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Thanks for that LK505 - only one question - why enter from that side? To get entry from there means the chaps have climbed a fence - no logic in it to be honest if the gates are open and no need to walk all the way around.
And the redundant machinery and cars - come on please behave - I agree the housekeeping is not the best but I am sure you remember this was an open cast site for many years - and miners do not scrap equipment that may have useful spares - even that 1990's nice red piece of kit in your opening sequence.
For a redundant mine we also see the pumps running in your opening few seconds - why would you pump water from a redundant site? So come on lets be honest and open up to whom you are..
By the way I walked into a tin mine last week quite easily all the way the to the mining area - you may also find you can do the same to the largest salt mine in England.
As I have said previously, an issue with mining i have no problems with, an issue with site security I have no problems with, but your absolute rubbish that may damage peoples lives I do have an issue with - so please come forward and put some debate on the subject to find the real issues.
By the way have you done a FOI request on the Dalradian debt or on the Galantas issues with PSNI - no I thought not. But if you have then put your findings on here and I will compare it to mine. Let us let the facts decide in place of misleading information - that is a challenge to you.
FFS. Dead already. Only a sale can help us now.
A 2nd video has just been released....
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=483189145620995
Let us all pray for this company. It is clearly in great trouble. Before you go to bed tonight, forgive all mistakes; cast no blame-- just send kind thoughts of good will and support to Roland and all those working to save the company.
I continue to hold but looks like its dying. Cheers Roland.
Only man can do that, that's Phelps, by telling us some of the progress we were expecting , recent gold sale news, some pictures of the progress or the mining on the website, some kind of response to the protests, an assurance to the market of sorts.
Anyone had any response from the email responses from the company?
Silence is NOT golden.
Too stop the decline would be nice !!
Thank you - I have been a number of times. Gates being open are poor admittedly but of course that could have been for a number of reasons. However, pointing to a green container and saying - hey here is the explosives store is also poor. FYI - it is not the explosives store.
I agree with the comments around the political issues and difficulty in getting PSNI to extend the blasting or self certify - it was always going to be difficult but not impossible. If it takes too long then we are back to a sale to a company with larger pockets than Galantas since the business is still very viable. The issues are no different (although on a smaller scale) to those faced by Dalradian and yet it was still purchased by Orion for £315m.
I really do wonder sometimes if people think through their actions. Instead of working with Galantas which has a very good environmental approach they are potentially forcing a sale to a company (managed by Dalradian) whose environmental credentials are not so good. I cannot comment on Orion, hopefully they are better.
You'll only understand the situation here when you come and see. I'd recommend taking a mine tour, come on over anytime 'our gates are always open'. https://tinyurl.com/yxuoywhd
Unfortunately I believe self-certification for Galantas and Dalradian are a long way off, thats mainly down to the political situation here, the ongoing Stormont impasse, Brexit and the threat of a Hard border, the fragility of the Good Friday Agreement, and the risk of political/sectarian violence returning to the streets of the provence.
The stance on self certification is further compounded by the lapse security measures and the fact that groups of people can just go in and wander about a mine unchallenged or undetected.
The implications of even a small amount of these stored explosives going missing would be potentially devastating.
I think the point is being lost here. Galantas, have been in the past and know in the future that they need to pay for the PSNI service until authorisation is given for Galantas to self certify their activities. This authorisation has not been given and PSNI cannot supply an increased presence on site to allow for the flexibility that Galantas require. This is not about Galantas not paying for the service which was the historical issue with Dalradian. If PSNI could supply a people 5 days a week at an increased cost then Galantas would accept that at the moment until the authorisation is approved.
The aggregates levy is separate, well known and built into the business plan - please look at the accounts - this is nothing new.
LK505, very much appreciated. Thank you.
The belfast telegraph article was particularly interesting, Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland voice their support for Dalradian saying its an issue for the whole quarrying industry there. They are now Mineral Products Association Northern Ireland and their website shows Dalradian as a member, tho not Galantas.
My view is shifting. I can better understand now GAL not paying PSNI. Its something for the industry as a whole to work out.
Both good and bad. Good in that GAL has wide support for not paying PSNI for its service. Bad in that it may take some time to resolve. With this new info I can better understand GAL's position to reduce costs.
