Member Info for coldcut

You're welcome DBW.

An interesting interview with, and photo, of the plaintiff in the Consitutional Court case has just been posted at: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/wilmer-meneses-mineria-consulta-popular.html.

Confusingly, he seems to be claiming that his membership of his mining association "Asoprorimira" is a "Government hoax" and that while he is advocating "zero mining", mining exclusively by the community would be acceptable in the future.

The article notes, in its opening sentence, that the Government will be issuing a mining policy for Timbara, Zamora Chinchipe tomorrow, without elaborating, or commenting on how that is related to the interview or CC hearing. Perhaps it will provide a context or framework within which it intends to present its case at the court on Wednesday (a personal thought only)?

Part 2 of article from : https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/mineria-consulta-parroquias-imbabura.html

The interior of this area contains gold and copper, which is why mining began to develop, but in an artisanal and illegal way. Later, large mining consortia came to develop the activity formally. "People here do not have anywhere to go to work, many have gone elsewhere to make a living," said one local woman who did not want to give her name. She has lived in Jijón and Caamaño for 20 years and would vote in favor of mining in the area. Another inhabitant, Galo Minda, thinks differently and argues that the field can be exploited better so that agriculture is a profitable option. He does not agree with the mining activities. "We're going to be contaminated by the water we drink," he said, as he picked beans that he harvested on nearby land. Other people fear that the situation will overflow and it will happen the same as in Buenos Aires (Imbabura), where there are illegal mining activities. Armando Cadena, leader of the parish council of Jijón y Caamaño, reported that several illegal mining sites have been detected in the area since last year, which have been closed by the Police and the Army. Between cantonal and parochial authorities there is ignorance on the subject of the consultation. The mayor of Ibarra, Andrea Scacco, learned of the case only on Thursday of this week. He asked the Legal Department to make an analysis of the issue before taking a decision. The mayor of Mira, Johnny Garrido, and the chairman of the Governing Council of the Goaltal, Raúl Yépez, said that they did not know of the request for consultation and that it took them by surprise. Yépez commented that he knows Meneses, but that he did not inform him that he intended to present the request for consultation, even though he calls himself "procurador" of the communities. Four guilds, including the miner, foresee to pronounce themselves today on this case.

Thanks for your responses Pinot and Grimbergen. This is the rest of the article (again via Google translate, from: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/mineria-consulta-parroquias-imbabura.html). I think you may find the first paragraph especially interesting! (Part 1 of 2)

In the Judicial Branch lies a case against Meneses for alleged illicit mining activity. In October 2018, a judge from the Criminal Judicial Unit of Otavalo said that there was not enough evidence and did not process it. But in January of this year the Court of Criminal Guarantees of Ibarra revoked that decision and called him to trial. According to the statement in the process, Meneses admitted that in July 2018 he was arrested by authorities while transporting material with mineralized gold content, but said that he did so on behalf of Beatriz Vega, who has a legal artisanal mine in Llurimagua (Imbabura). The Prosecutor argued that the concession authorized the exploration and not the exploitation of the material.

Meneses assured this newspaper that now he is no longer engaged in mining, which is not a miner. He explained that promotes popular consultation because the processes of dissemination and prior consultation for the exploitation of metallic minerals, as mandated by the Constitution. And he assures that mining affects tourism and agriculture. In La Carolina and Jijón y Caamaño a wide variety of fruits and vegetables are grown, such as banana, sugar cane, corn, guava, lemon, pepper and more. The two parishes are surrounded by imposing mountains. The Mira and Blanco rivers cross the zones. The climate is warm and the vegetation is robust. It is home to squirrels, toucans, crickets and other species.

It appears that the identity of the plaintiff in the Constitutional Court case is a former artisinal miner who failed to be granted an artisinal mining concession in 2017 – a possible identity upon which I speculated in a post yesterday. If correct, then I would think that will weigh heavily against his credibility in taking the action – and perhaps also why the CC is hearing the case so quickly, in order to dispose of what to me smacks of being a vexatious petition. But that is just my personal opinion. See the article at this link: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/mineria-consulta-parroquias-imbabura.html

Google translate text:-
Mention the word 'mining' in the parishes La Carolina (Imbabura) and Jijón y Caamaño (Carchi) generates different impressions among its inhabitants. Some see in the activity the possibility of finding a source of employment (formal or informal); for others it is synonymous with pollution. These two places, together with the neighboring towns of Lita and Goaltal, are the center of debate, regarding the request for a popular consultation to decide the future of the mining industry in that sector, where the Cascabel large-scale mining project is located.

