The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
That's incredibly helpful ASHTON, thank you. And I hadn't realised RE hadn't said the word "drilling", without which, as you say, would make any plan pretty meaningless. Obviously I hope that wasn't because they haven't yet agreed to drill.
If I can bother you for one other opinion. When the JV agreement required Kubold to either spend USD11.6m or drill 15 drill holes before the end of 2024, in your opinion, would 15 drill holes cost anywhere near that amount. I'm asking to try and reassure myself that there isn't an easy alternative (more aero mags...etc) which Kubold might choose to do instead of drilling the ground). In the video RE did 6 months ago with BR Business News (talking about the strategic review and the ill-feted death spiral capital raise) RE mentioned (5 mins 20s into the video) when talking about the merits of Kangerluarsuk (btw I'm still slightly sceptical that we weren't able to drill that because of the ice but so be it!)...RE said Kangerluarsuk was completely exposed (at surface) and unlike a lot of geology in Greenland and "particularly compared to Disko which is quite deep and complex....".
Thanks again. Your posts are very informative.
Thanks ASHTON as always. Given that Rob said they were nearing reaching consensus on where to drill in 2024 (or words to that effect), how do you see BJ (other than being the operators) contributing to this debate, because the targets will surely be based on the data from Kubold's proprietary technology, which I imagine they wouldn't share?
Outofluck, I think your comment about the professionalism and integrity of the Zambian Govt is extremely unfair. Why shouldn't the Zambian Minister update the Zambian people on a very important project when asked a direct question in a public forum... just because it doesn't fit in with LSE AiM disclosure rules. The implication of what you say is surely that he should have replied "sorry I can't tell you because Arc Minerals haven't put out an RNS in London".
I also think we should be giving a huge "shout out" for the person who sked the question!
As to why the SP is sitting at these low levels after what he said... I find completely perplexing.
No, I'm extremely long but I invested to find tier one deposit, not to watch short-term SP moves, however pleasant it is to have our SP moving up at last. I would be extremely pleased to be wrong.
This is obviously confirmation that things are moving in the right direction, but I think its worth bearing in mind that there may be other steps which still need to be completed, so while I'm very pleased, I'm not holding my breath for the signing in the next few days. As long as it happens in the next few weeks (and we don't run out of cash, always my major concern), a few weeks doesn't impact the long-term potential. Good luck all LTHs. DYOR.
Hi all, I guess for low volume penny stocks like BJ, trading platforms like IG Index used to provide important volume and price volatility, especially around news. I m told that IG don't let anyone trade stocks like BJ anymore. Purely out of interest, does anyone know if that is true for most small caps and all other trading platforms?
I think its now clear that Bo sold us a damaged bill of goods on Dundas; sometimes happens when geologists try to write mining plans, but its still pretty unforgiveable. I suppose I understand (though I don't agree with) why Rob won't say that outright. But with sentiment as it is, and by reading some of the comments below (which to be fair, are all based on the BoD of BJ's litany of broken promises and a complete lack of delivery), confirming the bad news about Dundas without any concrete good news would pour more fuel on the fire... but he's made it pretty clear he's not focussed on it.
If that video had been released two years ago when the SP was 10p (and in a different market admittedly), the SP might have doubled if not tripled. But with BJ today, the old adage of buy on the rumour sell on the fact doesn't count. By the end of November we will know whether this will sink or swim, but any upside is severely limited by an understandable lack of trust in the competence of the BoD.
Thanks Cattleman. I agree completely, but lets hope we get good news at the next meeting of the Cadastre in the next two weeks (and from the competition authorities?). If nothing happens, the Company will have to explain at the Interims in a few weeks. After the comments "weeks not months" whether they are believed is moot point... because that comment heavily implied that the directors either didn't know how long this might take (when they should have found out) or did know and didn't chose to tell the shareholders (which is worse). We'd already waited two years for this deal to finish, and I can't see Anglo worrying about a few months; but if we'd been told it would take another five or six months, we might not have liked it, but at least we would have known the BoD had told us the truth, not spinning. Lets see what the rest of September brings. DYOR
Peggy, that is a ridiculous statement; The cash position of Arc has nothing to do with Anglo's wish to drill this highly prospective area and no where has anyone (other than you lot) suggested that this deal won't happen at some point this year).
