Member Info for Cowichan

A good reminder that loads of research must go into a project before a determination can be reached - good or bad

"Foreign investors bought $417.4 billion of US assets in Q2, the most in any quarter for a decade," according to U.S. Treasury data

When the US stock market takes a downturn we're likely to see some of these dollars return to gold & gold ETF's

That's the spirit.
Gold's retreat is also an opportunity. Just think of all those marginal producers forced to take drastic measures if the price lingers at these levels!
Centamin will continue to add high grade ounces and AISC will drop given time

Very interesting comparison Tibbs.

I agree that our management team is far from open with shareholders. It almost seems they are disinterested with communicating, especially when it comes to prospects.

For all we know they may be hard at work behind the scenes, but we are none the wiser. It's not a good way to build confidence. Especially since they have no shortage of employees or resources in which to keep us informed.

If (big IF) we are on the cusp of building a mine in BF I wouldn't be surprised to learn the long lead items are already on order.

That's exactly how we found out about the Cleopatra decline, after it was already well under way!

I don't think that should be the way things work with a public company.

Hi Tibbs,

I certainly hope it's not the first time our good management has heard about this. If wee little Aton is in direct talks with the EMRA regarding new terms it would be another GIANT fumble on the part of our team to just wake up to this news.

Enterprise ran a piece adding this:

The changes are yet to pass the House of Representatives. “With all the signs are pointing towards the long awaited reform of the Egyptian mining sector and the speed that the Government appear to be moving at to implement these changes, leads us to believe that major positive changes for exploration companies, mining companies and the Egyptian Minerals industry overall is at hand,”

https://enterprise.press/?p=47112

has been a key consideration before building a plant* ( a reminder for the new investor & those who forgot )

'...[Konkera] target strategy is based upon a 3.0 Mtpa CIL, floatation and regrind plant, amine life greater than 9 years averaging 150,000 oz Au pa, with an initial 3 to 4 years of free milling material. This would allow deferral of construction of the flotation and regrind circuit until year's two and three of the project which would reduce upfront capital expenditure costs and improve economics. *In order to achieve this an additional 300,000 to 400,000 oz Au of free milling material is needed on top of the current resource base...'

I'd say this goal has been more than achieved — now we await the revised figures and economics which should be forthcoming!

Hey notsosmartmart,

My take is that Centamin can and will pursue all avenues that arise simultaneously, with no need to prioritize Egypt over West Africa or vice versa. Cash is no problem. Financing, if it ever came to that, is no problem.

West Africa cannot be put off indefinitely, as per the rules in place to explore/exploit or forfeit.

Aton, in my opinion, have years of exploration in front of them and should they find anything of economic value they would have to raise oodles of cash. Centamin has plenty of low cost alternatives near ready to exploit to bother with them.

No doubt Centamin has been in touch with the EMRA and it's likely they have plans to move quickly once the changes are in place - my bet is an expansion in and around Sukari

Recently the Prime Minister Madbouly of Egypt has created an intergovernmental committee to evaluate recommendations in the reform the mining regime and law... Some of the changes that is understood have been proposed are:

Scrapping the oil and gas based Production Sharing Agreement and moving to a tax, rent and royalty model.

Eliminating the EMRA-Mining Investor 50:50 Joint Venture Company completely.

Allowing exploration companies to acquire exploration ground through a Swiss challenge mechanism as in Ecuador. This would also include eliminating the need for the exploration license to be made into a law, thus streamlining the process.

Read Aton's response to the news here...

https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/junior-miner-news/press-releases/1485-tsx-venture/aan/50535-aton-updates-latest-developments-on-its-declaration-of-commerciality-and-the-reform-of-the-egyptian-minerals-sector.html

I can only guess but somewhere they speak French and it's a brand new site according to the list of requirements

. Experience in setting up new site development would be well regarded
. Fluent in English. French ability will be advantageous

Some unnamed company is looking to build a West Africa mine from scratch - Globe 24 just dropped about ten positions onto their website including this gem...

OPERATIONS MANAGER - MINING
. Lead a multi-cultural mining team in an open pit operation
. Manage the mining department including mine engineering, geology, survey, geotechnical, hydrological technical work
. Manage the open pit operations contractor
. Lead set up of mining department
. Lead recruitment of mining team
. Set up all production and technical services procedures, data recording, storage, analysis and reporting
. Set up all quality control procedures and contractor performance controls
. Establish strong links to all departmental managers and be a key member of the site management team
. Ensure production targets are achieved in a safe manner
. Ensure risks are identified, controls established and maintained to minimize safety, environmental and business risks, considering environmental and mining legislation
. Develop department's personnel through on-job training and constant coaching
Manage the Operations budget

https://globe24-7.com/job-search/BBBH3281_153358864793050

Ha! You just don't want me to get my hopes up (and then dashed!)
But I don't think we'll be disappointed this time around.
I can see an expansion at Sukari coming sooner rather than later...
Just imagining that solar power project being linked to increased power needs...

