Member Info for Cowichan

In regards to BF ministry of mines signing off on those three 'long negotiated' gold projects I had a look at Orezone's mine development update to see what issues had been of contention: some highlights;

1) Insistence Of Utilizing Local Workers in the implementation of the upfront Resettlement Action Plan:

RAP is now scheduled for completion by November 2019 which will allow one additional crop harvest by local communities before relocation commences which has been very well-received by local community members.

By extending the construction timeline Orezone is able to maximize local workforce training and hiring practices and maintaining the local community and government support.

2) Importance Of Water Conservation ...Off-Channel Reservoir construction to meet the project’s production water demands will now preferentially commence in the dry season. The Tailings Storage Facility will consume less water for its dam embankment construction and will have a more simplified liner installation.

In order to satisfy these conditions Orezone revised its construction schedule as follows;

excavation will now commence in Q1-2020, concurrent with major plant earthworks and the TSF construction ...The overall impact of this revised schedule is that commissioning and plant start up is now scheduled for Q2-2021

Bottom Line:
If we get an update from Centamin on Monday regarding Konkera/Batie West perhaps we'll discover these issues have also had a material impact on the development schedule.

Three more sleeps...

http://orezone.com/orezone-provides-update-on-bombore-project-development-and-ongoing-sulphide-expansion-feasibility-study/

until April 24th as per Centamin website

rather late this year! ( Rebess will not be happy! )

https://www.centamin.com/investors/financial-calendar/2019

Monday is 5 sleeps away my friend, ask me then!

Judging by the gold volumes the BF Ministry of Mines has published they expect Konkera to produce a minimum 150k ounces p/a , which is unchanged from the original Ampella PEA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=GSR-bm0CMKw

As I rewatched the video I remembered that mysterious water rights issuance in February... mystery solved.

Regarding the lengthy negotiations phase...

I suppose it's understandable considering the government has an obligation to maximize the benefit to the local population whilst safeguarding a viable business model as minority owners.

In hindsight it's probably wise that all these negotiations were done without fanfare as there are never any guarantees either side would negotiate an amiable agreement.

That said I really hope Monday sheds some light on the situation. Cheers!

Mining in Burkina: Minister Oumarou Idani Signs Three Operating Contracts

On Tuesday, February 26, 2019,
the Minister of Mines and Quarries, Oumarou Idani, signed three mining resource agreements in three provinces namely Noumbiel, Zoundweogo and Ganzourgou. The co-signatories of this agreement are the mining companies
Konkera SA
Kiaka SA
and Orezone Bombore SA

They now have the right to exploit mining deposits in the provinces mentioned.

The ceremony marking the official signing of these three conventions between the State of Burkina Faso and the mining companies took place on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 in the premises of the Department of Mines and Quarries. This act comes to materialize decisions made in the Council of Ministers. In fact, during the Cabinet Meetings of August 11, 2016, November 25, 2018 and December 19, 2018, the Government authorized the Minister of Mines and Quarries to sign the agreements between the State of Burkina Faso and the companies Konkera SA, Kiaka SA and Orezone Bombore SA

For example, Konkera, which has had a mining license for the large gold mine since 2015, is authorized to operate the mine in Batié commune, Noumbiel province, in the South West region

Minister Omarou Idani stressed that "the negotiations were long.

He also welcomed the sense of responsibility of the mining companies, before calling them to respect the terms of the contract. According to his remarks, the Burkinabe government holds 10% of the capital in each of the three operating companies.

As a result, its department expects companies to produce about 144, 66 tonnes of gold and about 609 billion CFA francs of foreign direct investment.

On this basis, **Konkera, which has a seven-year contract, will produce 28.6 tonnes of gold.

http://lefaso.net/spip.php?article88251

Hi Rebess,
I wasn't familiar with hgm so I had a look at their website.

Not much in the way of current presentations or promotional material but I take your point - how does a Russian based gold miner with about half the production manage to preserve and grow their market cap?

What Centamin needs is the long promised but never delivered 'transitional phase' to arrive...

Andrew, please be aware there are many long term shareholders like me who want to see share price appreciation. As such we are of the opinion a share buyback program would be a prudent use of funds, especially considering the substantial drop in market capitalization.

In addition there are other concerns which have not been addressed despite repeated attempts to engage both investor relations and company contacts. Here's a sample:

1) Why has the COO departed and what is the status in finding a replacement?
2) Why has there been such a delay in reporting the results of the scoping study in Burkina Faso?
3) Why has there not been an updated resource estimate in Burkina Faso despite a vast amount of exploration drilling over numerous years?

Looking forward to your addressing these concerns with a public announcement soon

“The gold orebodies are generally shallow and easily accessible. These are not dripping roasts, but you can get a mine into production fairly quickly. From the time of discovery to the first gold pour can take between three to seven years compared with South Africa where it’s more like 20 years.

