George Frangeskides, Chairman at ALBA, explains why the Pilbara Lithium option ‘was too good to miss’. Watch the video here.
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Good news at last. It's huge dilution coming up (potentially 2x plus the current mcap) but necessary to get the project off the ground. (It looks to me like Lionhead are potentially reducing their participation in the Term Sheet, but existing shareholders have increased theirs and more will be offered to existing shareholders and others?).
The one thing that I would say is that its preferable for Cora to raise more if it will allow it to be "fully funded" rather than have to do further raises in the future? As for the mining licence, by the time they need it, its likely the authorities will have resumed granting them. More important is to ensure that they get necessary co-operation and permissions from the authorities for the mine development.
I expect there will be an interview with BM soon.
Presumably the license referred to below is the mining license since they'll already have an exploration license. Why are Mali not issuing mining licenses? What chance of the money being raised and yet due to political skulduggery (Wagner/Russia?) they still can't get a mining license and thus have to relinquish all their rights acquired to date?
Agreed Starbright. Short term, the equity part at discount (which we already knew it would be at) will take a quick toll, plus until license is sorted, I'm sure that will keep a level of uncertainty in the air, however, make no mistake, getting that inital block of funding, given the uncertainty right now is massive news.
It allows the project to start and hopefully that other funding Bert mentioned for rest of project will come in over next few months.
Yes - this is good news. Perhaps some choppy price action in the short term, but I think the SP can and will move up from here as the project becomes real.
Great to see some of the total required funding come in mainly via the termsheet and CLN's although some equity to.
A little light on plant detail but I'm expecting that to follow once everything is approved towards the end of Feb.
Given Mali is still not issueing out gold mining license, I'm nicely suprised to see the 19 mil USD announced and arranged now.
A great start to me.
Cora can't really move forward until it has a funding agreement in place, which BM has said is the next stage. It's now 2 months since the DFS, so you would think that if there is a revised Term Sheet being negotiated with Lionhead (and others), then we should expect to hear something soon. If there's no update by end of Q1, then it's hard to believe that the current situation in Mali isn't impacting on the funding deal imo.
All good if you bought in on the recent lows of the last 6 months or so. I didn't, so I'm a bit perturbed to be honest why the company hadn't sorted out the mining licence before the current suspension, hindsight is wonderful thing I guess.
Feel like share holders have been let down by admin in a way rather than the fundamentals of the company.
Been here for 2/3 years, don't post much tbh.
Its all gone very flat, week on week the Sp seems to drop.
Very
Part of my modest pension pot is eroding away.
What do I know
What can I do
It could be worse, I could be an Everton fan.
Always believe
YNWA
Good luck all
Interesting this morning that Kodal Minerals today announced they had received $100 million for their Mali Lithium project (shares up 61%).
Shows Mali is still very investable and bodes well for Cora.
I agree Zan - I think a lot of us are waiting for the funding. It all depends on the reasons for the delay. If the delay is in any way linked to the jurisdiction, well that's out of Cora's/Lionhead's hands, and means a longer wait. But if its nothing to do with the jurisdiction, yet its still going to take longer, it would be good to hear from BM from time to time, just to be re-assured that the funding process is progressing towards finalisation.
Your welcome about the post elsewhere. Only what I saw as the truth. Been a little toxic over there of late imo, but I do appreciate that the recent drop there prob has a few stressed out.
Back to CORA, yes the general business as usual has mainly applied to existing operating miners although some Lith non operationals such as Leo Lith and Kodal are expressing viewpoints that the troubles aren't affecting them to much.
The big difference with Cora to them (minus the mineral type lol) is that their mining permits are already approved.
BM had I believe left funding timeframes open ended. From a risk point of view I can't see a big chunk being removed until funding is signed and sealed. As seen elsewhere talk is cheap.
In terms of control, Mali does appear to be moving towards the BRICS countries from a previous French connection. If this also translates into who will invest there feels somewhat unknown, but certainly in today's climate the strong Wagner Group presense within Mali can't be that positive for western backers who are scared to touch anything remotely Russian for fear of bad PR.
I still think this will work out. As far as CEO's go, BM appears well placed to me, but I am expected a little delay here.
Right now, its all about securing that funding. Thats the game changer and will make or break the SP action for the next 12 months I reckon.
Thanks for the response Zan - understood. I would imagine though that its going to be a completely different situation for the existing mining companies already operating in Mali, and those like Cora who are seeking/needing funding. Here, what we need to look at is what western investment there has been into Mali in recent years on new projects like Sanankoro. I have no idea about this, as I've not really been focussed too much on Cora, or any other Malian company. That's why it was good to hear that Lionhead are still committed. But they have not actually committed their money just yet, which is the ultimate evidence of commitment, and so we can't rule out that the possibility that the jurisdictional situation has made them 'pause' that commitment for now.
Has BM given a timescale for the funding to be sorted out, or is it currently open ended. I'm just thinking that with the POG where it is, it would be great if Cora could get the funding all sorted, kickstart again and benefit from this bullish POG climate. Otherwise it will be late to the party and might miss out. (Thanks for your post on the GCAT bb btw).
