Member Info for daramuda

Having looked on the Pala Resources site I cannot see that Richard Lister is a director of Pala as well as of Sierra Rutile so my last post needs amending accordingly.

Also I suspect that it is still the residual.shares that Investec did not dispose of in April. Of course the board of SRX would be approached to see if Pala were interested; instead a Sierra Rutile/Pala director gets the benefit t a low price. The icing on the cake is the late trade of 400,000 shares; I guess that that is an off market deal. Pala? If I am wrong that the loose stock is not Investec stock then I can see no other vendor other than another institution unless the vendor is Gibraltar and I doubt that. As you say if you had been interested you would not have a look in.

Well, well I thought that the 200K yesterday was Pala's so it turns out to be a director of Pala. I was almost right. But strange how the sp comes back today. I think that we need Poirot.

corbs - I've gone bald.

loss to understand what is going on now.

I am convinced that the 200k buy yesterday was by Pala who you will recall paid circa 17.50 plus a little for its increased stake in March/April earlier this year. Some were Y trades which I interpreted as off market deals which then had to be recorded as trades. Today there was a Y trade relating to 50k shares. The LSE system has that as a sell when I believe it was another purchase by Pala. I understand your TA point but this company is in the grip of Pala which is what Gibraltar has been hammering home for months. Further the March/April Pala buys appear to have come from Investec. I am pretty sure that Investec would not have failed to notify the bard of SRX when it went below 3%. If I am right why did SRX not report it to the market? What I cannot tell is how many in all Investec have sold, whether yesterday's 200K and today's 50K are part of Investec's residual holding or not. Somehow I feel that the other iis are still invested as stated on the company's governance pages. If correct then should a deal to sell out be organised by Pala, Pala will need to sound out what those iis will settle for. In short I think Pala will support the price but then I could be very wrong.

Yes corbine - if Sisay has kept the costs down and can negotiate better sale rates we will move forward and with the small scale processing of old tailings at Mogwemo that will give a small help. Then of course Gangama should come on stream Q2 2016. Timbo - good find.

I suspect that the 200K buy recorded at 16.29 was made by Pala.

You can only buy 2,500 electronically with TDW. Cannot buy more even at 17 pence.

Agreed. China and now Glencore. Seen it before but this is a nasty wind. I keep reminding myself of what you said the other day about the quality of the rutile that SRX produce. Bearing that in mind they will not be short of punters. Hope that you are bearing up.

I went into the Lidl in Cricklewood NW London about six months ago since I needed a bottle of wine for a dinner. restricted parking store dirty and there was no wine suitable for me. Never again unless an absolute emergency. Certain people know no different.

what a sad and at the same time enlightening post. I do wish you as well as possible and thank you for your thoughts. My daughter is a palliative care registrar. At her wedding on 6th September one of her consultants told me that she will make a tremendous consultant - he spoke so highly of her tears welled up. New son in law is a paediatrician with an oncology bent - he is currently doing a PhD on tumours in childrens' brains. When my wife told her ophthalmologist what they did, he responded "What do they do for relaxation" Sadly there is always something around the corner. Take care.

I am not in the best of health myself with amongst everything else have a muscular problem affected by neck which I am told is pretty rare. Having said that at late 60s I still work as indeed does the wife half day 5 days a week and she suffers from MS. Hence I do not lean to the left!! What you stated about the quality of the SRX rutile is a good reminder for me. Iluka of course also has debt ($80.2m in the accounts to 30.0615) although down from last year ($155.2 million in the half year 2014). There are some pretty dodgy stocks out there especially on AIM. My complaint here is why the Investec sale of stock to take them below 3% was never reported to the market and all of a sudden they appear as the new Nomad. Perhaps I am reading something into it which I should not.

I use LSE Proactive (iii) and advfn. If you were to join (for free) advfn you can see and read all the RNSs of the time and that was what I did last night. Don't I lead an exciting life? I have a note but not the time to set out each addition. On advfn one can also see the share price chart at the time which is how I came to my conclusion. Finally advfn is very good on finding the epic codes of companies if one prints in the name. Sadly the epic for Titanium resources which of course was TRX is no longer available so I cannot see/read the RNSs prior to the change of name of the company. Like Gibraltar1 I think that there is every possibility that Pala will organise a purchaser of the company and consult with the other three institutions regarding an acceptable price. I also think that it will be higher than the 46 pence that I referred to. What we do not know is what the third party were offering in 2014. The alternative is that Pala will be content or will have to put up with the growth of the company and then the declaration of a dividend but at present we are in the doldrums with resource prices. Having said that what comes down goes up and vice versa and a prospective purchaser may well take that view and realise that this is a far better company than it was in 2011 with the input that has gone in from Pala.

Where Pugsy?

