Member Info for 1nvest

It gets you all excited and then let's you down.

True, let's see how this plays out. We have both been following Vast for a number of years and it's an interested combination of interests and this diamond part came out of the blue in view of past news flow or lack of.

if you have something to add of value great, otherwise your not adding anything to the debate. Have a good day.

Sorry should of just filtered you but I hate doing so as sometimes people can surprise me.

I think they do need to be evaluated but looking back:

'The court had, in an interim ruling earlier this month, said all diamonds from the Marange area in eastern Zimbabwe should be held in the central bank until ownership of two of the diamond sites had been resolved by chief justice Godfrey Chidyausiku.

The stones are roughly valued at about $18 million, according to diamond buyers in London.

Minister Mpofu, according to papers before the court, went to the central bank with a document purporting to be from the Supreme Court overruling that judgment, assisted by a senior policemen, and removed the stones from the bank as they were being catalogued ahead of being put into safe deposit.

Now Mpofu has been ordered again by Judge Chidyausiku to return the stones to the central bank.'

As noted roughly estimated and could be worth substantially more or less but gives us a starting point. Rather work with what's out there in Public domain rather than g estimates from Google :P

In 2010:
'The stones are roughly valued at about $18 million, according to diamond buyers in London.'

A good percentage increase in view of diamond prices today and there could be some valuable gems mixed up in there. Worth more than current mkt cap and doesnt take into account other activities in Romania and Tajikistan. In addition most valuable asset could potentially be mining areas as previously mentioned! No idea on current position of these....could be a very few interesting months.

Supposedly the diamonds were moved for valuation purposes but High Court directed they be returned. Expect a few to have gone missing!

I'm more interested in the two mining areas as that could multiple mkt valuation of Vast.

'
The Supreme Court case is an appeal by the government of Zimbabwe to over rule a High Court order last September which said that British company, African Consolidated Resources PLC was the legitimate owner of two diamond sites in the Marange district in eastern Zimbabwe.'

African Consolidated Resources is now Vast.

After digging around:

'Meeting with the Reserve Bank
In a separate meeting with officials of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (Reserve
Bank), two representatives of the bank, Messrs. Manase and Chiremba explained
that as part of the court order, the Reserve Bank was requested to provide custody
for the diamonds in question during the dispute period. The bank received all the
diamonds referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the High court order in judgment no.
HC 6411/07 for safekeeping pending determination of the appeal noted against the
judgment. In fulfilling this request, the Reserve Bank established a monitoring
committee comprising representatives of the following institutions:
1. Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
2. Minerals and Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe
3. Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
4. Office of the President
5. Zimbabwe Republic Police
6. Deputy Sheriff
7. African Consolidated Resources (legal representative)
The Reserve Bank further appointed Mr. Jamal Joseph Ahmed, a diamond valuator
from Premier Diamonds, a company registered in Belgium with offices in Antwerp.
Premier Diamonds was assigned to confirm the weight and value of the diamonds.
members of the monitoring committee were invited to witness the valuation and
sealing of the diamonds. The diamonds were placed in a trunk and one key was kept
by the deputy sheriff and another by African Consolidated Resources legal
representatives. The deputy sheriff also issued a receipt presented to African
Consolidated Resources. The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has
informed the KP Monitor that its team is currently seeking legal interpretation of
the court order and the implications.'

Based upon the above there should be a good chance at recovery of stored diamonds.

Well court case set for 1st February. We should hopefully have an update following this.

An article from 2009 in respect to the mine. Not pleasant reading but this is what happens in the country. Would be good to get the mine back but there will be substantial costs involved with working the mine securely and probably some sort of joint venture in my view.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2009/oct/04/zimbabwe-blood-diamonds-african-consolidated-resources

That was my original thought when I first invested. My original investment was based upon reopening BP mine and mechanisation of it making it cost effective. A very speculative punt in view of BoD and their mining experience as plan looked to good to be true!

The diamond mine in Zimbabwe always looked like a very risky play considering the country and politics at play. Looking at BoD appetite for risk they do like to stretch themselves and are very ambitious. It's possible one of their endeavors may pay off handsomely. Even though SP is down 95% plus from when I first invested this could turn around quickly. Ultimately LTHs would need to average down to see any return if they havnt been trading Vast in the past.

I still see this as a very speculative punt but there are signs it could come good even if there is a placing to cover their costs and life style jetting around the world.

Thanks, it confirms my original thoughts on the matter. Even so it's a positive position for Vast considering past few years. I just count it as a bonus if it comes off. May help to pay off some of Vast debt as doesn't look like mine is generating enough cash to do so currently.

Anyone know if anyone else has a claim on a share of diamonds?

Vast has provided an update as per the following, 'The Board has been advised by its legal Counsel and is encouraged that material progress on the outcome of this legal action can be made during the course of January 2023 and it will provide further updates to the market regarding the status of this process.'

A lot have mentioned that we should get a ruling by end of January. Has this been stated anywhere or am I misreading the RNS. I don't know how quickly Zimbabwe High Court provide their judgements and this case has taken years to get to this stage. Welcome others views on this.

