Vast Resources (LSE:VAST) — Investor Update and Q&A

0:01 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the VAST RESOURCES PLC Investor Update Q and A Presentation. Screen. Just please simply type in your question at any time and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives during the meeting itself. However, the company review all questions submitted today and publish responses where it's appropriate to do so. Before we begin, we'd like to submit the following poll. And if you give that your kind attention, I'm sure the company would be most grateful. And I'd now like to hand over to Andrew Perliar, CEO from VAST RESOURCES PLC. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you very much for the introduction. Thank you, shareholders and potential shareholders for joining us today. We'll just quickly run through a brief company overview of what what direction the company has been taking over the last twelve months and looking forward for the next twelve months or so.

0:55 And I'll just run through the company overview. First and foremost is, of course, everyone knows VAST. What we're trying to... What we have been achieving over the last twelve months is the the restart of base supply, which has been successful. We've seen rapid growth over the last four, five months, which has seen us getting into an increased production month on month, but we'll get to that as we go through the questions. Well, VAST is predominantly based in Romania at the moment with our base supply mine, which is operational and revenue generating. Looking forward to reopening Manayila in the not too distant future and looking at other projects such as Blueberry. In Tajikistan, we have recently signed an agreement with Takob, which is a state owned company by Telco, which is the largest company in Tajikistan that owns the the government owned smelter.

1:50 And we will be assisting them in effectively bringing in the calcium chloride, which is for the smelter itself. And then VAST, along with its joint venture partners, mister Abdul Jabbar Gargash and Fornmin here in Romania, We'll then be looking at extracting the metals, the nonferrous metals, which are lead, zinc, gold, and silver, and there have been indications of some PGMs as well. And we've recently signed a... An MOU to also explore the Tailings Dam, which has been neglected for the last forty years, which still contains a lot of the nonferrous metals. I'll go to the next slide. I've just gone through the targets of Baitsa.

2:35 We have a 608,000 ton of jock. We are currently commencing the drilling to expand that jock resource to to firm up the old Russian code, which had about 3.2 to 5,800,000 tons, and that will be verified over the course of the next twelve months. And then we'll continue the drilling program to explore the other eight skarn deposits within Bait's license area. And at the moment, we're only working on the single Bait Antonia, and we'll be moving into Antonia as well with high grades of copper, lead, zinc, silver, gold, and molybdenum and bismuth as well, which we'll get on to in a quick q and a as well. Manayila, as most of you know, we put on care and maintenance in 2019, and the reasons for that we'll address in some of the questions that some of the shareholders supplied us.

3:21 But we still believe on a on a on a base case scenario, it's got $1,559,000,000 dollar NPV, which we've cost about, and the copper is still at 7,800 and are looking forward statement of about $8,500 a ton. So we still believe in Mana'ila. And now that we've finished our refinancing, we'll be focusing on that as well. The Takobind, as I touched on a little bit earlier, the project is a 100% financed. It will be in production in q three of this year. The engineers working on-site at the moment to get operational, and we look forward to announcing to the market when we're ready to proceed with that as well. That is a an agreement with, as I've mentioned earlier, Tuckop Mine, which is part of the telco group, that works effectively to 12 and a quarter percent royalty for VAST for all the work that we've put in so far and the coordination.

4:13 And as I said, that will be a near term revenue for the company as well. Also, the tailings, as I said, there's between one and three point three million tons, and that's only at the top level. There was a forty year worth of tailings that where none of the nonferrous minerals or metals have been extracted from. Our joint venture partner, Fordmin, who is an exploration expert here in Romania, are on-site at the moment. They've done the initial sampling, and the the full drilling will commence later on in this year as well. And that concludes the quick overview of the company. We thought that this format would be better if we went straight into the q and a. There are quite a number of questions from shareholders. So I think we'll turn it over to That's great. The rest. That's great. No problem. Let me just bring your cameras up into full view as well.

5:02 Thank you very much indeed, Andrew. And of course, ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions using the Q and A tab that's situated on the right hand corner of your screen. But just want the company to just take a few moments before we address those questions. I'd like to remind you that the recording of this presentation along with a copy of the slides and the published Q and A will be accessed via your Investor Meet company dashboard. I'll refer to you both, if I may, Andrew as the same names Andrew H and Andrew P. But obviously, as you guys know, you did receive a number, considerable number of questions ahead of today's event. And of course, I'll then perhaps tell Rich to look at that live Q and A as it comes in. But the first question that we received, perhaps if I may, to you, Andrew H, do members of the board intend to purchase any additional shares from the market or take part in a future fundraise? As we're we're currently deemed to be in a closed period, but really when this is not case, several directors have expressed an interest to to buy shares in the open market.

