Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Maibwe is very exciting. Hopefully once the claim leaves Dixon-Warren's clutches the new liquidator or government will be able to sell the BCL share in the JV. I've certianly read articles where Teeling and Campbell are both very excited about this discovery so I hope something comes of it.
Hi Gunner, please fact check this but my understanding is:
1. Bod currently owns 40% of Vutomi per last RNS. The original BOD / Vutomi agreement was in 3 phases and given that BOD now owns 40% of Vutomi we can assume phase 2 has been completed. Phase 3 is optional but must complete within 90 days of phase 2 and is described thusly:
"Phase 3 will commence within 90 days of the successful completion of Phase 2. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company will have the option to issue the outstanding balance of 96.8m Ordinary Shares, priced at VWAP, to Vutomi and, subject to available funding, settle Vutomi's shareholders loan accounts of approximately £300,000 in cash to earn a further 32% of Vutomi. "
See the following RNS for details: https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/LON:BOD/Botswana-Diamonds/rns/LSE20170206070007_13117776
"The Thorny River bulk sampling project is a joint venture between SouthernEra providing the processing (40%), Palaeo (40%), the mining contractor and Vutomi (20%) providing the ground."
http://www.lse.co.uk/share-regulatory-news.asp?shareprice=BOD&ArticleCode=ik819qef&ArticleHeadline=Diamonds_recovered_from_Thorny_River_Bulk_Sampling
I am hoping that BOD will complete phase 3 and receive up to 14% of the revenue from the bulk sampling at Thorny river. An important point is that this deal just covers the bulk sampling. Once enough diamonds have been mined to declare a maiden resource, BOD / Vutomi can borrow from a bank and turn Thorny River into a full-fledged mine worth £££ depending upon the quality and quantity of the diamonds recovered. BOD will also benefit from the tailings at Kipslinger and Marsfontein, which also contain diamonds. This is where the last sample of diamonds came from. They were not from the Thorny River project itself.
2. I'm not sur eexactly, but last year's TEE Report confirmed:
http://www.crown.co.za/modern-mining-featured-news/7332-thorny-river-diamond-project-shows-promising-economics
“The TEE Report confirms that the deposit is between 1,2 and 2 million tons in size to a depth of 100 m with the grade being between 46 and 74 cpht. It estimates the carat values at between US$120 and US$220 per carat with the in-situ value being between US$60 and US$140 per ton. Clearly, we still need to refine these estimates but the figures, as they stand, are very encouraging and the report indicates that Thorny River has the potential to be developed as a commercial mine using the top end of the grade and value ranges.”
3. Revenue from bulk sampling or placing most likely
Director buying in recent months - check
Share price still cheap - check
Plant commissioned and working - check
Massive Kimberlite deposit identified - checked
Likely Kimberlite Blow identified - check
Second trench gone in - check
Ex Debeers guys touring site - check
Evidence of government granting permits to sell recovered diamonds - check
Access to diamond ore for free and profits from sales of recovered diamonds - check
Access to new permits - check
BOD & Vast partnership still healthy - check
Expert MD on site frequently - check
BCL Liquidator gonig soon (End of July)- check
(see http://www.sundaystandard.info/it%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Csad-goodbye%E2%80%9D-bcl-multi-million-liquidator)
Lots of reasons to buy here but DYOR :)
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6544438217469411328
"Stunning colours" - Ray Ferraris (40 Years experience in all aspects of rough diamonds, specialising in Valuation and Marketing or Tender preparation. Licensed Diamond Dealer - South Africa).
Yellow diamonds are graded on the intensity of the color. The stronger the yellow color, the more expensive the diamond will be. True Canary diamonds only refer to the Fancy Vivid and Fancy Intense yellow diamonds. This color range is the most desirable and valuable.
https://www.creditdonkey.com/yellow-diamond.html
I think the two things are separate to be honest. They were granted a permit which is time-sensitive news so they can't exactly sit on it whilst they wait for the section 20 approval to land. The next RNS could land at any time as there is no indication of any delay and these things are always a bit beurocratic. I guess some people must have been burned by Vast!
Have people misinterpreted the RNS or something? The 256 carats were obtained from just commissioning the plant. Bulk mining from the rest of the dyke and Kimberlite blow hasn't started yet as BOD are awaiting their section 20 license, which is anticipated to be complete by month end. We have got access to Marsfontein farm and have identified a likely Kimberlite blow. Numerous executives from De Beers and other Diamond companies have toured Thorny River in recent weeks and BOD have been busy building a second deep trench. This RNS has no bearing on the final section 20 license, it's just that they had to release an update as they were awarded the Marsfontein permit last Friday. Amazing..
Also they have got a second trench going pretty quickly, exciting times!
https://twitter.com/BotswanaDiamond/status/1138381272936566790
Potential Kimberlite Blow identified, trenching continuing, extraction plant commissioned and producing diamonds for sale & Marsfontein permit. Excellent news!
As a reminder, Marsfrontein had a Kimberlite blow that produced 1.8m carats in 2 years. Botswana Diamonds is well on it's way to being a producer by the end of the year.
Application for Marsfontein Mining Permit accepted
Vutomi's application for a Section 27 Mining Permit over a portion of the Marsfontein farm has been accepted by the authorities. Marsfontein is contiguous to, and an extension of, the Thorny River project. This portion of the farm is host to the rich M8 kimberlite dyke, bordering the great Marsfontein diamond mine, in-situ gravels and dumps.
This release has been approved by James Campbell, Managing Director of Botswana Diamonds plc, a qualified geologist (Pr.Sci.Nat), a Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Metals and Mining (UK) and with over 33-years' experience in the diamond sector.
