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So what you are saying is that you won't mind if you lose all your money?
What has he not done taht he said he would do. Please insert quotes.
You can't sell the cdompany unless somebody bids.
You can't JV a regional unless somebody proposes a JV.
I repeat...there are 20 companies in the data room.
It may well be that there have been informal bid approaches and/or JV proposals that the Board has turned down. If so, they are confident of getting a better deal.
And Scott specifically stated that he has met BHP to improve relations and by now will have met Newmont because he said he would do that at a recent conference.
If you get rid of Scott, who comes in to replace him? How much does it cost in severance? What happens to the SDP when he sells his 17 million shares? What direcrtly relevant experience will the incomer have of running an explorer like Solgold and more specifically preparing it for a sale? How long is the learning curve for the new person?
Darryl was here for exactly a year and between April 2022 and his departure he presided over £700 million destruction of shareholder value, £600 million of which can be directly attributed to the catastrophic attempted cash raise and its aftermath with two highly competent Directors as collateral damage...
The SP had lost only £45 million under Scott's leadership until Berry Street dumped...and I mean dumped their shares into an illiquid market...otherwise it is reasonable to expect that the SP would still be around 14p...or even higher with gold and copper prices doing better...
Apologies but I haven't had time to put together a fully costed proposal that will meet your approval, but I hope you can find it in your heart to allow me to respond on this public forum anyway.
How about we split this thing up, or as i said at least threaten to. Leave ENSA in Solgold and spin out the exploration assets. It may well just force the hand of an interested party, and if no one bids well they probably weren't going to anyway. At least get a faster answer to that question, continue on with some exploration and how much worse off could we really be.
Btw the way before you say that will take a long time to do, this should have been the plan 6 to 9 months ago before we got to this point!
If you had bothered to engage the company instead of people you don't know in an anonymous BB, Scott would have told you that the feedback from the data room is that we need to advance the project in order to make Cascabel palatable to investors (what he called the "turnkey" project), as in getting the permits (not made faster by the change of government) and repackaging the project at the right size in order to make it easier to swallow for investors (hence the new phased approach that is in progress).
Of course the repackaging can be read, or not, as an attempt to lure tier 2 investors or negotiate other streaming-type deals, as opposed to selling to tier 1 miners (like BHP) who would only pay at heavy discount to NAV to take on board such a huge project.
The thing about voting current board out means it brings in new naturally, then they will want a lucrative share deal not just a wage, are you starting to get the picture, we are caught in the crosshairs, just hold and hope
Atb
Kapil, I suppose it's possible you don't understand the meaning of the word desperation - perhaps you meant 'urgency'? In any event, if we give the impression to buyers/interested parties that we are 'desperate', how do you think they'll react? Will they say, ' oh dear, Solgold have got themselves in a real mess, we must help them out with an offer at £1.50 per share'. Or do you think they'll say, 'excellent! Solgold are desperate, we can now nail them to the ground'?
Giving buyers any sense of desperation is a guarantee that we'll get completely screwed and your suggestion that we should is just plain daft.
40p to 8p, I would say that the SP has already been hammered Red. 8p to 0p won't be as bad as watching that massive plunging in shareholders value which Scott had promised to create.
True enough Red re cost cutting. Unfortunately the market hasn't applauded him for that.
I read the rns regarding the discussions with a number of highly credible groups.
20 active CAs.
And 5 groups having completed site visits with a number of follow-up visits being scheduled.
It would have been nice to have an update before the agm.
"End the strategic review and start some corporate action in play..."
What specific action do you propose...more drilling? Faster cash rundown...may add to thje asset but iof the market values a company with $155 BILLION in the glorund at £250m, what difference would that make.
So many putative CEOs on here who know exactly what to do, but have never been a CEO, have never worked in a mining company, that know nothing about Corporate Finance, have never even been a GFD or CFO...
Don't even think of answering this unless you have credible, believable, costed proposals to push the SP higher.
Darryl was a disaster.
Scott is has grasped the nettle and is finalising a much better PFS3.
And please...the 'Strategic Review" is just a plan to sell SOLG, Cascabel and/or the regional projects.
There is no mention of drilling and "we are not mine builders"
I repeat. Only respond to this post with credible authoritative answers.