5:58 None of the none of the directors participated in the in the current... The in the last raise that we're looking for headroom approval. Thank you very much indeed. Turning to you, Andrew P, if I May. Does the Board expect to see Bahia PLAY make an operational profit this year, 2022, and VAST overall turn of profit in 2022, 2023? Look, as we've stated previously and through RNS', it's been our intention to reach breakeven breakeven on the mine in the not too distant future as the new rigs are fully operational on-site, which is planned for July. The first rig is on-site. It's underground. The second rig is in transit and then going through customs and should be on-site midweek, but we'll RMS when that finally arrives. But we've indicated to the market that's already in progress.

6:46 We've increased production on a month on month basis this entire year and is continuing to do so. As we've as we've mentioned, we're not providing any looking forward statements. However, the management is working forward to turning a profit for the year. That's great. Thank you. And if I may just stick with you, Andrew P. With the diamond concession being signed over two years ago, is it now time to let this part of the business go and move the focus more towards Romania and Tajikistan? That's an interesting question. The company started out in Zimbabwe, and this particular asset was part of its... Well, it was part of its inception. But but I just need to reiterate that the company is completely focused on Romania and now Tajikistan. It's not the... It should be noted that Zimbabwe is not distracting management from these projects that are the fundamental core projects of the business at this point in time, but we still do believe in Zimbabwe and continuing to pursue that opportunity there.

7:43 And if anything changes, we'll let the market know. But for the moment, we're not letting it go because we still believe in the asset and the opportunity for the company. That's great. Thank you very much indeed. Andrew H, if I may, with the price of commodities continuing to rise, when will we see other Romanian assets such as Manila start contributing? So I mean, our focus over the last... I mean, it's been been quite a few quite a few months of focus was to refinance out Atlas. Any... As part of any new refinancing, the the... Really to to finance Manela, the the refinancing of Atlas has has been a a prerequisite to to really moving moving that process forward. Now we've got a line drawn under Atlas.

8:31 We can now continue our efforts to ramp up production at Byte Apply, but it also gives us the chance to to really continue discussions with financiers to to look to to bring Manela back into production. We are in a, as many believe, the start of a commodity super cycle, which is seeing seeing, you know, very, very good pricing for for copper, and that outlook is set to continue. So the... In terms of our our plan for restart and the and the current copper price environment, Manela looks to be a commercially viable asset. So it's very much in our in our in our view to look to to secure financing for that. But probably more more... I think more more crucially is that we secure financing that will, you know, not just bring it into initial production, but ultimately to fully fund the project, not just not just the mining out of the the existing pit, but but looking to get enough financing to to put a plant at the pit and to fund the expansion into Kalibaba.

9:39 That's great. Thank you. A brief question, but a good question. What's next for VAST? Maybe Andrew p, one for you. Sure. Thank you. Well, most importantly, we'll continue focusing on on developing rates and expanding it, and that's the first and foremost for the company. That is our active mind, and it is revenue generating. And as I said earlier, it's increasing month on month. Tajikistan will be ready to start the the phase one startup in the beginning of q three this year. So as mentioned earlier, the... Our JV partners are working on the Tailings dam, which we signed an MOU for recently. And as Andrew just mentioned, we're engaging with funders from Manaella, which we needed to wait till Atlas was removed or the convertible equation was removed from the from the company.

10:29 And also looking at progressing the Blueberry project that that we've basically stepped back from while we were focusing on rates during the refinancing. So that's the near term next for VAST question. Thank you. And if I may just stick with you, Andrew P. As you've previously stated that the XRT sorter would not be required until mining output reached the point where the plant could not cope with the volume of ore, as we now have two mantis drills very close to deployment. When will we need to introduce the sorter? Well, the the mine has a capacity of about 14,000 tons a month. It can be pushed to 16,000, but the haulage capacity of about 16 and a half thousand was working twenty four seven. At this point, we've got one milling circuit fully functioning. The second milling circuit, as we announced recently, using process of being commissioned, and that's part of what the general meeting headrooms was to making sure that that's that's putting to into functioning very quickly.