Laserbrain- As requested.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/psni-and-gold-mining-firm-locked-in-security-costs-row-as-fee-remains-unpaid-35173360.html
http://www.irishnews.com/paywall/tsb/irishnews/irishnews/irishnews//news/northernirelandnews/2016/11/24/news/dalradian-calls-in-lawyers-over-psni-security-bill-799633/content.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-37824240
https://www.midulstermail.co.uk/news/psni-and-dalradian-clash-on-gold-mine-security-costs-1-7656563
As yet, this is still unpaid. Strongly relevant as these 'security and resource' issues apply to Galantas too.....
Don't forget also Galantas owe £300k to tax authorities for 'aggregate tax' after exporting waste rock form the site.
They appealed this, but lost- therefore liable for the bill. Check out-
https://www.rpc.co.uk/perspectives/tax-take/omagh-minerals-tax-penalty-was-a-criminal-charge-for-the-purposes-of-article-6-of-the-echr/
I would have thought it will come to a logical conclusion LB - Dalradian will need the PSNI on board so if it has not been settled then it is a bargaining chip. But most likely it is old news dating back to 2016 with no relevance to Galantas.
However a quick look at Dalradian's website shows an interesting page on the benefits to the area, 1,000 jobs, average salary of £40k, £4m community fund - now there may be a number of people opposed to this but I am sure there are a lot more in favour. Always the problem with small scale protests IMO, they think they are representing what the silent majority want when in fact they are representing what they want.
https://dalradian.com/curraghinalt-project/default.aspx
Never mind LK505 I found the news of 400k in The Irish News dated 24NOV16. Before the takeover, of course, but I saw no news saying that the issue had been settled. Bloody stupid thing.
LK505. Well, I don't believe the PSNI story either. Personally, I also have no objection to your posts here. I appreciate there will be objects to mining, or many other developments from people nearby. But maybe you could take some photos and share a link. Of course, its maybe a bit late now since mining has stalled in the event.
Do you have a link to the news of Dalradian owing PSNI 440k? I think its rather mean of them considering the wealth they're holding. Strategically silly, too.
And what do you believe to be the situation LK?
We are all fools on this board who deserve to be parted from our money are we not?
I find it strange that you would ask a question of us mere fools.
Perhaps it is a rhetorical question and you will enlighten us with the truth.......... you seem to know a lot about the security measures at Greencastle as well.
Are you perhaps one of the anti-mining chaps - no issues if you are, everyone is entitled to their viewpoint, nobody is a fool in my book until proven otherwise.
So please enlighten us.
Do you guys genuinely believe the PSNI resource story? or is this just a distraction to the real underlying story.
Do you not think that if this was a genuine 'resource' issue, then it wouldn't take a lot of money to get things going- rather than jeopardising the entire company? The PSNI escort duty payments would be 'peanuts' on the grand scheme of things...
The local PSNI set up an 8 man dedicated engagement team in February 2019 to deal with tensions within the local community regarding the Dalradian proposals.. there was no contribution by Dalradian to this.
Don't you think that re-assignment of this resource, or creating a new one wouldn't be that difficult if a full time 8 man team can just 'appear' from nowhere.
Around the proposed mine at Greencastle area there is a very high police presence. Surveillance cameras, dedicated encrypted WiFi networks, etc... All this, and Dalradian are still with holding payment on the £440k invoice from the PSNI for 9 months explosive escort duty...
At Cavanacaw, the front gate is almost continually open, I've never seen it closed... no police, apparently inactive security cameras, apparently 11 people on the books, and the odd passing tumbleweed.
Check out this link- tinyurldotcom/yy4celt4 (replace dot with . )
Hi Gavster - I agree £20m would be a bargain, I was referring to this value as a baseline with plenty of upside. The true value only comes out once more resources are at least inferred, which is a few years away.
In terms of taking this private on the cheap, I am not in that camp. I do not believe that is Roland's intent from both a personal view and a logistics view of actually doing it. Whilst it may seem cheap it still requires a fair old lump sum to purchase it and then to fund it. I very much doubt Ross Beaty would want that kind of reputation on his resume and maybe not some of the others either. There is also the locals and the employees who are invested in this as well.