Recently, Egyptian President El Sisi’s directed the Minister of Petroleum Tarek El Molla to commission Wood Mackenzie to prepare a report on how to improve Egyptian regulations for mining. Aton CEO Mark Cambpell told me that this was an unprecedented development over the 23 years he's been involved with mining in Egypt

The goal is simply to build a robust exploration and mining sector and hiring WoodMac big step in right direction. The Government announced,

"The project is being carried out in two phases. The first includes the work of diagnostic studies and the development of a strategic vision that ends in August 2018. The second phase consists of several operational projects based on the results and recommendations of the first phase, which is due to be completed by the end of next year."

In simple terms, Egypt stands to benefit by moving from production sharing agreements to tax and royalty along with other incentives for minerals exploration and development. They need to bring terms and conditions into line with the rest of the world to create an investment-friendly sector and do it as soon as possible. Mining bull markets can run quickly and it's essential that Egypt doesn't miss out completely on the next phase of the market cycle.

With the IMF involved in the Egyptian macroeconomy, it is essential to have mining industry experts involved in helping the government understand the mining industry. There are myriad issues to consider from taxes to a national geological survey to avoiding conflict with local communities and much more. WoodMac is the right choice for their job -- look to their recent success with Ecuador, where they helped guide transformational mining reforms.

You'll be pleased to know that the same team at WoodMac who helped Ecuador is now working with the Egyptian to overhaul the exploration and mining sector.

article continues here...

https://ceo.ca/@Newton/woodmac-to-help-the-egyptian-government-understand-mining

will become of this...

.'..Under the contract, Wood Meckenzie will study the mining sector in Egypt and lay out an appropriate development strategy by August....'

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/3/45936/Petroleum-ministry-gearing-up-for-first-strategy-to-develop-mining

Elected June 29 at the head of the Professional Coalition of Miners of Ivory Coast (GPMCI), Ibrahima Danso, General Manager of the Ivorian subsidiary of the group CENTAMIN, talks about the sector and its future.

Barely elected, you talk about a change of image, speaking of the bad reputation that is made to you. What policy do you intend to lead in this direction?

Forty years ago, when the mining industry began, it did not do anything for community development and was not involved in environmental conservation. It has changed, but this negative image sticks to our skin. Even today, some people say that community development does not interest us, whereas the mining industry is more and more concerned, as well as the preservation of the environment. But only a part of the population and elites can see it...

http://www.jda.ci/news/economie-financebusiness-2464-ibrahima-danso-les-miniers-ne-sont-pas-que-des-profiteurs#top

Hi Rebess, here's what's been sitting on the website gathering dust for at least two years...The first one is a joke, like when is the last time they set a challenging target?

OUR STRATEGY
Centamin's strategy is to maximise the value of our asset base and promote further growth of the business by:
Setting and delivering on challenging targets
Maximising profitability and maintaining a strong balance sheet to enable growth, exploration and acquisitions
Resource expansion and project evaluation in Burkina Faso.
Development and first production in Burkina Faso.

I encourage every one of us investors - especially the long term holders to email Centamin today . copy & paste this strategy if nothing else - ask them when we can expect some challenging targets to be set & delivered

info@centamin.com

alexandra.carse@centamin.je

Chief Development Officer
SINCE FEBRUARY 2017

Jonathan Stephens joined Centamin in February 2017 as Chief Development Officer. Jonathan brings 20 years' investment banking experience at top tier firms including Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, CIBC World Markets and RBC Capital Markets, where he was a managing director in the global mining team.

A mining sector specialist since 2003, Jonathan has delivered financial and strategic advice on merger and acquisition transactions, capital raisings and regulatory matters to a broad range of mining companies including Centamin, AngloGold Ashanti, Rio Tinto, Acacia Mining and First Quantum. Jonathan has a 1st class M.A. in Natural Sciences and an M.Phil in Management Studies, both from Cambridge University.

-------------> now usually a development officer would have experience developing/building new mines. All this guy seems to have done is arrange finance deals for acquisitions... What in the world does he do all day? And he's been at it a year and a half... does the company have anything profitable to show for his presence other than another Acacia hire?

Worried about a shaky economy and enticed by government sales of gold coins, Iranians have converted savings into gold recently even as prices skyrocketed. Demand for gold bars and coins in Iran tripled year-over-year in the second quarter to about 15 metric tons,

https://www.wsj.com/articles/iranians-hoard-gold-ahead-of-u-s-sanctions-1533466801

'We have commissioned our first remotely operated Blast Hole rig at @CentaminPlc Sukari mine. The operator is in a self-contained truck-mounted Drill Control module, a safe distance from the Remote Drill module, allowing safe and productive drilling in high risk work areas....'

https://twitter.com/CapitalDrilling/status/1021939160330817536

If anyone has a nefarious relationship with gold & its refining I'd suspect Switzerland plays a role

https://twitter.com/donaldplawson/status/1023964224492580865

I think this week's new permit announcement is a big deal (and not only because it has taken years to be granted!) If you have a look on the map the new permit is crucial in locking up the prospective extensions immediately north of the Doropo project in Cote d'Ivoire. I can imagine this being a key reason Centamin had chosen to wait until receiving the permit before building a Konkera plant.

'...notification of granting of the Amimbiri permit was received. The Amimbiri permit surrounds the northern extension and western border of the Konkera exploitation licence area.'

If you want to have a look, the area is outlined on page 34 of last year's presentation here;

http://www.centamin.com/~/media/Files/C/Centamin/documents/presentations/Centamin_Investor%20Presentation_May%202017_2.pdf