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So we have 99m would obviously be good to get as many interested as we can, that way our votes can carry greater influence than the BOD's.
I can then look at the process, I imagine it'll be a form we'll have to get signatures for, got a few days off next week
Croutom - 4m
Prop - 2m (conservative est from "a few million")
Redmoor - 2m
Blacksheep - 25m
Dotcom - 4m
ShagraLa - 30m
Marico - 6m
Preston - 10m
Lupi - 4m
Slurm - 12m
So in theory, so far we have the capability of 83m over a day which is great.
Croutom - 4m
Prop - 2m (conservative est from "a few million")
Redmoor - 2m
Blacksheep - 25m
Dotcom - 4m
ShagraLa - 30m
Marico - 6m
Preston - 10m
My thoughts are that there is absolutely no way that these salaries work out (according to FT);
AB - $73K
JP - $206K
PW - $110k
JH - $61k
We also need an overview of how much cost is being allocated to the mine manager at LCCM - as was said before what does a mine manager of a non operational mine do all day?
Cobre/Redmoor are run by the project manager/mine manager - I think on a scale this small it's hard to justify what actual value the BOD salaries are adding to operations and value to the shareholders.
We definitely need a CEO/director in charge, so if JP is moved to $150k and all other salaries removed this saves $300k per annum. Magnetite appetite will return as interest rates level.
I do also think that we'll be in for a chance at the Redmoor grant, we can get a rebate on this for £27 on each £100 spent so say £2m spent on R&D = rebate of £540k from HMRC.
With more frugal spending we can start to build the cash balance to $1.5m then look to borrow a further $1.5m from a bank by showing positive cash flow - this can be used to pay off the bonds required for LCCM with around $1m left over for first round of leaching, cash flow from Cobre and offtake from LCCM will fund second leach
I reckon the plan is (or should be) to sell it once it's got full approval - if the plan was to get $10m worth of funding I assume it would be for around 50% share of the project, I doubt JP and crew would go for any less, or opt to have the smaller chunk of the pie with the work that's gone in.
At that point why not sell 100% for $20m and reduce the boardroom politics for the JV partner? It's gone quiet as the PEPR will show the full value of the project - I think they'd have to announce if it's gone cold.
Hopefully pay $15m out as a dividend and then invest $5m into Redmoor which in addition to the grant, would get some good traction
What about this gorsuch?
Www.markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/directors?s=SML:LSE
On FT shows I guess a more accurate representation of their remuneration - whether it's salary/fees/etc needs to be cut, finding 300-400k per annum somewhere would help!
Paying off the bonds first which I think are around $400k AUD and then using this freed up cash flow to hire some mud manager/juniors for the work.
They will then be remunerated with the increase in SP (As will we all)
Ok gorsuch thanks - I still think that they haven't really been liaising with the DEM effectively, let's just hope that we can put pressure on the BOD to just get it bloody sorted, especially as it's a re-review of a small subsection.
preferably this week!
A mine manager probably fetches a pretty penny in south Australia. Probably cutting him, AB, PW, JH's salary would probably net us $400k+ pa if JP moves down to a generous $150k to just deal with admin/queries.
Then if we get gov rebates from spending the Redmoor grant - which I'm actually pretty hopeful for, given the actual competence of our Redmoor project manager we'll be able to pay for the relevant LCCM deposit and bonds ourselves by the end of this year.
I do think we may receive a purchase offer for LCCM once this PEPR is signed off. Why fund for $10m when you could purchase it for $10m? Or at least put in a bid for that much.
Just wish that they could see that reducing remuneration would result in a SP rise more significant than their actual pay - if JP holds 80m shares his net worth would be at £8m if this reaches 1p
It is bonkers - the DEM have approved 4 PEPRs since the 20th of March (none of them ours) one of them was actually submitted in March (other ones December/November) so I'm really unsure what order they're doing it all in.
Ours still hasn't been accessed at all - it's up to JP and crew to call the DEM and actively chase this thing through (and down to us to chase them and hold them accountable) - it's just not good enough at month 3 to not be doing anything about it.
Progress has to be made - if funding hasn't gone to plan BOD salaries have to be cut, have JP on $150k removing PW, JH & AB, netting us an extra $300k per annum so we can start self sourcing the funding
www.energymining.sa.gov.au/industry/minerals-and-mining/mining/operational-information/approved-programs
Lupi - agreed but they're never going to give up their livelihoods are they; more agreeable to cut a reasonable amount of their salaries resulting in a share price rise that compensates for lost income - eventually resulting in the ability to start LCCM followed by significant SP rise.
I think AB should just be taken off the payroll entirely and just paid adhoc if/when (more likely if) we need him
I really think that drops in salary need to be started now that our cash facilities are dropping, no funding news so we need to start on plan B here.
44.44% salary drop across AB, JP PW & JH Would make their salaries still AB (41K) JP (116K) PW (62K) JH (34.5K) and save $200k per annum.
If share prices jump 25% on the news of that will net JP & PW £50k on that alone and make up for it.
Just been told this morning by a fellow shareholder an idea...
If we get a grant for Redmoor, we have to spend this money on Redmoor, however we can get business credit from HMRC and if SML meets eligibility criteria:
- Loss making (currently are),
- Small/Medium enterprise (less than or equal to €50 million or €43 million balance sheet)
- Spending 40% of total expenditure on R&D (Redmoor)
We can claim a credit for £27 for every £100 spent on R&D (IE a business credit of 27%).
If the grant is for £5m and we spend £3m on a research facility at Redmoor we may be eligible to claim £810,000 from HMRC = $1,486,352 AUD (currently) which can pay for the bonds/vegetation clearance etc for LCCM.
Again something like temporarily reducing the combined salaries here by $200k USD in order to pay for a 3 man excavation team might also be a good shout.
Furthermore, equipment purchased for LCCM to excavate may benefit from full year expensing (as we're a UK company) - this lets UK taxpayers deduct 100% of the cost of certain plant and machinery from their profits before tax. This is applied straight away, which includes construction equipment such as bulldozers and excavators. "Under full expensing, on a £10m investment, a company will receive a £2.5 million tax saving in year 1" - so in short it looks like 25% off construction equipment.
Obviously we have to make sure that the grant is still spent in such a way that isn't rushed, R&D intensive and useful - I assume a state of the art facility for universities on the site, or specialised excavation equipment would be of benefit and cost a fair bit.
If we've applied for the RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION – ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE fund we can be awarded up to £7.25m - www.ciosgoodgrowth.com/funding-opportunity/research-development-innovation-entrepreneurial-culture/
www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2023-factsheet-cutting-simplifying-tax-for-businesses-to-invest-and-grow/spring-budget-2023-media-factsheet-cutting-simplifying-tax-for-businesses-to-invest-and-grow
Yep - got excited over nothing when I saw the RNS notification.
Nothing on SARIG/DEM again today, but copper is up a fair bit today, even with the market a bit wobbly which is reassuring.
A lot of cash in the market atm - fuel for the fire on a positive RNS, been overdue one for the past 3 years...