11:25 And those two lines, one and two, are capable of producing 14,000 tons a month. Just let me know, the first mangess rig that's arrived in this down on Level 17 was... Is initially you... Will be used to extract the ore that we could not access due to the friable ground that was programmed for the first nine months of production, which is what led to the change of the mining plans. Now that the maintenance rig is there, and we've got the remote control scoop that will be on-site shortly, Now we'll be able to access that ore and be able to extract Level 17. And then our second mantis rig will be used for developing the decline into Level 19, which will take up to another six months. So with those two areas, the current sublevel three on 18 and Level 17 back, that will allow us to use the full first line in full capacity and get the second line up and running. And once that development work is is completed and the second mantis will be used for ore extraction when we pass that 14,000 tons a month. That's when the XRT will be required. So we're looking at probably q two next year before it's required, but we'll introduce some preparation beforehand.

12:31 That's great. Thank you. Next two for you, Andrew H, if I may. The first one as follows. Whilst the final conversion by Atlas was another devastating blow for shareholders, it's provided the company with $800,000 How will you be putting this cash to use? Sure. So I mean, firstly, worth noting that the conversion was outside of our control. And, really, as we'd... As we had announced, we'd refinanced the entire balance owed to Atlas prior to to the conversion being made. Ultimately, though, the the company with this with this $800,000, we've made further commitments to Mercuria to reduce down their their debt facility. So we've made a commitment to to reduce to reduce million dollars in in July, which which we will be using this cash to hold the reserve to ensure, you payments and reduction of debt will be made in addition to maintaining a a capital reserve, which I think, you know, is a is a...

13:33 Is something which is important for any business, not less a mining company at the stage of of VAST. So that's... There's unfortunately a... You know, something that's have come out of a of a bad situation, but gives us a... It gives us some some benefit. Thank you. And and then I guess the follow on for you, Andrew, if I may, is there's been little mention of the Manila reopening recently. What are the current plans and or time scales? So we're not going to talk about time scales. That's... As Andrew said, we're we're not giving any forward looking statements. But really, as we as we mentioned in in q four, the the management's focus was on the refinancing of Atlas, which is now being complete.

14:23 And and as I said earlier to the to the... To a previous question that we're looking to now to now finance the restart of of of Manila and to ensure that we have a a fully funded a fully funded solution to to to bring Manila into a steady state peak production. That's great. Thank you. Andrew p, maybe for you. What's the situation with Zimbabwe? I mean, we we can't really say much that's not already in the public domain, but what we can say that we still remain confident we'll be continuing in Zimbabwe. We still believe in the project. If there was any variation to what we've already announced, we'd be obliged to make an announcement. So we still believe that there is there is still a potential and opportunity for the company to go forward in Zimbabwe.

15:10 And unless that changes, we'll continue on that path. And once and once and if anything does change, we'll be r and s ing that immediately because we're obliged to do so. So nothing's changed. That's great. Thank you. Andrew H, a a bit long winded question, but let me go through it for you. What is the basis for the below assumptions set in the Chairman's letter dated the May 25? For this purpose, the company had assumed that the share price at the time of exercise of this option would be not less than 2.78p, which after applying the 10% discount contained in the option agreement would equate to the grant of authorities to issue approximately a 130,000,000 shares. Perhaps you could just expand on that. Before before directly answering it, it'd be worth worth adding that there's... There has been some suggestion by by shareholders on bulletin boards that this equity option is like a a convertible loan.

16:07 This this option is completely separate to to the existing debt owed to Mercuria and is not linked to the settlements of of the debt owed to to Mercuria. Their interest in taking the option is really on the basis of they've been a long term supporter of the company. They've been in in in the balance sheet since since March 2018. They supported Atlas when they when they came into the structure, and they supported us in variation to the to the inter creditor agreement to to take Atlas out because of... Really because of what that convertible was doing to the business. And, ultimately, they want to really be able to participate from an equity perspective in the future growth of of the company, which which I think really demonstrates the the relationship that that we have with them, but also the the outlook that they that they have that they have on on VAST.