The request, in the hands of the Constitutional Court (CC), is promoted by Wilmer Meneses Ibarra, who calls himself 'common procurator of the four parishes'. The initiative caused surprise, since Meneses was involved in that activity as an artisanal miner until recently. He was a spokesman for the Ecuamineros group, formed by 10 associations that formally joined in September 2018. He is also part of the Rio Verde del Mira Mining Production Association (Asoprorimira). This newspaper located Meneses, 36 years old, in Jijón and Caamaño, while harvesting green banana next to an assistant in one of his lands, deep in the mountain. He confirmed that he still belongs to the Association, although he affirmed that the guild no longer works. In addition, the man acknowledged that in 2017 formally requested a concession of 300 hectares to develop artisanal mining, but his request was not authorized.

It will be interesting to learn the identity of the originator of this petition to the Constitutional Court, as that could determine its worth.

The RNS notes that “individuals” can instigate such actions, a term which may or may not include organisations if such bodies are deemed to have a legal identity as an “individual” under the Ecuadorian constitution. If it does include such bodies, then one might anticipate that this action has been lodged by an environmental NGO and, if not, by an individual person acting on their behalf. No doubt there are many others who might make such an application, but among those, I cannot help but wonder if the "individual" might be drawn from among the cadre of disgruntled “illegal” miners forcibly removed from illicit workings in this part of Ecuador in the last few months, as commented upon on this BB.

Pure speculation, I know, but the identity of that individual and who he or she might represent could be of great significance when it comes to the hearing in June. The other notable matter is how fast the CC is holding the hearing, which might or might not be a signal in itself of the substance which they attach to the petition. Just some thoughts.

For information.

The following tweet, and links therein, note that Ecuador will issue a new map of areas where mining will be permitted, and where it will be excluded, in order to protect nature and water resources: https://twitter.com/sjyepez/status/1131974917283635206

The map is due to be released in August, a timing which appears to be coincident with NM stating in the Liberum video interview that SOLG is awaiting receipt of water permits, within 1 or 2 months, in order to commence drilling on its top 5 regional targets, of which he names 4 - Porvenir, Blanca, Rio Amarillo and Coangos. Drilling permits seem to be in place.

And while the corporate manoeuverings continue to unfold, in the background SOLG continues to build its social capital with the local communities - Jason Ward looks very happy, maybe having just sampled some of the bakery products: http://www.expectativa.ec/desde-el-2012-se-desarrolla-proyecto-cascabel-en-imbabura/

Google translate text:
Since 2012, Solgold has developed the Cascabel project, located in the province of Imbabura, which is in the stage of advanced exploration and economic evaluation of the deposit.
SolGold is focused on providing equal opportunities in the communities where mining exploration takes place.
The company promotes productive ventures that contribute to improving the income of the inhabitants of the sector, providing resources so that people start their businesses and can be self-sufficient. An example of this is the Cascabel bakery that was born as an initiative led by women, who established the idea of ??a productive project in the dialogue spaces of the community itself.
In the community bakery Cascabel, the inhabitants contributed with the habilitation of the premises, the Ibarra mayor's office trained women entrepreneurs in the fields of baking, pastry and biscuits and Sold Gold contributed with the acquisition of the equipment.

SOLG has just filed these documents on SEDAR about 30 minutes ago:

MD&A - English: https://www.sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=7&issuerNo=00043090&issuerType=03&projectNo=02916795&docId=4522909

Interim financial statements/report - English: https://www.sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=5&issuerNo=00043090&issuerType=03&projectNo=02916791&docId=4522906

I have looked at the Sustainable Capital web site (http://www.sustainablecapital.mu/: some sections are very dated, e.g. press releases - last listing in 2016!) in order to understand their investment philosophy and decision making processes in light of their very recent acquisition of a substantial stake in HUM.

“Africa Alpha Fund is a concentrated 15-25 stock equity portfolio that presents the opportunity to take material positions in small and medium sized companies. Stock selection is based on a disciplined, valuation-driven investment process using a "fair value" methodology. The investment process is driven by detailed, fundamental, bottom-up research conducted in situ in African countries. Valuations and investment decision-making are led by proprietary, in-house research with a strong emphasis on downside risk protection.”

Taken at face value, this statement, coupled with another (“.. an emphasis on detailed, company-specific due diligence..”) suggest that the Fund has visited HUM operations in Mali as part of their due diligence assessment and suggests to me that they have been able to satisfy themselves (a) that past operational difficulties have been resolved and (b) that the company is in a reasonable financial condition.