Well 2024 wasn't the original intended date. Casting my mind back a little now so don't quote me, but when they coup'd the sort of elected leader (who they put in ironically from their coup a few years before lol, so it was a coup within a coup if you will), they stated that they planned to return to democracy as soon as possible and hopefully within the year.
I will never really know what changed or if that was always a lie or if they felt the problems were bigger than expected but that within a year quickly changed to in 5 years. Regionally there was some ego's clashing here a bit with neighbours demanding now and Mali almost extending the time each time they requested a return to democracy. Sanctions were then imposed by ECOWAS which isn't all their neighbours but a big bunch of them. Lots of back and forthes, all very messy, then they budged and reduced the 5 years to 2024. ECOWAS sort of accepted and sanctions have eased.
So yea its messy, but where isn't? Europe has SAV mine but the locals are forever stopping it progressing due to a nimby situation, rightly or wrongly.
Mali of course is higher risk on the risk scale, but so far big companys haven't had an issue. A sceptic might say it's easier to get jobs done in brown enveloping happy countries, who knows.
Funding wise, you are spot on. Lionhead is only one part of it. About a third, even then, not a full third as Cora's holder may get offered the chance to buy in as you already know. The remaining 2 thirds, will need to be from elsewhere and if that was Eastern money, as you put it, it would prob not do any harm.
Thanks Zan. I didn’t realise that 2024 was the intended date. That’s all useful or reassuring to know. Re the funding, I was not suggesting we move away from Lionhead, but talking more about the additional capex, unless Lionhead are willing to pay for that as well. They will clearly remain the majority funders here for the reasons you have outlined.
Hey Legal, in terms of the political situation I don't think that is as big a concern as made out. I own stocks in other Mali based companies and so far it hasn't stopped anything. Mali is still Africas 4th largest Gold producer with some giants mining there such as Barrick etc. They have mined all the way through the troubles pretty straight forwardly.
Note, when I say not as big an issue, it would be foolish to pretend it doesn't present a risk as clearly it does.
The return to democracy timeline of 2024 isn't actually a delay, its been brought forward as was 5 years off however they have been put under a lot of regional pressure to bring that date forward and so moved to 2024. It must be noted though that could easily slip nearer the time.
I never felt Lionhead was a risk myself mainly due to the family ties with Cora (Coras largest holder via Brookstone trusts and venture trusts to a tune of over 30% of Coras shares is Paul Quirk + Father). Paul Quirk is also the co founder of Lionhead so Coras funding fate is to linked to go elsewhere imo. For Paul Quirk to seek funding from a different source other than Lionhead wouldn't make as much sense.
Lionhead stand to gain handsomely from any deal due to the interest etc set out with the terms.
Until Mali open up to permitting new licenses again though I can't see any deal or much news coming in.
Hi folks. Cora remains on my watchlist, but its all been terribly quiet for the company, with not a great deal happening, and hence not much for us to discuss on here. I was heartened to hear from BM that Lionhead are still very much interested, even with the capex having gone up, and Cora are now discussing a revised funding Term Sheet with Lionhead and other potential funders. But, and especially given what has happened at GCAT this week (a long story), we can never be sure about funding/funders, until its all signed and delivered.
The main issue remains the jurisdiction. This military coup regime is digging in and isn't going to be doing 'free and fair' elections any time soon (they have delayed them again until 2024 it seems), and so will probably be around for a while yet. Therefore, I wonder whether a necessary de-risking step might be to secure funding from regime friendly/neutral countries, e.g. China. Otherwise, how does Cora move forward with only Western financial backing, if the regime is not all that well disposed to the West?
My thoughts is that Cora is a none starter, i think they'll grind it in to the ground and HUM will buy it back for around 12 million.
10km as you say isn't a massive amount of distance depending on the terrain.
If acceptable, it would reduce the cost to operations significantly as you are then piggy backing of Hummingbirds plant, paying a processing fee. Does that Yanfolila plant have the spare cap to process some of ours from Telg? I know it can do 1.4 mtpa but honestly not researched into how much they are using up with own ore right now. Could be an interesting prospect.
In terms of the Mali Ministry of Mines. Zero evidence, but my hope is its just an internal reshuffle and will be back to business as usual soon. They shut up shop end if Nov so hopefully not much longer.
The prospect of Sanankoro which excites me (if and when it finally gets going), is the projected AISC. Now we all know the challenge of releasing "projected figures" and actually delivering them, can bring up many issues along the way. That said, a huge chunk of Sanankoro is in an Oxide layer of free digging, open pitted material material close to the surface with a number of high grade pockets situated throughout. These will be targeted earlier on which demonstrates why the first years FCF is so favorable if all goes to plan.
I remember making a point last year, whether they could ever bring it to fruition, is a potential JV or Pay in service with Hummingbird Resources. Tekeledougou is situated around 10Km from their Yanfolia plant, with early results showing very promising signs. 10km may seen like some distance but when you think "zone A" & "Zone C" will be around 8-10km from the processing plant at Sanankoro, it all seems achievable.
Using an existing plant in Southern Mali, which is around 60km from Sanankoro would be an ideal scenario for the Company, however your still stuck in the same Political round about with upgrading these licenses from Exploration to Mining when getting it out of the ground.