We may all be frustrated...me no less than you...but if the Board is voted out, it will be for the shareholders to find and appoint a replacement Board and you cannot begin to imangine the turmoil and the hammering of the share price that will ensue.
MARKETS HATE UNCERTAINTY.
I most certainly do. At this point we need a CEO who will move things along like his life depends on it. We are adrift in the doldrums with Scott's hand on the tiller, dying a slow painful death.
Eloro...he's massively slashed operational costs:
6 months to December 2022 $14.14 million...$2.357 million a month
3 months to September 2023 $3.336...$1.112m a month...a cut of 53%.
So you want someone who will show even more desperation? Sorry, but this is amazingly naive.
Eloro - what does JVing regionals achieve now? Zero.
See my previous reply to Fort. It should have been a strategy 3 years ago but now there is zero point. None whatsoever.
An end date on the SR is also a folly when you have a crucial project plan upcoming in the next 3-6 months.
If folks want to see this through then they need to wait for the new PFS to come out in the wash and back the current team to get that done.
I'd say things have gotten pretty desperate, no?
Fort - some of what you say is fair and you won't find me disputing but there's some further context required in relation to some of your points.
1. Cash spend - It is without doubt that SolGold became a rather bloated organisation and one of Caldwell and Maxit's aims was to get back into shape. We booted the CEO, merged, started making swathes of employees redundant and kicked off the SR.
Unfortunately, with that will come a fair chunk of capital wastage. That industry leading exploration cost per lb will have taken a beating, but it's a consequence of taking a large block of licences whilst the cadastre was open, employing the geologists to start getting about them and basically building a company that could morph into a medium sized miner with room for growth.
Ideally, that strategy should have been put to shareholder and stakeholder consultation back in 2017. Had it, Mather would likely have got the idea that most were happy to flip Cascabel back then for £500-750m and we could have saved ourselves a few years and lots of pain since.
2. They could have farmed out the regionals but there are a number of other considerations in play here. The key one being that one of the major stakeholders vehemently opposes joint ventures and is quite publicly on record saying such. It also created a convoluted structure that is less optimal if you have ideas about selling the company. Does an acquirer want a load of 50% stakes in projects with partners that could be AAA or F rated?
It boils back to point 1 and the empire that was being built. I've gone on record many times in discussion to point this out as it's a point of due diligence that any shareholder needs to be comfortable with.
3. They've played a part is destroying the price. As the company has shed it's timber the share price has reciprocated. Part of that is due to the strategy which was to mothball all exploring (thus removing excitement for investors) and effectively do desktop work whilst it talked to stakeholders and suitors.
Add to this a fairly stale ans desolate market for commodities and juniors amongst the backdrop of the wider markets where people can get 6% on their cash and yeah, it's only us lot that are happy to take the risk on SolGold right now.
As for arrogance, I'm not sure what gives you that feel. I've not had any direct dealings but from what I've heard on the grapevine there's no arrogance about this at all. They just don't have a bazzing news release that they can share with everyone to pep them up ahead of voting time.
This AGM is all about recognising the corporate dynamic in play, seeing through the noise to get a feel for what management have achieved and could achieve with 12 more months runway.
If we got to this time next year and we were no further along it would be a different matter entirely.
Kapil, 'we need someone who will show some desperation'...have you taken leave of your senses? That's the very last thing we need.
Red, firstly, I have not been trading in and out such as your good self.
Secondly, you and other folks keep talking about the SP falling. 8p to 0p is not as bad as 40p to 8p. So how worse can things get? Scott certainly oversaw the SP falling from 20p to 7p through his failure to deliver.
What would I have done? I would do what I said I would do. Scott said what he will do, and hasn't achieved much except for the falling SP and a never ending SR.
-Jv the regional.
-Repair the relationship with BHP rather than always reminding everyone that they voted against you.
-Put an end date to the SR.
-Auction the lot rather than wait for it to be nationalised.
End of the day, we are all here guessing. I feel terrible watching the SP going from 40p to 7p. So, I won't feel any worse if it goes from 8p to 0p.
Scotts a pathetic leader, all talk no action. His corporate speak about resets and focusing the company on creating shareholder value is just that, talk! Shareholder value has been utterly destroyed under his watch. We need someone who will show some desperation, someone with a bit of gumption who is prepared to scratch and claw their way to a result. End the strategic review and start some corporate action in play (or at least threaten to), show we have other options than just sitting around waiting for a bid.
