Member Info for JerseyCrew

I don't think I'm missing your point but maybe I am not explaining my view properly.

If I understand you correctly you want certainty - i.e. lifting suspension by date x or at the very least an expected / target date. Or in the absence of that for the company to remain silent.

Am I correct? Does your point stop there or would it continue if there was silence? In other words would you then be asking why there was silence?

In my personal opinion, I think Robbie is very aware of investor sentiment and frustration and is walking a fine line here in terms of what he / the company can communicate within market rules.

So if you were the CEO and you wanted to convey a positive message of progress in the face of investors wanting information but you were not in direct control of the date of delivery (stay with me - don't jump to asking questions why the accounts were not delivered on time - that is for a different day / discussion - we are considering the 'on track' message here) what do you do? The phrase 'on track' is a term in regular use to convey positive momentum. It conveys that progress is being made in accordance with the BoD expectations at this point in time. It works for me in the absence of them being able to give specific dates which they are not in direct control of at this point in time.

Some people see the world in black and white / right and wrong and need to categorise accordingly. I think one of the most important lessons that I have learned in over 40 years of working in FTSE 100 companies is that for the most part it's a world of shades of grey. If it were black and white then we would have complete silence here until we get an RNS and I am not sure that investors want that - I personally don't - I want some acknowledgment or nod to progress. So when I read on track and I am also see picture of material progress with plant and infrastructure I personally get a positive feeling.

So I guess as holders we have options in show to react to the 'on track' comment - we either take some comfort from it or we give it zero credence and totally ignore it. The fact it is there gives us those options though.

You make other very relevant points in terms of past communications and in particular references to previous funding that fell through. My personal view is that valuable albeit painful lessons have been learned with communication and we also have a different Chairman in place and I think we are seeing a more considered approach to stakeholder engagement but I appreciate others will have a different view.

I think that your final sentence is really interesting - I would change just one word and remove the word better and replace with good - why? - because I think that it's not a question of better people but more good people - the company needs to to employ qualified support in appropriate numbers to be all over the standard regulatory requirements of reporting. Limited income has lead to tough priority decisions to date like it o

That makes sense danieldavis in terms of their internal timeline - I suspect that timeline will not be shared however given the experiences of being let down by 3rd parties in the past - I truly think that Robbie has tried to share his beliefs at the time in the past and it has come back to haunt him when unforeseen events happen. I'm not therefore expecting a date to be quoted this time personally.

As for whether it's fiction - personally I very much doubt the CEO will be allowing the company to make tweets like this in such a public manner - I am sure that there would be very quick communications from auditors wanting to protect their own reputation to the FCA if this was a fabrication or even waffle.

I would urge people in jumping to conclusions to try and understand the regulatory world we live in and simply work through any conspiracy theories to their natural conclusion. Conjecture here is one thing on a chat board but a listed company putting out false information on X is a very different and potentially libellous action - I just don't think that is going to happen - especially whilst the stock is in suspension and there is absolutely nothing to gain from it.

Let's think wider than GCAT for a moment and think about the direction of gold prices. I am sure that most on this board will have a view and there are some great commentators out there giving some very well thought through scenarios about the death of the petrodollar and the possible implications for gold.

I personally subscribe to the fact that the theory that the dollar has had it's day and the Fed are going to have to cut rates if not from an economic necessity given the trillions of debt, then from a political imperative given pending US elections and gold will become increasingly attractive. I could be wildly wrong of course.

BUT if the commentators that I follow are right (and I am trying not to fall into the easy trap of confirmation bias) and 2024 is the year for gold, then for my money the junior miners (actual producers) are best placed to see a leveraged increase in value. Take it a step further and look for the unloved (presently) juniors with known resource and you will find GCAT in that group. Didn't take me long to get back to GCAT I know.

Rather than get hung up about the rights and wrongs of recent GCAT history, is there any consensus here on the wider issue of future POG here? Interested to here views.

What do you think danielsavis ?

Tweet:

Well well - there we have it - audit on track.

Good news - no - great news!!

ATB

Catephatic - fully understand your sentiment and thoughts on the matter. The reality of the matter is that in all probability the company is constrained as to what they can and can not say about progress as they might run the risk of contravening market rules in notifying the market. If you think about it what can they say and what worth can be applied? If they come out and say that they are working with the auditors to produce accounts, don't we know that already? If they are in the hands of the auditors they are unlikely to be able to give a firm timeline as they are not fully in control of the process. I am not defending the company but I am saying that communications in a regulatory environment is an absolute minefield. I think that we can take comfort from the fact that there has not been a communication saying that there is an obstacle in being able to produce accounts for whatever reason. So to my way of thinking at the moment, no news is good news and it just means that they are getting on with working with the auditor to a satisfactory conclusion. I really can't think of how they would communicate progress in the meantime without them being 100% certainty of timescale delivery but maybe there is another way to do it that I haven't thought of? My recommendation is try and remain positive and patient - the alternative is not good for your mental health in my view as there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Very balanced post Zan

Gunster - I really try and treat everyone with respect here and I try and present balanced views. Remind me where you are quoting me about the good job and others not investing and I will try and add the context which your post lacks.

