Member Info for GradeController

Number one priority in operating a mine in any part of the world is Corporate Social Responsibility. Unless good relationships are established with the local communities, the mine will fail. I have witnessed this on many occasions, particularly an Indian owned company operating in Africa that tried to ride roughshod over the local community and employees, the cost in lost time, damage and future relationships was very high and they had to succumb in the end. I suspect that MNG do not understand this. They will learn the hard way.

My earlier post did not refer to AUE, it was creditors of the original MNG Kokoya project in Liberia. A gold dore bare weighs circa 25 kgs, is the size of a brick and would have a value of circa $1 million We need our ears close to the ground. The mine and process plant is most certainly operating. I'm staying put meantime, but will reassess following the next announcement I don't know what the significance of $1 billion in gold in previous posts is all about ?

I have confirmation from my contact in Liberia that the process plant has been up and running for the past four weeks. Please see quote below. My contact is an intermediary, but a reliable one. I have also met his contact, also reliable IMO, who provided the following quote,,, I did ask my friend re Aureus. He confirms they have been up and running producing for over 4 weeks now. So, I can only assume they have just not bothered with an announcement since restarting. He doesn't seem to know anything more about the chemicals. He also advised that MNG have not paying their supplier invoices in Liberia, not even fuel. Draw your own conclusions. Also IMO, it would not be too difficult to move bullion from one mine to another in Liberia.

I have no further feedback, but am assuming that they are in production and with no announcement the SP remains suppressed and we can be sure that they are buying more shares. It's logical from their perspective. The more they buy the tighter the market will become and eventually we will see the rise that we deserve. What is the next percentage milestone that they need to notify ?? I think somebody said that the next quarterly report is due in the first half of August. The longer this silence goes on the more convinced I become that they are in production. I cannot imagine that after all this time nothing is going on !!!! Patience and steel nerves !!! It's coming,,,,

In the same news release, re the green light from MLME to restart production, DR stated the following,,,,, " preparations are underway for the commencement of the plant pre-start procedure, which will be initiated following the arrival of a consignment of additional reagents that the Company is working to expedite to site. " This was the usual waffle and smoke screen from DR and when I raised the matter at the AGM, he continued with the smoke screen. DN realised where my probing was going, intervened, put his hands up and came clean that the companies financial position had been such that they had been unable to order the reagents. I assume that the reagents were only ordered when the first tranch of funding from MNG was made. The procurement process to West Africa countries is normally about two months, but there may have been a chemical borrowing process or some other short cut that took place but we are all in the dark what the supply and delivery status is. Last week, I received advice from a reliable source in Liberia that New Liberty Mine was in full production. I have since requested confirmation and further detail. To date, I have not yet received this. IMO, the mine is up and running, but I cannot understand why no announcement has been made. New management may be of a culture that sits on the outer edge of AIM and TSX governance and procedure requirements and only time will make this apparent or not. We are in world with AIM, a company that we now know was bankrupt, but for MNG, Gold mining, Liberia, its 5 metres of rain per annum, offshore finance and a Turkish billionaire entrepreneur. The pundits forecast we are in the early stages of a substantial Gold bull market, so we can either stick with it or leave. Not for the faint hearted. Risks abound, but so does potential reward. I'll post any further information that I receive. GLTA.

This could be a good test of how the new executive management handle the tiller of an AIM / TSX Public company. It is my understanding that their past experience is only in the Private company domain. I may be wrong on this, but reporting standards and compliance for PLC v Private do differ. We all now know the failings of the DR regime, here's hoping that MNG act in a more responsible manner. We must however have hidden agenda in our minds and be on the lookout for any signs. If they have somebody watching these forums, it might keep them on the straight and narrow. I remain long term positive on the future of AUE with my holding of 1 m shares at an average of less than 3p. GLTA, we've had our moments during the last twelve months !

Thx 0242, neither am I on Facebook, but I am following other contacts.