The web site uses pie diagrams to illustrate percentage investments in various African countries, although Mali is not identified specifically: instead it is presumed to be included in the 15.2% investment labelled “other Africa”.

Their forward looking philosophy is outlined in the following statement taken verbatim from their web site. Note the final bullet point which suggests that the Fund could well become actively engaged in HUM company operations, perhaps initially by seeking the appointment of a Fund nominated Director:

“ Engaging with African Companies
Sustainable Capital aims to positively influence company behaviour and improve sustainability practices through its targeted company engagement and its capital allocation decisions.

The primary objective of our engagement is to enhance long-term, risk-adjusted returns for our investors by collaborating with management to improve the sustainability of a target company's core business operations.

This is achieved either by reducing risk (as measured by the implied discount rate) or by improving the company's ability to generate free cash flows.

Sustainable Capital engage with companies through:
• Proxy voting i.e. voting at shareholders general assembly based on Sustainable Capital's proxy voting policy
• Collaborative engagement e.g. Sustainable Capital support the "Carbon disclosure Project"
• Targeted constructive active engagement with individual companies”

Just my own observations and thoughts – and as always, DYOR.

L2 ask (for blocks of > 100,000) at 14:14 hours: 136,403 @ 41p; 950,558 @41.75p (down from 1,010,558 @ 14:00 hours); 320,006 @44p + 4 blocks of 250,000 between 44.25 and 45p.

For information. The Governor's of Imbabura and Carchi Provinces visited Cascabel recently, as reported on May 5 at this link: http://www.expectativa.ec/autoridades-de-imbabura-y-carchi-visitaron-proyecto-cascabel/ (thanks to @pob on ceo.ca for the original post). The report seems encouraging, which notes, inter alia, that the property is now at the "evaluation stage" and it is perhaps significant that the two Governors chose to visit the property now that it has reached this stage.

"Google translate" text as follows:

Galo Zamora Andrade Governor of #Imbabura together with the Governor of #Carchi Cristian Edin Moreno Ortega, accompanied by the Prefect, Pablo Jurado some elected mayors of #Carchi participated in a socialization and tour of the "Cascabel" Mining Project of SolGold, ENSA Exploraciones Novomining SA, located in the Santa Cecilia community of the parish of #Lita.

This mining project after completing the initial and advanced exploration phases, is already in the evaluation phase where the feasibility of the analyzed project and the risk factors that determines its profitability are defined.

The visit of the authorities of the provinces of Imbabura and Carchi made it possible to see first-hand the compliance with the standards required by a mining concession, under strict environmental, geological and social parameters, which consolidate strategies aimed at improving participatory and inclusive processes. area.
The authorities after the welcome of Andrew Touton, vice president of the Company, who expressed the commitment and responsibility assumed by the company. Santiago Chamorro Zone Coordinator of Mining zone 1, 2 and 9 explained to the visitors about the phases of mining concession in each of the concessioned processes in Imbabura and Carchi.

The technicians of the Ministry of the Environment explained the Regularization, Control and Environmental Monitoring according to the Law and legal regulations.

The representative of the Secretariat of the Policy explained demographic and socioeconomic statistics of the two provinces, who with attention and benefit of these mining projects can be improved.

The article at the following link puts into context the extent of artisanal workings encountered in Q1 by HUM.

Seemingly the scale of such mining has been vastly underestimated and, as all of that illegal production being siphoned through the United Arab Emirates has to have been mined somewhere, it is hardly surprising that HUM encountered more extensive workings than anticipated. The company cannot be blamed for that - and I'm not sure what geophysical techniques could be used to detect such workings at depth - ground probing radar might be of use, but only to relatively shallow depths.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gold-africa-smuggling-exclusive-idUSKCN1S00IT?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5cc00f7516ce3f000141ed7b&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Seems like illegal mining activities are a serious problem in Carchi province generally and specifically for SOLG at El Cielito.
El Cielito (thanks again to @pob on the Cornestone BB at ceo.ca for noting this article) : https://www.elnorte.ec/carchi/cantones/en-el-cielito-no-todo-es-paz-YB366054
“In "El Cielito" not everything is peace”
An armed police force numbering 218 personnel was deployed into the area on April 2 “.. into the sector of 'El Cielito' of the Parish Jijón y Caamaño, belonging to Cantón Mira. ".
This deployment “.. of intervention and eviction was executed in the properties granted by the Ecuadorian State as a concession to the company Carnegie Ridge Resources SA- SOLGOLD for the exploration of minerals, where foreign citizens, residents of the town of Río Verde and its surroundings were carrying out activities of illegal mining as extraction, transport and storage of mineralized rocks…”
Carchi province: https://www.elnorte.ec/carchi/cantones/mineria-ilegal-en-monte-olivo-se-sale-de-control-XB366213.
“..For the prefect of the Carchi, Guillermo He-rrera, the presence of the control authorities to stop illegal mining is being lukewarm in the province of Carchi. He questions that the Police and Armed Forces are not making a constant presence in the area and this generates difficulties in the environmental and security environment.