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/BOD/14106433.html
Diamonds recovered from Thorny River Bulk Sampling
The Botswana Diamonds ("BOD"), associate Vutomi (BOD 40%), received permission on 7th June 2019 to sell diamonds recovered during bulk sampling at their Thorny River project. Up to Monday 10th June, 256 carats of rough diamonds had been recovered.
The sale of diamonds from bulk sampling will enable funding of further development by Vutomi.
· Bulk sampling site being worked.
· Consent received for the sale of diamonds.
· Sale of diamonds will fund further exploration activity.
· Mining Permit application accepted for coveted portion of the contiguous Marsfontein farm.
Operations at Thorny River
Trenching by Botswana Diamonds has identified a 'hotspot' at Thorny River with a thick kimberlite intersection of four metres wide, suggesting a 'kimberlite blow'. 256 carats of rough diamonds have already been recovered from re-commissioning the processing plant. The bulk sampling programme will generate short-term cash flow, whilst building the mineral resource. Our partner, SouthernEra Diamonds, have included their coarse tailings dumps generated from the mining of the Marsfontein and Klipspringer diamond mines into the same revenue sharing agreement. The Thorny River bulk sampling project is a joint venture between SouthernEra providing the processing (40%), Palaeo (40%), the mining contractor and Vutomi (20%) providing the ground.
I think on balance Vast probably will deliver in Romania and progress is being made, which is why I have not been a particularly vocal critic in recent months. As I expected, it is taking a lot longer to turn around than initially suggested and the offtake prepayment financing has proven difficult due to the number of parties and contracts involved. AP hasn’t given up though to be fair and I think the third party verification of assets is a sensible idea.
I’m not overly confident in Zim due to the failing economy and corrupt ZANU PF government. My biggest fear is that the government will cut Vast out of the picture or that there will be large scale civil unrest due to rising inflation. RTGS is now $1:7.3 on the black market and the official interbank rate shows that the purchasing power of the new currency has halved, then there are power outages for 8 hours a day, sky high fuel prices and mass unemployment. Not a good investment environment despite the good intentions of Vast.
As for AP, he has his flaws and has made some huge mistakes, but to his credit he does seem to work hard for the business and is determined to make the company a success. Paul Fletcher appears to be an excellent appointment who will have saved the company from the brink if this loan finally goes through. I will happily give credit and praise to the both of them if this turns around.
Apologies if I misinterpreted your remark. I was indeed naive and foolish. I threw the kitchen sink in hoping for a better life as the stars appeared to be aligning for Vast and we were told by the then CEO that we would be in BP by Christmas. I have to own that decision and live with the consequences, but that doesn’t equate to a free pass for the company as ultimately they have been dishonest in their conduct and IMO misrepresented their position on several occasions.
We have a narcissistic CEO who literally goes on podcasts saying that Vast will be worth hundreds of millions of pounds whilst he shuts down or sells the only two producing mines the company has. It is impossible to assess risk sensibly given such behaviour, especially for inexperienced investors. Lesson learned I guess :(
Speaking as someone with mental health issues, loosing 80% of my money has made this past year pretty rubbish. I am as broke as Vast. My savings are gone and I can’t afford to go on holiday, eat properly or get a deposit for a house for the next few years because I naively trusted in AP to deliver on his promises. Whilst all investments carry risk, the risk of Vast loosing their two operational mines and only source of cash flow was not obvious at all, and the company performance and management to date has been abysmal. So well done for being clever and making light of mental health issues. I am trying my best to focus on the positives and accept the situation we find ourselves in, as it is easy to be bitter and cynical, but nothing about this is remotely funny tbh. We have all lost so much here that we are stuck with Stockholm syndrome and the hope that the company will turn things around, which is far from certain. LOL
Thanks for the exercise. On balance I think this is most likely to be good news having thought through the implications. If it were bad then I am guessing they wouldn’t have RNS’d it as it doesn’t look like something they would need to disclose.
Forgive me for being thick, but can someone explain in english why Vast are getting SRK involved if it’s not part of the £10m financing deal? The company has no money atm so I am not sure if this sounds like good news for shareholders or not.
Thanks FN, that’s a helpful summary :)
Perhaps you are right Sandy, but the delay is concerning and the policy still not published despite being approved by parliament. Manganawa did announce he was getting ris of the indigenisation policy for diamonds recently so perhaps we are about to witness the official re-launch of the diamond mining industry soon.
I’m sorry Castaway, but you can’t take the grades from a neighbouring mine and declaire a $1-2 billion resource before you’ve even done any detailed geophys or drilling work. There is a reason why companies have inferred, indicated and proven resources. Regardless of whatever value there actually is in the concession, your methodology is based on pure hope as no reasonable valuation can be made at this stage of the project. The same can be said for the company’s valuation to be honest, lets get drilling and then make projections from data on the concession itself.
Well perhaps that is the case, but let us start with a heads of terms from an investor first, a contract signature on the JV and the publication of the national diamond policy before we get too excited about Not Present Values.
That valuation is clearly bollocks. Vast hasn’t drilled a single hole in Marange yet so how the hell is $1-2 billion a reasonable estimate for a resource? If the heritage concession is worth so much money then why would the Zimbabwe government, with all of it’s corruption, just hand it over to Vast and not the Russians/Chinese? Now I trust in James Campbell so clearly it looks like the concession is potentially financially viable and worth investigating further to gain evidence of this, but throwing big numbers around like that at this early stage is just pie in the sky nonsense.