Scotts not really living in Ecuador btw. He lives in Canada and just flies down every now and then for a holiday. He's filling in time until his retirement, totally the wrong man for this job!
Btw voting Scott out doesn't mean BHP just assume control of the company, that's obviously not how it works.
You are absolutely right Eloro.
Definitively, DC persuaded the Board (but not Ingo or Ayten) to go for a cashbox raise, against their own advisors.
It was a catastrophic failure and they had to go cap in hand for money.
That was the start of the slide and Berry Street liquidation was the final straw...
"Too much about this company is reduced to guessing because we are not properly informed. "
So please tell me Eloro what we are not being properly informed of.
We have been told all the actions that Scott has taken to streamline the comopany.
We have been told PFS3 is coming in Q1.
We have been told there are 20 companies in the data room and 5 have done indepth site visits.
We have been told there is enough cash to last until June 24; that Operational cashburn is $1/month and that of necessary we will sell the former Cornerstone holding.
But on top of that we can do another modest streaming deal any time we want.
We have been told two of the Directors are leaving and a new one joining.
So what are we not being told.
The company is on hold pending the PFS3, which a Director has told me will substantially derisk the project, that we are not a mine builder and that the company/or Cascabel plus over 80 projects are available for sale or JV.
What else is there to know?
Add, the only person who replied to my email is Bob. Scott didn't bothered to reply. Bob is pretty much saying the same things as you have posted. However, Scott is the ceo and I have lost confidence in him. The 3 years is how long I have been invested here. Yes, I had my chance to leave at 40p, but believed that with the new management team, we would be sold. That hasn't happened. Worst of all, even Warren has lost his previous enthusiasm. Just watch his body language these days whenever solg is mentioned.
So Eloro...tell me precisely what you would have done to arrest a slide which, albeit accelerated by the Berry Street capitulation, mirrors the savaging of so many other mining companies...
I have shares in a Canadian mining company producing a million ounces of gold a year and its flat on its ass...
Be careful what you wish for..
Scott is doing a good job. He's cleared the decks for a better PFS3 and a sale. There are 20 parties in the data room and we know at least one is excited by what they've seen.
The fact is that Junior Miners are bombed out left right and centre and the M&A boom is only just getting going.
Also becauses of inflation, uncertainty and high interest rates there is no chance of a minnow like SOLG funding Cascabel...
Unless...they do a big streaming deal like Luminex...
Scott may have a very generous package but only $200k comes by way of salary...and he's moved to Ecuador.. He may have share options and shares but he won't get anything like the reward you are jealous of unless he engineers a sale.
And then we all win.
And I also think we should vote for Mather. He may have made errors in the past but he has huge skin in the game and has only sold a modest amount of shares for tax purposes.
Trust me...he Scott are the best people to protect our interests. Sangha and the CGP crew also have a vested interest.
And I will say this...if I get a sense that a lot of you and the institutional shareholders are going to vote out most of the Board, I will be reducing my holding substantially before the AGM...
If you dread a forced sale or liquidation the best way to get it is to boot the Board...watch the SP collapse then...
Eloro, I suggest the best way to express your concern is to ask questions at the AGM and to email the company as they have outlined in the Circular. I admit their track record in this respect is not great, but they'll certainly get your drift, particularly as you will not be a lone voice.
I'm not sure where your reference to three years comes from?
As previously stated Add, I appreciate your pragmatism. Like Fort eloquently stated, they've burned through the cash with little to show for it. I have lost count of the months, if not years, since the company indicated that they would look to do something with the other concessions. They have done nothing to bring money in and are taking us for granted that we will vote for them and accept raise after raise. I am disappointed that we have had no news leading up to the agm. As far as I am concerned, things cannot get any worst than they are already and they are expecting us to vote for more of the same.
I feel that if we don't show our displeasure, we will still be here in 2025 no further a long. All of the reasoned arguments put forward when Cornerstone took over hasn't led to any meaningful outcomes. I would rather see things get shaken up than passively wait another 3 years for more of the same.
Eloro, you say we're 'comfortable' waiting - we are not (or most of us aren't). However, we are realistic and understand this is taking much longer than anyone hoped. We also understand that if we loose our CEO it would be a raging disaster. It's a matter of pragmatism.