Agreed.

Right now it is Ganfeng, followed by FifthDelta in terms of largest institutional/insider shareholdings (at least of the institutions reporting).

There may me multiple options/requirements that will fall out after a Judge Du affirmative decision: 

- Remove of any board/committee seats and/or executives with ties to China on any North American related entity receiving DoE funding 

- If there a required reduction in share holdings to make the ownership by Ganfeng acceptable then execute on that (e.g., buybacks or, in the event of a spinoff, exchange disproportionate control in the South American entity to reduce North American entity control).

- Remove any Ganfeng/Chinese ties to any LAC entity with North American assets (in any capacity: Customer/Off-takes, Refinement, etc...)

- Place Restrictions on any future off-take agreements to ensure and protect North American Free-trade partner interests

- And there are probably other mechanisms as well.

In the end, I really do like the idea of a spin-off/separation of the two regional assets (regardless of the DoE funding).  My experience in he mining sector is that by separating the two, LAC will likely experience optimized multiple expansion on both entities whereas now it will likely sink towards the lower end of the multiples (which would likely be Argentina).  There are a variety of reports (e.g., Fraser) which rate and breakdown jurisdictions on attractiveness levels, and without a doubt Nevada is a more attractive jurisdiction for investors than Argentina.

That said, in the event of a DoE requirement, I like the idea that we can still retain a Ganfeng relationship through support of an Argentina asset which would continue to expand CO and also through Pastos Grandes and Arena efforts (with the likely potential of ongoing off-take agreements with Ganfeng)  

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That all said,  I highly doubt that the DoE over the past 6 months has been completely unaware of any Chinese connections with LAC and it somehow took Senator Cotton to make them suddenly aware.

Given that the application process was started in April, I believe the application is probably essentially complete and only pending Judge Du's decision.

We will see soon enough over the next month (my guess) any day now on what that outcome is.

IRR