Member Info for extrader

Hi Rangers1,

Thanks for this, to flesh out a bit more : From Chrysaor "John Hogan has over 40 years of experience in the global oil, gas and oil field services sectors. A geologist by background, he has extensive experience at the Executive level, including at LASMO where he served as Chief Operating Office".

And, more extensively from Bloomberg : "Mr. John Anthony Hogan, B.Sc., serves as the Managing Director of Argos Resources Limited. Mr. Hogan has over 35 years experience in the oil and gas and LNG industry on an international basis and has an extensive experience at board level. He has expertise in managing significant capital investment programs. He has an extensive directorship experience in the upstream hydrocarbon industry. He served as the Chief Operating Officer of Lasmo Plc from 1993 to 1999. He served his early career with Shell, Britoil plc and Elf Acquitane. Mr. Hogan joined LASMO plc in 1981, where he served as Managing Director of LASMO North Sea from 1989 to 1993. He serves as Non Executive Chairman of Celtique Energie Limited. He serves as Chairman of Celtique Energie Holdings Ltd. He has been Non-Executive Chairman of Velosi Europe Limited since August 2006. He serves as a Director of Chrysaor Holdings Limited. He has been an Executive Director of Argos Resources Limited since 2005. He serves as a Non Executive Director of Noreco AS. Mr. Hogan serves as a Director of Velosi sa r.l. and Velosi Europe Limited. He has been the Non-Executive Chairman at Velosi Limited at Velosi Europe Limited since August 2006. He serves as Non-Executive Chairman of Acteon Group Ltd., where he provides strategic direction and advice. He served as Chairman of PanGeo Subsea Inc. He served as Non Executive Chairman and Non Executive Director of Hurricane Energy plc. from March 8, 2013 to February 22, 2016. He served as Deputy Chairman of Norwegian Energy Company AS until August 19, 2011. He served as an Executive Director of Lasmo Plc from 1993 to 1999. He is a qualified geologist. He participated in the Executive Programme at the London Business School. Mr. Hogan holds a BSc (Hons) in Geology from King's College, University of London."

Our non exec Chairman for 3 years (2013-2016) and a fellow geologist...….

Their interests appear to be further WoS than HUR's, from a quick look at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/549934/Chrysaor_Public_Statement_2015.pdf

Hmmm.....
ATB

Hi all,

Today's Daily Mail headline : " ECO plot to destroy Easter"

Quite the opposite, considering newsflow !

Onwards and upwards ....

ATB

Hi allthatguff,

Well, it would be sweet revenge indeed , if the Digger could outfox the Dealer...or maybe they could kiss and make up ?

See : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/9529658/The-Glencore-Xstrata-war-has-turned-friends-into-foes.html

ATB

Hi Mitch984,

It's raining outside, so I'll bite ;-> !

The seller Leganes, is one of the stable of venture capitalists/high net worth individuals that Howarth/Strata have collected. Ultimate owner Kulczyk is/was Poland's wealthiest individual, see Wikipedia for details.
It (KI s.a.) also has a 10.2% stake in NCCL, Howarth's other AIM venture.

The buyer is indeed Artemis Trust, but acting for The Ark Trust, previous disposal was Artemis Trust acting for the Hardwick Trust, so not (apparently) connected.

It MIGHT all be just internal Kulczyk admin re-shuffling, from Cyprus(Leganes) to Guernsey (Artemis), but then you'd expect some wording to the effect of 'no underlying change in beneficial ownership' as was the case when a similar reshuffle took place , see NCCL/Polenergia.

I can't see who's behind Ark Trust, Guernsey, to assess whether the new holder is a positive (eg more activist/supportive/connected) holder than the Kulczyk's were.

One puzzle - maybe I've missed an RNS ? - is that I thought Leganes had 12.5m shares (4.49%), per 3.4.2017, but the latest RNS has them selling 16.9 m shares (5.99%)….?

Have you seen the name (Ark Trust, Guernsey) in any other context ?

