Member Info for DASUT

Asleep You can read a transcript of the presentations and Q&A's after the event on the Centamin website which is what I will have to do as unfortunately I have an appointment at 2pm tomorrow afternoon.

Cowichan the difference with the joint ventures in Nevada and Dominican republic is that they also share the investment costs and operating costs so an OK ROI for both companies.
Problem with EMRA is they are Government not private and at the same time non operational.
These are only my opinion certainly wouldn't guarantee that Newmont aren't a prospective suitor.

Steve, I know Newmont as a company and they are extremely conservative and agree that a 50% share of their net profits after what would be a sizeable purchase price doesn't compute.
To think that it is only now that Newmont is interested in Egypt is way off beam, they will have been monitoring what has been going on for some considerable time. I am not sure that even the new revised terms of business will actually suit their business model. As for how Newmont will if they feel it is of interest enter the Egyptian market it will be on their terms and I have serious doubts they would need to spend millions on buying Sukari. There are a number of junior mining companies with large areas to prospect and Newmont will be closely monitoring developments in these areas.
As for the comment relating to the boards buy in and high salaries I suggest you send a question to the board but this is something they might find difficult to answer in open forum because a negative response could have an adverse impact on the SP and a positive response well could that be bordering on insider trading, not sure.

Cowichan, History can't be changed only learned from and I live in hope that the current new members of the board understand the mistakes made by their predecessors and steer the ship back on course or preferably a better understandable course.
So my questions are related to when will Sukari be back to normal production close to or above the 500,000 oz p.a. Not projections finger in the air hopes and wishes, but realistic targets and something that gives shareholders and new investors confidence,
Also we need to know what is going on at Batie West and the impact of an exploitation license that expired November last year. This would normally mean either an application for an extension or reverts back to the Government so what is the impact on the value of the resource and is there a time when any sale or joint venture needs to be completed? A resource can't just be sat on it needs to be developed or relinquished.
I have always been a fan of a focus on relatively small number of achievable targets rather than the confusions of a large number of projects /targets and none being achieved.
One of the reasons why I like the contractor focusing on the additional waste removal and the Cey fleet concentrating on the mining which will also involve waste removal. This however can't go on indefinitely there needs to be a cut off date or a plan that is known and shared with us.

Cowichan,
The only reason questions won't be answered is if the answers will directly effect the SP so expect answers that are guarded but experience of the last few phone ins is that answers are normally provided.
If you have already submitted your questions then they will at the very least have time to carefully word responses and or maybe incorporate in their presentation.

Darren I think you will find the majority of the costs relate to a major waste management muck shifting contract. Double the waste is double the cost and some.
We aren't going to see true mining numbers until this contract ends and they move away from building an additional mountain of waste.
Just a reminder to everyone who wants to direct pertinent questions at Martin Horgan and his team the opportunity exists for 23rd March when there will be a presentation to retail investors.
One question is "exactly" when are we going to see strip ratios that are realistic to the running of a profitable mine.

BOD visiting mines is highly recommended if they involve and listen to local management. Also excellent if the BOD understand more than just the fundamentals as the answer to success is in the details. Unfortunately BOD's are comprised of financial corporate types "Gucci miners" not too many hands on grassroot types.
Examples Geologists aren't mining engineers and mining engineers aren't muck shifters and muck shifters aren't mining engineers, accountants, political appointees aren't any of these. Would any of these understand that there has been high grading practices I very much doubt it until it became obvious.
I have in the past had detailed discussions with Mining General Managers who are excellent in MIning technologies much of which I hadn't a clue and often needed my own mining engineer on the team to explain acting as an interpreter. Much of the problems being communication and open pit mining as an example isn't that difficult providing the guy on the digger understands where to dig and the truck driver knows where to go. OK very basic because considerably more required such as maintaining haul roads, compacting waste dumps, pit layout etc. Where it goes wrong is prior to the the guy on the digger being told where to dig.
So on the surface it all looks good until you are backed into a corner which is where Centamin found themselves and now having to dig themselves out of the hole.
So at the end of the day it needs someone who understands Mining engineering, geology and material movement and from what I hear Martin Horgan has a team around him that understands all of the nuances. So would suggest he has individuals targeting the weaknesses getting back to the basics.
Cowichan am I worried about the seismic report yes would be great to get a response from someone in authority even though the information might be difficult to understand, is this a priority I am not sure, as I would prefer the management concentrate on getting the major asset back on track.
Won't be long now until you can phone in your question(s) to the board.

