Charles Jillings, CEO of Utilico, energized by strong economic momentum across Latin America. Watch the video here.
Question 1:
The company faces increasing demands on its resources as it prepares the new mine. I am concerned that it will face a liquidity crunch before the benefits can be seen. To this end could the company make available the following information.
(1) Total available liquidity as at 1/1/22. This should include all cash, gold holdings and available bank finance including tranches scheduled to be made available in the course of 2022. Also include all finance payable in the next 12 months.
(2) Projected capital spend at the new mine in the course of 2022.
(3) Projected free cash flow (+/-) projected for existing mining operations in Mali
(4) The change in working capital (defined as current assets minus current liabilities) between end of Q3 and end Q4
Thank you
Hi BillyBoy - yes I've submitted a question. Given the activity on this Board and others they will have a tonne of stuff to go through and many questions will overlap. If they are sensible they will sort the questions in discrete areas, amalgamate the points they collectively make and then address them collectively. The real question I would like to ask is one that takes us through the whole history of the mine from the initial disaster of the mine wall slip through to flooding, spares shortage, lower grades than anticipated, excavator shortage, security issues, pit flooding and god knows what else and to really determine whether this is down to bad luck. The management would have to justify themselves on each of the issues and would need to point to other mines/operations having the same problems so proving it was not down to them. However, this would only work face to face at it is a complicated question that would need to cover the whole scope of the mine's existence and no doubt the management would wonder off topic and/or not properly address all the questions. I'll save that for the AGM methinks if we are actually allowed to attend in person.
The question I have submitted follows...
Billyboy - I've attended enough sessions on know they are not interactive in the true sense. First the company gets to pick the questions it wants to answer. I know because I have submitted questions in other sessions that have not been addressed. You can protest online if you want but they can ignore that too.
Even if they do address your question you cannot immediately ask supplementary questions as you would in a normal one to one conversation you have to laboriously type them down and they wait in the queue. No spontaneity and no guarantee they will pick the supplementary questions.
Finally, you cannot see the whites of their eyes. Very much a useful thing if you are not sure you can trust them in the first place
That's because I seriously think some of those people are actually employed by the company.
I'll never be able to prove it but they are so slavishly loyal to the company no matter what new disaster befalls it that that's my only conclusion. Either that or they really should be gently persuaded that undying loyalty in the face of incontrovertible evidence of utter incompetence is not the way to untold riches.
No it's not a buy in the conventional sense, that is to say the director believes in the future of the company and seeks to profit out of it.
No it's rather I want to hold on to my undeserved job earning this much money in less than a week so if I throw the supplicants a little bit of hope we'll fob them off on Thursday and they don't organise and replace me with somebody who knows what he/she is doing.
Seen from that way it is a rather good investment
A day after getting deservedly rinsed a director invests a massive £5k in his own company.
Rather than giving him the thumbs down for a pathetic gesture we're apparently encouraged....?
Amazing!
Collectively I think we need to get our heads together in order to maximise what we get out of this event.
They promised an interactive session on the Q1 report. Doesn't look like we've got one. They get to choose the questions and no doubt that'll be the easy ones
Prediction was AISC of 1750 inc drilling.
Result 1800 ex drilling
I notice the company didn't mention the word "liquidity" once in the RNS. Maybe is because they don't have any in which case I'm out with all my losses....
This is not a comprehensive survey but of all the miners I have money in HUM is easily the last to report quarterly performance (or lack of it in their case).
Presumably most of the extra time is spent thinking up excuses.
Like the dog ate my gold dore etc etc
Ok Dan - sorry BT if HUM is making money out of Yani then come up what AISC will they (you?) announce for Q4?
My money is on 1750 but I'm fearing I'm being wildly optimistic.
Desperate stuff just abandoning Yanifolila to start again. Look the open pit mine has grades of around 2 g/t. If the oafcakes can't make money out of an existing mine with decent reserves why on earth do you think they'll fare any better in the new mine?
If we are to recover at least some of our money either we accept a takeover or we get proper management.
Neither of which look likely to happen now
Oh yes they can. When you have the development schedule that HUM has cash is king and any need to raise capital will result in a bloodbath.
