Member Info for Jonah58

Good point Jeffry. Using this article to calculate the composition of our PGMs (https://www.saimm.co.za/Journal/v087n09p265.pdf) I reckon the 14% drop in the price of PT over the last year has been mitigated by the 23% rise in Pd and over 100% rise in Rh, to the extent that our basket price has fallen by less than 7%. I know it's a drop, but not nearly as bad as the Pt situation would suggest.

I also note your point about HFCs needing lots of Pt. Cheaper catalysts than Pt are being developed for this application, but I agree that Pt will still be used for a while yet.

TbT and MH. Thanks for your responses, albeit somewhat lacking in the Christmas spirit of goodwill to all men. I suppose it's up to AB to prove you wrong, but the track record is hardly sparkling...

Good point, MH. A lot of imponderables here, which is one of the reasons people are not jumping on board. They want to see a clear line to profitability and that is not currently visible. It would be nice to hear about Sable this year, though.

On another point, what are BMR going to do with the cash from selling JLP shares? We still own 30% of that company, so their future is not irrelevant. Has CB let anything slip?

Hi BB. It's worth noting that Glencore converted Sable from Zn to Cu/Co because it was uneconomical to process Zn at the current cost (between $0.8 and $1per lb in 2011 when they acquired the plant.). The current price, $1.18/lb is not that much higher. Hopefully, whether we use Sable or not, we will be able to make a profit because of (a) our use of pre-processed feed material and (b) our improved understanding of extracting minerals from waste dumps, but clearly much thought will be needed to make this work. I would prefer a delayed decision to the wrong decision.

Yes. Very impressive. two more major projects completed on time and within budget. This company is turning itself around.

Thanks for the link. LC looking very chirpy. Seems to me that it is only a matter of time before he announces a Cu/Co recovery project in Zambia. Let's just hope these projects last long enough for a bit of revenue to come the way of faithful, patient and, sometimes, slightly despondent shareholders.

Yes, Sable was put on care and maintenance by Glencore with the loss of 150 jobs. It was originally built to process zinc but this proved unprofitable at the then price of Zn and it was converted to process Cu and Co concentrate purchased from DRC. I don't know if Glencore were just picking a fight with the Zambian govt about the VAT refund and used this as an excuse to close it down, or whether to profitability was so marginal that the loss of the refund made all the difference.
In any event, it looks as though much will depend on JLPs expertise in tailings recovery, the effectivenes of the pretreatment process and a resilient price of Zn to make this venture work, at least in its early stages before we get to the vanadium.

Your point about the wording of 'an access' agreement is well made. Maybe even a joint venture?

Thanks 34D. That certainly makes sense. In many ways an arrangement very similar to DCM, though I am still not sure why PlatCro wants to divest itself of a profitable operation. There is a lot of detail we don't know, but hopefully it is not inhabited by too many devils.

In any event, there is going to be more capex here. Our improved recovery at DCM is attributable to the new plant we installed (spiral separators). Also, I have little idea of the cost of the fine chrome recovery circuit, but, as you say, we seem to have put our trust in it. If it works well, then the future looks rosy for us on the western limb!

jef, I take your point but am still unclear of the situation. This 1.8m chrome ore, is it run-of-mine ore. I can't believe they have been stock piling this much with a processor running well under capacity and fairly good chrome prices on the market. And where did it come from? But if it is partially treated, should it not come under the original agreement.

Please tell me if I am being thick. It won't be the first time!

Yes, thanks MH. I'm afraid I'm being super-naive, but I'm not sure what exactly we have bought. The March 2017 RNS states "Jubilee acquires rights to 1.25 million tonnes of new platinum-bearing surface material at estimated grade of 2.7 g/t 4E PGMs (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold) as well as all future platinum bearing material processed."

I presume this is material already beneficiated for chrome (though not fine chrome, and it's a bit late for that as we have already started trucking it over to Eland). Where is the 75,000 tons of ore a month coming from? Is this from a mine still owned by Platcro. If so, will be be becoming a toll processor?

Then, in April, we execute an agreement to process 60,000 tons per month. But we were told that PlatCro was adding to the dump at the rate of approx 12,000 tons per month. So it looks to me as though we are purchasing a lot of spare chrome ore precessing capacity in the hope of using our expertise to toll process ore from other local players.

Like many JLP RNSs they don't exactly spell it out.

I agree,MH, Bluebelly has got it right. Just picking up on some of the points you and Jammer raise.

1. You have to ask yourself why PlatCro would divest itself of a profitable business. My guess is that its profitability is marginal. In this respect, JLPs superior skill in extracting chrome (amply demonstrated at ASA), and particularly fine chrome, comes to the fore. (There will be capex for fine chrome, however). Hopefully it is this ability which will attract contracts for third party ore, but this is not yet certain. If we cannot get ore from outside, the longevity of the project will not be substantially increased, though the grade of material we truck to Eland will be significantly higher.

2. I agree with Jammer that we are looking for closer ties with Northam. However, my guess is that this deal was not a feature of the oringinal arrangement. I reckon Northam just thought this would generate useful income for little capex and tide them over until the widely predicted improvement in PGM prices in 2020. It is interesting that they are still investing in their underground mining activities.

That's a good point, mog. It was quite a spat, and Glencore pulled out. Several other companies were involved too.Since then the Za govt has paid out at least some of the outstanding VAT refund. In which case Glencore might wish to use Sable again, so the suggestion of a joint venture is not far-fetched. Otherwise, with LC's apparent good standing with Za minister for mines, we could move quite quickly. Interesting that BMR leased land and equipment from Sable a few years ago.
Any technical guys out there who can tell us if re-jigging Sable for its original zinc leaching purpose makes it unfit for Cu and Co?

Thanks TC and to Ebitz by proxy. Any speculation about the 'other areas' associated with Sable?

'news'

Hi. A bagger is a share that delivers big time. A 'three bagger' is a share that increases (usually rapidly) to three times it's current value.

Support. People often leave orders to buy or sell at certain prices. These can be seen on the order book. If a lot of people want to buy at a price, say, 2p below the current price, this constitutes support. In the short term it is unlikely that the sp will drop below this )assuming there is no adverse nes).

Yes. I'm in Polo. The share with a bloody big hole.

Thanks for the link, Troa. I like the tone of the article.

jeffry. A revised resource estimate was published by BMN in 2014 here https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/LON:BMN/Bushveld-Minerals-Limited/rns/LSE20141112102858_012147927

There's probably something more recent somewhere. There are a lot of figures in the link. 1.9Mt of vanadium pentoxide is mentioned near the beginning.

Hi Vig. Jeffry has been here a while and makes a useful contribution. If you disagree, why not just say so and give reasons?
I accept a lot of what you say about the vanadium resource. Now I am waiting, with bated breath, for some idea about the costs of recovering it. I agree it could be a very profitable venture, but JLP has been on the brink of so many profitable ventures that my breath, though bated, is not held!

Hi Edzi. I don't recall any definite dates re Kabwe, but LC said it would take ca 4 months to get the mothballed refinery up and running and they hope to have a decision about this by year end. This fits in with CB's ramblings about Kabwe making progress in April. Two further points
1. We will be beneficiating the waste before it goes to the refinery, so when they talk about 40 tonnes feed rate they are referring to material that has already been concentrated. I did not pick up anything about the benefication plant, but the sound broke up on my computer at this point.

2. It turns out that 'being in production by year end' has been re-interpreted, with apparent approval from Zambian govt, as 'making progress and employing people by year end'!

Anyone know what happened to BMR's potentially dubious group of 'fixers'? I've forgotten their name.