Tibbs You are preaching to the converted and I thoroughly agree that the old guard were way short in too many areas but there is nothing you or I can do about history. As I say we now need to have trust in the new team and keep asking pertinent questions when the opportunity arises such as the phone ins, and doesn't have to be a phone call as they take questions in writing during the presentations.
As a bogger flogger of mining equipment I would have loved for the customers to double up on equipment but it was never ever the case and as I say to predict everything by way of parts that are going to fail over the life of a machine is only possible to a certain extent. I do have first hand experience of a mining company that did over spend on parts and components so much so they had more parts in their stock by value than the local dealer who were supporting numerous mines. The mining company unfortunately actually went bankrupt and the new owners a major mining house chose to go the contract mining route and it is still operating 20 years on with good profits.
I don't have any specifics as to Barminco's short comings during their contract so can't comment on your criticism of them.
I am not sure what hands on experience Centamin on site team has in working the Sukari underground resource, why should they as they have had a contractor doing the mining?
I have seen contractors actually make more money through efficiencies for the mining company than the mining company was able to achieve when previously doing the mining themselves. It isn't just contractor mining being changed to owner mining it works the other way around.
I can't comment on Egyptian tax laws as it relates to depreciation.
The NHS heaven forbid Tibbs this can't be compared with a mine and I was once a member of a trust and goodness inefficiencies and down right incompetence was enough to tear your hair out. I only refer to management not the medical teams who I have the utmost respect.

Tibbs,
There are many schools of thought when it comes to contractor or owner mining no such thing as one case fits all. Much too large a subject to go into in any detail but there are many very successful, experienced and highly professional contract mining companies that provide excellent work for mining companies of all sizes including the majors.
As I said earlier it isn't just about the mining but I do agree that mining is the core activity of a mining company or if it isn't it should be but as I say it isn't always that simple.
There again what is mining is it digging ore and loading trucks and driving trucks to the hopper or is it who owns the equipment and employs the operators/drivers, or is mining telling the operators and drivers where to dig and dump? With mining being processing the ore and selling the mineral. Is it employing people or bringing in self employed do you maintain your own equipment or do you contract out to someone to do this for you? Just a couple of questions and these will all need to be taken into account as getting rid of a contractor will add additional responsibilities, personnel, activities, knowledge and the list goes on so as I say not clear cut.
In the case of Sukari underground one of the issues I have is taking ownership of a used fleet of underground machines that may or may not be reliable. Something else that worries me is continuity of knowledge and experience, with the contractors leaving with considerable knowledge and experience and trust me Barminco have considerable experience. However, it is relatively early days in the development of the underground so whilst a gutsy decision we will have to put our trust in the new team.

Tibbs you need to forget about the LHDR as this is well in the past and unfortunately mechanical equipment breaks, it is the nature of the beast and without knowing what part broke it is difficult to understand whether the part should have been in stock. The mistake was maybe they should have had a standby machine but there again underground production is and always has been a low percentage of the overall business and you can't have standby machines for every piece of equipment, just not practical and extremely expensive. A **** up but needs to be put down to experience as hindsight is so very precise.
I know you might not agree with the above but I have in the past had responsibility for stocking parts to cover fleets of equipment and it is impossible to have everything available in stock at the drop of a hat especially when so far away from the manufacturers or their parts warehouses.
Also why Capital are getting the blame for blowing up the rig I don't understand as why would someone park an underground machine in the blast zone of the open pit. Sorry no logic whatsoever unless even more worrying a blast in the above ground open pit caused a cave in or some such thing underground.
When there is an in pit blast everything stops, everyone on the mine including visitors knows when and where the blast will be taking place, the blast team pretty much take total control of the mine during this period of time there will be sweeps of the blast area made by the blast team all will be in radio contact and all clear from each member of the team prior to anyone hitting the button.
All blasts are treated very seriously and to think an underground piece of equipment would be left sitting in the blast zone just wouldn't be allowed. When I say the blast team it won't just be Capital people it will be senior supervisors, managers including the pit boss of Centamin who will be involved in the sweep.

Gnome interesting most definitely will test the CEO and his team. A major decision and not without considerable risk. Yes it is good in many ways to go it alone but it isn't just "the mining" part of the decision as maintaining, servicing and repairing underground machines and equipment ain't easy, let alone taking over a fleet of used kit. I hope the contractor has maintained detailed records for each piece of kit.
Also the underground gear isn't manufactured and supported by the same team as the open pit equipment.
Interesting times but they aren't reliant on the underground performance as much as they are the open pit and will have time to adapt before the demands become far greater. Guess they will be taking on a good number of the contractors people even if only for short term.
Very interesting times and a gutsy decision.

gnome I agree seismic is more specific but you initially need to know where to be more specific so both survey types will be extremely beneficial. Must also admit my knowledge of seismic surveys is way out of date and was quite hit and miss literally whacking a metal plate with a big hammer. OK joking because did see results prior to retirement of some advances but not as reliable as in the petroleum sector. So I bow to yours and Cowichan's greater knowledge.