ATB

Hi Rafaley,

Interesting burst of activity at BSL from the revamped website, Trahar senior's arrival surely no coincidence ! And the x-reference to Zanaga is clear.

Two questions :

(1) The BSL technology goes back to Legacy Hill / Ambershaw days. BSL's website goes through the various stages for client approval of the new product.
Are we at "client/third party testing", do you think, or "bulk testing/customer trials" ? In Ambershaw's case , the Q418 update from (26 > 51%) shareheolder Element says :
..."AMI is currently working towards obtaining an Advanced Exploration Permit (ADEX) for the Bending Lake magnetite ore deposit in Canada. The permit is expected to be granted in Q2-2019, at which time AMI aims to commence drilling to recover a 100,000-ton bulk sample. In preparation for extracting the bulk sample, AMI commenced clearing of vegetation and road-work at site during Q1-19. "

That's a sizeable sample requirement, reflecting I suppose the conservative nature of the steel mills. Are you aware of the scale of BSL's trials for Zanaga ?

(2) The MoU (which isn't a contract - as we've seen elsewhere in C-B ;-<) was signed mid March, a couple of weeks before the ZIOC IP where I think Trahar junior was pretty specific in the Q + A that ZIOC wasn't actively pursuing the cold pelletisation route for EPP. He handled what might have been a personally delicate situation well, I thought.

Am I misremembering ? Or is it your understanding that cold pelletisation is being considered for Phase 2 (their numbering) and Phase 3, ie 4+ years down the road, as a retro-fit ?

Cheers

Hi Biffadog,

You've obviously never heard of the salesman's formula :

" Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em; tell 'em;; then , tell 'em what you told them..."

;->

ATB

Hi all,

Good to get the RNS, but it's a bit 'thin' on detail, cf. how they RNS'd the first Lancaster well back in July 2016 :

..".The 205/21a-7 Pilot Well (the "Pilot Well") is the first in a two-well programme designed to refine the Lancaster resource range, provide a second future production well and provide new information to help optimally plan the Lancaster field development.
The Pilot Well's objectives are to:
(1) confirm the depth of oil water contact (OWC) - to help refine Hurricane's estimate of Lancaster's resources by determining the height of the oil column;
(2) evaluate the properties of a potential aquifer - to help refine Hurricane's estimate of recoverable oil by confirming the presence of a basement aquifer and its potential to provide pressure support to the overlying oil column; and
(3) evaluate the Victory sandstone resource range - to assess the potential for material resource upside in the Victory sandstone overlying the basement.
The Pilot Well will be drilled, extensively logged and tested, then permanently plugged and abandoned by filling with cement. Immediately thereafter the 205/21a-7z 1km Horizontal Sidetrack Well (the "Horizontal Well") is expected to be commenced.
The Horizontal Well's objectives are to:
(1) reconfirm production rates achieved in the 2014 horizontal well - to demonstrate that other parts of the reservoir can also deliver commercial flow rates;
(2) further quantify the reservoir characteristics through shut-in/pressure build-up tests - to help ascertain if there are any reservoir barriers as well as improve understanding of how the reservoir fracture system performs; and
3) provide a second production well ahead of the Early Production System.
The combined well operations, referred to as the Lancaster 7 Wells, are expected to last approximately four months after which there will be a period of data analysis. A further announcement will be made in due course....."

Fewer hostages to fortune ? Or less need to 'sell' the story, as we have more credibility now ?

ATB

Hi NewKOTB,

Source, pls ? Is this just scraping off topsoil/vegetation or anything substantial/expensive ?

TIA

…"Think I’ll add a few below the placing price then! .."

Snap !

2 big buys just gone through...

Hmmm...

Hi Sootysnipes,

Good Q - interesting to see what AT has to say.

The basic funding approach (new) is to farm out as much of the project as possible, see page 9 of http://www.zanagairon.com/pdfs/ZIOC-IP-28.03.19.pdf

This reduces direct risk for ZIOC/Zanaga shareholders, but also the profitability to it/us of the eventual product sold (since each contractor will be a third party profit centre, not just a cost centre -as it would be if it were working in-house).
The Process Plant is the only bit of owned infrastructure, which the IP says will require …" capital investment by Zanaga Project shareholders and investors."

