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The quote of us being mine finders, not mine builders was pretty off the cuff, but the statement had intent and was seen by many as an acceptance we don’t have the resources to build a giant block cave as a small junior explorer.. with no prior mine building experience.
However, IF…, we are having no fast and clever success with a sale or JV monetisation event, we have to continue down the route of pretending we can do it ourselves… and try to plan for it..
seems to me our bluff and puff has been ignored, and we are stuck.. until Bob can prove his worth and his big words.
SM, you were not the only one who heard it being said.
I'm beginning to think that having now got their feet under the table, the Cornerstone boys have realized it is not a case of simply turning up and flogging the asset and that Caldwell is engaged in a process of "prettying" it up in order to move to eventual disposal. This will involve attaining the licences (absolutely critical) and coming up with a feasible plan for the mine, although a DFS is no more than a distant dream. He has bought himself time by cutting costs and has improved his credibility at government level by re-locating to Ecuador.
I believe the SR will see us spin-off the non-Cascabel assets and SC will remain at the helm in order to achieve the ambition of realizing value.
Thank you SharketMare.
I will watch it later tonight when relaxing.
All the best.
Hi Quady - it was at pre-PDAC during this presentation I believe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knXIt1Vqxhw
I don't have time to watch now myself and give you the exact time I'm afraid, but I believe the quote was "we are not mine builders".
Fort, no my remaining holding here was modest, best of luck with your ~£100k+ investment here.
SharketMare, where's your trade today? Minor volume today and you sold up? You obviously didn't have many shares then?
FWIIW, I've bought over 600k of stock since the Lasso news.
Remember, the strongest tool SOLG have to wave in front of a buyer is the 'go it alone tool'. The likes of BHP and others really don't like that one. Franco, Mitsui and Chinese like it though. Don't thinker a moment that talking of developing Alpala is a negative thing. If it resembles a JV deal and early profits via shallow mining at Tandy then it could be great news for all. And remember.... until SOLG actively filed out something major on the asset (and I mean more than a 1% or 2% royalty... then and only then will BHP start to make a move.
The last thing you want to do when selling an asset is look like you are stuffed and can't finance it it. SOLG can finance a smaller project... and that might be the way forwards. Like Mirador... start small and build higher. Derisk as you go. Trouble is predators out there won't like that one bit ... so it has several benefits and one is it draws out a buyer or bid.
Good morning SharketMare.
Please could you show me the official company announcement where Solgold said they were not going to build at Cascabel.
Truthfully I have missed that.
I know some on here tried to twist the meaning of the strategic review into we are looking for a buyer.
But that is not what Solgold have said.
I have always admitted that should we get fair value that we would probably sell.
However I have outlined in some detail why I didn't believe that would happen and that the most probable outcome was we went to production.
As more than a few of us realised at the time, things were far dysfunctional than we were being told.
I recall the heated debates on here at the time of the fateful AGM when Mather was eventually shown the door. A fair number of us voted against his re-election on the basis we'd had enough of the hubris and general tosh that was being dolled-out.
I admit to being initially taken-in by DC, but it didn't take long to realize he was a gold-plated waffler. His vast remuneration was one of the worst examples of excessive executive pay I've ever seen...and he has the brass neck to sue us!
I happen to believe we are now in a completely different era and, as it stands, I've got confidence that Caldwell will deliver something. As for what that something is, I've no idea. But thank god he's taken the role and I see his relocation to Ecuador as a really good thing.
"When I posted 3 or 4 weeks ago my concerns about these things, I also mentioned Albanian gangs causing major concerns. Drugs, extortion kidnappings.
This was copperpot reply.
I've just informed (by telephone) the Chinese Embassy in Quito of all this unruly behaviour by those Albanian chaps! I can honestly say that they were horrified by the reports from this bulletin board. They are looking at rescinding the 'Trade Agreement' promptly! Phew Cor Brimey, who took my call at the Embassy is still reeling from this breaking news! Mr Brimey commented......."how could we have been so dumb to sign a trade agreement"?
Things are looking rosy in the garden when all this stuff pops up!,
And I'm the idiot!!!!!!!!!!!
Quady, simply not true. The company stated recently that it was not planning to build a mine at Alpala. It stated a few months before that that gone were the days of aspiring to build a block cave mine in Ecuador. You choose to ignore these facts (you have never addressed them or acknowledged them) because they don't suit your blinkered narrative.
The tone has changed substantially with Caldwell now talking about development. And given the inevitable delays in reneging the IPA and the other agreement, and nothing being released for about 3 months, I'm going to invest elsewhere for the time being.