There is a risk of going bust but prefer that risk option to mass dilution. With Measured and Indicated
Resources grading 1.80% copper and 0.35 grammes per tonne gold, containing 945 million
pounds (428,000 tonnes) of copper and 271 thousand ounces of gold, at a 1% copper cut-off I expect there will be plenty of potential buyers.

Rambler BoD have left themselves vulnerable to a cheap takeover especially with the small amount of debt compared to measured and indicated resource. An underground developed mine in this jurisdiction, with labour availability, a mill and easy port access would cost £100s millions to develop. A lot of work has already been undertaken in respect to what the mine could potentially build up to which is multiple of current production.

The resource is also open at depth and therefore potential to increase reserves whilst maintaining 20 year plus mining life.

A sale of company is more likely than mass shareholder dilution. Any large equity raise will need shareholder approval. There is a large percentage of shareholders who are private investors. They generally would vote against unless a rights issue. BoD also cannot work against interest of shareholders and a recent case with Hurricane Energy has shown what private investors can achieve.

Overall still comfortable here especially with current price of copper. Viability of mine and prospective buyers lining up to get it on the cheap should see me get my money back and hopefully a good return on top. Definitly not the price I was hoping for when first investing but still good.

I expect suppliers have very strict payment terms rather than providing credit terms on a 30, 60 or 90 days basis. I expect anything new ordered paid straight away or within 30 day period as a maximimum.

Company is continuing to produce 550 tonnes a month as expected. Based upon prior figures provided for June in respect to costs looking at least a million plus in income over costs. Since then reduced production but there has been significant reduction in costs. In addition price of copper has increased in excess of 25%. This should be sufficient to make a major dent in the accounts payable which should help address the ongoing issues with equipment supplies holding back mining and ore processing.

Currently its all about the copper price and they look to be looking to hedge further which will assist with forecasting more accurately.

Lastly its a question of restructuring debt with Newgen and current price of copper should be assisting with making these negotiations easier as there is more confidence in long term price of copper even if there is a drop this year.

As investors we need a break so keep those fingers crossed.

If AP was not in charge and there was a competent CEO in place I would expect SP to be multiple of where it is now within a two-three month time period.

The issue here is about trust and AP has been found to be wanting on a number of occasions such as, when company would breakeven/profitable, arrival of Mantis drill(s), mine refurbishment, ability to refinance loan, talks with creditors, Zimbabwe Diamonds, Ghaghoo diamond mine.....the list is never ending!

It may all come good but trust is shot and us shareholders have suffered. I have invested in many turn around companies and resurrected mines but not seen such a shambolic handling of affairs as here.

On the plus side he has managed, on the face of it, to pull off a good deal in Tajikistan. Of course I would like to see some costings on this and time taken but I won't hold my breath to see it.

Thanks micru. It's amazes me how these merchants of doom and gloom think there little snippets of RNS will spook investors into selling. There's a few lucky investors who bought in on the recent dire RNS but the majority have bought in prior and know the investment case here. With copper price where it is and actually climbing with supply shortages Rambler are now well placed. Would have been nice not to have that 4-5 month blip in Copper prices but that's mining and the market for you.

Happy to continue to invest for the long term.

situation changed with copper price being 20% higher. Cost at mine reduced in view of drop in staff and working more efficiently. There could well be more debt taken on or a placement but expect it would be to reduce costs further. The BoD have already stated their day to day costs and where copper price needs to be to cover debt repayment so no real concerns from my investment point of view. Think I'll be buying more on opening, not selling up!

I am one of the very lucky few who have made money on Vast. I averaged down and sold in the past year and got lucky. It could have gone either way as if Atlas had not made that final equity for debt swap we could now be looking at a SP in the region of 2.5-3p as 3rd May pected there to be 609,252m shares in circulation. We could potential be looking at a 3rd of the shares currently in circulation had Vast managed to work to its commitments and got its finance providers to do so as well.

The BoD have a lot to answer to in respect to its comms. Even so there is light at the end of the tunnel for Vast and for any recent investors. LTH are unluckily to see much of a return unless they decide to average down. Currently there are better opportunities out there if you are not invested here but with copper price increasing and any substantial increase in production then we could have a viable investment case.

The dilution following the Atlas loan repayment fiasco led to the SP recovery being destroyed and the position of where we are today. The recent dilution would have been a lot smaller as the SP would have been a lot higher. Vast and BoD have a very poor track record in raising finances for their projects. This past year and production figures will not have helped. They should be a lot further ahead but the Mantis drill arrivals and set up have led to further delays.

I'm waiting to see if there will be a further placement and if so the amount raised. Is there enough confidence to raise the funds needed to free cash flow from operations.

I was also expecting to see molybdenum concentrate figures as production started in August 2022. The Company confirmed it would report on quarterly molybdenum production as part of its quarterly production reporting. Not seen anything to confirm figures even though production started over 4 months ago.

AP needs to start delivering rather than just talking.