Post by
74volfram on Jul 23, 2015 5:33pm
maybe different this time ...
The Ecclestone article is very similar to the piece he wrote from Hallgarten in January. Ecclestone strongly believes in consolidation for the tungsten sector and he is obviously very happy that Almonty is persisting in this direction. The conclusion of the piece is however stronger than in the January article: "Almonty’s goal is to become the “smartest guys on the block” in Tungsten and they have already achieved that goal with their first mine. Within another year or two they will have four producing Tungsten mines, diversified around the globe, with production costs that match or better the Chinese. This metal has been crying out for a consolidator and finally Almonty has arrived to claim the title."
Is there something different in store this time? Pure speculation here, but there is piece of info hidden at the end of the Edison report on Almonty (issued after the initial WOF investment) that may be hinting to something different may be in the works this time:
"Being a strategic investor in Woulfe, Almonty’s intention is to combine the assets of the two companies .... However, the company acknowledges that its future steps with respect to its shares in Woulfe will largely depend on capital and tungsten market conditions."
https://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.com/research/report/almonty-industries7
Edison is a semi-insider to Almonty. The update report was written right after the initial Almonty investment date (June 4). The fact that just one month later the two boards announced their recommendation to merge the companies would suggest that maybe something did change with respect to either capital or market conditions. Did they see tungsten market improving? Or did they see a way to secure capital to finance the project?