I have received advice from a good source in Liberia that New Liberty is in full production. I have asked for confirmation that the reagents arrived to enable the restart to take place. I have concern that there has been no announcement and realise that this will cause speculation within our group, but feel I should intimate what I have been told. In response to earlier post re monitoring,,, I believe it would be difficult, but not impossible to salt away production in Liberia. The government monitors and records gold production and movements. I am making enquiries which company has the AUE gold contract and also which company buys MNG gold. We need to have our wits about us. At least it's a step in the right direction ! ? I will keep the forum advised on any further info. Is there anybody in the forum working at New Liberty ?

I am sure that the reagent order would have been placed together with an advance payment from proceeds of the first tranch. Typically there is a two month lead time for supplies to West Africa, whether they come from Europe, South Africa or Turkey. I believe that AUE have a procurement supply line from South Africa which stems from the SA export guarantee scheme which guaranteed the Circa US$100 million funding. I checked with a contact at Nowata and they are not supplying. I called AUE London office and skyped Paul Thompson and asking that David netherway call me. I have not heard from him and this is disappointing since he is chairman of the committee set up to look after SH interests. At the AGM, he did come clean on the issues that the company had faced, unlike DR who continued with his smoke screen. I will make futrther enquiries with logistics companies to try to establish the ETA of the reagents. It is encouraging that new management is in place and that the SP has moved a tad North. I'm sure the new management will come to grips with operations quickly and things should take a turn for the better. We are on the right track when the reagents arrive.

Great work from Gecko, Dotlink and others. Thanks for the effort and research which in my opinion brings a more positive view. Let me introduce a contrarian spin on this,,,,, Would MNG want to take AUE private ? My gut says no,,,, a LON and TSX listing although probably a new experience for them, could have considerable longer term benefits and I highlight what Nordgold (LSE - NORD) did when the gold assets of Severstal were floated in London. 80% plus of NORD shares are held by one Russian investor and whilst he is profiting from the journey, like last year their dividend exceeded the share price (£2.80 odd at the time), he will eventually look for an exit and AUE could just be the embryo vehicle. The other 20% shareholders also benefited from the big dividend and if I remember correctly, NORD also bought back a considerable tranch of stock. AUE are obviously not in that league, but gaining control of a LON / TSX company for £35m is a great deal and they will be looking at a bigger picture than simply skinning the AUE minority, particularly since gold is heading for the sunlit uplands (good phrase Gecko) They are more likely to be considering how they could, in the future, put their other private entities into AUE with minimal benefit to the AUE minorities. They maybe buying in the market now to get their holding up to near the maxium of 90% to avoid having to take out minorities and retain a PLC status. 80% might sound a better number and less of a threat to minorities. They have indeed been a white knight. Gecko's comments on share price ranges of up to 10p and in another scenario up to 20p sound attainable when they get going, but It is very frustrating watching the peergroup move upward with AUE stuck in their tailings dam.

Indeed, sceptical and yes anything could be going on whilst we wait for jam.

Mines do occasionally charter aircraft for urgent supplies, even if they are heavy. An Antanov for 20 tonnes would cost somewhere just short of a million, but generally these operations get immediate and priority customs clearance. The 20 mtonnes wouldn't last long though.

Geckoman, you could be right, but MNG have not yet taken over the management of the company yet. I'm not sure why this is as they have paid in their money. It could be that TSX approval is holding up them taking office. Hopefully there will be an announcement to this effect shortly. The announcement regarding likely start up in mid June was very wide of the mark, and now that it has been established that the lack of reagents is preventing start up, management should have known that a restart was impossible by that forecast date. Furthermore they led SH to believe that plant upgrades were the delaying factor when it was the lack of chemicals that was the critical path (and the cause of the spill in the first place) and they could not even place an order for them due to cash constraints. It is now obvious that MNG funds were required to enable the chemical order to be made and it will take time for an offshore supply to be made. Mines in West Africa countries do often assist each other with supplies from stocks, but since there is only one other goldmine in Liberia, namely MNG, assistance supply may not be possible if their stocks are low. (or are they ?) The roads between Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia are very poor tracks and are not passable during the rain season and in any event there are still border control constraints following Ebola, so Seaport entry is the only viable import means. As I have said before this could take up to two months. It is very frustrating that we have to wait this out, particularly since we now realise that the lack of reagents and cash was the cause of this final straw. Meantime operating and overhead costs continue with no income. MNG will have done their due diligence and I suspect the plant will perform better than previously if what AUE have said about gravity circuit modifications is true.

