Key Questions to Address - Jan 2019, page-50

Wilma, no we didn't discuss drilling in depth during the meeting today. I am assuming it is the company's immediate focus based on the recent AMAL job postings.

As far as I know, we have 11.3 Mt of Li reserves (based on Jun 2018 Reserve Upgrade Information), which works out to be 9 years of LOM at the processing rate of 1.2 Mtpa. Given that we are actually processing significantly more ore (with higher throughput above nameplate), the LOM would then be reduced to maybe 7-8 years. So, at some point, we do need to start working to increase the LOM.

Personally, I don't think that the drilling to increase LOM is purely an exercise to win the pissing contest with others. I think that having a decent LOM is a critical criteria for institutional investors/funds and for banks/lending institutions. But I do agree with you that we should do it when we are financially comfortable to do so - which probably explains why the company had held off drilling in 2018. I would entrust the management to look at the many moving parts and decide when is the best time to start drilling.