Member Info for Benhowell459

I feel your frustration Aber and agree that management of the sp has been woeful and certain decisions (or lack thereof), with hindsight, appear poorly judged. I doubt many of us here would be able to explain what exactly PH do for their fees, or could justify the cost of consolidation, unknown as it may be. Many on here (including me) voiced their displeasure at consolidation - this is not simply hindsight, as it was voiced at the time.

I would also like to add my penny's worth on the subject of frustration, however. There is nothing wrong with criticising the BOD, as long as it is done in a respectful manner. I see nothing wrong with Aber's communication style. Please can we also move away from the ridiculous idea that if we are somewhat displeased with one aspect of a company's management that we should sell up or shut up. A shareholder may fully support the direction of the company, the compounds and the scientific expertise, but have grievances with strategy/marketing/communication. It is far more nuanced than 'support the compounds or not'.

True, potnak. But I've said many times to myself I would go the distance here. Part of me would like the distance to be decided for me rather than having to determine when the best point to sell would be. Othwerwise, I may have sold at 9.2p ;)

This is absolutely the reason why obtaining an on-licence with milestones does not guarantee success. Tim and John would be sensible to see out ph1b then accept a buy out. Phase 2 has an extremely high bar for success (success in this case would be defined by high levels of efficacy and moving forward to phase 3).

"While the phase 2 trial of VTX958 in plaque psoriasis met the primary and key secondary endpoints, we are disappointed by the magnitude of efficacy observed, despite having achieved target levels of drug exposure in the trial,” CEO Raju Mohan, Ph.D., said in the third-quarter earnings release."

We may well hit the sweet spot for psoriasis, but I would prefer to be looking on from a distance...

Can Colin wind back the clock and not tell AA where to shove their 10p offer*?

*Theoretical

That quote should be played back at him at the next open forum to see how he can get out of that one.

I note he's got no interest in doing any investor meets any more. I did enjoy watching the last one on YouTube and was very positive about BR when it was released.

Unfortunately Jez i don't think Colin really cares about the SP as he's on his 125k a year for 1 day a week of work gravy train. Bezant have been in the doldrums for years and he's still collecting his pay check there.

The man has today shown himself to be a proven b*llshi****. His hot air roast/Zac podcasts have always been misleading with pie in the sky forecasts or trains of thought but today we see that 3 years of media work has led to an uneconomic deposit at even 20% above today's copper prices. It's exactly what I feared.

However, there are steps we/he can take to turn this around. We have a profitable business from Manica gold. But if we're honest about his efforts to advertise our gold profits, he has not been up to scratch. His communication style has had its day. No one trusts you now Colin. Move aside and let someone with more time and energy spread the word. There is no need for you to move your attention to Zambia in your vanity project of searching for elephants. Many of us are 75% underwater. This is about hard earned cash and savings. Please remember that and put us first, not your legacy.

Potnak, I've said before and I'll say again that my preferred option is takeout for 1billion plus. We see instant shareholder value, the decision to sell is taken out of our hands and our future success/wealth is locked in and not still dependent on Phase 2 clinical trials.

Milestones are not guaranteed. They are there for a reason. With an on-licence we are not going to be instantly rich nor instantly guaranteed a winner. Our fortunes will still be tied to the success or failure of 1801.

CB has tweeted about an interview with Blackrock fund managers about the lack of focus on metal's contribution towards net zero targets and the subsequent disconnect between future supply and demand. CB has been banging on about this for several years now, but it does seem there are others of the same opinion. The price according to LME is currently 8140 per tonne, whereas two years ago this month it was 10500 per tonne. So there has evidently been no impetus with the price in the last two years. Very frustrating bearing in mind the supposed headwinds and context.

From the article:

Mr Hambro said: “Investors have to date been focused on the companies more closely associated with the [net zero] transition, like electric vehicle manufacturers or renewables companies, rather than the companies that supply them.”

In a report published on Monday, the Blackrock fund managers warned that an expected “surge in demand” for base metals like copper could lead to widespread shortages and higher prices, adding to the cost of achieving net zero.

They said: “The demand for metals and materials in the coming years is poised to surpass all prior estimates.

Consider copper, the lynchpin of power grids, or the rare earth elements critical for wind turbines. As the global transition to low-carbon technologies accelerates – possibly faster than market projections – this surge in demand could be highly underestimated."

Non paywall link:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/investor-disdain-for-mining-is-threatening-net-zero-says-blackrock/ar-AA1j6obo

Pandion. Name just came to me as I pressed send. Typical.

All we need is news from CRUK that we have reached a deal for 737 to give us 20 mill up front and 200 mill in milestones. This could happen ANY day. They are evidently in discussions and the reason why it's taking so long is because it's complex and they may have been lowballed.

