Member Info for Kongolasse

Warnz, I think the shareholders of GEO now EEE owe a lot of thanks to Mike, and I'd go as far as to say that he's one of the few good and honest ones in AIM, unfortunately I think Georgia has been a jurisdiction got the better of him.

IF he manages to crystallise any immediate cash or Candelaria shares from Georgia I'd be impressed. My guess is that a much watered down compromise based on future milestones will be on the table (With JV or Candelaria alike) . Certainly not expecting 4M cash anytime soon.
Hope to be wrong, lets see. They've been at it for ages...
GL.

Warnz, without Georgian authorities playing ball our 50% JV is worth 0. Not $50M not $1M but 0.
Zero. -as shareholders of GEO have learned the hard way.
Enter Candelaria.
Candelaria's offer is based on "Certain milestones".
Now, in plain english that means that if Georgian authorities do not play ball, zero of those milestones will be achieved, and the value to us hopeful shareholders will be.... yes, you guessed it. Zero.
That's the explanation as to why nothing has happened with it yet. Struthers cannot transfer the ownership from EEE to Cand as the whole thing needs sorting in Georgia first. And this is where the JV partner has the upper hand and is probably making it crystal clear that they are not stomping up $4M when they can offer zero and get away with it. And they know it.

As for the open pit mine in Eclipse, yes, looks great! go,go,go... but it's not going to attract any fancy CEO with a 6K resource.
My view; get a capable, hands-on mine-boss, get the permits in order and start putting some dirt through the trommels....or package it all up and sell it to someone that would buy the project and dilute shareholders as little as possible in the process. Then we can start talking about "other exciting projects".
my 2 cents. GL.

Sorry, I'm with Levs on this one;
Yes, to be cautious and measured when discussing things affecting the company valuation is prudent , but honestly, at 6K Oz "resource" there isn't that much to talk about at all, let alone to go on to "become a player". In fact I'd argue it's too small to warrant a separate management and company structure, and him and O'brien leaving EEE doesn't add to that really.
...and saying that that there are "plenty of projects landing on their desks" is... eh well, not worth saying.
Our current $8M seems generous until they have started generating cashflow and/or proven up a substantial high grade JORC.

Popples; I think the government has done just that. (Ask Sundance and others that lost theirs)
Of course the real elephant in the room is that RoC is currently uninvestable, COIDIC has walked away from SEZ and Glencore have a substantial capital exposure to Nguesso. (Unlikely to drop a few BN risk capital into RoC infrastructure anytime soon)

I worry that silence in this case just means that the tumbleweed is gathering and nothing is about to happen.
...As much as I wish AT and Elhpick were secretly stocking up on the Champagne behind closed doors and struggling to get enough fireworks delivered for the next AGM the reality is more likely that they are biding their time cracking on with their dayjobs and waiting for events to move this forward.
Sorry to sound gloomy, and I hope to be wrong. but I really don't think anyone at ZIOC or Glencore have a masterplan executing behind the scenes, but this is probably more a typical stuck project that is passively waiting for external events to happen. Nguesso keeps talking about ambitious changes and starting large projects, but the majority are not credible. Most have been paperweights since a decade now.
Will it change this time around? well. maybe...
I have reducued my holding substantially after many years of waiting.
Some of the round numbers you see are mine, so it leads me to believe there could be a fair amount of PI's similar to me offloading. I'm holding a small fraction in my ISA, just in case.....Who knows, maybe this year it will happen?

GLAH.

Blackhopper, I thank you for the lengthy replies, but shouting "troll" just doesn't address the situation.
And, before you accuse me of being one, you should know that I've been here for a very long time, perhaps longer than most (and since the early days in GEO). I have serious concerns about AIM as a rotten market. In particular when mentioning that hope and reliance on future -possible- cashflow is likely. This is not a strategy and especially important to consider in a market where 9 in 10 AIM companies turn out to be POS living only on hype, dilution and forward selling for those in the know. (Yes, you can look that up)
You accuse me of being a doom monger for pointing out the JV mess in Georgia, the need for new cash to bring Eclipse into production, yet you feel that it's ok to say "...Eclipse is the INITIAL CAMPAIGN in the EEE resurrection program. The next project will be the bigger profit generator as Eclipse will provide cashflow."
Common, that's a bit like me telling you what I'll do with the lottery money I'm about to win this Friday...

If Eclipse was so great and just the start of something amazing, why are Struthers and O'Brien both leaving? Not keen to drive that "resurrection"? reap the rewards of Eclipse? Not keen to bring EEE nto a profitable Mining company? No, they see bigger opportunity with another cash-strapped minnow.. really?

Look, I'm wearing my most rose-tinted goggles that I have, but this is at best a play of a correction at current levels, (same as all other battered minnows) and a HOPE that Eclipse comes good. I have invested accordingly and wish you all good luck with the future.

GL.

...this is why the successful sale of Georgia is key, -preferably for cash-, as it would limit the need to raise cash to get Eclipse going, -IF it's proves to be viable- and we have someone at the helm to manage it....

Also I have high hopes for Eclipse, but fear that it's scale is too small to be viable with just "ok" grades.
So far the initial drilling grades are looking promising, but far from a no-brainer and needs a lot more meat on the bone to be clear cut.
Add to this the need for the new management and need to raise cash for the mining part.... (Agreed that the exploration and JORC should be covered as Struthers alluded to in his "hold the fort" interviews last week.)
And, lastly; the general correction of valuations towards junior miners and the 2.5p is looking pretty clear.
I see this as an opportunity for the brave and optimistic to add, but expect a new placing announced as soon as you can read "JORC" in the next RNS...