The Project shareholders are GLEN and ZIOC (+ C-B backing in for free at some point) ...AND INVESTORS.

AT (reading from the IP) didn't say more at that stage, he touched on how ZIOC might fund its share (a little vaguely, IIRC) in the Q + A. If the Questioner reads this, perhaps he/she could chip in ?
From my notes, after mentioning Export Credits, contractor/supplier finance (for the Process Plant) , pre-export finance and offtake agreements/ trading house (other than GLEN), he did acknowledge in passing that amongst the possible options was some kind of fund-raising, maybe a placement or rights issue.

From the way he spoke, I didn't get the impression that was their preferred route (you don't want dilution for an at best modestly profitable, 'proof-of-concept' EPP, since by implication you're probably giving up a share of the 'jam' further down the road in Phases I, 2 (and maybe 3)...

Does the other place have anything to say on the topic ?

I see incidentally that C-B delegation is attending the annual spring jamboree at the IMF/World Bank 12-14 April, see youtu.be/IVr_TOiWmKo via @YouTube

The C-B team includes Min of Finance, budgetary stats people, infrastructure and 'grands projets'. Interestingly, they mention joint meetings with " SFI Chine" (I don't know who that might be) and the IMF and with China's IMF Rep., and reference 'economic reforms' and name-check the Sounda dam. This may, of course , only because Sounda is a 'live' topic atm.

There's nothing official on the IMF agenda that I can see re debt discussions/restructuring, but we can hope that there will be useful discussions going on behind the scenes....

ATB

Hi atg,

Aluminium smelters, which Alcoa and Pechiney were looking at re Sounda, use a helluva lot more energy than we're talking about for Zanaga and any related downstream (boom ! boom !) activities, so the fact that Sounda is apparently capable of this is undoubtedly positive.

And it would be transformative for the benighted and long-suffering Congolese, too. It's not all about money.

It's the repeated ability of C-B 's incompetent government to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory that's a bit galling.

Mind you, we're fine ones to talk, at the moment ;->

My point remains : C-B has been here (often) before....and the same/similar people are in charge. Let's hope that the Chinese have better luck than the French, the South Africans, the World Bank/IFC....

I recognise that the Chinese parastatals are more likely to be able to deliver and profit from a full suite of C-B's infrastructure needs (power, rail, road, SEZ, port etc) than any of the previous proposals, acting in isolation.

The French even went so far as to do a lot of preparatory work - tunnelling and bedrock stabilisation, for example - so if the Chinese sign tomorrow (as they said), they'd be able to hit the ground running !

ATB

ATB

Hi Jinkar,

…"How ashamed must those rabid rampers feel bad about creating ZIOC bubbles and drawing people in along the way?..."

A rhetorical Q, I assume !

The answer is : not at all.

The latest 'breathless excitement' is about Chinese Co CR20 being given the order to construct the Sounda dam (600-1200 Mw potential) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE by the Pres.

It's on the slurry pipeline route !!!!!

Factcheck : Sounda was first studied in 1952 by Electricite de France. There have been several studies since , most recently IFC/World Bank see https://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2014/10/world-bank-unit-to-assess-feasibility-of-1-000-mw-sounda-gorge-hydro-project-in-congo-republic.html

..".The World Bank's International Finance Corp. (IFC) has signed a project services agreement with the Congo Republic to assess the feasibility of the 400- to 1,000-MW Sounda Gorge hydroelectric project in the Congo Republic (CR).
Under the agreement signed October 11, IFC is to carry out studies that will assess the potential for a hydropower project with strong environmental and social safeguards at Sounda Gorge on the Kouilou River. The World Bank invited expressions of interest in March from technical, environmental and electricity market consultants to advance development of the project...."

