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Foggy, that's right. JLP would be the obvious buyer of the Royalty.
It also makes me feel uneasy that JLP gave us an 11% Royalty, and now Colin Bird, who is Chairman of JLP, is now in charge of that Royalty. It needs to be demerged from BMR and put into a private Company. That private Company needs to be assigned 2 or 3 trusted shareholder Directors that will oversee any negotiations of its eventual sale. That way, the shareholders of BMR have full control of it, and we can potentially milk JLP for every penny that it's worth. If this doesn't happen, we will never see a penny from it.
Not sure about Borrelli still being at BMR - the Tweet said he stepped down from the board. Looking on Companies House it still says he and Gardner-Hillman are active directors. Perhaps paperwork hasn't been filed yet. I also noticed they have shortened the accounting period again by 1 day (30th Dec to 29th Dec) not sure why they do that - have they got something to hide? I'd assume if Borrelli has stepped down he will lose any rights to share options, and would also assume all that went out the window when we de-listed anyway. Certainly some good points to raise at the next meeting.
On the subject of Borrelli... Remember when he and Colin proposed a deal with Revelo and we were going to re-list under a Company they created called Callisto Resources? I posted a while back pointing out that they issued paperwork to have the Company struck off Companies House. I've just noticed that they withdrew the strike off and Borrelli was appointed as a director on 24th August. He must be getting ready to list Callisto and fleece another set of shareholders. Make a note of it and make sure you avoid that one, not that any of you need telling.
Regarding the Royalty, the idea would be to hold this in a private Company. It would then sit dormant whilst we wait (and wait) for JLP to start producing at Kabwe and value/cash can be created for shareholders, and regular dividends could be paid. I know Colin looked into this before, but I think there might have been a few options that were overlooked, it’s certainly not impossible to do. I can’t work out why JLP would be supportive of the Royalty going into a listed Company because it would dilute it for all holders (including them). Having said that, JLP have stated their intentions to exit from BMR so perhaps they aren’t bothered about retaining a percentage of the Royalty (this should worry us because the Royalty should produce a lot of money over time, why would they not want to retain a percentage ownership?). Surely it’s plain to see that we all benefit by having the Royalty ring-fenced/demerged from BMR.
I also don’t get why JLP wouldn’t want to take full ownership of the Royalty by offering to buy it and cancel it out, giving them 100% of profits from Kabwe. Perhaps that’s something we can look at in the future when the Royalty is worth more money. They are more likely to pay a higher price for it. No Company likes to pay Royalties, especially one that will hurt their pocket and be a pain in the ass over time. Perhaps JLP doesn’t want the Royalty to be ring-fenced because it would make it more valuable to BMR holders. Does anyone get the feeling we’ve been flogged a dead horse (the Royalty) by JLP/Borrelli?
I’ve started listing questions surrounding the Royalty and its terms, when are we likely to relist, and legacy issues such as suing former advisors and recovering funds from ACI.
We need a full update and they need to provide strategies and plans for the next 6-12 months as a minimum. I suspect we won’t get an update on the Royalty until JLP announce it via RNS. The terms need to be published to all shareholders so there are no hidden nasty surprises. We’ve waited over 2 years for all of this, so it’s time to get some proper answers or drastic actions need to be taken.
Since BMR is now under new management, I think it might be best if we contact Colin Bird and try to establish some regular communications ASAP.
If you have any questions or concerns, let us know and BMR Watch will compile a list and send it via Email. I’ll try to get something drafted at the weekend to go out next week.
I don't know runman, I'd imagine CB knows that BMR shareholders wouldn't be happy if he tried to sell or swap the Royalty for other assets. We've made it clear that we'd like to retain it and not have it diluted down. My thoughts are they could keep it in BMR and then leave it dormant. There must be a reason why they changed the address to JLP's office, other than just trying to save a few quid.