I do think that this is a genuine problem. Not saying that it could not have been handled differently, I hear what you are saying about investing locally - it's a double edged sword, sometimes as a miner it's best to keep your head down and try to be invisible - if that doesn't work then absolutely invest locally. I cannot comment because I do not know what involvement if any Galantas has in the local community.
Let's hope we get some clarification soon on what is happening and the pl;an to resolve it.
Key point from website: "The number of issued securities not in public hands (Directors, Senior Officers, Melquart Ltd, Mr. Ross Beaty and Miton) is 67.79% of issued shares.* " Why does all this smart money standby and watch the stock collapse? Are these savvy investors fighting to save the company now?
20 Million Quid would be terrible !! With projected revenues of $25m supposedly just a few years away, Galantas should be getting to a stage where an offer of £80m is more the tune.
With the kitty getting poor and the share priced at hopeless levels of financing, the market will not take to mothballing and the company could be driven down and down to the receivers, at which point, low and behold a new company comes forward to buy the assets at knock off rates, secretly owned by some dodgy offshore trust, could be friends of anyone's including the current shareholders, who knows, but the operation is bought, taken private and sails off into a glorious sunset where the mining indeed does take place for the new owners, gold is reaped for the few, and the current shareholders get the square root of zilch.
I think the biggest problem is that GAL's finances are rubbish. With several million in the bank, it's more agreeable to take time out and solve problems, but now the clock ticks, and Roland does not act with any urgency or ambition, he never has.
IMO Buying at these levels becomes a gamble, no longer a high risk & high return investment. If your holding is smallish then averaging down is a possibility right now. As the saying goes:
"Be Greedy when others are Fearful.
Be Fearful when others are Greedy"
Right now we are fearful.
We are below asset value, but that doesn't matter as an investment if the company is driven into liquidation and picked up for a song by the vultures.
Could Roland handle things better locally ? Well for example he could perhaps get some locals on side by spending on events for the local community, halloween parties, fireworks and xmas, sponsoring gardens, local church roof, local charities would all garner local support. Imagine if a local police chief appreciated the nice tulip display in the local green or his grand kids had the time of their lives and all it cost was £800 for an inflatable castle and a day's gardening to plant 1000 bulbs. He might even make sure the paperwork is done for blast supervision on time. These are just small ideas, but I bet none of these have ever even crossed Mr Phelps mind.
He has already admitted that the banks are not willing to lend.
Apparently one of those top bankers loves tulips.
OK The tulip digression might not be serious, but you get the point. There are a multitude of possibilities, ways and means but Galantas never does anything to boost image, regional influence, non-financial or local sentiment that we know of.
From the very first reading of the notorious RNS I felt something was not right. It is clearly negative and probably unnecessary. GAL could have continued their development whilst raising more cash, a loan, or partner. They must still have cash after the 2m placing in August.
OK, suppose they were bleeding cash too quickly. They could have reduced the workforce and continued on the basis of 2 days support from PSNI. As Roland stated, this has been known about for some time. Whatever actions a competant management might take, there were much better options than put forward in that RNS.
So why? I also believe Roland to be an honest guy - as honest as any player in today's world. He hinted quite clearly in the proactive video that he was in talks with someone regarding a JV/sale. The only plausible actor is Dalradian and their truly massive backers, Orion Resources.
It makes a lot of sense for Orion to acquire Galantas. Financially, its a no brainer. It also matches their current holding with Dalradian to perfection. But that doesn't explain the RNS. In fact, if Orion were sniffing around it would make sense to continue. BUT, there is another play here. If Orion simple take over Galantas, they may be seen as a predator expanding their hated operations. Much better to come in as a white knight, rescuing jobs and using the Cavanacaw mine to show just how beneficial mining can be to the local economy and proving the nay-sayers wrong but operating a clean and environmentally friendly operation. Roland highlighted this in the video.
So there's my take. Probably around, and before, the anticipated placing alerted in the RNS, Dalradian will buy out Galantas. They will give the PSNI the funding they want for more support and use Cavanacaw as the key that opens the door to wider operations at Curraghinalt. They would be crazy not to.
Is this too far fetched. No way. When we look at the current corporate environment; wework, boeing, woodford etc, its exactly the sort of cunning plan we would expect.
