Member Info for Fortissimo

Weird thing is - market and everyone else in general were aware the merger was due to close at end of Jan and sp was nearer 17p. Now deal set to close near end of Feb or early March and suddenly it's 13p a share??

Bonkers. I think those ARB boys are going for the throat as market has already signalled (along with the chinese) that 16p merger price relatively priced in.

Yet here we are at 13p???

Volume not massive by any means so just looks like the markets squeezing the little guys out as it always seems to do.

The delays are poor and have certainly put pressure on the share price. But the asset remains the same. Prospect of selling it or monetisation event has risen considerably over last 12 months. Etc etc.

I have hunch that they want to have ducks in order prior to merger completion and by that I mean a bullish outlook, exploration plans underway etc and give shareholders (new and old) the belief to HOLD stock and not sell into the new issue when it comes. Also, if BHP really want to have a pop at SOLG, then immediately after the ENSA 100% consolidation event is prime time especially if the sp is sub 14p. Let's say 45p offer tabled. SOLG will find it really hard to defend that with sp at 13p. In fact, some will say an ofer at 26p could be hard to defend too. I guess what I am saying is if BHP are truly interested then the time to strike is very near.

Share price on knees... shareholders expectations being reduced by fatigue etc etc... all adds up to 'offer' time.

Let's see how the next month unfolds. I suspect it will be far from boring (like the last 5 months!)

I took the the words "adequately studied" in the context of the rest of the RNS / quote which goes on today they are spending cash on ENSA where it it needed and I think the sentiment is that all the advisors and experts that Darryl had brought in to maximise the PFS etc have led to Alpala/Cascabek being "adequately studied". Therefore... time to manage the asset using internal resources and brains and package for sale or some other kind of deal.

You have to read the quotes in context of them looking to reduce Capex and expenses that involve other parties / advisors etc. Remember.... Mather et al were doing the Alpala financials and dealing with Franco and others. It was Dazza that thought bringing in a number of experts from the mining industry would ensure Alpala options are thoroughly explored. There does come a time when you have to say enough is enough and lets leave it all to the next man to do.. Let's face it if a Major takes Alpala on, then the PFS will be ripped up imho and started fresh. If a JV deal is done then I suspect some of the PFS will work toward that agreement but ultimately it will have a fresh take. So no need to be spending millions on outside advice.

End of!

I think having a CFO is rather important when you are having discussions about selling assets or other deals.

Especially if it involves a number of stakeholders. They all want to talk to the CFO or at the very least expect to talk to the CFO!

I don't think it searching for a CFO undermines anything that they have said in previous RNS's or whether it be a full asset sale or not. You must always be looking at plan A and B not just plan A.

DM, agree management are not innocent by any means and mostly complicit in most of these woeful errors. FWIIW, I actually think the previous SOLG BoD's were more polished and professional. I get the feeling the CGP boys have not spent many years in the corporate world and too many years in the finance/markets world and mining community!

that's really interesting davethehorse... any other insights like why I am still paying a large wedge for my fuel at petrol station even though oil prices have dropped by over 30%?? Anything to do with those greedy barstewards at BP and Shell?

I should add (before DM collars me) that the original goal was end of Dec 31st to complete but then it became clear that accounts for that Q would be required.

So a question over why advisers did not know about the accounts requirements back in Nov or early Dec is a justifiable question. A fee reduction certainly valid and shareholders may well sue them (not likely but if culpable etc sobeit) for damage to share price.

Guys,

There is a timeline involved here which is generally dictated to by the Accounts filing requirements. The last RNS by SOLG said end or around end of Jan. That would suggest that their advisors told them that would be the expected completion date.

But then something else happened that they clearly didn't factor in and that was the FCA.... they clearly have different timelines and can throw things back for edits and so on. So as I said before, my guess is that they were all on track for end of Jan and then had some issues with FCA seeking clarifications which in turn means a further 2 or 3 week delay while stuff is amended and resubmitted. That's now apparently 10 days away or so. The timelines fit with the extra $150k loaned to CGP to keep lights on for another 15 to 20 days max.

I fully expect the ARB boys to start unwinding (reversing) their recent short positions as we head toward end of Feb. They only have about 8 trading days left.

The low sp is unexplainable on a valuation basis.... markets are their own animal. But to think we hit 13p levels when world was nigh in 2020 covid zombie time.... and yet here we are fully funded, more advanced with Alpala and BHP back in their box and we are back to covid days. Madness! Granted there has been some dilution but it's minimal against the near 70% drop in market cap.

Just think of all the new jobs to come once that ENSA block gets into someones hands with deep pockets. Must look forward, not just here and now, Ecuador are set to be transformed through mines like Alpala and others.

On a side note, assuming cash pile is $80m as of now and we have about $25m burn planned for first half. That leaves a decent $45m+ going into H2. I think their aim is to do some target drilling on regionals and hope to hit big while also doing the ENSA sale JV talks or full sale. If they hit big on Rio or another then it might force buyers hand to act more quickly but certainly strengthens SOLG's hand either way. That's why moderate exploration is always the best defence to low balls. As for the other 60 55 odd licence blocks... they simply have to get these buttoned down or lose them. So JV them to linden or sunstone or Gina or FMG etc... just don't relinquish them for nothing.

