Member Info for Happytom

July

Not too bad really. Small profit on every ounce mined, and binding circuit more or less on schedule. Admin costs still high, but lower than they were, and per ounce distorted by the previously announced loss of production. shaping up nicely to meet what the BoD predicted in Jan report. I'd like to know some more detail about prospective third parties, but I would guess that such discussions are confidential until agreements are near complete. GLA, Happy

Could be worse - gold could be dropping like, well, gold - much more dense than your average stone! Not really a disaster when it drops back a couple of dollars; if it drops back to 1k then that would be a concern.

I seem to be missing any context here - are you talking about their mid-March report? If so, then which news? If not, what have you heard? Thanks, Happy

Hi BB. I think sadly that that is what is due - the expectation that they set is that this will be a hard year, with upside into next year. Having said that, they should have some news about the funding as well as prod costs and Guinea. Its really time to just get some news out though, I don't want a weekly update saying nothing, but it shouldn't be too much to ask for a statement once a month, particularly in light of the issues that they have raised in Jan and Feb!

Absolutely. A small amount of good news is all that's required. I'll try and chase David down directly and see what's brewing. He may say nothing / not take any calls, but we are very much overdue a progress report at the very least.

I don't talk about the actual size of any of my investments, but this is a significant part of my portfolio. First bought in around a pound, topped up at various levels below that, even traded a few after we hit the depths last year (7p rose to 26p in a couple of days, which helped!). If you watch the board, you'll see that I am almost always resolutely optimistic about this share. Average now is around 14p, which to me is about half of what the mid-term bottom should be, so very happy. Happy

Don't put yourself down Lofty, you know loads about footie, and some about nags :) d_s_, tricky one to be honest - as Loft says, communication has been very poor of late. They hit troubles last year, not producing as much as predicted through a bad seam, then that was exarcebated by the knackered equipment that they inherited starting to fail, so I think in total we lost pretty well two months of production. Using 20-20 hindsight, the BoD could have spent the Eco loan differently - maybe bought two thirds of the hedge out and used the rest for maintenance, but we are not privy to any covenants agreed when they took out that loan, so it may not have been an option. Traditionally, a very good relationship with Elliot, so no worries about the debt there (my opinion obviously), and with gold having sat well over 1200 since early December then we are actually making a profit on what we extract. It's a risky share - possible very good returns, and it could well fly on a single good announcement from the BoD regarding production and funding, but another bad one will see us in the doldrums right through to the end of this year. On the bright side, so long as we ride out this year (which I think we will), then next year is looking good, with massively increased production coming on line with lower costs. GL Happy

I'll get my ferret

They're trying, but demand will overpower the shorters in the longer term - China and India want physical, and there is just not enough of it out there to satisfy them. Paper is of course still powerful, but eventually the shiny stuff is needed, and if the authorities continue to look into various price fixing (all precious metals are under scrutiny) it makes it harder for the big banks to control the price to their advantage. To me, it's basic economics - there is a cost to extracting the stuff, and if that cost is higher than the sale price, then the sale price has to increase, otherwise there is no point in extracting it; if less is extracted, then demand increases for what is out there, causing price rises. Still looking beyond 2015 for increased gold price out of the 1100-1400 range, but it'll get there.

Once we're through the short term cash issue (possible resolution through Eco to protect existing loan?), then the way is open to big things - bring forward production from the other two sites and take full advantage of the rising gold price. Perhaps naively / under the influence of my not insignificant holding, I am still optimistic here. I see a realistic bottom around 30p, current price is purely reflective of (admittedly major) issues that are short term. Happy

oo, oo, I know the answer to that one , me sir, please sir! It'll either go up or down, or maybe stay the same!

Let's hope that we've found a bottom then - about time we had an update RE funding / equipment / production, which I expect to now be positive. Happy

Who knows really - I've a very good friend who was very active in campaigning for German re-unification, but a couple of years ago he admitted that he actually hankered for the days when everyone had a job and somewhere to live - similar to Ukraine, when the s&&t hits the fan, it's very easy to look back with rose-tinted specs to the days when everything was a known quantity. I don't think that merging Ukraine into Russia would be a good thing at all - not just from a Western perspective, but from a Ukrainian one - rather perversely, I think that it would be massively de-stabilising internally, and leave the country open to another revolution that would then be treated by Russia in the same way as Chechenia (i.e. not very well, to be blunt!). Anyway, enough of this conversation, thanks, its time for us both to move on! Happy

..not disagreeing with you JS, just raising concerns / views from the other side of the fence. From what I can tell, the pro-Russia and pro-EU factions in Ukraine are broadly equal in number, and although skewed slightly in East and West, they are not at all polarised outwith small pockets (of which Crimea was one, but it was only part of Ukraine for a couple of decades, so no real surprise there).

then I ask you, what is the minority population of Ukraine? You may or may not agree with the elections, but a pro-Russian parliament was elected fro Kiev, and then deposed by a large group that did not like it. The West have played a very dangerous game here, to Russians, NATO was set up three-fold; as an anti-soviet group to prevent further expansion into the West; to prevent the re-militarisation (is that even a word!) of the central European states (Germany, Poland et al); to provide a legitimate means for North American forces to be present on the Western borders of the USSR. For fifty years there was nothing but suspicion of the American backed West in the USSR, two generations that never saw anything but uneasy peace, so when Nato starts talking about defending Ukraine, it is not surprising that there are many in Russia who see such defence as an aggressive and expansionist move. Back to the first point, are the pro-Russians in Ukraine a minority or not, and if not, then who are we in the west to decide that they should 'choose' to join us rather than look to the East? Why do the group that choose to be on our side have more rights than those that do not (Bliar, take note!)

Sorry, I seem to have veered rather dramatically off-topic. More pertinent at the moment is what effect will be enacted by the latest sanctions - to me it is unlikely that Putin will just roll-over and say OK then, which means that they will be steadily increased by Merkel, which will not have a good impact on good old RPO!

Except that the original Russia (or Rus as it was known) was where Ukraine now lies, with it's capital at Kiev, and many Russians and Ukrainians believe that it is their spiritual homeland - Putin is considered great by many as he is re-kindling a lost pride and rebuilding a once great nation, not really the same as Germany in the 30s / 40s looking to create new space for her own people.

you know, some social studies students with too much time on their hands (just read 'social studies students' I guess!) did a study a couple of years back and concluded that if there were more than two men in a bar talking politics, then it was less than fifteen minutes before someone compared Tony Bliar to Hitler. Putin's scary, but he's got nothing on the great middle east peacemaker !

You suggesting that he's not mad enough - careful, that's fighting talk, next thing you'll be saying that he's not heterosexual :)