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NM appears to believe he can take the company to production. This view is not shared by many private investors and I don't believe for one minute that BHP/New have any interest in this happening.
From the comments Biswas made last week, it is obvious NM is out in the market and, from the comments in the report, NM states he's in the final stages of negotiating a package.
BHP and New have no interest in being minority shareholders in a producing mine, particularly one which is loaded up with expensive junk funding.
NM is ignoring New and my guess is that the relationship is not what it once was. BHP provided the lights-on funds...why? This is a mystery as it appears to have allowed NM to continue down the funding path.
Do the various standstill agreements allow our main shareholders to bid if a funding package is announced? (I can't remember)
One way or another, we are on the cusp of the defining moment in the company's future.

This is obviously what Biswas was referring to - the possibility of third-party funding, which will be expensive.
I don't think New (BHP?) will simply lie down on this. Perhaps the announcement of a funding deal will be the catalyst for a bid?

I have a terrible feeling Mr Evans may have exploded over his keyboard.

It's exactly the same as a mumuration of starlings.

Well said, Schlemiel... I was just about to post a similar message.
Some people on here are astonishingly stupid.

Calamari, indeed. It's about far more than the share issue.

"why did Shetty go?". It's obvious, isn't it?

For some reason the vision of various nomads turning up on their camels to refill the calor gas bottles for their barbeques just came to mind.

Directors don't resign without reason; there will be more bad news to follow. It's to be hoped that with them out of the way, the truth will be revealed and the company can move forward and repair the damage.

What happened to the proceeds of the sale of shares in Whet? I thought they were owned by GSC?

Good point Cookie. But I can't see NM letting it get that close to the wire.

One of the clues to New's position lies in their latest financials.
Cash at 31 Dec '19 stood at $691m, down from $1.6bn in June '19. Free cash flow was a negative $729m, although it was positive 106m before the investment in Red Chris. Net debt rose from $395m to $1.4bn over the six month period.
At some stage they will also have to stump up the money to buy out GGP from Haveiron.
The fact is, their overall liquidity position has deteriorated. There are some good reasons for this i.e investment, but it shows how little room for manoeuvre they currently have. My guess is that they would struggle to stand their corner in a full project fund raise, which in turn explains the quote from Biswas last week.
BHP are definitely in a much stronger position.

Good find, Dj.
I agree with his comment about NEW, but I'm not sure about BHP. $23M suggests otherwise.

Welcome back, Cookie.
Of course, what you say is correct, but there's no denying we are approaching a pivotal moment in the company's history.
I got the firm impression from Biswas that he's genuinely concerned our board are not looking to existing shareholders to raise the required funds, despite the recent BHP fund raise. He also seemed to be implying that NEW would stand its corner in further working capital raises, but that perhaps they're not in a position to go the full monty. Perhaps Biswas is concerned that BHP have now got their feet firmly in the door and that NM is preferring them over NEW.
BHP supported what some may call as a "lights on" placing and they did this for a reason. They'd know full well that the cash wouldn't last that long and that the company is currently talking to various parties about the various options. I'm convinced BHP only did this in order to allow them "preferred status", in which case, it's little wonder NEW are concerned. I can think of no other reason why BHP would inject the cash at this stage.
There must also be a very good reason why BHP simply didn't sit back and allow the company to bleed to death. Many large investors adopt this route, believing they can pick up the investee company for a song when it goes into administration. BHP haven't done this and given that they are not guardian angels, there must be an ulterior motive.
None of us know what's really going on, but yesterdays announcement made clear that something is. It has to be, the company has no choice.
NM's wealth and reputation are at stake here and he isn't simply going to let this go up in smoke. He'll be fighting every inch of the way to monetise his wealth and we should all benefit accordingly. But be under no illusion, this is a game of nick and tuck and brinkmanship is the key.

Well said, Jerry. So much nonsense is talked about warrants/options on these pages. Mind you, that's also true about many other things.

BTW, the Cornerstone situation remains a farce. I've never favoured the idea and I sincerely hope that against the current backdrop, NM has put it firmly on the back burner, if not fully in the dustbin.

mog, precisely!
The next few months will definitely reveal the long term strategy here. The possibilities are:
1. Funding raised for the full project.
2. More short term working capital funding, either from existing shareholders or via a market placing.
3. Asset disposal (I 'm not sure how easy it will be to get any real value for the non-explored assets)
4. Alpala disposal. The big one and one that many of us would be happy to see.
5. Full sale of the business.
Apart from number two, the reaction of our two largest shareholders will be critical to achieving full value for shareholders. I'm firmly of the opinion that New are not in a position to buy Alpala and certainly not the full company...at least at this stage. BHP most certainly are, but who would they be up against? I cannot see them simply rolling-over and letting someone else get their hands on this. It's too big and too important to them and they haven't sunk a substantial amount of money into it simply to see someone else walk away with the spoils.
My ideal scenario is for NM to announce an approach from someone else and for this to force BHP's hand. If I were NM, this is what I'd be doing. Talking to RIO, Chinese, etc, etc.
The next few months will be very exciting.

optimus, yes, the BHP situation is fascinating and it's easy to see how your analysis may be correct.
However, I think the clue to NM's actions was revealed by Biswas yesterday. He said that he hoped SOLG wouldn't just leap on any available funding package that was currently available. To me, this suggests his worry is that NM will be talking to other, non-shareholders and I guess this would be the concern for BHP as well. This is the one bargaining chip NM has in his back pocket. In other words, BHP know the tricky situation we find ourselves in and would obviously seek to exploit it. NM is playing a game of brinkmanship with them and let's hope he wins.

theiceberg, it isn't misleading, it's merely repeating what the company has said and I'm afraid to say, the market appears to have understood what some people on here haven't and is reacting accordingly.
I agree with you that we have sufficient cash for the short term, but the report has spelt out in black and white what is likely to happen.

Colonel, I agree with your sentiment about exciting times, however, I'm not sure you're right about the BHP monies. Have a look at the Quarterly Report for the period ending Sept 2019 and the cash balance and then compare it with the December position.
As I understand it, we had $16m at 31 Sept and $23m at end of Dec...and this was after the BHP raise.
One thing which remains a mystery (at least to me) was the $21m we spent on the acquisition of further properties in the period to 31 Sep 2019. I don't recall any announcement on this. Of course, I may have missed it.