Oil is dead duck, buy Lithium and Graphite. If Aue opens at 2p as you suggest, we got a great buy.

Goldbar, it's an opportunity, can you read how to deal with it and did you take precautions ? How big are your balls ?

Forlife, I have been working in West Africa for the last 20 years and know Logistics, procedures and red tape. We will have to be patient, I agree. Given time AUE has a good future.

Geckoman, and anybody else, I'd be pleased to answer any questions that you may have. there may be a delay as I'm travelling again tomorrow.

I don't know where the reagents will come from but I would expect they may require an initial stock of about 100 tonnes. Normal procurement time for West Africa is 2 to 3 months, but MNG may be able to assist or perhaps a trans-shipment from Ghana could shave time off the process. I am optimistic about AUE future under MNG management and I hope they will act responsibly in the best interests of shareholders. Assuming that the gravity circuit mods are effective we should see increased monthly recoveries. I think that we should see the SP creep back up towards the 7 & 8 p's that we saw prior to this event. Now we have to await the outcome of in or out !

Apologies for the delay in reporting chaps, but Virgin's wifi was not working. I'm now on BT Scotland wifi, having now returned from the AUE event. Only about 20 present, mostly in house people. All resolutions were passed and meeting closed. I then asked for a more detailed history of events relative to the process stoppage and noted that yet another consultant was mentioned in todays release and not once had DRA been mentioned. DR responded with a rerun (more waffle) of what we have already heard in previous releases. I asked for a fuller explanation on what really happened had the tailings dam breached and where did the liability rest. DR advised that the tailings dam had not breached but it had spilled cyanide to the environment. Further exchanges revealed that the tailings had spilled over a spillway as was originally intended, but should have been a neutralised solution. After further discussion it became clear that insufficient or no reagents had been added and this was the cause of the environmental stoppage. DN took over the discussion and was more frank about the root cause, being lack of cash and immense creditor pressure. I can add that AUE could not have reported this as it would have played right into MNG's hands. The upgrades to the plant has probably been a bit of a smoke screen but nevertheless, they have taken advantage of the down time to make changes. IMO the enlargement to the gravity circuit screen will make a considerable difference to the recovery rate when they get up and running again. From the discussion creditors/ suppliers and banks became more comfortable with the situation following the announcement of MNG equity and funding but until cash flowed, stop credit situations probably remained. DN did state that AUE were very close on a few occasions to creditors petioning for a wind up. Clearly they have been in a very difficult position since the six month delay caused by ebola. DRA basicaly walked away from the plant following achieving commercial production and have offered no assistance. Apparently they are still owed money. DRA were awarded the contract to enable AUE to prequalify for a substantial percentage of South African input to achieve export guarantee from SA which brought the SA banks on board. So everything for the wrong reason. There are many more questions that I could have asked, but after DN did put his hands up and admitted the cash and potential company closure issues it was clear that everything had stemmed from there. I did not ask specifically about the new equipment, but i am conversant with these arrangements and it is normal to arrange the lease of all equipment at the outset with phased delivery to tie in with operations ramp up. New MNG management will probably come on board in early July. Reading between the lines I think todays announcement was timed for the AGM and it may be some time before the plant is running again.

This is one of the best gold stocks at this time. Very low market cap against what they have delivered.