... the directors more. It was ever thus on AiM.
Hi Fulmar and Jarv55. Fulmar, great history and really useful. I am not worried about the quality of the asset or the deal… which will surely happen at some point. But I think it’s important to also be aware of the numbers.
As of December 31st 2022, we had cash of £616,000 (we’ll find out in the interims the cash position at the end of H1). Our annual cash-burn seems to be significantly above that number which implies that we may already be very low on cash as we wait for this deal to drop.
When the deal is finalised (hopefully in the next week), “we” get a much-needed payment of USD3.5 million… except who is “we”? The press releases say Anglo pays Arc Minerals, but the JV with Anglo is held through “Unico”, of which we only hold approximately 66%, so likely our share would be USD2.33 million. These funds “…will be applied to costs attributable to the negotiation, implementation and performance of the Joint Venture Agreement, to advance the Company's Botswana exploration assets, to fund activities for new project acquisitions, and for general working capital”. I think it’s fair to assume that if we are already short of cash, most of this will go in legal fees and Rothschild fees and over the next 12 months in directors wages/annual operating costs. In fact I am inclined to believe that the reason the Botswana assay results haven’t yet been released is that we need the Anglo deal to pay for the assays – I can’t see any other justification for not publishing them.
Each subsequent year Anglo make a further payment of USD1m of which our 66% share is USD660,000 (£528,000), so that annual payment is unlikely to cover our annual operating costs, but that in itself is not a problem, because it is still a great deal; if Arc have to return to the market to make the finances add up – I don’t see that as a problem.
So be it, this is the lot of being an investor in an AiM company, and we’ll surely sail through this, but there is another factor which I think it’s worth remembering.
On 16th March 2021, Brian McMaster, Ian Lynch, NvS, Remy and Vass surrendered 75.8 million shares which were exercised at 6.94p per share. The Board decreed that to protect the existing cash resources, the payout of the total consideration of £3.47 million (USD4.33 million) in cash would be over the next three years, i.e. before March 2024 (it was stated that this period was intended to coincide with the expected cashflows from the Cheyeza East plant). That £3.47m has to come from somewhere, so when the SP rises on a deal, my personal opinion is that at some point the directors will plan a capital raise to fund this… just no one should be in any doubt what the money is being utilised for.
Why am still invested in Arc? Because the deal was and is by any standard a very good deal and my trust is now in Anglo to find a Tier One asset … but in the meantime I am expecting to be diluted not for operations, but to pay
Hi Ashton nd Grubber, interesting thoughts. I've just listened to the end of July video interview, and towards the end Rob says they "...will be updating the market on the mineral resource estimate at Dundas which you would notice and every Bluejay shareholder would have noticed, that we've elected not to spend any money on in the current financial year, so that is being de-emphasised, and we'd very much like to emphasise our base metals portfolio which is extensive...". I think that word "de-emphasised" is important and my conclusion is that the resource may not have turned out to be as exciting as first thought, so I am now discounting any value from Dundas. If that's so, I put that at Bo's (and the BoD) door not Rob's. I hope you are right and I am wrong - indeed I would be very pleased to be wrong.
Strategic partners would be great, but am I not right in saying (from ASHTON'S comments about price sensitive information) that since the directors bought shares on the 28th July, the negotiations could only have begun after that, so while I hope for news I would be very pleasantly surprised if it happened quickly? So for me the single important factor comes down to the assay results we are waiting for.
I am sitting on an almost 90 percent loss on this company, which is now living hand to mouth on cash, which is not a good place to be, but then the share price seems to accurately reflect our current situation. As I say, we need rescuing by these assay results. Any additional thoughts?