Can anyone remember the company that kept rejecting the buyout offers and ended up being bought out for 10-20 times the original offer?

As soon as we get a 737 deal ( and remember it could happen any day!), the shorters won't know what's hit them. They'll crawl away with their hands burnt. That's the danger of a short, especially in a rapid moving AIM Market - see Tempest Therapeutics (4000% in one day). You can get flushed away, owing several times your original stake. They might be crowing over 50% gains right now, but I cannot wait for the news, that is coming, to provide the red dot of their nightmares.

GLA. Remember, it's always darkest before dawn.

Completely agree NtM RE those who have a handle of the Manica operations and also the importance of broadcasting our profitable business.

Very few AIM explorers are in profit. Most have huge numbers of shares and are in the doldrums currently in this market downturn. Profit making AIM explorers are extremely thin on the ground. (Name me another?)

Therefore, Colin should be shouting from the rooftops about his cash cow, rather than his hunt for elephants via midweek roast podcasts.

Come on Colin - we know you struggle to overegg things occasionally but this company is now in a position where we can blow a couple trumpets! Gold trumpets! Get on it, man!

Somehow over the course of an afternoon and evening, we have managed to turn the discourse from a pretty good set of gold income into who is at fault for the share price drop a year ago.

Good god people let's move on.

We are in profit! To the tune of millions of dollars a year. That is what needs to be seen when people visit this forum. Gold. Profit. Millions. Spandau ballet.

Not a discussion about whether someone has a personality disorder.

And for what it's worth, if someone does believe someone's very believable working out caused a drop a year ago, they also can post that, in a civil way. There's also no need to try and defend oneself. Presumably Steve is no longer (financially) interested here, there is no need to defend one's character or honour as it is not 19th Century Victorian London, it is an online account with four numbers in it. We have no need to rake up the past as it neither matters and the majority

do not care one iota. Let's move on to discussing the merits of our respective shareholdings.

I'll start with a couple starter questions.

A) do we think Colin will do an interview with Zac?

B) what might be the timeframe for the (rather slow) BR report?

C) do we think BR will have another round of drilling?

Final thoughts before clocking off for the weekend.

Did Colin expect his appearance with the Roasties to boost the SP? What is his strategy for returning shareholder value here?

Ultimately the only thing that will drive this share is news and concrete news that will bring shareholder value.

The current market is full of companies that have a huge sp/value disconnect. Money may be in short supply and investors keen to invest in companies with a clearly positive future. This brings us back to Rick Rule's idea of lifestyle companies.

If you would like an insight into what can happen when one of these overlooked, abandoned companies does release game changing news, have a gander at Tempest Therapeutics. Last week it rose 4000% in one day. That is what can happen should the right news be released. News that provides a guarantee that shareholders will be rewarded for buying in. Right now, most AIM companies do not offer dividends so there is simply no guarantee of a ROI.

I sincerely hope that Colin is getting his ducks in a line. Gold price is now just shy of 2000 USD. He must surely have received an interim report of BR's feasibility.

I have been frustrated by how tedious the wait for any material news has been here. Once Q2 gold is reported and BR report is released, we will be that much closer to finding out if 2024 will be our year. If only to stop us hearing Colin bang on about Kalumbila. Have a good weekend everyone.

Ahfam, I would wholeheartedly agree with you on the price value disconnect currently on display. It's not just affecting pharma though. The mining sector (especially Juniors) have been decimated too. My other major AIM holding, XTR, is now profit making and the market are still ignoring it. What is the reason behind it? People are short of money and only willing to invest in certain winners. Unfortunately on AIM those are few and far between. The market is ignoring whole sectors, labelling them as too risky in the current climate and unfortunately for them and us, missing out on absolute gems.

What happens next?

Tempest Therapeutics has told us that. Companies are virtually abandoned until the very moment that they can prove that they have a (positive) future. At which point, every Tom, Dick and Harry jump aboard and turn a slow descent to the bottom accompanied by the parastic Puma et Al, into a rocket to the moon.

Could this happen to Sareum?

If 737 comes in, with a decent up front payment and stacked milestones, then yes. I do think it will take more than just dull safety data. It's not appealing enough in this market. 1801 will get there - that's why the funding is in place for ph1b. May take a little while but when the news comes, we could rocket (just imagine our two resident short sellers scrambling to climb onboard when we're 300% up!). In the meantime, the share price isn't important. Enjoy the ride. Happy Friday.

Really interesting debate inspired by RR's interview. I would agree there are many lifestyle companies out there. I would probably put TYM in there along with Bezant who seem permanently on tenterhooks about their Philippines asset. GLR shows slightly more promise and AFP have possibly the best hand (of Colin's others) with the deals they have with majors, Sandfire etc.

