Member Info for Goldbug99

DS: Economic as the term relates to geological reserves and resources is flexible, in that production costs AND mineral value can vary. The argument that an (as yet) unquantified cost increase wipes out any (well established) rise in gold price does not follow.

If it costs $1 to keep a chicken and eggs are worth $2, and the costs double to $2 but the eggs are now worth $4 the profit hasn't disappeared, it has doubled.

Which is why a new PEA is urgently needed, even on the old resource. The company could update this in a week. It's just plugging new numbers into their spreadsheet.

The problem is Conroy NEVER released any actual studies (mandatory in Canada under 43-101), just a few bullet points and his 'delighted' comments. It's not supposed to be kept a secret, certainly not from the people who own the company, i.e. the shareholders.

MM: the cynic might conclude that the kids just can't be bothered perpetuating dad's money-making scam.

The reality however, is that despite trying not to do anything other than trouser a very generous salary, he still came up with a viable asset, which he studiously avoided progressing for over a decade, despite raising over £10 million in PPs and JVs in the interim.

Tara mines has been extracting ore from 900 m underground in Ireland yielding 5% zinc and 1% lead for decades. At $2.70 and $1.90 a kilo that's ~$155 per tonne.

So don't tell me 2g/t or $185/t near-surface a few miles away isn't economic, even if refractory. There is nothing wrong with the asset. The management, however, is another matter. Hint: you can't change the geology.

Now worth less than the good will signing fee Demir paid them, let alone the £5M of additional drilling.

500,000oz and 8 years worth of new drilling data.

So we are finally there 29/1/25. CGNR is now worth £200,000 less (£1.54M v. £1.74M) than its KDR "sister" with its fantasy diamond projects, ZERO mineral assets (none of these kimberlites has EVER been tested for grade/value), a 5+ year legal battle to even set foot on the licence areas and a collapsing diamond price in the face of synthetics.

All because CGNR management (Jones, McNulty, Murrells, Bird & Mrs Sherman) are busy, busy, busy in Finland digging samples and running surveys.

Meanwhile in Monaghan, nil, zilch, nada! Do these people have ANY sense of priorities? It's enough to try any patience!

TBF I'd rather see a resource and DFS update before any JV. Hard to approve a "giveaway" without a proper valuation.

If the Board and Management who have milked shareholders of salaries for decades in some cases had any decency they would do this essential work in-house pro-bono NOT for deferred salaries, and cour their networks to find external consultants willing to sign off for minimal fees.

I mean what, we are talking 150+ years of 1st class experience: Earls, Moroney, Bird, McNulty, Murrels (40, 30, 30, 30, 20).

Carters: there is an inherent underlying value to an AIM listing, even as a shell. It is around £1M

DS: either way, there are a myriad of other explanations, nothing to do with Conroy, and especially the project.

AAZ were another LSE junior, albeit in production, and the Armenian war had just kicked off again.

Demir are a diverse conglomerate intimately tied to the Turkush economy, which had just gone into free-fall.

Note that even Barrick just got mugged by the Mali government, so maybe Ireland ain't looking so bad!

DS: all JV negotiations, even just heads of agreement, normally have "best endeavour" and "good faith" boilerplate. That said, AAZ had a lot of other stuff going on at that time iirc, including a civil war around their main project, so maybe you are reading a lot into this.

DS: Sherman is the EXEC Chairman and works for a US East Coast fund according to his bio. Moroney certainly seems to be hands-on, London conferences, roast interviews where she does most of the talking, site visits guiding the team and now PDAC? So maybe things are changing?

At least there seems to be a floor at 3p.

You do have to wonder how "invested" the new management really is? Certainly not in monetary terms 😂.

Conroy, spritely despite his 90-odd years, had nothing else to do, and was there on the scene. He had his reputation staked on it, and was somewhat of a local personality. Seems it was his one-and-only hobby, so he was passionate about it and engaged, presumably all his waking hours.

Sherman, Moroney and Bird, seemingly in their 50's, had this as a one-day-a-month gig - $1,000 for a one hour Skype call from the other sides of the planet. Presumably they also have lives, families etc. Just how keen are they to run this full time? Boston, Melbourne and Toronto are all a long way and a many time zones away.