I have no intention of investing an a company that is looking to build a mine at Alpala. Too much risk involved for my liking.
Not a word regarding any potential joint ventures. How much time has gone by since we announced an intention to JV regionals..
I remember Twigger standing on a stage doing a presentation waaay back.. towards the end of the presentation, he was practically begging any interested parties to get in touch.. Solg via Fawzi, even stated on multiple occasions Solg
were in Due diligence with interested parties… what happened to that??
Is no one interested? I mean surely miners are lining up to partner up with us after we have shown such dynamic progress and ability…..Or has something quite worrying put off potential partners at DD stages….
Aquinaga. Not bad for a village idiot.
1, I called the snap election several weeks ago.
2, I said several weeks ago the idiginous tribes were getting organised, and it will cause problems.
3, I said mather was impossible to deal with.
I was met with a torrent of abuse. But low and behold. Now look at the discontent.
SharketMare what are you on about.
Nothing has changed.
The primary objective has always been to bring Alpala to production.
Yet you have continuously posted the opposite.
Why are you surprised?
Orthern, thanks for this.
Italian. Ref your post.
"Many juniors dream of attracting partners such as BHP and Newcrest Mining. Mather brought them in and then eventually alienated them. He also alienated Cornerstone Capital Partners, a junior explorer which owned 15% of Cascabel until the two companies finally merged earlier this year, but not before Mather had twice failed in hostile takeover attempts and alienated its board and management "
I also said on here 2 weeks ago that mather would pick a fight in a phone box, and was notoriously difficult to deal with.
I was told I was an infester. Padmaster even wrote a ditty extolling his devotion to mather, and decrying me. Funny old world
I think we'd all worked that one out.
Many juniors dream of attracting partners such as BHP and Newcrest Mining. Mather brought them in and then eventually alienated them. He also alienated Cornerstone Capital Partners, a junior explorer which owned 15% of Cascabel until the two companies finally merged earlier this year, but not before Mather had twice failed in hostile takeover attempts and alienated its board and management.
Following the merger, Cornerstone changed SolGold’s board and picked Caldwell to run the company. Maxit Capital was the largest shareholder of Cornerstone, and its chief executive Bon Singha, was not shy of expressing what he thought of BHP and Newcrest in their approach to working with SolGold, as Mining Journal reported in late 2022 with the help of a few asterisks.
Caldwell has some bridges to build. Part of my role is to work with all our stakeholders, including shareholders, and we are trying to get a good working relationship. The relationship with BHP and Newcrest has not been the best at times. Both BHP and Newcrest voted against me on the board, which tells you what they thought about me joining, said Caldwell.
One relationship that is likely to change anyway is that of Newcrest following its acquisition by Newmont. However, as Mining Journal reported recently, Newmont’s chief executive likes Ecuador and the company’s investment in Lundin Gold but did not mention its investment in SolGold. Newmont would look to realise some $2 billion in portfolio adjustments following the acquisition, leaving some to speculate that SolGold may be a position it would seek to monetise.
I have not spoken to Newmont. I want the dust to settle on the transaction with Newcrest, and we will reach out to them when the timing is appropriate. I certainly would encourage anyone to at least look at the asset before they sell the stock, just because of its size and the magnitude, said Caldwell.
Shares in SolGold are trading at 29c, valuing the company at C$873 million.
A key task is to continue advancing discussions with the government about obtaining an investment protection agreement and amending the company’s current investment protection agreement to reflect development and exploitation. We are in discussions on both of those, and we would like to get those successfully negotiated by the end of the year, said Caldwell.
It is not just Caldwell who has relocated. The accounting and IT functions will be done in the country as well as other functions, including the engineering on the feasibility study, once that resumes.
There are tax savings, and it is good for the country to spend those dollars here. We will ensure that when we resume the feasibility work, we will put it out for bid and ask that the work is done in Ecuador. Obviously, some specialists would have to be imported, but we would make sure the work was done here in country rather than offshore. It really is emulating what Lundin Gold did, said Caldwell.
While progress has been swift, with the initial focus being a business restructuring to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, Caldwell and his team are now moving onto the most important nut to crack: how to profitably develop Cascabel.
The SolGold under Caldwell will be a very different beast than the SolGold under his predecessor Darryl Cuzzubo and company founder Nick Mather before him. Mather had visions of grandeur, such as the company becoming the next BHP, which in addition to perhaps raising the hackles of the company’s biggest shareholder, BHP, saw him aim for the stars with a large block cave development with a 40-60Mtpa throughput and pre-production capital expenditure of US$2.4-2.8 billion and total capex of $10.1-10.5 billion, in a 2019 preliminary economic assessment.