“It’s also easy to expand. One mine will leap frog into another and the governments are prepared to provide favourable tax regimes because they are benefitting hugely from the mining boom.

“They decided to come up with a set of rules aimed especially at stimulating exploration. These countries attract the lion’s share of exploration precisely because they have gone out of their way to make the environment conducive to small companies and risk capital so that you can go onto the ground and explore.”

https://www.miningmx.com/special-reports/mining-yearbook/mining-yearbook-2018/34323-while-sa-toils-with-its-past-miners-move-into-africas-fields-of-gold/

an excerpt...

Another important indicator of West Africa’s gold mining sector enticement for investors is production costs measured by the all-in sustaining costs metrics. AISC shows that in Q2 2018, two West Africa mines were in the global list of top 6 lowest cost gold operations.

B2Gold’s new open-pit high-grade Fekola mine in Mali was the second lowest cost mine by AISC ($445/ozt), and Perseus Mining’s new SGP mine in Ivory Coast was sixth ($520/ozt).

http://www.mining.com/west-africa-emerging-gold-exploration-investment-hotspot/

I point this out because despite a stellar management's best intentions there are times (times & half a times...) where the ducks refuse to line up.

Rob McEwen is not only a legend but much loved by investors for getting his hands dirty i.e. having skin-in-the-game.

This latest cash-up equity offering comes on the heals of a very disappointing first quarter and halt of dividends.

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McEwen Mining Inc. (the “Company” or “McEwen”) (NYSE and TSX: MUX) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced registered direct offering for aggregate gross proceeds of US$25 million. Insiders of the Company, including Rob McEwen, subscribed for US$3 million of the offering.

http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/03/29/1788472/0/en/McEwen-Mining-Announces-Closing-of-US-25-Million-Registered-Direct-Offering.html

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One last thought:

Imagine if our share price was sitting at 300p

If that was the case I don't think there would be a soul among us who would be harping** about our management's perceived slothfulness or lack of investor engagement.

**That harping comment goes for ME first and foremost!!

All our judgements and feelings are subjective to that all-mighty, singular data point. Miss the production target? Wouldn't hurt so bad. Run into equipment failures? Much easier to overlook. I could go on.

In the end growth will come down to the drill bit results and we are having (and have had) great success across all properties. That cannot be said of 80% of the other miners we might care to compare.

Anyway that's my Sermon On The Mount (Sukari)

Enjoy the weekend folks!

The next generation of hard rock mining = less BOOM more ZOOM... Meet Sandvik Roadheaders

https://im-mining.com/2019/03/29/second-sandvik-roadheader-heading-turquoise-ridge-gold-mine/

The transition of Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining’s Turquoise Ridge gold mine (owned 75:25) in Nevada, US, to a Tier One operation is tracking to plan, the Canada-based miner said recently, with the Sandvik MR361 roadheader it took delivery of back in 2017 continuing to prove its worth.

Barrick said in its December quarter results that it is looking to increase production and resources at Turquoise Ridge through mechanisation, automation, and innovation.

The ramp up of the roadheader over 2018 improved safety, increased throughput, and dropped mining costs per tonne, the company said in its results statement. This has led to Barrick ordering a second roadheader, manufactured by Sandvik, which will be delivered to the operation later this year. On top of this, Barrick said it is evaluating the opportunity associated with increasing the level of mechanisation and automation for the operation.

Barrick already has extensive experience using Sandvik roadheaders, with the company having employed a MH620 unit at its Cortez gold mine, also in Nevada, US. Weighing 125 t and driven by a 300-kW cutting motor, the MH620 cutting the Range Front declines at Cortez is one of the world’s largest roadheaders.

Construction of a third shaft at Turquoise Ridge continues to advance according to schedule and within budget, Barrick said in the results statement, with efforts in 2019 focused on earthworks and shaft sinking.

“The construction of this shaft is expected to increase annual production to more than 500,000 oz/y (100% basis), at an average cost of sales of around $720/oz, and average all-in sustaining costs of roughly $630/oz,” Barrick said.

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They look pretty damn cool too, like an alien technology super-tank !

https://www.rocktechnology.sandvik/en/products/mechanical-cutting-equipment/roadheaders-for-mining/

Hi 1onic,
It is an interesting debate and I agree that for many companies an aggressive share buyback schedule simply masks underperformance or poor fundamentals but in our case I think we are so undervalued it's like free money i.e. a lucrative stock option plan for existing shareholders.

Don't get me wrong I love dividends but we have way too many outstanding shares by which the divi suffers a massive dilution and a penny stock reputation that an industry leading dividend policy has not and will not repair.

But please do share that article, I'm always interested in learning from the wisdom that our collective provides. Cheers.

Andrew, please be aware there are many long term shareholders like me who want to see share price appreciation. As such we are of the opinion a share buyback program would be a prudent use of funds, especially considering the substantial drop in market capitalization.