I cannot be accurate because I cannot access certain information but I have made a stab at the average price that Pala have paid for SRX stock since and including September 2011. Pala first acquired 30% of the company in September 2011 when the company was known as Titanium Resources with an epic code TRX. I could not find an amount paid per share but on tracking back on the charts available from advfn it seems that the share price at the time was circa 6.5 pence. On 11 October 2011 after the company had changed its name it was announced that Pala had increased its interest from 192 million shares to 200 million shares or 40.18%. There have to have been increases between the two dates when the company had the epic code TRX but that code is now not available. Pala offered 20 pence per share which was increased to 30 pence ps whilst at the same time whilst under the offer Pala increased its interest to 54% or 275 million shares on 15 November 2011. The price of the stock at those times was between 22 and 28 pence, I for the sake of convenience have taken an average of 25 pence per share th average paid at that time. In an endeavour to average the price paid in September to November 2011 and the price paid in September for the 30& I have taken the lazy route of adding 6.5 pence to 25 pence and divided by two and have calculated that they have paid an average of 15.75 pence per share or 42 million pounds sterling. You are welcome to challenge my figures. Taking the 3X on the Pala site as the return for Gemcom and moving downward on the same basis the average return for SRX if mirrored would be circa 46 pence per share. That does not take into account higher prices paid by directors and the former chairman nor Pla's holding costs which should come. The offer of 30 pence was rejected the board of SRX having taken independent advice in 2011. We know that Pala and some of the SRX directors (some of whom are Pala directors) acquired additional stock in April 2015 when the price dipped below 20 pence.

Plenty of detail on the Pala site of the investment collaborartion and assistance and then sale of Pala's interest via the sale of the company to give Pala a 3X return on its invesment. What I have been unable to master is Pala's average price paid for its investment in SRX. I would be obliged if you could assist. Even then I do not see a result any time soon as much as I and no doubt you and HSF would like it if the price is right.

First it is important for you to do your own research staring with the company's own website. Second do not rely on the opinions of other posters. Third do not always trust other posters - there can be sharks manipulating opinions to suit their own agenda. But the best advice is to research yourself. It is important to understand what you are invested in. Last year's srx Q3 update was 9th October. This year's I guess will be about the same time. Pala have a stranglehold over srx. Gibraltar's view is that a takeout will be organised and that the price of the takeout will be dependant on what the remaining institutional holders will settle for. As you know from the media, base metals are in the doldrums. The prices obtainable for rutile product is not very good. srx have been dependant on getting costs of production and to a lesser extent administration costs down. Boards of directors rarely keep their own costs down!! And they love granting themselves undemanding options which they exercise below target. I now have reservations about our ceo who I now see as little more than a manager although he has implemented the Pala reforms which have greatly improved the means of production. Do remember what Gibraltar always states which is that Pala are turnaround specialists and like to see a decent return on their investment. He is absolutely right. It would be worthwhile you looking at the website of Pala resources and see what historical deals they have done. I may be wrong but I have not seen any evidence of Pala ever controlling 100% of a company but then that could always change especially when they have manager Sisay in place. Then one must balance the possibility that Sisay is being groomed for the Presidency of Sierra Leone although I believe that for the next couple of years that is on the back burner. What is certain is that srx have a vast deposit and the improved means of production and subject to civil unrest and disease, it is a decent company. The question is how and when to get a good return on one's investment. GL PS Gibraltar and Corbine are more knowledgeable and have a ton more shares than me!!

I took a look at the half year accounts for Iluka and the 2014 full year. They have quite a bit of debt which SRX do not have although there are the facilities. Also I cannot tell whether their accounts are in Aus $ or US$. They produce largely from Australian deposits; a bit in USA. They have not suffered the peripheral effects of Ebola like SRX. The accounts and narrative are worth reviewing and thank you for highlighting Iluka. Their share price has traded between $6 and $11 over the past 3 years - currently $7 - less volatile than SRX. Iluka declare a regular dividend. There is thus a return to shareholders. SRX has delivered zero to us. In my view Iluka is more developed whereas SRX is a work in progress. They sell to China - last year Sisay told me that China needed to modernise before the market would open for SRX if I understood him. I leave you to your own conclusion. The more I look at srx it would still be a "mess" if it had not been for the Pala input. In my view Sisay is a manager and just that. Pala are the boss imo. I am not selling because Pala are turnaround specialists and need a return. They normally keep their investments for 3-5 years. They first acquired a stake in 2011. Look at their website. Therefore will they wait for a dividend? Will they organise a third party to buy srx (Gibraltar's theory)? Will they launch a bid themselves (not their normal MO)? In either of the latter two cases what the remaining three institutions demand will be key. GL whatever you do.

I can only repeat what I was told at the AGM by Sisay when I had a reasonably long cat after the formalities. I asked why Numis had been appointed (yet another broker). He told that they had been appointed to promote the share price and it was is intention to move the sp to 45 pence by the end of September. Of course the Chinese factor has intervened and commodity prices have been falling. I emailed Numis a couple of weeks ago and asked when they anticipated releasing a note (covering) on SRX. The reply I got what less than helpful - not allowed to respond because of FCA. What tosh. Of course noone had notified this thread that Investec had been the seller back in April when Pala and their/SRX directors who also picked up cheap stock, bought heavily. It was only by chance that I was researching the strength of the institutional holdings that I realised about four weeks ago, that I realised that Investec had gone below 3%. Like Gibraltar I had thought that Pala might organise a takeout of the company either by themselves or preferably by a third party company. The alternative is what Sisay also told me which he would like to organise a kind of IPO increase the share price which would enable Pala to sell some but that would only be after the share price improved and he wants to move the company onto the main market. Well neither theory appears to have a chance as things stand. Sisay has stated in various written presentations that he wants to deliver a sustainable dividend. Personally speaking I think that he is fine as a manager but is struggling to prove himself an asset for private investors. What he says does not seem to materialise into fact. It is important imo that the three remaining institutions do not follow Investec and throw the towel in cheaply. Like you, I am not happy but the three institutions give some protection..I will research Iluka -thanks.