Repeated delays to a prefeasibility study eroded market confidence in the company, and when it eventually came, in April 2022, it featured a more modest 25Mtpa block cave operation to produce an average of 132,000tpa of copper, 358,000ozpa of gold and 1Mozpa of silver following pre-production capital expenditure of US$2.7 billion.
First up for Caldwell is an internal study to assess the options, which Caldwell should have ready to present to the board in about three months time. If accepted, engineering work would follow before the company begins to speak publically about it.
The Cascabel deposit has some very high-grade zones inside that massive deposit. The idea would be to begin the operation by exploiting that high grade, with smaller throughput, lower capital costs and a shorter development schedule, rather than a massive block cave right out in the block. Then expanding over time to where you extract the entire resource. We don’t have any numbers yet, but the preliminary indications are positive. [The capex] would be significantly less than the current capital costs, said Caldwell.
Caldwell was brought in to fix a litany of fractious relationships, temper and refocus expectations and fix several other issues that had almost made SolGold untouchable despite owning a deposit endowed with one of the greatest mineral endowments in the Andes.
One of Cornerstone’s criticisms of SolGold was that it was being run as a large company when it wasn’t one. Caldwell’s first task has been to restructure the company and make it fit for purpose.
Our number one focus was to optimise the organisation with the goal of reducing costs and improving efficiencies. We had key groups spread all over the world, from Brisbane, Australia, London, and, of course, here in Quito. We are really trying to move as many activities in-country [Ecuador] as we can. I moved to Quito and probably spend 80% of my time in-country. We have been successful in dramatically reducing our costs over the last six months, and with our available cash balance of US$46 million at the end of March, we’ll definitely be able to carry that well into 2024, said Caldwell.
With country factors being one of the most significant risks to the development of any project, Caldwell believes the only way you can manage it is to be there. He has taken inspiration from Ron Hochstein, chief executive of Ecuador’s development success story, Lundin Gold and its Fruta del Norte project.
At PDAC this year [the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference in Toronto, Canada in March] Ron spoke at the memorial for Lukas Lundin and told the story of when they were marketing in London during the early days of the company. He said a potential investor asked what makes them any different from Kinross, to which Lukas said, Ron’s moving to Ecuador, which was the first time Ron had heard about it. That is when I said it is the right thing to do, and I decided to move. The person in this position needs to be in Ecuador to be involved in the day-to-day decisions and the political situation, said Caldwell.
The current political situation in Ecuador, where president Guillermo Lasso has called for new elections to escape corruption charges, makes Caldwell’s relocation a prudent decision. Based on the historical development of the mining sector, both Lundin Gold and Mirador were permitted, developed and built under previous regimes that were more liberal or left-leaning than the current president. I think the responsible mining of renewable energy minerals like copper is the future of Ecuador and that we will have the support of whoever is ruling. Responsible mining has a place in Ecuador’s future, and we are going to do what we need to do, said Caldwell.
Christ. Nothing of any substance for another 3 months or so. More talk of developing Cascabel ourselves. Two big agreements with the Ecuadorian govt to finalise by year end.
Taking my money elsewhere for a bit. Best of luck to you all.
Cornerstone changed SolGolds board and picked Caldwell to run the company. Maxit Capital was the largest shareholder of Cornerstone, and its chief executive Bon Singha, was not shy of expressing what he thought of BHP and Newcrest in their approach to working with SolGold, as Mining Journal reported in late 2022 with the help of a few asterisks.
Caldwell has some bridges to build. Part of my role is to work with all our stakeholders, including shareholders, and we are trying to get a good working relationship. The relationship with BHP and Newcrest has not been the best at times. Both BHP and Newcrest voted against me on the board, which tells you what they thought about me joining,; said Caldwell.
One relationship that is likely to change anyway is that of Newcrest following its acquisition by Newmont. However, as Mining Journal reported recently, Newmont's chief executive likes Ecuador and the company's investment in Lundin Gold but did not mention its investment in SolGold. Newmont would look to realise some $2 billion in portfolio adjustments following the acquisition, leaving some to speculate that SolGold may be a position it would seek to monetise.
I have not spoken to Newmont. I want the dust to settle on the transaction with Newcrest, and we will reach out to them when the timing is appropriate. I certainly would encourage anyone to at least look at the asset before they sell the stock, just because of its size and the magnitude," said Caldwell.
And we would like to get those successfully negotiated by the end of the year said Caldwell.
It is not just Caldwell who has relocated. The accounting and IT functions will be done in the country as well as other functions, including the engineering on the feasibility study, once that resumes.