In addition there are other concerns which have not been addressed despite repeated attempts to engage both investor relations and company contacts. Here's a sample:

1) Why has the COO departed and what is the status in finding a replacement?
2) Why has there been such a delay in reporting the results of the scoping study in Burkina Faso?
3) Why has there not been an updated resource estimate in Burkina Faso despite a vast amount of exploration drilling over numerous years?

Looking forward to your addressing these concerns with a public announcement soon

And not just for fools!

What we have with Centamin is an extremely cautious CEO and board unwilling to charge into unproven investments. Some further thoughts:

1) To get a mine right takes time - loads and loads of time. Could management have spent there way to a million+ multi-mine portfolio long ago? Absolutely! But that would have required taking on much more risk and possible misallocation of funds better spent on higher return projects.

2) The Sukari property is highly prospective. Everyone knows the line 'The best place to find a gold mine is next to a gold mine.' This is what we have at Sukari - loads of confirmed high grade sites just waiting to be exploited. It's not a fantasy. It doesn't even require hope. The gold is there in large quantities and will be exploited. It's only a question of time.

3) The Cote D'Ivoire properties have grown their reserves in VERY short order. For whatever reason management has chosen to focus on these over Burkina Faso and despite their usual caginess they have talked up making an investment decision for Doropo relatively soon, as in Q3 or Q4

4) Batie West will be developed even if the game plan is currently hidden from our view.

To summarize, Centamin has a bright future - my only concern is that many long term holders will have given up just a little too soon to reap the greatest rewards!

Staying hopeful, Cowichan

You chaps have it right.

And it's not as if this new director has an enviable resume of experience to offer.

Filling a seat just for the sake of filling a seat? Tosh!

When will Centamin's senior management wake up and act in the best interest of shareholders?

Some stuff I posted before with more recent developments added

1) Feb. 6th - Longtime Roxgold employee secures water rights for Centamin in Burkina Faso...
www.sig.bf/2019/02/compte-rendu-du-conseil-des-ministres-du-mercredi-06-fevrier-2019/

now he's a Centamin employee www.linkedin.com/in/yelkabo-some-21870739/

2) Feb. 21th - Centamin COO leaves without comment... (currently Iain Cox is the interim COO at Roxgold... Mr Cox once led the underground at Sukari)

3) March 13th - Roxgold takeover chatter hits Canadian news outlets

4) March 14th - Roxgold announces they've repurchased 5 million shares for cancellation; an attempt to goose share price prior takeover?

5) Upcoming Centamin AGM circular proposes non-director fee cap increase to $950k in anticipation of new directors coming on-board

6) Will Centamin have a go at Roxgold?

Andrew, please be aware there are many long term shareholders like me who want to see share price appreciation. As such we are of the opinion a share buyback program would be a prudent use of funds, especially considering the substantial drop in market capitalization.

In addition there are other concerns which have not been addressed despite repeated attempts to engage both investor relations and company contacts. Here's a sample:

1) Why has the COO departed and what is the status in finding a replacement?
2) Why has there been such a delay in reporting the results of the scoping study in Burkina Faso?
3) Why has there not been an updated resource estimate in Burkina Faso despite a vast amount of exploration drilling over numerous years?

Looking forward to your addressing these concerns with a public announcement soon

I've heard of sampling tree leaves for trace gold in Canadian forested areas, now the insects help out prospectors in Burkina Faso!

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'The Company recently completed a termite mound sampling program that tested 100 targets...'

'The termite geochemical data obtained from the survey has outlined an anomalous zone...'

https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/junior-miner-news/press-releases/nexus-gold/59681-nexus-gold-to-conduct-geochemical-program-at-dakouli-2-project-burkina-faso-west-africa.html

Was reading thru some of the pre-merger blitz presentations and I was struck by one piece of data:

"Attributable Gold Reserves declined over 50% in past 5 years"

(See the chart on page 4)
https://s22.q4cdn.com/653477107/files/doc_presentations/2018/10/26-November-Corporate-Update-Extended.pdf

The Bottom Line: Those miners that are actually growing their reserves (Centamin!) will necessarily appreciate in value because the gold mining industry is well and truly DESPERATE for new, economically viable deposits.

Andrew, please be aware there are many private investors like me who want to see share price appreciation. As such we are of the opinion a share buyback program would be a prudent use of funds, especially considering the substantial drop in market capitalization.

In addition there are other concerns which have not been addressed despite repeated attempts to engage both investor relations and company contacts. Here's a sample:

1) Why has the COO departed and what is the status in finding a replacement?
2) Why has there been such a delay in reporting the results of the scoping study in Burkina Faso?
3) Why has there not been an updated resource estimate in Burkina Faso despite a vast amount of exploration drilling over numerous years?

Looking forward to your addressing these concerns with a public announcement soon.