The statements were issued yesterday after a meeting between leaders of the canton Bolivar, the Mayor of Police and the Director of Environment of the province. At the meeting it was learned that the situation in Monte Olivo is getting worse every day. Approximately 30 people who made themselves visible at the time doing illegal mining today would exceed 300 people entering the area looking for gold.

Álvaro Mantilla, director of the Environment in Carchi, explained that illegal miners from all over the country would be arriving in the area, so coordinated intervention is urgently needed to prevent the site from becoming a place similar to Buenos Ai-res. The official referred to the damage that is being done to the water sources located 30 meters away from where illegal mining takes place. This activity would have been taking place since May 2018, but in recent weeks the arrival of miners has been massive. The community opposes this activity and tries to denounce it, however the fear of reprisals makes the process difficult. ..”

Perhaps it might also be worth bearing in mind that there could well be a completely different group of companies from which a bid for Cornerstone might yet emerge - from amongst one of the major gold streaming and royalty companies, such as Franco-Nevada, Wheaton Precious, Osisko or Sandstorm. These are highly cash generative companies which could well be attracted by the Cornerstone net smelter royalty, as well as the share holding in ENSA and SOLG - and they are not constrained by standstill arrangements with SOLG.

@pob drew attention this morning (on the SOLG BB at ceo.ca) to an article on mining activity in the Blanca concession of the SOLG subsidiary Carnegie Ridge in the El Cielito community region of Carchi province: https://lahora.com.ec/carchi/noticia/1102233803/vialidad-de-el-cielito-afectada-por-mineros-

The last part of the article reads as follows (Google translation):

“Regarding the company Carnegie Ridge Resources S.A., subsidiary of SolGold, which has the mining concession denominated "Blanca" in the area of El Cielito, the comuneros say that they have not had an articulated work and have not received any benefit.

They argue that all they have achieved for the development of the community has been through the management and contribution of the community members, headed by Bolívar Chávez. Even at the moment they are performing the respective procedures to have electricity service. They ask that dialogue channels be established and that the work of the mining concessionaire be carried out in coordination with the community.

Chavez stressed that with a carriage bridge and a road in optimal conditions, El Cielito could become a new pole of tourist development, because they have several fords and waterfalls with crystal clear water. They also ask that responsible mining be done on the site that does not affect the environment.”

While the first paragraph might appear somewhat anti-mining, it is quite apparent that this is not the case – they are instead seeking active and mutually advantageous cooperation with SOLG, exactly the type of relationship which the company has so commendably and effectively developed with communities in the Cascabel licence area.

I still wonder if this is where the recently announced “drilling platform” might be located and if this is where the elusive rig 12 might be located, or moving.

Steve Garwin will be presenting at the AusIMM PACRIM 2019 conference in Auckland New Zealand tomorrow afternoon (local time). The following link presents further information, including an abstract of his presentation which focuses on geological aspects of Alpala:
https://ausimm.eventsair.com/QuickEventWebsitePortal/9403-pacrim/event-info-site/Agenda/AgendaItemDetail?id=aa947157-e663-4493-89a7-0281e56e0a11

https://www.ocmal.org/sentimiento-antimineria-hace-sonar-alarmas-en-ecuador/

The article at the link above, “Anti-mining sentiment sounds alarm bells in Ecuador”, notes the success of anti-mining politicians in several local elections which might impact adversely on mine developments and mineral exploration in such regions. These include Fruta del Norte and Loma Larga; and possibly the Sharug licence of SOLG’s Green Rock Resources (noted in postings elsewhere, not in the article above).

But there is good news (final sentence of article): “In Imbabura, home of the Llurimagua and Cascabel projects, voters reelected a pro-mining prefect.” And that of course is good news for SOLG exploration activities on all its other licences in that province.

RCKS have just published a new commentary on the RNS from SOLG - reads well. Target price of C$1.32/share

http://www.redcloudks.com/rckstalk

Apologies - should have edited out the repetition before posting!