I am also holding tight here. The question for me now is whether to buy more. Your views please gentlemen.
Thanks guys. TT do you know the MCap for dalradian when the 315m offer went public? I think we'd all be happy with a sale at 20m. I suspect that something is afoot, and Roland practically admitted they were in talks.
I wonder if galantas agreed the contents of that RNS as a condition for a sale. Perhaps Dalradian have the intention of making this a white knight rescue. Put the money required into GAL and tidy things up into a showcase. Would such a secret tactic be even legal? It would certainly make sense for all the players involved.
You don't often see maths calculations on here LaserBrain - so well done for that.
Galantas does not use a rotary drill - it uses a drill and blast technique and then muck out. I.e. drill holes to plant the explosives, explode and then use a motorised shovel to extract the rock. Whilst all levels are slightly different due to the inclination of the strike on both the horizontal and vertical axis we can draw some conclusions from the 1072. i.e. once the level is reached it was 58m to reach the vein and then the vein went on for a further 40m, so 98m in total that took nearly 4 months to complete. We are now close to the intersection of the 5th level but that still leaves the 98m and 4 months to go and we do not know what other levels there will be. This all ties into Stoping commencing in Q1/Q2 of next year.
Something has now changed - for me we still do not know what that is. I may be wrong but the requirement for increased use of explosives, whilst beneficial now, is not absolutely necessary until Stoping commences. So why not continue as is until all levels have been developed? So yes, we do not have the full story.
But that is probably where I would draw the line. Roland may not be the best marketeer but he is an honest and honourable guy IMO. I do believe that he is working to resolve this situation and the reason for it is most likely out of his control. Just like all of the other set backs he did not throw in the towel but worked to resolve them. And, again IMO, it will be resolved.
If we look at the situation as it stands we have a partially developed mine in limbo - who ever said mining was easy ! The Gold is still in the ground and there is a lot of it. By my calculations the first 5 years of mining should give earnings of over £30m with at least another £300m to follow over the life of the mine (taking into account 50% of what is expected to be found). That should get a JV as a minimum.
Personally I would prefer a sale. Orion Mine Finance bought Dalradian for £315m. It's total Gold Oz were 6.1m of which only 33,000 Oz were measured. It has no mine and no planning permission - we all know how difficult that is to get in NI !! Dalradian (Curraghinalt) is quite close to Galantas (Cavanacaw), potentially makes Ore transportable by truck - certainly not ideal but if I was Orion Mine Finance I would be thinking that I have a 315m investment in something where I might not be able to build a mill, tailings pond etc etc. Galantas is a good back up plan for them. Sure they will try to get in on the cheap and to seize and opportunity, but that only works if Galantas don't realise the cards they hold - and they do. To value Galantas at less than £20m from a purchase perspective is unlikely.
My conclusion is this - we are in frustrating and difficult times, I am personally not happy in the slightest but we have a great asset that will not go to waste. I am sitting and holding and waiting - the Gold will come out of the ground.
Hi Gavester: I, too, am not sorry for Roland Phelps, our leader. After all, he's earning a lot of money, nearly 400,000 a year from Galantas. In view of our stock price, in his position, I would be ashamed to take the money. I'm more sorry for shareholders and the people of Northern Ireland. The potential of this mine is enormous. But we're up against very strong opponents. The NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) court took a long time. We won that case, but in reality, we didn't. The Police now block mine development by delaying guidance for blasting. This delay is now over 18 months, Mr. Phelps stated, latest Proactive Interview, YouTube. Is anyone, any major shareholder, suing the responsible authorities? Any police authority fired ? So far no. In effect, we have the police deciding mine development above the courts. I still own my shares. I couldn't sell in a panic. Good luck. May we one day post joyfully about Galantas!
Hi Laserbrain. The only time I've seen things like this, is when in hindsight of a company being taken private, the road paved seems like a deliberate campaign to get to that position. That must surely be the elephant in the room of discussion here, and if so, will not make an ounce of difference to the campaigners, in fact it would make their position much worse.
I'm getting very suspicious. There are supposed to be gold sales being reported and productivity improvement costs to be paid for. There's reports today on the FB group of there only being a handful of staff and nothing happening at the site for ages.