Xtract definitely the best placed though with the money coming in. Reduces dilution and improves our negotiating hand when it comes to JVs. I do appreciate CB's dislike of JVs as you simply lose control of progress. Bezant were forced to go down that route in Cyprus and that fell through terribly. Oriole (ORR) had to do that in Senegal and although they have good assets, they're waiting around for updates like someone waiting on a rural bus service.

On the flip side, if you don't go down the JV route, you have to actually get things done yourself and make your assets appealing (for purchase). CB has been incredibly slow with BR (18 months since drilling stopped there now?) and quite frankly it will be years before anyone wants to take anything in Zambia off our hands.

The frustration with CB is there is no inkling of shareholder value at the moment. No dividend from Manica, no publicly available strategy RE Bushranger and certainly no short to mid term option of selling Zambian assets.

Colin was invited to ramble and ramble he did. Oxides 89%, sulphides 10-15 years, mission is to find oxides, 85kg/month. Question should be: What does he intend to do with the money coming in?

The man can talk the hind leg off a donkey if you let him. No surprises he bragged about Kalumbila/Sentinel. Honestly, you could play bingo with Colin's interviews. The way he banged on about IOCGs in Zambia and how underexplored the country is was hugely reminiscent of 2019 with Eureka. Look how that turned out. No questions about how the previous two ventures in Zambia have failed/been cast aside so why should this one succeed? His words are hollow.

Surprise surprise Kakuye isn't able to be brought online like he said before. It's more of an exploration venture than production. So that's another forecast that's been proved wrong. "It would be cavalierish to start stripping when you don't know what you've got". That's what you said we would do! Which brings us back to: what are you going to use the money from Manica for? This is so important but has never been asked.

"I feel blessed for our shareholders that we've got this acquisition". Many shareholders are 50-75% down. He's optimistic about the future. But still absolutely no indication of strategy to bring about shareholder value apart from being certain the Cu price will turn and harping on about sp/value disconnect. Nothing we haven't heard before.

Ps. I am disappointed the two experimental drill holes into Footrot came back as negative. Forgot about Footrot being joined up to Racecourse - it appears from the two holes that there isn't anything there worth looking at (currently). In an ideal world, would like more holes there but need to focus on Racecourse/Ascot at the moment.

Many contrasting views at the moment about BR. Do we need to drill it out more or not? Some say yes, others say no - wait for Cu price to rise.

What is clear is current situation not good enough for buyout. Sp is low as confidence of Colin sorting a deal is extremely low. Either we drill or Cu price rises significantly. Can't get out of AA buy out option as we have neither 2MT proved up or the ability to call their bluff with the DtM option. Colin always been guarded on the actual specifics of this - like many other things, which annoys me hugely.

Wish we could get news on many fronts - complete lack of clarity across all projects and strategy too. CB seemingly lost interest in promoting us and telling the wider market we are in profit and doing well. Bizarre.

Dani,

BR covers the whole district. That is the name for the district, IE the 4 licences we own currently.

Buy back option is for licence EL5785 (I believe code is correct. This includes Racecourse, Ascot and Footrot (and other potential targets as per April 2020 presentation - still the best document to view 3 years later, how depressing).

You can't split the licence. If Racecourse goes, then Ascot and Footrot go too. The other 3 licences could be explored though although no indication of targets apart from proximity to Racecourse etc.

Hope that's clear.

Thanks HBD. Just to reaffirm my gratitude to you and others who have already submitted questions and will attend/report back here with analysis. I do believe we are close to the so called "end game" and am also of the opinion we have probably had some reasonable offers in the past 3-6 months that have been batted away. We just need Parker et al to show some real nous to navigate the next 6 months. My worry is he does not have the ability to do so that will provide the shareholder value that we are all hoping for...

Missed today's chats as was busy at work all day. Trial is seemingly on track and no news is good news imo.

I can't watch the investor meet on Wednesday as busy again but I do have a small request. Please could anyone who is intending to ask questions please ensure that there is sufficient interrogation of the BOD? Imo there were positive suggestions thrown about last time about several interested parties for 737 etc. Can we please ensure we either a) Do not fall for the obvious positive throwaway comments this time and b) Dig a little deeper. IE. Ask follow up questions regarding potential positivity.

1802 has seemingly been undergoing translational studies for nigh on 2 years and this is supposed to be the Biggie. There is no excuse for such slow progress.

Also, we are supposedly a small pharam which on-licences in pre clinical OR early clinical stage. IE. Now! Could we please have an interrogation of the actual strategy for the next 6 months. Do we intend to sell up OR continue as a company and infinitum.

Thank you to those considering attending. I hope we manage to cut through the gloss this time.

You can't be 400% down. Back to school for extra Maths lessons please