At the end of the day it's a London AIM company with a physical presence in Ulster, so this involves pounding leather on the City of London streets, meeting brokers, nomads, PR etc., engaging and building relationships with contractors and local communities, government, authorities, planners, ministries and officials, and hands-on leading the technical staff in the field.

And how interested are the locals and Irish press, officialdom  and gossip society in some "blow-in" Yank and 3rd generation Auzzie - plastic Paddies they call them?

Ah yes, PDAC. $4,000 attendance fee, business class airfares from Ireland and Australia, a few 4* hotel nights. Rubbing shoulders with the CEOs of all the gold majors.

A bit rich for a company with €140k to its name.

And what has decades of attending brought in the past? A Turkish family business.

Carters: all and any talk of a JV seems to have died, both here and from the company.

So it looks like a 2p raise one way or the other.

The question is: will it be a small one to pay the directors for another year, or a big one to achieve meaningful progress (a substantial resource increase and a revised PEA)?

And if big, with dilution accordingly, should the current management be the ones who get to spend it?

DS: "It's a tough pitch to persuade investors"

Really? Half a million ounces is half a million ounces!

Ask yourself this: If the company folded, and the government re-issued the licences to a brand new XYZ explorer, with all the historic data, reports and drill core, a company with no connection to the past, led by experienced, transparent management with a track record, would there really be no investors in the IPO?

Maybe that's what is needed, a £2M @ 2p raise, a completely new board and management team with a new plan, maybe led by Moroney, the only one with no association with the past. There is zero reason for any (unqualified) members of the old family to be involved at all.

 

And fire the current geologists, who have collected millions in salaries over the last decades with little to show for it (McNulty has been with the company nearly 20 years, Murrells 15, and what exactly has the team delivered?). I'm sure Moroney, as CEO, could recruit and lead better.

Yes, it would mean an extra 85M shares, diluting current shareholders by 60%. Still, by comparison the company has destroyed 500% shareholder value (15p to 3p) in the last 12 months alone.

Directors and management rarely seem to participate in placings, regardless of the discount, Conroy himself being the exception, who always converted his outrageous outstanding fees and salary.

With his estate probably tied up in probate outside of family control, there is unlikely to be participation from that front.

We'll see if Sherman and Moroney put their money where their investor-presentation mouths are. Not to mention Jones. Zero word from the Managing Director throughout all of this. What do they do exactly?

Well Sherman had his chance to stamp "under new management" on the company, but it seems not. Like father like daughter I guess. Merry Christmas and GLTA.

Edochan: so explain to us why six professionals, who would command high five/low six figure salaries on the open market, with no apparent shareholding or warrants, would work for minimum wage in one of the priciest cities in Europe?

To me it suggests they are on hourly rates, working from home in the absence of any bricks'b'mortar office, and not actually doing much, otherwise we would have a resource update nearly a year since drilling concluded.

DS: I did not see that!

Hard to believe McNulty & Co are working for €27k apiece when the old man was raking in a quarter million+. Are they just consultants on hourly rates, paraded as staff for the optics hence the delay in updating the resource, because there isn't enough to pay them?

DS: according to the latest presentation they have three geos (p.16 McNulty, Murrels, Dinkin) on staff, plus another in Finland? Presumably all on high 5 figures, so add another €3-400k? Or are these guys on retainer/hourly? Some of them have been there 10-20 years as far as I can make out. I really can't see the need for four on staff and three on the Board. I mean, what can seven tell you that one can't?

DS: A few bob?

I wonder if Mr Sullivan, who once owned nearly 30% and felt strongly enough to try and take over the management, nor Mr Harrington, who at nearly 20% is still the largest shareholder, feel that way?

Amazing that these big holders have/had neither board representation, nor an inclination to speak out.

That a company with a 500,000 oz  gold resource just an hour's drive from its head office is now worth less than a Dublin apartment, is shocking, just shocking!

CGNR £1.68M mcap.

3 Bedroom 132 m² Penthouse, The Gardens At Elmpark Green, 3 Bedroom Penthouse, The Gardens At Elmpark Green, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 - €1,750,000

Management: get your act together!