Cobus Loots, CEO of Pan African Resources, on delivering sector-leading returns for shareholders. Watch the video here.
Hi Driving,
Thanks for this!
I've yet to speak to AT, have put a request in.
One of my planned Q's was, is there likely to be a presentation - as others have suggested there might be - with him or Marty?
Your rights issue relief comment would suggest no need...but if there's a (further) unexpected delay (as plausibly argued there may already have been)... then the 'going concern' issue might yet need addressing (via Tranche 3), despite what we all hope.
In which case, the need for PR (and the likelihood of a presentation) would be higher....
Any thoughts you can share?
TIA and ATB
Hi Vet10,
Your ref to the Chinese constructing a railway in Algeria may have some relevance, if not to ZIOC directly : turns out that Obambi would like the Algerians to finance HIS railway ex Sapro Mayoko, per today's depeches :
Headlined : MAYOKO IRON ORE MINES
..." The Sapro Group in search of Algerian investors
Congo's only iron ore mining company, Groupe Sapro Mayoko SA, faces a number of challenges, including the lack of transport routes to the port of Pointe-Noire. It intends to forge partnerships with Algerian investors to build a railroad, train local technicians, etc. ...
.. Now that the Sapro Group has reached the production stage, Sapro wants partners to improve its logistical capacity.
Per Paul Obambi, the company's only handicap is the difficulty of access to the railroad. The Sapro's CEO is determined
to convince Algerian partners to contribute to the construction of a "new railway to facilitate the routing of products to the port of Pointe-Noire......
.....The mining company attempts to relaunch itself five years after exporting to China, in April 2019 , iron cargo of around 23,000 tonnes. At the end of December 2023, the Group signed an agreement with the Port of Douala for a logistics zone and a loading area, with the aim of facilitating the flow of iron ore.
The operating program included, on the one hand the improvement of the existing facility through the renovation and
and optimization of the existing port site and, secondly, the future extension of the port towards a new deep-water port site at Manoka. ..."
(1) Sapro's is the lower-quality ore at Mayoko and (2) Obambi seems to be pitching for finance..any finance.. for a port...any port..
Maybe he's heard rumours and is concerned at Sapro losing its claim to being "Congo's only iron ore mining company"...?
;-)
ATB
Hi Vet10,
Today's depeches reports the Algerian meeting. Little Den is in the pic, front and centre.
The text includes :
.."The Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, and his Algerian counterpart in charge of Energy
and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, signed a memorandum in Brazzaville yesterday, designed to promote bilateral relations between the two countries in the field of hydrocarbons . The document initialled exchange of expertise between SNPC Congo and the Algerian oil and gas company, Sonatrach.."
So ref is unfortunately to Algerian mining and is probably linked to Congo's ambitions re LNG (ENI) and Total's visit to Big Den to share news of a planned $ 600m explo investment in offshore oilfields (reported in yesterday's depeches).
Also reported yesterday was an IMF visit to confirm a $ 100m 3 year commitment to a health programme agst AIDS, malaria and TB.
The IMF had to remind C-B that it still had to come up with its $ 5m co-pay.....
Let's hope that there's something more directly relevant to us ere long.
ATB
the context to the thesis seems to be here :
https://www.zawya.com/en/markets/equities/saudis-maaden-completes-10-acquisition-of-brazils-vale-base-metals-fmf9t71p
.."may 1, 2024
related topics
metals
commodities
saudi arabia
brazil
acquisition
saudi arabian mining company (ma’aden) said on wednesday it had completed the 10% acquisition of brazil’s base metals company, according to a bourse filing on the saudi stock exchange (tadawul).
ma’aden, which is majority owned by the public investment fund (pif), said its joint venture manara minerals investment company, had completed the acquisition of 10% of vale base metals limited on april 30, following a delay in regulatory approvals.
in july 2023, the company announced manara minerals had signed a binding agreement to acquire a 10% stake in vale base metals for $2.6 billion, as part of a strategy to invest in global mining assets.