The government originally approved a deal in 2006 for Old Mutual Properties, a division of South African insurance giant Old Mutual, to finance building Sounda Gorge in Kouilou Department;

And , in 2011, ..."In May 2011, a protocole d'accord has been signed with a South African Company IDG and the Republic of Congo for the development of the Sounda dam project.[3] IDG has teamed up with strategic partner African Power Corporation (APC)...."

Site preparation was undertaken in the 50's by Spie-Batignolles and there was talk of aluminium smelters (great offtakers of hydro, cf Canada and Norway) ..." Péchiney et Alcoa, géants de l'aluminium s'intéressent fort au projet, d'autant qu'en 1962 des accords sont signés avec la Guinée Conakry pour la fourniture au Congo de bauxite destinée à y être transformée..."

The dammed area would be about 1,800 Km2 (no Three Gorges). The relevance to Zanaga's mooted slurry pipeline is hard to see, since Sounda is close to the PN end of the 300+ Km pipeline and only at 35 m above sea level.

We have a surfeit of iron ore ; a surfeit (in due course) of gas ; and a surfeit (potentially) of hydro power.

I'm still a buyer - but for my grand-daughter's account....

ATB

I was buying distressed sovereign debt / trade paper etc , for my personal account.

I.E, taking a view on the country's ability/willingness/likelihood of paying its debts.

So slightly more on topic than your increasingly ad hominem attacks. Which are usually taken as being a good indicator of a lack of worthwhile counter-argument.

HTH and ATB

'Tis but a scratch, sire...

Coming from someone who's put money over the years into Cuba, Nigeria, North Korea and Venezuela, amongst other countries....and (mostly) made money.

ATB

Hi atg,

You really should get out more....and maybe look at what the Fitch upgrade actually means :

CCC: Substantial credit risk. Default is a real possibility.

CC: Very high levels of credit risk. Default of some kind appears probable

So they think that the chance of someone losing their money in C-B has gone from 'strong probability ' to ' real possibility'.

How much of your money would you put into a UK High St bank with those characteristics ?

Some people just like to ignore unwelcome reality...even odder.

ATB

Hi all

Very superficial article : says 'plenty of reasons to be sceptical' which apparently boil down to Dr T started HUR in a shed and 'we've never done things this way' in the UK…..but then acknowledges FB works elsewhere nearby (Norway/N Sea).

Perhaps the kindest thing that can be said is that - as the actress reportedy said - who cares what they write about me , so long as they spell my name correctly ?

The journalist DID get that right - and included a Cantor Fitzgerald target price of 96 p.

ATB

Hi 99icecream

Thanks for this...and good to get their view that an IMF programme remains likely.

Key reason ? "Funding options remain narrow as delays in final agreement of an IMF programme have hindered budget support from international donors and access to international capital markets remains limited..."

This has knock-on re our ability to access Export Credit and other term finance.

ATB

Hi again Afric,

A quick look at your posting history and revealed background (5 years, 100% ZIOC) suggest that you may be well placed to make some informed contributions of your own, of course.

In the circs, I'm faintly surprised you haven't felt moved to chip in so far.

ATB

Hi Afric,

I think you need to chill a little and look at the facts, before accusing others of casting nasturtiums.

AT did a good job at the IP. This is the first IP AFAIAA in 3 + years, maybe longer. People have been critical of ZIOC's lack of PR until recently. Maybe the timing is because (a) one's overdue (b) they've got their ducks / a story to sell nearly lined up (c) things are finally moving our way, on a number of fronts. Most of these reasons are positive.

I've recently said that I'm personally a relaxed holder and a likely (small-scale) buyer next tax year for my grand-daughter.

Depending on which metric you look at, I've previously said I can see a good case for £ 1, £2 and 1 x GLEN, about £3.30. From it's recent s/p, that would be a 12x, a 25x or a 40 bagger.

I'm impressed that you find that sort of POTENTIAL return a bit 'Meh !' and are happy to endorse uncritically MM's implied 70-130 x......

ATB