Thanks for the info ASHTON. Any thoughts on Dundas would be more than welcome; its extraordinary the lack of news on Dundas. It was as long ago as November 2021 that Bo announced the appointment of a lead investment bank for Dundas, Peter Davies, reputedly an industry expert, to run the project and (I quote) "in 2022, the Company will commence pre-construction activities at Dundas". We are now nearing the end of 2023 and not a word... whether its good news or bad news, the owners of the business have the right to know what's happening, and the management have the legal obligation to tell them, except obviously the BoD of Bluejay think talking to shareholders doesn't apply to them. Whoever advises them on their shareholder communication should have been ditched a long time ago..
I think you've stated what most of the people who had hoped to get some value add on this page were thinking Jarv55. Very well said.
I only rarely look at this BB now because of the content, and at the very least I hope the pond life and some of the over promoters agree to go and spread their poison somewhere else - permanently, when the JV is finalised; this BB has become far more polarised than the US Republican/Democrats divide. I am frustrated like most people about the length of time the deal is taking to close, but in the end (as long as the time taken doesn't delay the drilling until next year), it makes little difference to the underlying value proposition. For that reason I have bought a few more to my current overexposed loss making position.
Where I do have an issue is with the company communication; not re the JV - because its possible of course that they are not allowed to say anything, but in general terms. I know Zambia is the reason we are all invested, but I once again ask a simple question; where are the assay results from Botswana from this time last year? Not because they are that important, its the Zambian JV we need, but because management not publishing information when it should be available illustrates to me a level of deceit I've seen before and it usually ends badly. Legally of course, they can ask the laboratories not to formally deliver the results, so technically they don't have to release them, and I suspect they will be hidden in the JV announcement. But I don't trust managements who behave like that. So my (small) purchase was specifically on the basis that Anglo management will be in total control of the project. Arc management did a good job getting the deal, but if they were operating the JV, I would look to sell out on good news. Over time I've lost faith in the Arc directors ability to tell the truth as and when things happen.... its why I believe Chairman and CEO should always be separate roles. Anyway, Good luck a genuine long-term holders.
Quite extraordinary that we have heard nothing on where the funding will now come from or about Disko. Any drilling campaign there would likely start in June, so with every day that passes, it looks increasingly less likely. This company seems to the Gold Standard on how NOT to communicate with its owners. I accept that the BoD's of far too many Aim companies have no clue about keeping shareholders informed, or in many cases are just fundamentally dishonest, but this lot seem to be in a league of their own.
Hi Know0. I tried numerous times getting onto the RIG on Discord, and every time it sends me a code which then says its ready in use. Is there any other forum I can join on (other than Facebook which I'm not a member of)? Many thanks.
Grow up Seisnav. Its perfectly reasonable question.
Still hopeful about tomorrow, though the SP seems to suggest otherwise, but I would guess the drilling season doesn't start for another month anyway, so as long as its just a question of the Cadestre being slow and nothing more fundamental about the licences than that, it will still happen at some point. But no RNS tomorrow morning of any sort, positive or negative, and I will be concerned.
I've been off the BB for some time, and was looking to catch-up ahead of tomorrow's deadline - I know the AA JV is the jackpot, but my question is: has anyone yet got any insight into why the Botswana assay results have still not been published, especially since our geo Vassili seems to have moved on(?) Many thanks and good luck al LTH's tomorrow.
Thanks IvRoche, and that makes sense, but why wouldn't they look to do a normal capital raise after releasing that information.... or maybe they are just completely blind to what they have now done (and that would be even more worrying) and the obvious consequences for the SP. Ironic how he talked in the interview about how the market didn't understand the value in the portfolio... and almost his first action as Executive Chairman promptly caused the mkt cap to halve. I said when he was appointed that I thought he was exactly the right person to take the company forward. I never dreamed quickly I would be proved wrong.