Member Info for Juxtapose

Initial cost 28.7p per share and from recollection half transferred to a trust.

The list is the company list and it is clearly wrong, as it still includes Schroder and excludes Richard Barton: he is probably a more recent shareholder and potentially, therefore at a lower average.

The BOD has agreed in principle and so really unlikely to vote against... but not a match for Cassidy, who clearly had great expectations for Kouroussa.

What makes this unusual is that there are so few major shareholders.

Last time it was a poll, so that it not quite as straight forward as number of shares being voted.

At the point at which you vote, the committment will have been made to a price.

I would not want to continue as a shareholder: first they shaft us and then when private, I suspect restructuring to shaft unsecured creditors: they won't want 150 million debt going forward.

Nioko Resources Corporation 41.81%

Alwaha Fund 3.93% & AIMSL 3.3% are the David Crichton-Watt shareholdings

Hummingbird Resources Director & Related Holding(s) 1.99%

Ruffer 1.93%

Schroder Investment Mgt 1.43% sold on 15th Nov and notified on 18th Nov

So, unless it is a poll, Critchon- Watt holds all of the cards.

So, excluding Nioko and the board, who only appear to have 1.99%, the only remaining major shareholder is Kouroussa's original owner at 6%: he is likely to have the final say and he knows the value of the asset and has held to the end.

David Crichton-Watt, Chairman of Cassidy Gold, said:

"As long term gold investors, we were attracted to the Kouroussa project by its exceptional grade and exploration potential. Having taken the project to the point where it is ripe for development into a significant mine, we are delighted to become significant shareholders in Hummingbird whose track record together with the proximity and uncanny project similarities with Yanfolila means they are the ideal partners to develop the project and unlock the potential of Kouroussa rapidly for all stakeholders. I am personally delighted to have the opportunity to participate in this journey with Hummingbird as a highly supportive long term shareholder."

Whilst the Yanfolila dialogue may be new to us, it was clearly known at the time of the offer and will have been factored into the offer. It has to be considered that our most helpful management have done all the work of getting access to the high grade underground and that Coris will have a much better chance of dialogue with the Mali government.

In many ways, the situation at Yanfolila is similar to that at Kouroussa.

Sadly, I do think it is a done deal at 2.67 ie. I don't think that there is a white knight in waiting.

But it crosses my mind that dumping 10 million share onto the market in minutes is market manipulation and leads me to think about who might benefit?

I am also curious as to when Hum first started these "ongoing negotiations" with the Mali government and why that was not announced to the market in the RNS of 20th November or prior.

We have the mined grade for K for Q2 and it was 2.64 g/t which is perfectly respectable, increasing to 2.70 g/t in Q3.

Thomas Hill confirmed in the last interview that the grade control confirmed the resource/slightly better.

What we are waiting to see is how much of the higher grade ore already mined has been processed, before the mill needed relining: for whatever reason (possibly blending), the Yanfolila mill seems to have a far greater capacity.

Largely costs are fixed and as similar sized operations, Kouroussa would be expected to be the same as Yanfolila, running broadly at $100 million pa and from the half yearly accounts, that is seen to be the case.

Had the 4800 oz said to be achieved in July continued, that would have given an AISC of $2083 and at the current POG, that would generate positive cash flow.

It was a pity about the relining of the mill in Q3, but going forward with an experienced mining engineer, it does entirely possible that the 4800 oz per month could be bettered and every extra oz. extracted for the fixed costs improves the AISC.

I was encouraged by Thomas Hill volunteering in the Q and A that grade control has backed up the reserves: whilst no substitute for a qualified mining engineer, he generally does seem to have a grasp of what is going on at the mines.

GLA

No.

34,000 oz though to next April and the FD is right in what he said in full which was he would "rather have a hedge in place and gold price go up than not have a gold hedge in place and gold go down" ie the opposite scenario was much worse in terms of outcome.

So ESAN not currently the bidder either?

Exclusivity would mean nothing to them as they have had access to the data throughout and could use that for a late bid.

Wise to stay reassonably funded up to binding agreement to avoid last minute gazundering.

Tell your friend, Teo, that Group gold of 94 0z is from the Yanfolila figures, but there is also Kourussa gold inventory.

The plan partly relies on the better grades from KE underground and moving from stripping at Gonka to better grades should also improve grade and hence ozs, and consequently AISC as relatively fixed costs are divided by higher ozs.

This makes sense on Yanfolila as ore processed is double that mined and so blending is the only option.

On Kouroussa, it makes less sense as simple mathematics shows that they clearly have only processed a small part of the higher grade mined. This needs to be explained (it could be quite simple in that the good grade mined was weighted to the back end of the quarter) but it is the absence of proper analysis which points to poor management.

Anon

It was David Brent and his usual endless drip of agenda driven negativity.

I struggle to see why anyone bothers to adopt the role of "influencer" nowadays, as these forums are so little used, but it was the smugness of his "really really really" that just happened to irk me into a response this morning, as it was so completely wrong.

As Bushy said, they recruited experienced international staff for the senior roles and that temporarily caused upset of the locals. It was never a staff shortage: quite the reverse.

It was not a staff shortage.

At the time, locals demanded that they should be employed.

That creates difficulties as those staff require more training that hiring seasoned contractors, but not taking on the locals would cause more problems long term as the company must have the support of the local community.

It may explain why HUM will now be able to effect the Step in notice as the local recruits will want to stay regardless of who is their employer and now do have some experience.

It is a failure to separate two issues of:

- Corica, who may well never work for HUM again and it is just a legacy litigation issue which never gets resolved.

- getting the mining operation going again, sufficient to break even.

Given that most costs are fixed, it looks as if annual costs for Kouroussa are circa $100,000,000 and at the current POG, we need approx. 820 oz per week to break even (I have assumed the hedge is covered by Yanfolila). I can't see us being far away from that, as we have already had weekly pours of 700 oz.

They are back at work under the Step In arrangement and have stepped round paying Corrica, which that has already been RNSed. That is a just a dispute rumbling in the background: strong armed tactics failed.

What we need to hear is that HUM are mining in sufficient volumes and high grade to reach commercial production, sufficient to pay as they go under the new arrangement.

Not my understanding.

The remaining 55k oz now spread over 4 Qs at the same collar points.

It really improves exposure to current prices as it should have been 20k in each of the next couple of Qs but is now only 13.5k per Q and that results in an additional 6.5k per Q at this crucial point in time.

At the end of the day, it is not make or break: that is down to how quickly they get the higher grade or greater volume (or both). That critical diagram invites the thought that they have to depart from the plan and start selective mining where the high grade is, using whatever equipment is available, now that the blasting team are back in action. Bad long term, but needs must.

It is classic negotiating tactics, but letting it get to this point shows a lamentable lack of skill on behalf of management: when in doubt, string discussions along. Playing hardball at this juncture is just madness.

I only hope that Coris can demonstrate their superior skills and get things moving again tomorrow: if not for us, for their major investors who really won't be pleased.

What a result if this ended in management changes: that would double the SP overnight: merely wishful thinking on my part!

Agreed that grade is a significant factor, but generally, if production halves, it is because grade is poor: barring accidents and wet quarters, volumes mined and processed are usually reasonably consistent, but the grade is poor.

Kouroussa is expected to be high grade, so fingers crossed that the grade is improving and we not only achieve name plate capacity, but also commercial production ie profitability.

If you halve production, it virtually doubles AISC as the operating costs are, to a large extent, fixed, regardless of production.

POG is significant and current levels should more than compensate for a small miss on production, but not of the magnitude you suggest.