...
in a bourse filing in march, ma’aden said the transaction could not be completed as scheduled, as regulatory approvals had been delayed."
you seem to be arguing that ma'aden can't chew gum and walk at the same time...ie couldn't progress zioc because it was pre-occupied with 'bigger things' ie vale base minerals. fair enough.
that might explain missing a march deadline, but 6 weeks have passed and ma'aden has since been actively reporting mainly 'bread and butter' matters on tadawul : an esop award, a change to audit committee, the calling (and then result) of an egm, the first quarter results etc .
i think ma'aden being subsequently distracted by reko dik/p4kistan is a more plausible reason for delay :
https://www.agbi.com/infrastructure/2024/04/pif-close-to-buying-****stan-copper-mine-stake/
5th april 2024
.."saudi arabia’s public investment fund is close to finalising a deal to buy a $1 billion stake in ****stan’s reko diq copper-gold mine, in what would be a saudi lifeline for the debt-ridden country, a ****stani newspaper has reported..."
especially given that these discussions have been pushed back from december last year and...as the same article reports :
.."a new government under prime minister shehbaz sharif took power in march. ."
afaics
let's hope there are no further competing claims on the saudis time.
atb
Thanks for this, Mr M.
.."The Argentine wolf of Wall Street hired by Burford to lobby on its behalf -as mentioned as a possibility by Cronista last week- is Gerardo "Gerry" Mato, a former banker who became Chairman of Global Banking at HSBC. He has more than 25 years of experience in global financial markets, based in the US, and before HSBC he worked for Merrill Lynch; he was also a member of the Atlantic Council, the US Chambers of Commerce and the Council of the Americas. He is now CEO of the consulting firm BluePearl Capital, where he is a partner of two other former Argentine bankers. All of them will be in Buenos Aires during the first days of June: they have a full agenda at all levels..."
Upsum : 'no hay plata' - there's no money - but Milei has indicated a 'willingness' to settle (the first President to do so) and that's what these folk may be counting on....and maybe with a so-far un-named ally of Milei, not in Govt , who might have negotiating authority.
GLA
I personally think that the excitement's in tents.
;-)
GLA
And Ashmore latest :
Argentina: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) have approved the eighth review of Argentina's USD 44bn loan agreement, paving the way for c. USD 800m in loans for the country. President Javier Milei said the nation is on the brink of lifting foreign exchange controls and emphasised the government's eagerness to do so swiftly.
The EU grant came through in Jan 2024 (abt Euro 300K) for a project that .." aims to identify the critical technology gaps and invent, optimise, assess and demonstrate the key enablers for optimised Artificial Intelligence ("AI").."
What became of the Greek grant?
Interesting article in today's FT, behind paywall (google is your friend). BUR isn't mentioned, but the private capital firms may be potential competitors at some point.
'Johnson & Johnson settlement shows the new stakes in litigation finance'
Article reports on J and J's talc litigation and a $ 14 Bn settlement....and Johnson's unhappiness that the claimants were part-financed by Fortress Litigation Assets, an arm of Fortress Investment Group, now owned by Abu Dhabi's SWF Mubadala.
J and J complain that the financial investors frustrate -cough- 'good faith' attempts at settlement, by holding out for higher ie more profitable returns.
.."
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour.
https://www.ft.com/content/abd5bf98-378f-4322-b930-68c9b410e783
According to Fortress’s website, it has cumulatively funded $6.8bn in litigation finance. Industry participants say virtually every major private capital firm is involved in funding lawsuits, though often quietly and through affiliates. Centerbridge and Apollo both funded lawsuits of victims of PG&E while also being financial creditors and shareholders of the California utility that paid victims billions over its role in devastating wildfires..."
GLA
.."People are clearly forgetting the 1m EUR loan over 15 years at 3.5%, this is accessible in June.."
H75/IG
We weren't told when this loan would be available when it was first announced in April, we learned of the midJune target date only after the emergency placing a fortnight later :
.."The proceeds of the Placing will be used for general working capital purposes up until the €1 million loan facility, announced by the Company on 22 April 2024, is received by the Company, which is EXPECTED to occur during mid-June 2024."
Then last week we learned this, about the earlier Riverfort facility ($315K principal + interest still o/s) :
.." Under the terms of the [Riverfort] Facility, the Company was required to maintain sufficient headroom in its share authorities to be able to satisfy the outstanding balance of the Facility by way of the issue of new ordinary shares in the Company, if not repaid in cash."