Could be wrong Swampmonster but just to underline the complexities of operating a fully listed LSE company in Kenya I suspect that the auditors have a local team in Kenya and then a UK based team with overall responsibilities - and I bet our registered auditor will know only too well if he / she / they have audited main listed companies with multiple audit offices - that the first thing the main office will do is check the work of the local audit office and go backwards and forwards and then back to the company to make sure everyone is happy - simple? Yeah right.

How difficult can it be? Very difficult I would offer! Having worked in large corporates where the business model has remained unchanged from a year to the next, each year there is often a different set of auditors and you have to go through exactly the same process, repeating the same conversations and supplying a host of evidence to back up the management accounts. Barrabound will understand that and will also understand that a multi jurisdictional enterprise with a group structure with consolidation requirements is a complex picture. Add in revised business mine plans / POG forecasts / share options and fund raising etc etc and working with an extremely limited finance team and this can take time. For an experienced registered auditor to leap to a conclusion of ongoing concerns without knowing the facts is very surprising from my experience - my dealings have been with auditors who require the facts before arriving a conclusion.

The mining community and supply chain is not huge in East Africa - the fact that they are producing gold / building roads and repairing infrastructure with consumables and have a work force suggests to me that they are not insolvent. Remember the funding is for the expansion plans. Lets see what the coming weeks bring in with hard RNS facts and financial statements and then form a view I would suggest.

Time is of course the big variable here and whilst as holders we have absolutely no say in the matter, you can decide in your own mind what you would prefer:

1. A deal now at a low number given there is still a way to go

2. A deal later at high number because the regulatory bodies have given green lights and we have more technical proof on top of what we already have and their are multiple potential buyers in a bidding war.

For those watching the shares price daily and moaning about it, I can only presume they want option 1. That's the difference between trading and investing I guess.

I'm in camp 2 personally.

HNY and ATB

I should have mentioned the fans (investors) - youngsters in particular can be fickle with their choice of team support and that doesn't change with many as they grow into adults and investors - as soon as the GCAT team get some wins under their belt I don't think they will have any problem in attracting new support - that's just human nature.

Watcher - we are not in the cup final - we are in the first round play offs with huge potential with our forwards (aka resource) but our goal keeper didn't keep his / her promise to stay with the club and left, leaving the defence to play rush goalie - unorthodox but we are still in the game and the clock still has time to run yet before full time. Win this game, get a new keeper in and we're off into the next round with high aspirations. and dreams. The media love an underdog story and GCAT have the potential to become the news of 2024 as it defies expectations. And no I don't propose we change the manager - our manager knows the team, its strengths and has defined the strategy - cool heads and staying with the game plan is what is required in my view.

Come on GCAT!

Watcher - no one here is saying that the company hasn't made mistakes in getting to this position - I would imagine that Robbie would be the first to admit and in fact he did lay position out painfully clearly in his last interview. As for avoiding at all costs - ideally yes but a few things come to mind - for example at all costs? surely a line has to be drawn otherwise funds have to be diverted from income generating activity into book keeping. Then I think about the auditors and what their resource availability is. This is not simple audit and there will be considerable dialogue backwards and forwards. I imagine that they have also been trying to nail jelly to the wall in agreeing any forward looking statements given a future prospectus and finance deal. Simply put - this is far from simple.

Every single person here who is invested is frustrated and disappointed and what a different place we would likely be in now had OCIM not walked. But they did and the company kept trading.

When the suspension is lifted everyone must make their choice - cut and run at a highly likely loss - or assess the position with information at your disposal at that time. In terms of simple - it really is that simple.

As for the governance review comment - in part this is addressed by what has been possible (I highly doubt that the intention was not to produce accounts in time) but also I personally take comfort in the speed in which dialogue was had with the FCA and the transparent communication to the market - that is a plus on the back of a negative situation.

This is an open board for discussion and feel free to vent if it makes you feel better - that's understandable but personally gnashing my teeth just brings on a dentist visit.

Very simple accounts - really? Now I am not an accountant but when I look at the last 18 month statement submitted - some 79 pages long, the word simple is not the first thing that comes to mind. This is a fully listed company and has those stringent requirements to fulfil to ensure that the auditors can sign off. Unfortunately for reasons we are painfully ware of, the company is strapped for cash and the very lean management team are fulfilling the roles of many - so not only are they juggling balls, they are also maintaining the gold productions and the myriad of logistical challenges that this entails.

Now as investors we can sit back and complain or we can understand the position and whilst it is not comfortable, we can assess and look to the future. I can't help but feel that there will be many that will sell at a loss when the suspension lifts and it will be on the verge of the good news flow which I think will be coming in 2024. Everyone will be need to make their decision. The one thing I would urge is that in making that decision that they review the events of 2023 and the efforts to get this company back on track.

Good luck in whatever your choice is in 2024.

Looking forward to seeing what it holds.

Happy New Year to you all.

Some of the nay sayers here might be able to come up with a conspiracy theory that explains this is equipment to turn the lights off……

They certainly are working hard over the Christmas holidays . I doubt their auditors are working 24/7 so we have to be a little more patient yet for that news.

ATB

Gunster it makes a direct impact on the bottom line profitability.

2080

Nice

Really Gunster. Hard luck - we’re still on Turkey and Ham here.