontier remains profitable in the lower lithium price environment.

In other words, the current CEO moves back to the family business that was mentioned in these comments over the past few days, I believe it was mentioned some type of drilling & blasting business, I presume a "private" entity where micro managing may not be as detrimental in a private company as it is within a publicly listed enterprise.

To accomplish this corporate remedy, the Directors will have to be "men & women" and display some Kahunas without the influence of a major shareholder by their side.

For that reason, this major shareholder needs to abstain in this decision making vote (significant conflict of interest).

Upon successful completion of this action, I envision Frontier Lithium rising to reflect the valuation of its peers, for instance, PMET, as the roadblocks to Frontier's movement forward are skillfully handled with the right type of managing experience and communication.