HELD has implicitly acknowledged that the Euro 1 m loan may not arrive, or may not arrive in time, because it has agreed [= been told by Riverfort it MUST] call a meeting 'to be held no later than 9 August 2024 [ Ed.: ie 90 days grace] in order to seek to pass resolutions to grant the necessary authority free of pre-emption to enable the Company to meets its obligations, unless the Outstanding Balance has been paid in cash, pursuant to the covenants in the Facility and to provide the directors with suitable capacity to allot shares as required from time to time..."
In plain English : HELD is calling a meeting [at Riverfort's insistence, my guess] to get authority to issue more shares in case Riverfort isn't paid off by the Euro 1 million loan.
Riverfort clearly doesn't share your confidence that the new loan will come through.
Now ask yourself : why would a new lender agree to disburse (unless unavoidably required to do so), when 1/3rd of its money would be going to pay off another creditor, not to be productively invested in the business ? And - given the visible, known uncertainty - why would an insurance company agree to be on the hook for Euro 1 million for a measly 25K insurance premium?
'Splain that to me like I'm a 7 year-old.
GLA
Ah!
'Ollombo' is actually 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyo_Ollombo_Airport'
Oyo Ollombo Airport
Denis Sassou Nguesso Airport
ie Big Den's home town...
;-
Hi MM,
Thanks for this potted history, which seems a good reflection of how things have developed (though I hadn't picked up AT's comment that ''Glencore had been presented with development options that, in hindsight, they probably wished that they had taken'.)
20/20 hindsight, eh ?
On the 'strategic' side of things, Elphick volunteered the importance of P-N as a deepwater resource at the AGM I attended, that US (?) concern MAY have lessened subsequently with AD Ports' arrival on scene , but - topically - may be re-awakened by the Little Den just-announced (re)launch of Equatorial Congo Air, in J/V with China's AVIC (see depeches).
AVIC is no run-of-the-mill aircraft leasing co :
"The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is a Chinese state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Beijing. AVIC is overseen by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. It is ranked 140th in the Fortune Global 500 list as of 2021, and has over 100 subsidiaries, 27 listed companies and 500,000 employees across the globe. AVIC is also the sixth largest defense contractor globally as of 2022 and second largest Chinese defense contractor with total revenue of $79 billion (from both defense and non-defense services."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Industry_Corporation_of_China
Hmm...
This all looks like a re-run of Pan Am's 'Trojan horse' re-militarisation role in Latin America and the Pacific pre WW2, see
https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/107/2/525/5907750
.." Farsighted military strategists immediately grasped the potential value of air bases strategically placed around the world, but the military did not determine their selection, placement, or development. Pan Am was a private, commercial enterprise, whose unprecedented, and some said quixotic, venture to use marine planes to fly to uncharted territories—from the impenetrable jungle canopies of Latin America to the tiny specks of islands in the Pacific Ocean—prepared the way for the bases and air supply lines used in World War II. Pan Am developed air bases at Midway, Wake, and Guam. Their bases in Brazil and Africa* allowed Pan Am to shuttle aircraft to the British forces fighting Erwin Rommel as part of the Lend-Lease program...., etc. In addition, through shrewd maneuvers, Pan Am essentially dismantled the German plans to use Lufthansa as a cover for developing a military capability in Latin America and Central America..."
* the Brazil - West Africa air link was expanded [post Egypt] to include a route through Central Africa, primarily to tap a supply of uranium from what was then the Belgian Congo (now DRC)....
And, re BaoWu Steel, it doesn't seem to be bringing much mining expertise to its projects in Australia and Simandou, but is of course a major consumer of product in its own right...AND the lynchpin of China's intended industry-wide 'single-desk' ore procurement policy.
All good st
(1) Equatorial Congo Airlines (ECA) emerges from the ashes, with a flt from Brazzaville to Pointe Noire on a 737-700. Little Den on board, 'cos ECA is a J/V with China's AVIC.
The aircraft will also fly to Ollombo (?) , up-country.
.."Minister Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso stressed the importance of the partnership between Congo and China, through which the Chinese company Avic has already already launched work on the construction of the aircraft maintenance center in Brazzaville, as part of the process of revival of ECAir.