It'll be interesting to see what direction the company take with this and hopefully they can yield results sooner, rather than later
100% agreed on how the drilling campaign was done. It was exceptional in terms of both metres but also management. I would go as far as to say still the best orgainised drill to assay programme I've seen in years.
In terms of other permits. I do agree with your sentiments. The only sticking point I can forsee is if the company feel they can justify the risk of further drill investment within Mali while the uncertainty still exists on if Mali will open up to mining licenses again and when.
That might seem a small detail, but Mali openly stated it wanted to move towards making more Mali Gold mines 100% goverment owned. Now, that may not happen. It might not affect Cora either, but it still provides a risk, esp when you take into account Wagner groups records elsewhere of being paid in mines for helping countries out.
Of course, the current no new licenses until further notice statement from Mali, but just be a case of reshuffling internal affairs and be back open soon, but until we know more as a hedged risk, might it not be more benifical to focus some drilling (cashflow dependent) towards the Senagal based permits.
Hey, same to you mate. All well here, just been a little quiet on these boards for the last 6 months or so. I remember having multiple discussions with LegalWolf surrounding Cora and i was adamant that this couldn't drop below 6-7p range, but you live and learn
Very interesting update which i appreciate and I'm sure others do. But maybe this delay has pushed the company to explore and prove up their licenses. When i first invested into Cora, Bert set out to drill 35,000m. Not only did the company drill beyond 40,000m, the results were brilliant and all carried out within 6 months. From my experience at ECR and a company of other companies, it would take them 5 years to drill this much. If the company in the mean time can prove up a "Resource", external to Sanankoro, this will surely help build up the value of the company whilst maintaining Investor confidence. Plenty of hurdles still ahead but at £10m MCAP, and 4p, i see this as a Solid entry for some, or for me, an ideal opportunity to lower my average
Hey AG, I hope your well mate. Happy New Year.
Some of the explore permits certainly look promising. In terms of current delays, I did email the company about the mining license situation and they responded this morning.
To shorten. At present Sanankoro has an exploration license only. It has completed the paperwork and is ready to apply to the Mali ministry of mines for a mining permit, which would then allow us to progress towards building and mining the area, however, as I'm sure you are aware, Mali has put on hold approving any new mining licenses for Gold companies. This includes for Cora.
I expect that reason will be the cause for delays with the termsheet signing, or at least create extra conditions for the contract signing, as at this point, there is no known date of when thr goverment will open up approvals again. Could be tomorrow, could be 6 months.
Sadly, that element is out of the companies hands. With it being such an unknown, I'd be suprised for finance to come in until resolved, but happy to be suprised of course.
We can still drill and explore mind during this period as we have permits to do that. To take a positive out of a negative, the delay that the Mali ministry of mines has enforced to mining permit approval, might provide us with time to get those drills to prove up the improved project economics which were presented.
Zan, just going back to your post in December, i fully agree about Bert. Incredibly mild mannered, set out to drill and grow the Resource, and has continued to deliver. A few aspects have taken longer to sort out than we would have liked but there are allowances for that, and if the company can push on at constructing a mine capable of 50,000 oz+ per year, Cora has a very appetising future ahead of it.
£12m MCAP, a projected first year FCF of US$71m and a financing plan in place to drive it all along, it's looking very good. I believe Sanankoro could hold up to 2 Moz of Gold and with all of that within roughly 200m of surface, the economics look promising. Interesting to see the work ongoing in the Southern Mali permits which could really attract further investment into Cora.
From the limited drilling carried out at Tekeledougou, the results are certainly eye catching
"Woyoni:
§ 56m at 2.2 g/t Au including 22m at 4.86 g/t Au; and
§ 60m at 0.7 g/t Au including 9m at 1.30 g/t Au.
§ Drilling confirms minimum strike length of 250m
§ Open in all directions
Kouroudian:
§ 17m at 6.8 g/t Au including 1m at 102 g/t Au; and
§ 15m at 1.17 g/t"
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/CORA/exciting-high-grade-tekeledougou-drill-results-od1qxegoc1s9016.html
Price monitoring from 2 trade's one of which was 4p worth ???
Any jobs going doing that price monitoring lol
You can never tell someone elses reasons so for me no point trying to second guess. However, its great to see some money flowing in.
Been a long journey here and still a long way to go but overall Bert has to me delivered on everything he said he would and he has been bullish on getting the Lionhead deal over the line, along with other financing.
Theres a lot of CEOs out there who to be honest, I don't trust a word they say. Their timelime stories change like the wind and repeatedly with hold or mislead their shareholders, however, Bert isn't one of them to me. He has always come over as pretty straight up. Never over hyping or over selling info. Just heres the facts, heres what we are working on type of guy and that provides confidence.
15% rise now.....I wouldn't imagine someone would just wake up today and say:-
" you know what...I think I'll just go and buy 1.7m CORA at a cost of £73k" and pay 4.3p when the price was below 4p for less?
.....that is, unless he/she/it had been told someit? and I guess some others have found out too? But I don't know anything!
GLA