The FCA have their own approval processes so at end of the day.... if you don't ensure your meet the UK authority requirements then you will have it thrown back. A prospectus is essentially like that involved with an IPO. It has to be 'present' and not date 6 months ago.

So I'd keep it simple... RNS is an update on merger and it's in process of FCA approvals etc etc etc and we'll hopefully be sorted in 2 weeks tie. In the meantime... the company is cost cutting, saving cash and getting on with the SR.

Good to hear some rolled up sleeves action although personally I think the FCA regs and accounts could have been managed better.

Bozi,
I think you are assuming a lot but for instance... what do you think will happen if they announced a partial sale/ jv deal on ENSA? Do you think BHP would counter offer? Do you think that could set off a full scale bid war??

Just need the first domino to fall. It's not really about what pi's think... it's about the big boys and what they want. Spinning off the rest of the business into a new company would only be required if SOLG is bought out lock stock and barrel. Or you'd just spin off ENSA and keep SOLG. There are tax benefits and accounting games which help when splitting things off as I'm sure you know. There's a man or women in Switzerland drinking nice coffee while waiting for instructions I believe!lol!

addicknt... in the MD&A, ENSA had $11m to be spent on it through to July 31st. All studies and work was outlined there. So I think you're reading too much into that. $11m is low for ENSA spend so was telegraphed on 14th.

I'd get rid of the TSX listing. It's pointless and delivers nothing.

The problem for Scott is that he would have known that the financial results ending Dec 31st would need to be in the prospectus. Being realistic, getting accounts sorted can take up to 4 weeks especially when involving two companies. So the overrun would have taken us to end of Jan which is what was RNS'd. So FCA may have had issues with some of the numbers and as such they have had to resubmit which then goes to FCA again to approve. Basically... FCA putting SOLG through the mill and holding up SOLG's prospectus. Looks like it should be resolved in 2 weeks time. Apart from that... reducing cash burn is a no brainer... but why are they aiming to explore Australian assets if looking to focus staff in Ecuador?? Also... does this mean they are getting rid of Solomon Islands assets?? This all feels like a slimming down exercise to suit certain buyer?? Chinese already dictating what they would like?? Apart from that, looks like we are getting there but lack of CFO clearly being seen.

davethe horse

"Was walked down....now being walked back up....GLA"

I think used a'w' when you should have used a 't'.

And you were party to the later.

Wait for a few of the other naysayers to suddenly change tone and you know it's ramp time.

Suddenly all the doom and gloom clears like morning fog to reveal a bright sunny day.

Like I said... ignore the noise, doom mongers and so on.... just focus on the asset and what it is worth and how rare it is to have a Tier 1 mine. Top ten discoveries in recent years.

It's job to be enthusiastic but to be blunt the hole grades are average compared to Alpala. But it's early days for them and they'll need about another 100 holes before they know they have something very sweet. With 1 x rig... see you in 2026!

The good news is that SOLG will be able to take some knowledge from their work and it's in the north which is important.

Sunstone appear to have a good relationship with CGP boys so guess we'll see if they end up partnering us on Porvenir/Bramados etc... some deal in the south looks imminent to me or likely this year. I think Mather wants a little folio of blocks to move on under a new entity or through another. Just a hunch.

The ARB trading certainly has been an eye opener. Not much TSX volume but the price has been held in the 15's for some days now while LSE is walked down.

A curious one. Out of interest.... do CGP holders get LSE shares 15 for 1) post merger completion or can they elect to take those same shares but on the TSX platform??

One has to question the cost and relevance of the SOLG TSX listing these days. I suspect the CGP boys will want the more liquid London listing as volumes much much better than TSX.

Yes agree - that's my point when I started the post. Norges and Chinese could pick up more stock in open market albeit smaller chunks but at present there's lack of heavy weight buying hence the drift.

I don't think that's case Bozi.... they acquired 90m shares + last year and if they were to try and fill their boots again even to the tune of 20m shares, then I doubt they would get sub 20p. You can 200k here and there around today's price but try and by 5m block and you'll be paying 17p+, 10m block and you'll be paying 20p+ unless of course there are sellers around who are happy to offload that kind of volume and as tings stand - there isn't. Just smaller pi action drifting and squeezing going on that I can see.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying they played a blinder but they haven't made a horlicks out of things just yet. 30p would see them out with some profit. 50p would be a successful return. Norges fund has lost billions over the last few years but they've had some gainers as well as losers.

I was just answering your point on Norges NOT being a great indicator and as yet.... we are yet to know as SOLG story far from over.

If SOLG end up going for 40p or 50p or 60p+ then Norges will have done very well. You are making the assumption based on the state of affairs today. The reality is, should they want to acquire 100m shares now, then I can assure you, they would be able to get them for sub 20p.

That said, the chinese got a nice chunk for 16p but there's several ways to look at that one.

Todays sp snapshot is tomorrows historic view. Norges will not be watching SOLG share price on a daily basis and aligning it to every cat and dog event out there. They would have bought in on the basis of the asset. So if this goes for less than 25p then yes Norges has made a horlicks out of it. For now... I am glad they are on board and supporting the SOLG BoD's and the new direction as per AGM votes.