Right now they are bleeding cash not earning it. Don't excuse the costs of drilling from this since no drill = no LOF extension = no future = DCF of zero = share price of ~ 0
Why are people so forgiving of the management on this Board. It's a mystery to me. Unless of course they are the Board!
Yes I agree. I just don't like the artful way the information is presented. If you take what they say at face value production is up but with a little bit of sleuthing you arrive at your conclusion. It just gives the impression that they have something to hide and whilst it's easy to spot that production is down not up - what else are they hiding.
For example, what was Q4 AISC?
The share price bucked the market today because most sane people expect a dreadful Q4. I reckon AISC will come in at around 1750 (inc drilling costs). Anybody care to offer an alternative figure?
If this is the case then it's less a case of gold having our back and more a case of it stopping us completely sinking.
Seemingly incompetence is guaranteed with this company whilst a continuing high share price isn't!
I'd just like to commend most is not all participants on a good sensible thorough analysis of today's news. Whilst some have put some figures to their arguments they're all based on some (necessarily) heroic assumptions.
Soloto I feel your pain. We were well and truly stitched up by the previous management and sorting out the mess is a thankless task. Still I think the management are going about it in a workmanlike way and just like any supertanker once they succeed in turning round the ship it will all remarkably obvious that this is what would happen. In hindsight of course. I'm also increasingly optimistic that a rotation is occurring from intangible assets like crypto back to physical assets like metals that you can actually make use of. Just look at BHP's share price in the last 2 weeks or the performance of the FTSE 100 beginning against all expectations to outperform other indices.
We'll see...
Mr Market dozes gently away with this one. There really is so much fireworks going on around him he really must be a heavy sleeper. One thing not mentioned in the RNS was the start of PGM smelting. I can't recall when that is due to start but I seem to recall they are waiting for existing contracts with 3rd parties to expire. Am I correct that this is all that is stopping them capturing the $400 (roughly) gap between what they get and what the market price is?
Exhibit one: I've checked miners with similar prospects and operations in Mali e..g Cora & Endeavour. No RNS and share prices unaffected by the news
Exhibit 2. Good news rushed out and occupying 90% of RNS. Bad news tucked in at bottom ready for future usage
Exhibit 3. If you're going to bother putting out an RNS and everyone is worried about your basic inability to dig the stuff up in the first place AND we are usefully 10 days into the next quarter you would think there might be some passing reference current mining operations. BUT NO. Why?
Well I suspect Q4 has been an absolute shocker. All sorts of things have happened to the Mali mine which strangely only seem to effect HUM. More competent, or at least less incompetent, miners have strangely not had these problems.
No the sanctions will be a useful scapegoat with which to highlight continuing unacceptable performance and will also serve to distract our attention from the Q4 results where they are well and truly on the hook for the outcome which I predict will be an AISC of at least 1750 when you include the costs of drilling normally excluded from HUM's figures.
Btw - I agree with Cheerfuldoor - we should get our heads together and decide what questions we want to prioritise for the promised Q&A interactive session. Straight answers to straight questions would be nice...
I think a sense of proportion is due. In relation to the company's operations these are excellent results. However, they are no bonanza that will somehow double the share price. If Mr Market paid any attention to an junior miners quite a few would instantly double but they don't so we just have to suck it up.
What these results demonstrate yet again how well this company is run despite recent hiccups on accounts and licenses. They can make excellent money on the relatively narrow veins they exploit and are constantly probing out to ensure they have new prospects and can intelligently plan the mining operation to incorporate these.
At the same time they open new mines - Coringa and prospect new areas of the license. The one thing that would make this a multi bagger would be good oxidised ore close to the surface. That's still a possibility. If not then it's slow and steady with the share price eventually following it upwards.
I'm afraid patience is required for stocks like these...
Your welcome. Have a nice Christmas and here's to a more rational world in the new year (not least in the markets!)
and verified and cannot be released to the market. Currently they have the initial findings of the aerial survey now (which hasn't yet been published) and so are in a de facto closed period. He then pointed out that a few weeks back he'd bought share alongside Mike H at over 70p.
So that's broadly it. As I said this is MY UNDERSTANDING and DO NOT RELY on it when making any investment decision. You can always contact Clive. Happy to given anyone his address.
DO YOU OWN RESEARCH AND DO NOT RELY ON MINE!!!!
GLA