GL.

Stanley, if EEE had more assets or value than Eclipse itself I could see the flip happening, but now with Georgian assets about to be gone (one way or another it will be "solved"), with Struthers and O'Brien moved to greener pastures then what's left of Empire?
Flip Eclipse and fold the company?

FWIW I'd prefer to see a merger/takeover on fair value, ideally with Candelaria as Struthers and O'briens interests should align between both as a shareholder in one and as a CEO/Chairman in the other.

GL.

A lot of people seem to put a lot of hope on Georgia being sold. I'd question why it hasn't been done yet?
If CMG are not willing to part with the cash, why not take up Candelaria's 7M CAD share offer at least to crystalise the deal?
The fact is that none of them have happened, wich leads me to believe that some form of compromise is being worked out between EEE and CMG... Something I'm very concerned about, because they're sneaky Russians operating in politically incompetent Georgia. a mix that is a slow motion traincrash to watch....

For what it's worth, I'd argue for Struthers to merge EEE with Candelaria and get a decent country manager/Mine boss so that we get to benefit from proven leadership (Him+O'brien etc) and stop being a one trick pony instantly.
For Candelaria it would bring the possibility of near term cashflow (that is likely needed considering Candelaria's (<1M cashbalance) with a project like Eclipse and a sizeable long term target such as Georgia.

Just my 2 cents.
GL

If the Georgian conversations are going sideways, perhaps this format would be more mutually beneficial.

So much positivity and hopes around the possible grades and viability of this project...
Yet the selling is relentless. The company has burnt through so much credibility in the past that frankly it's a miracle that Mike has managed to keep the lights on thus far.
My 2 Cents;
Mike is going to have to chose his full-time role at Candelaria very very soon, and that leaves us with problematic Georgia and the need for someone of high caliber and experience to manage a small opportunity in WA.
Not an easy combination. Clearly CMG are not making the first refusal transaction easy (or the 7M CAD equivalent would have been in the EEE accounts months ago) and for some reason Mike is not taking Candelaria's shares as payment either....
This part stinks. In fact, the situation in Georgia has been stinking for years, and is perhaps also one of the impediments to a new high caliber CEO not appearing as quickly as we'd all like.
GL.

Sorry, might have been a bit too quick in speaking. It looks like this is suspiciously close, but not necessarily on our license area.
Why would an unknown Chinese company get 170KM2 to explore next to Zanaga?
Hmm....?
AT, Elphick... Please speak up?

Extrader; that's smack bang in the middle of our license area.
Given to the Chinese. 5years and renewable.
Signed by the same people that did the handover ceremony to Sangha Mining...

Time for AT and Elphick to speak up.?

Finally Glasenberg comments on Iron ore...
he'd done a hell of a lot better if he'd been a bit more proactive with Zanaga and would be counting the dividends in the billions. Directly affecting the GLEN bottom line and his own pockets.
The fact that he sees Simandou as a certainty would lead me to believe that he's finally seen the light with regards to ZIOC.
very encouraging. If I had the funds I'd double my holding at today's prices.

GL, GTA.

Sometimes, what is NOT being said is the biggest news.

I take great confidence in the fact that RoC have not (yet) confiscated or expropriated ZIOP/Jumelles/MPD from the Zanaga license as they did ruthlessly and publicly with Sundance and Equatorial.

The upside is that there is still a faint hope for ZIOP to go ahead somehow, the downside is that very few commercially driven companies or JV's will have the nerve to invest in anything that can be confiscated in RoC for the foreseeable future, thus leaving only one realistic player left in the market. Coincidentally it is the same player that seems to have inherited Sundance and Equatorial's acreages.
Trahar's explanation that we have not suffered the same fate as our neighbours, is that ZIOP are very active in Congo and that the relationship with RoC remains good.
If Glencore genuinely have an interest to retain their stake they will be forced by RoC to move it forward or sell it to the only buyer that is likely to be able to bid. ZIOC's Re-costings, EPP, floating ports and all the rest of it is just noise IMHO. The real driver here is Iron at 200USD/Tonne and Chinas need for this to move forward and Nguesso's desperate state of finances. The writing is on the wall.
Either way it goes, I don't expect this to be mothballed much longer.
GL.

caml;
1. Logistics of small scale transport (0-3MTPA) does not stand up to any economic model even at 300USD+/tonne, as some made clear at the time with various examples of Truck costs and road or railroad reinforcement considerations, I.e. CAPEX.. This project might require a 15M to get our of the ground in Zanaga, but it will require infrastructure worth 1000's of millions USD to get out of the jungle and onto a Valemax carrier in any MTPA quantities. (Look at Sapro if in doubt, and at least they have a rusty railroad on their doorstep)

2. To officially go into mothball mode is very dangerous (beyond what has happened from 2014-now), and will likely result in Nguesso ripping the mining license to shreds quicker than you can shout "Arbitration!". -If in doubt have a look at Sundance and Equatorial as sobering examples.

3. Glencore, Nguesso&Co&Family&Friends&Ministers&Aquaintances and XI's....minions, all need to come to an agreement to invest and channel billions of USD and take haircuts on billions and billions of RoC debt, and still, where PI's in ZIOC do get a fair piece of the action for their 49.99% slice of the cake.
Ask yourself; Cui bono? and who fights our Zioc corner and for what reason?
The road to riches with Zioc is long and uncertain and our Zioc management better start moving heaven and earth to stay relevant, visible and not be edited out or forgotten in the contracts when Gary takes his seat at the Glencore-RoC-China table...if he does.
Good luck.