There’s an interview here with Colin Bird from 5 days ago. He’s discussing acquisitions for Tiger in the mining space with a view to retaining Royalties - I hope he hasn’t got his unscrupulous eyes on our Royalty, it’s ours and should be retained for BMR shareholders only. It’s the only bit of Kabwe we have left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGnmD98VUWw
Hi Fireball, the RNS where JLP took over the project was released early August 2018 - it states they had 2 year option from the date of the updated agreement (see below). So in my mind, that date has already lapsed and JLP must have taken up their option to acquire EML. We are probably waiting the final transfer of all assets before JLP announce anything.
“In terms of the Updated Agreements Jubilee is further granted, for a period of 24 months from the effective date of the Updated Agreements, an irrevocable free option to acquire 100% of the issued Shares in EML (the "Acquisition"). Following the Acquisition Jubilee's equity interest in Kabwe Operations and EML will increase to 100%.”
Ljchandler, I don’t see why we can’t list back on AIM, especially now Borrelli has left. They could also do a reverse takeover, where our assets are transferred to an already listed entity, and we get shares in return. Although I think it’s more likely they will go for a completely new listing.
Colin Bird to lead the way at BMR - Not sure how well this will pan out…
He holds directorships at several companies, none of which are doing very well, apart from JLP, and GLR are starting to look a bit better (largely thanks to Star-Zinc courtesy of BMR). His hobbies include diluting shareholders. His biggest success was striking Copper in Zambia under Kiwara, which was then sold to First Quantum for $260m back in 2009. That’s Colin’s CV in a nutshell.
Not sure about this Raju Samtani guy - he’s also on the board of one of Bird’s other co’s, Tiger Royalties, which used to be called Tiger Resources - they mainly invest in other companies on the stock market and hold a small percentage of BMR.
We have a few options. We can call an EGM, we have the 5% and can put forward resolutions for shareholder vote. We could knock on the door and see if we can build up some communications through BMR Watch. Colin is notoriously bad when it comes to engaging with shareholders, although BMR Watch did manage to speak with him back in 2018.
I’ve been assured that the Royalty will be put in place and Colin is currently in discussions to make an acquisition. Obviously they will be looking for a mining asset, but I don’t know how they plan on relisting. They will no doubt use the Royalty as leverage for a deal and JLP will look to exit their position.
It could get very complex, Fireball. We are supposed to get an initial 5% payment until JLP recovers their costs, once they recover project costs plus interest, it goes up to the full 11%. Like you say, they are currently or are soon to be producing Copper and Cobalt - then we also have Star-Zinc to add to the mix at some point in the future.
How do you go about calculating what BMR are owed when there’s so much in the mix? And that could also complicate JLP’s project capital costs. It would be simple to just give BMR 11% of everything - it might be even simpler if they just buy us out of the Royalty.
It’s almost hard to believe that BMR lost the mining licence supposedly due to inactivity at Kabwe, yet JLP took full control of the project over 2 years ago and still haven’t touched the tailings. Conditions were attached to the licence when we first got it back, they were dropped, now conditions added again on the renewal. I’m hoping this might force JLP to pull their finger out, but I fear most of the damage has already been done.
I can’t help but think JLP have taken full advantage of the situation by going after Copper first to give themselves near-term revenues. By not going straight for the Zinc and Lead, they have deprived BMR of the initial 5% of earnings and has likely kept the value of the Royalty as low as possible. This puts us in a weaker position right before the Royalty is due to be activated (or so we are led to believe).
Here's the Twitter link to the article. Feel free to retweet and tag BMR/JLP in it.
https://twitter.com/ShareSocUK/status/1306247715509227522
As previously mentioned, BMR Watch has been working with ShareSoc who are activists for various groups and individual shareholders. It’s worth noting they have recently built stronger links with the FCA.
