Disagree. Every investor is free to contact the company...

Disagree. Every investor is free to contact the company themselves. Have you actually considered doing this yourself? They will generally just provide context on progress and strategy but it does help with understanding their approach.

Establish some rapport with them. Provide constructive feedback. Discuss your ideas.

With speculative investments you need to put your own time and effort in. You can't just sit back and wait for $ to roll in like you can with dividend stocks.

I'm also in personal contact with other investors. Meet and discuss our investments. Bounce thoughts and ideas. I do that for shares and other investments. Have done it for years now. Know several NVA investors personally now. Met several at the NVA general meetings in Melbourne, met with one when I flew to Perth for another company meeting. In contact with others.

I'm in occasional contact with management for 3 of my microcap investments. Don't bother with the larger ones, but do try to meet management at investment conferences ( some are free - you just need to prioritise some time, I sometimes take a day of annual leave for this ). I went to an evening investor presentation for AJM in Sydney ( I wish more companies would run these sessions ).

For battery materials, Benchmark World Tour is a good thing to attemd. Keep an eye out for dates.