@Benjidog
Whereas I agree with most of what you have written I would add that one of the real issues is that the management seem reluctant to commit to or estimate timescales of project progression.
Whereas I totally understand that some things are out of their control (dewatering permit etc), It would be good to know
1. Is the cross cut for two identified target zones depenant on any permits ?
2. What permits are necessary for further exploration and exploitation of the spoil heap at Tyn y Cornel ?
If GMOW are waiting on permits, then how soon after granting would they estimate physical work to start and when were they applied for
If GMOW are not waiting on permits, then when do they expect to commence site work on the above projects
@ian67 The cash position is quite strong, as the Greenland exploration costs and the costs of flotation of GROC were all paid in cash to ALBA. A very successful cap raise happened late last year when sentiment was high. Unfortunately with the SP so low, its very unlikely that the soon to expire warrants will be exercised as its unlikely that the SP will exceed the exercise price of those warrants.
They need to get digging on that crosscut and progress the spoil heap exploitation. They are all independent activities.
With respect to Clogau specifically, the company is funrishing or has furnished the NRW with supplymentary information which MAY yet overturn the decision. In the meantime there are targets, some relatively close by that can be explored. Whereas I understand that a certain amount of lead time is necessary to mobilise for this, then it concerns me that this work has not yet started on site. adit driving etc is a routine mining process with which Mark Austin will be very familiar with, so I dont really know what the role of the "consultants" are, when there is ample local expertise to do this. I want to hear that this has commenced, otherwise many will conclude that there is a reluctance to do some digging, and that is what its all about.
Planning consent was granted for a barn conversion which had bats in on the condition that alternative roosts were established (bat boxes)
As far as I can see there will still be a flow of water from the mine post dewatering. As with most streams on steep gradients near the whole catchment area the flow rate changes quickly in response to rainfall. These changes are several orders of magnitude over the max 1 cubic metre a minute expected from the mine a
from what I gather from what GF said, it is the removal of the water surface that may disturb the airflow and upset the bats. GF seems optimistic about the chances of a successful appeal. Without seeing the documents of the submission then it is difficult to independently assess this, however GF isnt known for making rash statements and tends to err on the cautious side
The water is not the problem, in fact NRW appear, according to GF to have been explicit about that. The problem is distrubance of airflow which may disturb the roosting bats. There may be work arounds to this. In any case, in the meantime Alba need to chase other more readily available targets.
Ive been out of signal range for a while. Its disappointing news, there's no getting away from it.
I would hope that Alba will lodge an appeal.
https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-09/environmental-permit-appeals-guidance.pdf
gov wales sites default files publications 2019-09 (if it gets starred out)
Sections 19 20 deal with the timeframe for appealing this is to the welsh assembly government, which can override the NRW decision. There is a timeframe for lodging an appeal and for response. It is given in days and weeks and not months.
Disappointing as this setback is, there remain other targets in free draining areas, which I would urge the BOD to commence driving to with alacrity. The time for "consulting with our mining consultants" needs to be drawn to a conclusion and real work to begin. I notice that the decision has not been lodged on the nrw public register, but GF mentioned that airflow changes due to the dewatering may have been cited as a reason for refusal. Would it not be possible to create an airflow blocking "trap door" system in the area of the flooded shaft at present minewater flood level ? Such items were almost always in place in coal mines just above the fan drift. (A fan drift was a short tunnel intersecting one of two shafts which housed a fan which forced air into the mine. To prevent that aire from simply being immediately blown up the shaft big trap doors were placed there, diverting the air down into the mine).
On the positive side of things, the market value of ALBA's GROC shares divided by the ALBA shares in issue does provide for a "basement floor" to the fundamental value, but we urgently need to crack on with the cross cut now, and stow the spoil underground in worked out stopes to avoid any regulatory approvals.
I'll post more when I have had time to digest this rather bitter pill
Id far rather be invested in a company with good fundamentals as yet unreflected in the SP than a company with dubious fundamentals with an inflated share price.
Its time to get that cross cut to the two target zones underway now
sorry to sound so ignorant, but why is the current share price so far below the offer price ?
The significance of the flooded workings are two fold
1. because drilling has indicated a good prospect for gold beneath those workings (the deepest existing is no 4 llechfraith level)
2. because it has been flooded since the early 80s (though I stand to be corrected) so no one since that time has been able to extract ore from there. Memoirs suggest visible gold in the orebody there. Its posted in the files section of the fb group
Even if we were to start driving the cross cut (which should intercept two lodes from the existing free draining workings) then I would expect the dewatering permit to be issued prior to that. Its a valid target anyway, not a "consolation prize". GF estimated total costs to be £1100 per metre to drive the cross cut which is in line with what I would expect using contractors rather than direct labour.
@Lee1978
It was exactly the question I was posing to myself. The mislabelling of the buy / sell is due to the sites like these , as the market dervied data does not include investor buy / investor sell data. So what sites like this do is to try to determine if its an investor buy / sell from comparing the trade price with the midway price between buy and sell. For some reason today on Aquis the spread 0.2 - 0.24 although i was able to buy at 0.21