Under this partnership, which will increase in scope at the 11th grand commission between the two countries , scheduled for June 26 to June 27, ECAir is to obtain obtain three aircraft that will join the fleet by next September, announced next September, announced announced the Minister of Cooperation."
Note this : The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) is a Chinese state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Beijing. AVIC is overseen by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. It is ranked 140th in the Fortune Global 500 list as of 2021, and has over 100 subsidiaries, 27 listed companies and 500,000 employees across the globe. AVIC is also the sixth largest defense contractor globally as of 2022 and second largest Chinese defense contractor with total revenue of $79 billion (from both defense and non-defense services.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_Industry_Corporation_of_China
Hmm...
This all looks like a re-run of Pan Am's 'Trojan horse' re-militarisation role in Latin America and the Pacific pre WW2, see
https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/107/2/525/5907750
(2) The editorial complains about the growth of social media leading to .."Demands and calls for demonstrations
against insecurity, lack of water and electricity and poor governance , now the most frequently used channels to denounce a situation. This increase should be a call to public authorities, because these means of communication encourage the depravity of morals and represent a perennial danger to the extent that they accelerate the unfiltered spread of the most pernicious, if not seditious, messages anywhere, anyhow..."
(3) A World Bank governance report on a new audit / control system has revealed that the country's 60,000 civil servants include at least 10,000 'ghost 'workers and .."there are also 180 registered employees who are not included in the finances file. The system also identified more than 3,000 people using a duplicate identity, i.e. 2,800 who have the same first and last names, and 300 of the same personnel number with different names..."
The Minister in charge said he was grateful these errors had been pointed out and that they'd soon be a distant memory.
Full marks for candour!
GLA
I'm sure Elphick isn't short of a bob or two, but his other public investment, GEMD. has experienced a similar shareprice trajectory.
You may not be able to take it with you, but it's nice to have it to enjoy for a while beforehand!
GLA
.." the Chinese economy is weak they are not going to spend the sums necessary. There are better plays out there..."
Agree the Chinese will be looking for value for money....which do you think are the 'better plays' ?
Serious question.
(1) 'precious' = 'concerned', board obv hasn't been concerned about dilution in the past;
(2) you contradict yourself, you originally said the amount was kept deliberately small, now say it makes no sense....make your mind up!
(3) SYME's history is long on 'contracts nearing completion' , forgive me for taking a lesson from history. Maybe ' this time it's different'....maybe.
I've been following SYME since pre-IPO days, it's been very educational.
HTH
.."There was a very clear reason the board were aware that it would dilute the share price and being near to contract signage wanted to limit the dilution and minimise funding to the bare minimum..."
(1) The board hasn't been so precious in the past, just consider its previous, highly dilutive financing efforts.
(2) The small amount is likely all they could get away with.
(3) You give the board too much credit/credence.
Occam's razor : the simpler explanation is usually the correct one.
AFAICS
Hi Mitch 984,
It would seem that MM started the hare with this, on 1st May :
"I understand that ZIOC plan:
An updated Corporate Presentation,
Proactive interview, and
A possible investor call to include Marty."
followed by
.."AT was on WhatsApp and fielding queries on next steps PR. Marty's preferred channel looks to be LinkedIn where he was chatting. On that score Zanaga Iron ore now have a LinkedIn profile..."
nibj had this to say :
.."I had a long call with the company. Dont want to mention anything from the call, as I see those to be one on ones, but got a good detailed talk about recent RNS messages and FS report. I can recommend in case you are in doubts about the RNS released last 6-12 month or have questions to them, that you book a call..."
FWLIW, MM has also said that he'd be getting in touch with both Elphick and Knauth about my observations re Shard [ Ed.: rather than something germane].
He's not commented further, so ..who knows?
HTH and GLA
Meanwhile. what update - if any - on the reports ex AT that there might be a presentation at some point?
ZIOC will have to say something re current outlook/ post balance sheet developments when it reports FY result by 30 June...
" The news and price will do the talking in the weeks and months ahead..."
As it has up to now.
But you've consistently misread/ misunderstood the news.
Can you really not see that YOUR talking hasn't been helpful?
' A period of silence for reflection would be welcome'
AFAICS
GLA