17:11 And, really, if they were to take up the the option, which is entirely at their discretion, that would really be the the the start of of institutional grade cornerstone investment, which is something that that I initially came on to focus back in back in 2000... The end of two thousand eighteen. So in terms of of the assumptions as to as to how we we get to... We we got to the the figure of authority to issue the shares. We we established that by taking into account the total amount of of the option as well as the control mechanism to not exceed 20% ownership of the company in addition to to the assumption that that Mercurial participating, which, again, is entirely their option, but but they, you know, they have... They don't come in.

18:02 They're not... Their intention is not to come in with... You know, in small in small quantities. So, really, the company needs to meet a minimum valuation and be at a certain a certain size. And so really on the base of of of reaching a certain valuation, will be on the base of certain delivery targets being being reached from existing operations, which is... Which tells me you get to the the price of of ramp two point two point seven eight that would ultimately be a a fair assumption to to absorb that kind of of investment for the company to be at a certain at a certain stage in its growth. That's great. Thank you. Andrew P, maybe one for you.

18:47 What message of reassurance can the board give to long term shareholders who are unlikely to ever recover their investments as they stand as a backdrop of about 8.75p per share last year? Well, I I don't think that they're unlikely to recover their investments. I think it's a... Well, the reality is the current share price doesn't represent the valuation of the company's assets or its operation. This is based on independent valuations. And now that the convertible's been eliminated and the bates of mind continues on its growth path, the new projects start to generate revenue for the company, we do strongly believe the market will correct itself and reflect the true value of the business. I mean, last year, we had an independent report that put a valuation when copper prices were far lower than they are now at about a 139,000,000 for far... For as it was. We have another study of evaluation of Manila being worth, you know, upwards of 59,000,000 based on on base case model, also on lower commodities prices.

19:49 There are also the opportunities that we're we're pursuing in Tajikistan and potentially Zimbabwe. So I think going back to that price level is is a... Is... Well, as we strongly believe... I mean, people have asked why we haven't participated, but, know, I've been invested in the company since, you know, 2012 and we came in 2015. Significant sums at at the equivalent of £1.44 today. So the number of shares has reflected the value of the investment that we've... That a lot of the directors have already put into the company. We strongly believe and truly believe in the in the company's growth and that it will be... Won't be too long, we hope, before the market, you know, corrects itself and then reflects the true valuation of the company. That's great. Thank you very much indeed. And and just to say, I think, some of the presubmitted questions, I think some people are sending in the same questions, that they may have presubmitted, but the company has committed to answering all of those that are pre submitted, and we're about halfway through at this point.

20:48 So Andrew P, if I may stick with you, Moranje has been ongoing for several years with no tangible progress in the public domain. When does this conclude, for better or for worse?

20:59 We answered quite a bit of that, I think, on the the question nine. The company still believes in the Zimbabwe opportunity. We're still in in constant dialogue with the authorities there. And once it's for the better or for the worse, we will have to, you know, provide the the market with updates. But we don't have any clear definitive answers on timing. And once we have those, we'll update the market. But the company has decided it's not in the best interest of the shareholders or the company itself to cut ties. We still strongly believe that something will transpire in country. Thank you. And for you again, Andrew, if I may. What's happening with the Zimbabwe diamond deal? It was anticipated that the deal will be signed in October 2019 and then by the end of March twenty twenty, but nothing has happened for some time. Deals have been signed with Alrosa and ENGIN, but not VAST. Media reports suggest that the deal with VAST has now been shelved.

21:51 Would it be better for VAST to pull out Zimbabwe altogether and concentrate its efforts elsewhere? I know you may have touched on that. I'd like to put this into context because there are a lot of rumors, speculation, again, on the boards and boards. First and foremost, in October 2019, it was the ministry and the ministry himself that called the press conference to announce that VAST would be participating. Not VAST. We had to... Under AIM rules, we had to make comment to that, which we did. And everything we've announced to date has been backed up by documentary evidence as checked by the nomad and the other authorities, and nothing has changed. As far as our ROSA and Amgen, you're talking about our ROSA being a Russian government owned entity and Amgen being the Chinese state entity. They have different relationships with the country than we do as a private investor.