One of the ShareSoc Directors, Paul de Gruchy, had told me he was writing an article about de-listed Companies and the struggles shareholders can face after a Co goes private. He suggested giving BMR a mention and I thought it would be a good idea to get a little publicity out there for BMR shareholders. It was published yesterday on the ShareSoc website and was brought to my attention today. Here it is…
Extract on BMR and link to full article below:
“Another example that members have raised concerns about is BMR, which was a natural resources company focussed on producing lead and zinc from mine tailings in Zambia. BMR was delisted in August 2018 because its Nomad resigned and needed a replacement. BMR had informed shareholders they were in talks with another Nomad, but apparently this fell through because there was not enough time to call an AGM to propose the asset disposal, and therefore was forced to delist. But it still had shareholders and an apparently valuable asset. There appear to have been a web of various joint ventures and royalty rights which do not, however, currently produce any revenue for BMR, despite the Kabwe project supposedly being fast tracked by Jubilee Metals when they took over the project back in August 2018. Meanwhile, the company consistently rebuffed approaches from shareholders, asking for proof of identity and claiming that any attempt to hold an EGM would prejudice the activities of the company.”
https://www.sharesoc.org/blog/regulations-and-law/delistings-take-the-money-and-run/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SharesocBlog+%28Sharesoc+-+Blog%29
Hi Bryn, interesting story and great collection of Gins. Do you think you could do a BMR collection? ‘Vogel’ would represent Colin Bird. We just need a Gin called ‘Borrelli’ that leaves a very bitter taste in your mouth. The last one would be called ‘Kabwe’ and the bottle would be made of lead and taste of disappointment.
3CB, we will definitely see an update from JLP before we get our update. I think they need to set out a definitive plan for Kabwe and share it with all shareholders. No good saying they will get it done by Q4 and missing another deadline - surely there must be conditions on the renewal of the licence for Kabwe to be producing by a certain date. Let’s not forget the licence was originally intended for the Kabwe tailing, not just Copper and Cobalt.
I think the ‘mid-Sept’ should be taken loosely – we could be looking at an update by Friday, we’ll see…
I’m thinking we are in for a major shafting. Borrelli will backtrack and say the Royalty isn’t worth as much as originally thought. In reality, it doesn’t even exist and may never exist. It was probably mentioned just to keep us thinking we got a good deal for gifting Kabwe to JLP. I doubt JLP ever had any intentions of paying out on it. Borrelli will try and sell it or give it away cheaply, just as he did with our Zambian assets.
The above scenario would cause many problems for Borrelli. Not only does he risk losing his BMR board position, he risks facing legal and regulatory investigations. I hope he’s covered his back, because there will be a huge target on it if he shafts us at this stage.
Borrelli's understanding of the word 'imminent' is anywhere between 2-3 years. When he said "mid-Sept" he probably wasn't referring to Sept this year.
If I were a JLP shareholder, I'd be a bit worried if I was looking at the BMR accounts and saw a valuation of £9m for Kabwe lol. Like I said, the valuation of Kabwe is irrelevant to BMR, and we both know it's worth a lot more.
The deal states that JLP will receive 100% of the Kabwe assets i.e tailings, land, licences etc. BMR will receive 11% of all earning from the project in return. Therefore, I'm not concerned if audited accounts valued Kabwe at £1 - the value is in the Royalty, and you can only workout the value by looking at what kind of profits JLP have forecast for the project over a period of 10+ years.
Let's see how much Borrelli wants to protect his "reputation"... If he doesn't deliver £15-£20m of value for BMR shareholders - he has failed miserably.
I'm only going on what I was told by Borrelli last year when I was sat opposite him and the other bunch of incompetents at BMR.
Jammer, you have to forget about the valuation of Kabwe - very shortly it will all belong to JLP anyway. The value of BMR is in the Royalty which stands at 11% of all profits from Kabwe ( for 10+ years). By the way, they have no tax liabilities as it was all cleared up. The Business structure is quite simple, as far as we know.
I attended a meeting in London at the BMR office in March last year. I was shown a piece of paper with EBITDA projections from the Kabwe project over a 10 year period (I am confident it will run for 15+ years) these projections were from JLP and not BMR. Let's just say it's worth many 10's of millions to BMR (if what I was shown is to be believed).