Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  Another day off and more time to research my favorite company.  I just noticed today that LAC published a new November corporate update around 10 days after their original November Corporate update was published.  Listed below are the material changes that I noted between the two presentations:

·        Throughout the update they are now calling TP the largest known “sedimentary” project in the US.  It was always referred to as “clay” in past updates.  Why the change other than sounding smarter or moving away from a clay reference?

·        On the Capital Structure slide (#6), the outstanding share count increased from 91.5M to 96.1M (see the Oct 20 ATM press release for details)

·        On the Capital Structure slide (#6), Bangchak was previously listed as a 15.5% owner and they are now down to 12.2% (As of today, they are getting close to less than 10% from what I understand)

·        On the lithium market update slide (#8, first showed up in early Nov), LAC previously showed Lithium Carbonate and Lithium Hydroxide pricing.  In the most recent update, LAC is only showing market pricing for Lithium Carbonate.  Have they finalized their “potential joint venture partner” yet?  I know at least two large car manufacturers that prefer carbonate vs. hydroxide……

·        On the TP permitting schedule slide (#15), did they move the goal posts?  The language went from “Final EIS to be issued” and “record of decision” to “Final EIS expected to be issued” and “record of decision expected”.  As a shareholder, I prefer what they previously said and am not a big fan of words like “expected”, “anticipated” or “targeted”.

·        On the TP development schedule slide (#18), they previously said “The company anticipates the of phase 1 construction in the first half of 2021”.  They are now saying, “The company anticipates all major permits in Q1 2021”.  Why do they no longer comment on when TP construction may start?

·        On the Board of Directors slide (#20), Dr. Michael Fisher is gone (old news), management and BOD stock ownership went from 45% to 25%.  Based on this change does LAC expect Bangchak to sell their entire ownership stake?  If so, enough already Bangchak……

More clues from LAC but not a lot of new and/or confirmed news/details on the future direction of the company.  I am not a big fan of the updated TP development update language on slides 15 & 18.  With that said, I am 100+% confident that LAC will be a massive Lithium major in the coming years.  I just wish they were more transparent about their next steps and the path forward.  In JE, JK & GI we Trust…Go LAC!!

WB

https://www.lithiumamericas.com/_resources/presentations/corporate-presentation.pdf?v=0.231