22:37 Or as a public company. We we are not in a position at this stage to pull out. We still, as I said, strongly believe in Zimbabwe and the potential there. And if anything does transpire positive or negative, we will update the market. But at this moment, it's status quo, and we still believe that something will happen. That's great. Andrew H, if I may turn to you, how does the company propose to pay off the debt owed to Alfred and Mercurier? How many more placings is is the company planning for '22 and '23? So in terms of looking at any refinancing, the the repayment of those facilities was was evaluated by by the incoming lenders looking at looking at our business business plan and and cash flow generation.

23:24 There are really other options available to the company. As as we said before, that some... A prerequisite was the removal of of Atlas from the structure, really more and more with with sort of PLC driven funding Even even if asset values on a discounted cash flow basis look solid, market cap is is really taking taken seriously into account. And, really, it would... Where the share price the share price movement was was certainly something that incoming debt debt finances could could not ignore. So that was that was really the the the most important thing for us to for us to get rid of. Now that the Atlas debt has has been has been cleared, we believe we're in a in a position to to refinance the the existing debt owed to to Alpha Credit, also the Alpha, and and also Mercurial within the within the loan periods.

24:28 You have currently a much, you know, a much better backdrop in terms of fundamentals of of the business, you know, particularly if you look along the lines of scenarios of of of offtake driven finance where we are in the bites that has really come a long way.

24:46 Save for save for delays. We we are in a position where we have the the mechanization process underway, the first the first Mantis underground. This is this is a genuinely exciting turning point for for beta, and that really does, you know, and should should translate into into more more interest from from off takers where there is demand for copper given where copper prices sit. We are in a very interesting place. And also taking into account what we said about Mana'ila, And I think this this this could could be an interesting year for the company. Thank you.

25:31 I guess this cut... This question, next question, there's a there are number of questions relating to the same topic in the live chat. So, hopefully, we we can address all of those kinda simultaneously. But maybe one for you, Andrew p. Many shareholders who have been long term supporters of VAST have now lost more than 90% of their initial investment due to repeated placings and Atlas conversions. Shareholder confidence in the board has been significantly damaged over the last two years. So what's the company doing to try and restore confidence and shareholder value?

26:02 Look. On the live, quick q and a, there's a lot of the same question coming through in different different forms. We're very much aware of the dilution experience by our long term shareholders in particular. And as a board of directors, I know myself and one or two others have invested very heavily in the company combined more than the market cap alone today significantly. So we we are also investing in line with our long term shareholders, and and we do understand and sympathize. But the company is now in a far healthier position than it's

26:32 ever been. We have cash in the bank or we'll have a reserve of cash in the bank. There's no longer a thread of conversion, which is extremely important. We have revenue generating mine with the second revenue stream coming on board in q two. Baseline now has the equipment it needs to meet the targets, and we have a solid pipeline of opportunities to grow the company. So, hopefully, the market will recognize this, and it will reestablish itself, and it will be, the market cap will continue to rise. And as as we said earlier, we are not anticipating any further dilution to shareholders. We believe that we're we're quite comfortable at the moment in the cash reserve. We've got the revenue generation from two sources, and we're looking at financing new projects going forward similar to the way we've done in.

27:20 Thank you, Andrew. And if I may stay with you for the next two questions, if I may. The first one is what is actually happening regarding the Morangie community project and fault diamonds? I think we've answered that in, I think, the question number 12. So I really don't wanna go over that again. But, you know, I... We're not at liberty to to announce until we get official notification from the from the authorities in Zimbabwe. But as I can say, we are still positive that we will continue working Zimbabwe and that it's been a long wait. But as I say, all good things come to those who wait. Unfortunately, it's been a long long and drawn out process, but really will be worthwhile for the company, we believe. Thank you. And if I stay with you, Andrew, what is the cause of both plan one and two's failure? And how long realistically until we reach the target of 14 KTPM?

28:11 Well, I mean, we've detailed these reasons at length in several RNSs as these things transpired. But in simple terms, you know, during the period where it was closed down, the mine was left relatively unkempt for far too long. There was... Even though we would do watering it, there was still natural water ingress from above because it is a mine sitting in a... On top... Underneath the forest, and water seeps through. If the predominant rock is a limestone host and dolomite, which absorbs the water, and this ingress from the elements soften the rocks in the support area that weren't visible in Level 17 where we had all the document... All the data, which is where, you know, Craig planned the mine plan for Level 17.

