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Novice/Fort, I agree with your general sentiment but I would point out that the article made a specific statement about work at Cascabel having been halted. This, it turns out, is untrue.
It may just be me, but if someone makes a statement like that, I want to know the truth.
Rapid response from Fawzi - thank you addicknt for your efforts.
Can you thank him for his dilligence in responding so quickly - next time you communicate with him?
Best
Z
This has been going on for yonks. Nothing new here. Apart from the fact that Ecuador recently had a mini revolution and Lasso had to provide some concessions to bring the saga to an end. Perez hasn't gone away. Ecuador like Chile, Peru and so on have a real lefty following. I actually thought the article was positive as it showed some key decision dates and Lasso looking to get the cadestre up and running again.
I agree that it's better to agree on the licence blocks that are up for auction and then present them to locals and see which ones they are against and which ones they aren't bothered about.
Cascabel won't be producing until 2028 so long way off. It's the blocks that are keen to get moving in 2024 and 2025 that need to get through the red tape. They are the ones being held up and should set a benchmark/example or pathway for Alpala.
Yes, but I can probably find 10 posts over the last 5 years that have confirmed this in one way or another Sean, but every time it rears its ugly head there is always a lot of commotion, I am pretty certain that the last decades work by Solgold would not have continued if there was a clear and present risk that Solgold would be forced to end operations. The incumbent government is also mining friendly so am pretty confident this will be way north of here one day, but the only question still remains... how much patience do some of us have ?
ONWARDS & UPWARDS !
Shame shareholders need to go knocking on their door though for them to say something about this.
Thanks for that addicknt. Really appreciated.
addicknt, great news, thank you for sharing.
Onwards!
I should add that he said we are not required to consult with indigenous communities...mainly I guess, because there are none.
Gentlemen,
I have received a lengthy and detailed reply from Fawzi. In essence it says we are not impacted by this at the moment as we will not be filing the relevant environmental stuff until the end of next year and that by that time the whole framework will have been agreed.
He confirmed that the press article was wrong in as much as work has not stopped at Cascabel. He also confirmed Cascabel is not in an indigenous area.
So I guess the conclusion is we'll have to comply with whatever's in place at the time, but we are not subject to the same indigenous pressures as many other concessions are.
I very much appreciated his timely and thorough response.
I think the whole interview is clunky and contradictory, as the journalist conducting the interview surmises as much with their questioning towards the end. There's quite a lot of 'I don't know' and 'I can't say' - in which case perhaps you shouldn't be giving an interview to the press, as it's going to invite speculation!
There is also the issue of translation and accuracy that's worth taking in to account.
addicknt, keen to know what the company revert with. If this is something that has in fact had implications for either the regional concessions that we've been trying to shift, or even bringing JV partners on at Porvenir and Cascabel, then it's unsurprising that the company haven't been vocal about it.
I think the timing is interesting though - cadastre opening mid-Dec, our merger with CGP slated to complete late Q4. Potentially all falling in to place?
Good point LunchMoney, I have only been keeping my eye on the permitting for Alpala.
Do you know what the permit situation is for Porvenir.
Thankfully OC we have the CGP lot on board now who are sharper and hungrier than our zombies so I suspect we might be pulling our fingers out of our backsides at last soon.
With Solgold, you can completely ignore their Corporate presentations.. and take their 'pathways to production' with the kind of credibility you would give to a used car salesman kicking tyres..
This share has been an absolute turd for too long.. and it seems the markets don't have any faith in their recent announcements or ability to close a deal.
Those expecting a payout of circa £1 and above soon, due to corporate actions need to be asking why even at this price, and after the proposed merger news, no one is interested.
LM, and therein lies the issue; "indigenous areas". How many times have we been told Cascabel isn't within one?
Besides that - it seems to be factored into the SP. Otherwise we would have crashed to 4p this morning ;)
These things are set to try us. They just seem a lot worse when we are viewing them from a position of weakness (in price) rather than strength. Of course the BoD are no help at all, as usual.
I don't think it will ever be mate - but in a poor, developing country the mighty dollar will out and the maximisation of these vast resources will steamroll ahead regardless in the long term. The wheels will be greased somehow.
Sean, I agree with all of that. It's just that with the various announcements over the past couple of years and the signing of the IPA, I'd kinda thought this stuff was behind us. It's just bleedin' boring it doesn't appear to be.
As I've said we've seen these hiccups and rumblings from "indigenous groups" all down the years - did not seem to affect the recent Japanese potential investors one bit, and in a country whose future really depends on developing these mines I suspect lip service is being paid to certain sensitive issues.
If this news had come out when we were at 37p, you guys wouldn't be so spooked. What we do need is an RNS with some good news, or at least some clarification on this point, to boost the SP.
As it is, some of you have clearly been ground down by the recent low price - everything looks black, the slightest hiccup looks like the end for SOLG in Ecuador etc etc etc.
I used to feel this way back in 2018 when we could not escape the 19p level for months and the board was being mentally drained everyday by jmiley and bottomzup spreading doom and gloom. But there have been far bigger challenges from Ecuador in the past - including civil unrest - which were genuine existential threats.
To those just exasperated and at that capitulation stage, I would remind you of the words of Churchill -
"When you are going through Hell - keep going!"
Sunlit uplands ahead.
I'm no fan or Irwin but I admire his bullishness - and he's a lot richer than any of us.
I have to say zoros, you're a beaming ray of sunshine!
Btw, arbitration would be in London.
The investor protection agreement protects Solg's investment in Ecuador in that it 'could' take Ecuador to international court to try to get its money back. Good luck with that.
The agreement doesn't cover us, you can guarantee that!
Z
Q, we also have the Investor Protection Agreement in place.
The mining minister has explained that of the 7 cadastres that will have permission to mine by 2025, 6 have not got their environmental permissions. These have been prepared but not issued for: "political reasons". He did n ot expand on the reasons why they have not been issued.
Cascabel has never been under any indigenous threat (unlike some of CGP's). They have a clear runway to development once the environmental certificate is issued.
The minister went onto say that by december 2022, the cadastres should be available to progress. IMO - I see this as a +ve.
I also will assume that the recent co-joining of Solg and CGP will have been aware of this 'hiccup' and see it as a bump in the road to production, not a barrier.
Lasso is looking at "Plan B".
Z
Agreed addicknt, let's see what type of reply you get.
At the moment I am quite relaxed about this as I am reasonably sure our ESG will cover us, and if not we will amend it such.
Just goes to prove that ESG is critical in today's mining sector.
Q, it's as clear as mud, isn't it?
Doesn't this part cover us. Or is it more involved.
The mining projects in production or exploration will not have any brake after the agreements in the dialogue table, because they already have titles.