There are tax savings, and it is good for the country to spend those dollars here. We will ensure that when we resume the feasibility work, we will put it out for bid and ask that the work is done in Ecuador. Obviously, some specialists would have to be imported, but we would make sure the work was done here in country rather than offshore. It really is emulating what Lundin Gold did.
While progress has been swift, with the initial focus being a business restructuring to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, Caldwell and his team are now moving onto the most important nut to crack: how to profitably develop Cascabel.
The SolGold under Caldwell will be a very different beast than the SolGold under his predecessor Darryl Cuzzubo and company founder Nick Mather before him. Mather had visions of grandeur, such as the company becoming the next BHP, which in addition to perhaps raising the hackles of the companys biggest shareholder, BHP, saw him aim for the stars with a large block cave development with a 40-60Mtpa throughput and pre-production capital expenditure of US$2.4-2.8 billion and total capex of $10.1-10.5 billion, in a 2019 preliminary economic assessment.
Repeated delays to a prefeasibility study eroded market confidence in the company, and when it eventually came, in April 2022, it featured a more modest 25Mtpa block cave operation to produce an average of 132,000tpa of copper, 358,000ozpa of gold and 1Mozpa of silver following pre-production capital expenditure of US$2.7 billion.
First up for Caldwell is an internal study to assess the options, which Caldwell should have ready to present to the board in about three months time. If accepted, engineering work would follow before the company begins to speak publically about it.
The Cascabel deposit has some very high-grade zones inside that massive deposit. The idea would be to begin the operation by exploiting that high grade, with smaller throughput, lower capital costs and a shorter development schedule, rather than a massive block cave right out in the block. Then expanding over time to where you extract the entire resource. We dont have any numbers yet, but the preliminary indications are positive. [The capex] would be significantly less than the current capital costs, said Caldwell.
Many juniors dream of attracting partners such as BHP and Newcrest Mining. Mather brought them in and then eventually alienated them. He also alienated Cornerstone Capital Partners, a junior explorer which owned 15% of Cascabel until the two companies finally merged earlier this year, but not before Mather had twice failed in hostile takeover attempts and alienated its board and management.
Caldwell was brought in to fix a litany of fractious relationships, temper and refocus expectations and fix several other issues that had almost made SolGold untouchable despite owning a deposit endowed with one of the greatest mineral endowments in the Andes.
One of Cornerstone's criticisms of SolGold was that it was being run as a large company when it wasnt one. Caldwells first task has been to restructure the company and make it fit for purpose. Our number one focus was to optimise the organisation with the goal of reducing costs and improving efficiencies. We had key groups spread all over the world, from Brisbane, Australia, London, and, of course, here in Quito. We are really trying to move as many activities in-country [Ecuador] as we can. I moved to Quito and probably spend 80% of my time in-country. We have been successful in dramatically reducing our costs over the last six months, and with our available cash balance of US$46 million at the end of March, we'll definitely be able to carry that well into 2024,; said Caldwell. With country factors being one of the most significant risks to the development of any project, Caldwell believes the only way you can manage it is to be there. He has taken inspiration from Ron Hochstein, chief executive of Ecuador's development success story, Lundin Gold and its Fruta del Norte project.
At PDAC this year [the Prospectors and Developers Association Conference in Toronto, Canada in March] Ron spoke at the memorial for Lukas Lundin and told the story of when they were marketing in London during the early days of the company. He said a potential investor asked what makes them any different from Kinross, to which Lukas said, Ron's moving to Ecuador', which was the first time Ron had heard about it. That is when I said it is the right thing to do, and I decided to move. The person in this position needs to be in Ecuador to be involved in the day-to-day decisions and the political situation, said Caldwell.
The current political situation in Ecuador, where president Guillermo Lasso has called for new elections to escape corruption charges, makes Caldwell's relocation a prudent decision. "Based on the historical development of the mining sector, both Lundin Gold and Mirador were permitted, developed and built under previous regimes that were more liberal or left-leaning than the current president. I think the responsible mining of renewable energy minerals like copper is the future of Ecuador and that we will have the support of whoever is ruling. Responsible mining has a place in Ecuador's future, and we are going to do what we need to do said Caldwell.
A key task is to continue advancing discussions with the government about obtaining an investment protection agreement and amending the company's current investment protection agreement to reflect development and exploitation. "We are in discussions on both of those, and we would like to get those successfully nego
Hi Add
Will try when I get home
DBW, are you able to copy this article to the board?
For fairness/balance, this is from a very left leaning publication…
but worth a post considering the garbage, playground bickering clogging up the board recently.