28:57 And when we started blasting, it became softer and softer. We opened up new areas within the same area. This is one that's back, I think, in March last year and, again, in October October last year. And it... It... No matter what we did, it became too unsafe. So the ore body is there. There is still high grade ore there, which is the reason why the first Mantis was deployed or is being deployed in Level 17 with a remote control scoop to make sure there's safe working conditions. But even though it put us about behind the mind plane by twelve to eighteen months, we hope to catch up as fast as possible, but we weren't gonna put lives at risk. And that is the reason for both mine plan one and two not reaching the target is purely because geology is unpredictable. You can only go... Get so much from the drilling. But once you're on the ground and you are blasting a soft rock underground, you can't risk lives.

29:50 But the company did pivot, and effectively, what it had to do is over the past twelve months has managed to do what is not normal in mining. Normally, you go in, you pre develop all of your areas, then you start to mining. What we would start the mining, what we've done is we've been developing the lower areas of the mine. We've developed level 18, sublevel one, sublevel two, and now on sublevel three. The second mantis rig will start to develop the the decline down to 19. We're changing the method of mining with long haul stoping, which will improve productivity and increase production. You know? So, you know, we've basically done things a little bit backwards due to necessity to manage... Otherwise, what most mining companies would have done with a large cash surplus or would have gone in, shut it, rebuilt it, redeveloped it, and gone back in. We've managed to keep the mine open. We still managed to maintain a revenue stream. And as I said, month on month, we've been increasing that revenue.

30:46 We do believe that, you know, in in July, we'll we'll have some significant results to post to the to the market, and that will continue all the way through to the end of q one next year. But as I said, you know, we're recovering that that ore in Level 17 that will start in end of this month, beginning of next month. And, basically, we'll be catching up that eighteen months or twelve to eighteen months worth of loss plan out of mine plan one and two. But we are... We remain confident on the current mining plan and look forward to reporting that on a quarterly basis as we increase production. That's great. Thank you. Andrew H, maybe this one is for you. When shareholders questioned the newly formed company, which turned out to be part of VAST Tajikistan's project, why did the company say it was immaterial to the running of the business and therefore did not need to be RNs ed? It clearly was as it kept the lights on why BAHIAPLY failed to hit its targets.

31:40 So the company was formed prior to to the signing of the of the joint venture contracts. And, ultimately, there was nothing material until the transaction was concluded, which we we then announced the the details of the transaction in the r and s released on the on the third of the third of May. Revenue generation to that to that point, but it was on a on a consultancy basis, not relevant to the to the new co being formed at that time. And and the revenue was was reported in the... In our in our q one q one results in line with our with our quarterly reporting. And that's... That that really is the reason around around the the chain of events.

32:27 Thank you very much indeed. If I may stick with you for the next question, how much money was spent on Cohagu?

32:35 Tim, I'm not I'm not at liberty to to give exact exact figures. That will obviously comes in in line with the with accounts reporting, but but I can say the amount was was minimal. The company retracted itself before before, you know, any significant money was was going to be required as part of that acquisition. Thank you very much indeed. Again, maybe one for you, Andrew h. What happened to the fencing and security on the original Merange diamond plot, which I believe we raised about 1,000,000 for? Around the the dollar the the dollar figure. Really, the... I mean, the the focus on on fencing is... Has been something that's been very much generated out of out of the out of the grapevine.

33:25 The money raised was was for already incurred costs in Zimbabwe as well as anticipated costs linked to the commencements of of the projects in Zimbabwe. The delays that we've that we've faced has meant that we've utilized the funding against continuing associated costs in line with our efforts in the country, which which really go back to to the point that... To the point of the answers that Andrew has given in this q and a on Zimbabwe. Thank you. Just got three more questions, if if I may. The first one is as follows maybe for you, Andrew H. If we've managed to get debt finance, why are we getting shareholders to pay off Atlas? Headroom for this has been used several times.

34:12 I believe this will be the third time we've had to agree headroom to cover Atlas. So the the headroom for the for the Atlas facility was was was authorized once, by shareholders at at the general meeting on the 11/08/2019. The the Atlas convertible bond and the Atlas... Or the Atlas debt was was settled by the debt facility arranged by by Alpha Credit in Geneva. The headroom that's being requested at the upcoming general meeting on on Friday on on the June 10 is is linked to to a raise that was that was done to cover additional payments to Mercuria around, obviously, the the agreement we had to come to with them with respect to the to the variation of the inter creditor agreement as well as funds required to further develop by Eta.

