Member Info for APD708

I understand your point of view @fingerscrossed and feel the same. The recent placing was completely unexpected and have certainly created or strengthened the doubts in the shareholders. I am long on Vast. Vast will rise for sure but how much is the only question and we will soon find out. We never know the news could be out tomorrow.

Thanks @DrAim, I agree with @Oscar. Ok so we raised the placing to invest alongside the bank so has the bank now decided to not go ahead with the deal. I keep thinking and saying something is a miss. Do we have Sherlock Holmes on here somewhere who can help?

Sorry, my message wasn't clear, I am also saying it is undervalued.

(1) For sure we will have circa 20 billion shares outstanding
(2) and estimates for Baita done internally by Craig which is unconventional (as industry best practice as this should be done by an independent party)
(3) and the usual risks with a mining operation (and Romania is not an unstable country)

Is it the fact that most of the retail shareholders have lost faith in AP's ability to deliver or that the estimates done by Craig for Manaila were not accurate (sorry I don't know but I am referring to someone else's recent post on Craig's history in relation to Manaila's estimates) or are we just awaiting news on the asset bank finance linked to Baita with the international bank, what is or are the main issues preventing a re-rate? Of course, the news on Zimbabwe may also trigger a re-rate.

Your view @fingerscrossed is admirable and makes sense on one hand then on the other it feels like for a producing copper mine with circa $8.5 million debt the SP should have not been at its current levels. Something is a miss!

Hi @Oscar, on 26th Nov AP did a couple of them as per Vast's twitter these are the latest

ah ok

Last 2 trades circa £97k each were traded OFF a main exchange as per London Stock Exchange. May the news about the bank is filtering through. No RNS yet though.

Read my recent previous posts, Vast and its shareholders are at an inflection point, not just AP.

@Sarah, indeed we are producing but we don't know the £££ value of the first sale. As per AP, in his recent interviews (available via Vast's twitter) if we don't achieve as per the estimates done by Craig Harvey (which is not industry best practice, as per the best practice estimates ought to be done by independent party but that does cost a couple of million which Vast don't have) then he must and will need to announce to the market.

So at this point please assume Vast is producing and generating revenue from Baita as per the estimates.

Another raise is imminent in the next few days if the deal with the international bank is not signed by this week .

Yeah @gbk47, i agree with you completely. I would like to believe in the saying "No news is good news." Lets hope in this case no news is indeed good news after so much has been said by many of us on these chats.

Trading for the next two weeks:
- Next week we only have 3 and a half days of trading
- and the week after that we have 29th and 30th Dec and 4 and a half hours on 31st

As per Atlas Special Opportunities LLC Non-Conversion Agreement RNS on 10th Nov "Atlas has agreed that it will issue no
further conversion notices pursuant to the Bond Issuance Deed prior to 1 January 2021." so if the deal with the international bank is not signed in the next few days and if we don't have enough cash left from the last placing then THERE WILL BE A FURTHER PLACING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

Thanks @Sandy. @MU345, those are trading platforms used by retail investors.

We have only one institutional investor (whose name we don't know), if you search for "institutional investor" in the Audited 2020 Annual Report you will find they have invested circa £97,000 or so (i can't remember the exact figure).

AP's management skills (from what I can see)
(1) AP made a calculated move investing in gold asset in Zimbabwe which didn't pay off (its in the RNS, his recent interview with Crux investors analyst) as this asset was in partnership and we didn't have enough control, etc. etc. etc. as per AP and we sold off the asset and wrote off the the associated debt.
(2) In 2018/2019 he invested in Blueberry and Zagra and drilling programme.

What most of us are not able to understand (of course we don't have the experience in the mining industry) is why AP is directing investment and resources by piecemeal developments. He has worked in the mining sector since 2012 for Vast so you would expect he is qualified to lead Vast and understand that we need to focus on one producing asset which can then pay for other interests, buying and their developments.

Of course, it is understandable that for some interests there might be a time limit and Vast need to act quickly to buy them like Blueberry (29.41% interest). Of course, we appreciate that it takes time in the mining sector to bring assets to the production level. I truly hope there will be no more placings and a proper plan that can be executed and to start generating ample revenue from Baita before going piecemeal again on other developments.

Whichever way we analyse, AP needs to perform quickly or step aside.

I have the same question as @max. It doesn't add up that the bank asked to raise a placing a week before the final approval of the asset backed debt finance which they haven't approved yet.

The only thing I can think of we haven't been told the truth about why the last placing was required and it was done to get new Institutional investors on board. Banks have institutional investors as clients so with the placing the share price dropped and they came on board as the RNS did say new investors took part as well as existing.

Surely it takes at least 2 to 3 weeks to plan and execute the placing so as the placing was on the 9th Dec at least around the 23rd Nov which was when the General meeting took place they would have known.

I don't think we are being told the truth which strongly and certainly increases the distrust in AP. "A man not honest to himself cannot be honest to others and the world."

AP has a history of bankruptcy, and since his position as CEO on 1st March 2018 (almost 3 years), SP has gone down, up to .40 last year and down to the current level, let's be vigilant.

I hope he proves us wrong and delivers a strong performance next year. Good luck to Vast, AP and all the investors.

As per AP 99% of shareholders are retail, this says it all. Institutional investors have teams to due diligence and probably most institutional investors have looked at Vast and decided to stay away for the reasons below by @Tiger.

Presently, there is not enough interest in Vast and that is reflected in the SP. Let's see (1) if we hear anything about the deal with the international bank next week and (2) let's hope Baita is producing as per Craig Harvey's estimates.

If yes to both then there will be an increased demand in shares and the price will go up, by how much, don't be too hopeful.

Hi @Dodge100, I didn't know about Craig's history. Hope he has learned his lesson. We can't afford another false or inaccurate estimates on Baita.

Hi @antharry, AP has history of bankruptcy which is what you are referring to as well, please see RNS on 1st March 2018 Appointment of Directors, page 3 and 4 of the PDF where AP's history of bankruptcy is mentioned. The blame has been put on investors.

Delisting won't happen, dont worry. If anything that can happen is we go in more debt without free cash flow and head from bankruptcy if no one is willing to take part in further placing(s) but the risk is downsized as Baita is producing as per the estimates done by Craig Harvey (if not then Andrew WILL have to announce to the market) and with copper prices up we are okay.

Hi @East, Vast posts RNS (last few i have followed including the one yesterday) at 07:00 on London Stock Exchange, I will keep an eye there.

There are a couple of strategic things that can see the SP rise much quicker and beyond our expectations.

1. Having this international bank provide asset backed debt finance for Baita. This is a vote of confidence to Vast in lot of ways.
2. This will bring institutional investors on board and they will have lot more funds to invest compared to retail investors like us.

Stay cautious and positive.

@antharry, the credit committee could have raised further queries/clarifications yesterday during their review (we are trusting AP and the bank that they did review yesterday), of course, in large parts the negotiations would have concluded but the fact that Vast raised a placing on 9th Dec 2020 (only few days before 15 Dec) as a pre-condition raised by the international bank suggests the negotiations were not all concluded.

As per AP the discussions started with the international bank since March 2020 so why raise placing so late on 9th Dec. Didn't the bank have the visibility of the Vast's books? Something doesn't make sense. Or may be this is how the negotiations proceed and I don't understand. My day job involves commercial negotiations.

I can see that 40m trade on LSE now

where did you see that? It is not on London Stock Exchange

@Pecten11, where did Max's post about Beaumont disappeared?