Cowichan, I am not disagreeing with you I am just pointing you to the shared information that is currently known by the company. I would suggest the seismic survey along with the drilling that they have undertaken has enabled the new guys to push for more such as the air surveys.
I do think that the reports and presentations we have seen over the last 12 months have been far more professional and enlightening but I agree we do need to be brought more into the fold.
We also need to do our bit by asking questions when we get the opportunity during the phone ins.

Cowichan you may need to have a read of the company presentation relating to the resource geology back in September last year as whilst not specifically mentioning the seismic survey the report goes into far more detail than would be gained from a stand alone seismic survey.
Not sure what more we can be told about the porphyry?

Paul No worries it gave me a chance to show off a little and yes I would agree when done right it is a very good thing and Caterpillar are a good group to get on board to finesse areas such as this and great that people at Centamin understand and listen because can look to be expensive in the short term but long term very profitable.

Spoon I don't think it is a total blitz and then go mining as I have said they are already back in mining the west wall phase 4 and it would be crazy for the production guys not to incorporate areas that are opened up into their mine plans and phase in to maintain grades.
Yes it is an expensive exercise but they are paying for material moved and not having to invest in expensive plant and additional people to drive and maintain the equipment, supervise and manage the production etc.
As I say I find it really difficult to offer up alternative solutions especially frustratingly sitting in my armchair at home.
Don't get me wrong I would far rather we weren't in this situation created by naïve Gucci miners but as I say Horgan does make a lot of sense when I listen to him. I particularly like the more conservative sensible targets that can be maintained and have a chance of being beaten.

Australia Day brings back great memories of my trips down under. Great prawns but couldn't get enough of the Bay bugs when first introduced to me up north in Mackay as part of a magnificent shared sea food platter.
Thanks for your information on Batie better out than in as more suited to a company with support from a major.

Tibbs I am not sure that there is an African cost structure given the number of countries on the African continent having worked in 6 of the countries there are quite large differences and considerable political risk variations.
Quick difference Burkina more expensive than Ghana and Ivory Coast purely based on logistics of land locked and easy access to ports.
I would love to know why Batie is non core, is it political risk, physical risk is it cost prohibitive suggest a combination of all in addition to a difficult ore structure, not sure if I have seen a detailed justification relating to Batie being non core.
There are numerous mines in West Africa long standing that are profitable and if Doropo and ABC are anything like projects that I visited on numerous occasions in Ghana and have free dig start ups of oxide ores then I see both resources as benefiting Centamin 's bottom line.

paul I don't know if I mentioned the trucks but just a bit of an explanation they aren't light weight trucks they are lighter weight truck bodies/trays. Caterpillar together with the Caterpillar dealer named Mantrac for Egypt would have undertaken a job study working with Centamin's production team to calculate the weight of the material being carried per cubic metre. This has to be a detailed quite lengthy study over a period of time and once all parties are in agreement Caterpillar will calculate how much weight they can take out of the body and at the same time increase the cubic capacity of the tray without compromising the integrity of the body structure and also protecting the truck from over loading. These bodies/trays are know as mine specific bodies and a mine said to be carrying light material will quite obviously benefit from carrying more cubic metres of material so therefore more tonnes than a standard build body/tray without overloading the trucks which is of paramount importance to all parties.

Spoon I am not sure what else Horgan and his guys on the ground can actually do to improve the situation
, what is your suggestion ?
I once remember talking to a great old boy who had his own mine and he said ideally he would like to stick some explosives in the ground and the outcome of the blast being all of the material flying through the air ending up on the leach pad and let the cyanide solution do the rest. Cutting out the need for people who drive, maintain and fix expensive machines but unfortunately they like processing plants among many other things are necessary evils of the business and we then went on to talk about flogging him a larger fleet of equipment.
A bit of waffle but just saying we once again need to bite the bullet as to achieve the £2 share price too many corners were cut. Had they removed all of the waste with cut backs at regular intervals they wouldn't have achieved the ounces, although had I been looking at the job I would have been pushing for additional or larger equipment to achieve overall higher material movement, so not impacting on the all important ore. I suppose I would then be criticised for throwing shareholder money at the problem.
I do agree that it isn't uncommon for miners to take short cuts and follow the ounces to achieve targets but it isn't something that is good for the long term and inevitably it comes home to roost.
The issue is a a very large issue, you only have to look at the waste tonnage that is being shifted when compared with the low movement of ore to understand the magnitude of the problem.
If the new guys get the show back on the road with regular 500,000 + ounces per annum with a sensible cost base and the SP up at the £2 level then I won't be against some well earned bonuses.
Unfortunately I think it will be some time coming but I would certainly be very interested in what you believe Horgan and the guys should do to get back on track sooner rather than later.
Stay safe