35:09 So the... But the Atlas the Atlas debt was was was settled with with debt. Thank you. I might combine question twenty two and twenty three. I think they've got the same theme between them. And maybe Andrew H, you can start, Andrew P, throw in as as when you feel. But bearing in mind that the company has failed to protect shareholders from continuous dilution and reduction in share price, do the Board still think the team are well placed to drive the company to profit? Given that long term investors have seen the value of their investments diluted by over 95%, What assurances will you give that no further dilution will happen? And can you clarify as to what value investors have received from the current board over the last few years? Now there's a lot in there, but perhaps Andrew H, I could start with you and Andrew P. Do join in.

35:56 Yes. I mean, it goes back to to some of the answers we've given before in terms of the fact that we that we absolutely recognize the the dilution. The... That that pain is... Has been felt by, you know, by by the directors. Despite the setbacks and and delays, the company under the guidance of the current board did, you know, did bring bites or into production against the backdrop of of COVID nineteen and lockdown in 2020. The Atlas convertible bond was a necessary facility at the time. In fact, back when we signed documentation in October 2019, that was that was a a combined funding package for both Romania and Zimbabwe.

36:43 That was the reason why we why we drew a... And decided to go down the route of convertible. The... Everyone... Well, Andrew Andrew highlighted, you know, the the timings around... And our belief around the timings of commencement of the project in Zimbabwe. If we'd have known what was what was gonna happen in terms of timing, we would've... We would not have taken a convertible option for by either alone to to bear. But at the time and and what the company, you know, was basing its decisions on, which I think the the share price also certainly believed that that... Certainly believed in what was what was going on. That was that was the route we went, and it was and it was ultimate facility that enabled the company to bring Baidu into production.

37:29 But the slower slower than planned production levels at Baidu meant a slower refinancing of of Atlas. However, the the company has now drawn a line under under the the convertible debt. We can now focus on achieving a much a much fairer valuation based on our, really, our assets our asset pipeline instead of a share price driven by negative sentiments due to the presence of a very dilutive debt struct... Structure. In Romania, we're a copper driven producer with a producing asset with other development assets in, you know, in place. I've I've said it before, VAST, in terms of its size, is, you know, as a as a nameless to company, we have we have a pipeline of assets to develop.

38:19 A lot of a lot of mining companies at a similar price point to us, you know, one asset driven companies. We, you know, we have... Already have a producing asset, and we have other copper driven assets in in Romania. So there's a lot of value that should be attributed to that, which is which is currently not, and it's it's now our focus to to really look to to restore with the value of our of our portfolio into into the share price. And we're gonna be doing that at the start of, as I said, is that many deemed to be at the start of a commodity super cycle. So that that really does put us in a in a in a very interesting space, you know, not least not least just... That's just the remaining business. And now we have this this very strategic relationship in Tajikistan, which, you know, has really driven revenue very, very quickly.

39:11 And, you know, the the way that that relationship's been been developed by, you know, by by Andrew, that... There's a lot of exciting exciting ways that that that that sort of avenue can can develop. And then Zimbabwe remains an ongoing element to the business.

39:30 Yeah. And I'll just add that as as Andrew just mentioned, what's really not reflected in the in the share price at all is the value that's been added to the company over the course of the last three, four years. The assets themselves, the investment into the operations, you know, and put into perspective that, you know, at the end of 2017, the company was sitting on $40,000,000 worth of debts on its book. It had no operation that would... No operations that were actually generating cash positively to the business, and we had absolutely zero access to the to the revenues that were being generated that could have been coming to the company, which is why we divested of our gold assets in Zimbabwe at the time, holding 40,000,000 of debt. And in Manila, you know, we were basically mining for the sake of mining rather than conserving the asset to be able to be profitable, which is what we're doing. What we've done now, what we plan on doing on reopening is reopening it as a profit center rather than just a breakeven for the sake of money.

40:28 And not an above and beyond that. Now we own all of our assets a 100%

40:32 across the board. We were a minority shareholder in money... Sorry, majority shareholder in Mana'ilah. We owe that a 100%. The company was a a majority shareholder in Baitsa. It now owns at a 100%. That bought a heavy discount with the remaining. We preserved the resource into to Manoila, as I said, and Alibaba. When we open it up, we wanna do it properly, properly funded. And, you know, what we're doing right now is we've now done things... Projects like Tajikistan, where we'll be getting a 12 and a 12 and a quarter percent royalty from revenue. So effectively, the company is now revenue generating. We are looking forward to having a positive cash flow in in the coming quarters. And, you know, now the company sits at, you know, one twentieth of the debt it had in 2019.

41:19 So we've gone from 40,000,000 down to about just, you know, after we pay off this next million dollars to to Mercurial, and the other 1,500,000 in total. You know, we'll be sitting at, you know, under $8,000,000 worth of debt for what should be an independently valued and MPVs of in excess of 200,000,000. So what's been invested in the company and what the company is doing now compared to its market cap, there's a disproportion. And now it's our job as a management management team and a board is to restore that valuation in the marketplace so the the share price reflects what's actually being invested in the work that's being done. That's great. Well, Andrew... And Andrew, thank you very much for that. That's... You've taken care of the pre submitted questions. So firstly, you to all those investors that took time to submit questions ahead of today's event.

42:07 Andrews, if I could ask you both to open up the Q and A tab. It's on the right hand side of the screen. There are a lot of questions in here that I think you have touched on, certainly covering themes with those 23 questions that you've just taken on. But perhaps if I may just ask you to take a look through those, if there's anything else that you would like to add. Of course, what we can do is make all these questions available to you post the meeting as well. So I mean up to you. There are some very valid question. One of them reads like war and peace, and we'll address that question because it's quite detailed and and will be quite informative to the shareholders. I think most of the others have already been answered in the q and a. Those who have not been answered in the q and a that are either not offensive or liable as we will address and respond to the market with the q and a questions in written form in the coming days.

42:58 I don't think... I think we've passed our time now. That's fine. So we will address all the questions of revel... Relevance, as I said, that are not That's great. That that need to be answered, definitely. Perfect. Well, thank you. Well, look, Andrew, I know that, to both of you that investor feedback is important to the company. I'll surely redirect investors to provide you with their thoughts and expectations. But before doing so, just wondered if I could just ask you just for a few closing comments just to wrap up with. And as I say, I'll redirect those on the call to give you their feedback. Andrew, do you want to do... Do you mind if I start?

43:29 I think what... What's happened over the course of the last eighteen months is rather unfortunate, including the the the latest round of conversions that in in the end would be under our control. We had prepared pay everything out in full. However, what what has been achieved is we've managed to keep Bates open during a very difficult period. We still claim and we still believe that Bates is completely undervalued, and we will be unlocking that value with the exploration drilling program that is commencing in the in the next few days. They're on-site. With with the increase in production that has been happening month on month, we do believe that we will... The the future reports will...

44:14 Should make shareholders more confident in the asset itself. We... The opportunities in Romania, Tajikistan, and in Zimbabwe are there. We will be addressing all of them. We are doing them at a pace that will not be stressful to the company. We'll be doing it out of cash flow or out of debt from from here on in. That is the plan of the of the management of the board. And, we do not plan on going back to the market in in the near future, and we certainly don't plan to go back to any sort of convertible debt. So I think now we hope to see, the reflection of the share price that matches the work work that's gone into the company. We appreciate the shareholder support to date, and we look forward to growing together. And to... And probably to add that...

45:02 I mean, save for save for the pain of of our of our long term shareholders where where we sit now as a as a price point really really does reflect an interesting entry point. Just, I mean, as I said earlier, just focusing on on the Romania business, copper is very much a... You know, is a key a key element to to energy transition to to electrification of of transportation and, you know, many other many other things as part of as part of the energy transition process. And this is part of the part of the dynamic that that really produces the copper price that we're experiencing today. Is a producing copper asset. Is a is a... Has a defined defined resource, another another corporate driven asset.

45:50 And that's... You know, that that is something that's... That is not reflected in in our in our current share price. That's great. To both the Andrews, thank you very much indeed for updating investors this afternoon. Can I please ask investors not to close this session as you'll now be automatically redirected to the opportunity to provide your feedback in order the company can better understand your views and expectations? This will only take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure will be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of VAST RESOURCES PLC, we'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation. That now concludes today's session, and I wish you all a very pleasant afternoon.