Member Info for LionelGreen

According to my document: voting takes place at the Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at the offices of Watson Farley & Williams, 15 Appold Street London, on 16 June at 10:15. All proxy appointments to be lodged with the company's registrars by 14 June at 10:15am. Cordially Lionel

Good spot, thanks for posting Niky. There is an interesting commentary by Finncap at the bottom of the www page, quote: "Hardide Plc interim results for the six months to March put the company on track to achieve full-year expectations. Significant improvements have been seen in the level of demand from the oil & gas sector, currently its largest market. The group has gained pivotal approved supplier status with Airbus, but production contracts may take some time to come through. The group is well positioned ready for the uplift in hydrocarbon sector activity and in advance of expected aerospace contracts. As such the shares also remain extremely attractive as two major positives occur almost simultaneously." Cordially Lionel

The bottom line of the SeekingAlpha article kindly posted by WfG last night is that the SP of SAND, currently $3.65, could be worth "$4.20, at least" with the inclusion of the Hot Maden stream. I find this (15%) a miserably poor prospect for the potential future rise in SAND SP if the merger goes ahead. Over the last year, I have thought on many occasions that MARL could not fail to be a winner for me, with its astonishing resources and grades, the PEA's impressive IRR, and considerable resource upside. AIM somehow always succeeds on throwing a mighty and unexpected spanner into the works. Boy, "us lot" are really being sold down the river. MARL directors will walk away from deal this splendidly well off. Loyal and long-term investors, so crucial to allow such a company to advance and succeed, are simply tossed aside when it comes to reap the final rewards. Shame. No, I have not yet sold up, but yes, I am close to doing so. Cordially Lionel

... at 08:00:57 at 1.825p Cordially Lionel

Dibs and others: I was ok with the RNS. We know the Airbus approval came too late to have any effect on the order book. I see the summary as a measured and objective report, and I am hoping that the new orders that are likely to come will speak for themselves in due course. I do prefer this delivery style to an unrealistically upbeat promise of what the future might bring. I've been in here for a long time. I'm holding, and feel comfortable holding. The usual "sell on news" is nothing surprising. But, as they all say on these boards, WTFDIK! Greetings to all long-term holders. Cordially Lionel

... this morning! Cordially Lionel

Good spot, Dibs, that is some show of confidence, must be one of the biggest trades in a long time. Indeed, interesting given that half year results are due out next week. Cordially Lionel

nice one Dibs!... and where's RichieRichie when we need his commentary! Cordially Lionel

For those on trains etc., the key paragraph from today's RNS on the indicative timetable is as follows, quote "It is presently anticipated that Mariana will send its Scheme Document to Mariana Shareholders and (for information only) to principles in the Mariana Employee Equity Plans and holders of Mariana Warrants around mid-May, that both of the Guernsey Court Meeting and General Meeting of Mariana shareholders required to approve the Combination will be held around mid-June and that, provided the Combination is approved by Mariana Shareholders, the Guernsey Court should sanction the Combination in late June, subject to Court availability." As stated by D220 "mid-June vote" Cordially Lionel

TSX:MARL closed down 0.05 at 1.58 CAD or 88.7p US:MRLDF closed down 0.07 at 1.10 US$ or 85.1p SAND closed down 0.14 at 3.22 US$, valuing SAND's offer for MARL at 92.9p MARL closed down 0.16 at 89.34p, representing a discount of 3.8% to the offer value Cordially Lionel

Excellent spot, Mirabeau, thanks for posting. There are some interesting perspectives, worth reading. Cordially Lionel

Skibba: fair question! Indeed, I'm not happy. I'm not happy with what we've been fed by MARL management over the past year or more, when contrasted with the terms of the present offer. I'm not happy looking at the track record of SAND - can anybody really see a compelling quantifiable reason to be optimistic about how this merger will lead us to some good returns in the future? The reason I'm not yet selling - like all of us I imagine - is that I believe we are not currently getting a reasonable return on what is (a) a once in a 5-year resource discovery, (b) a discovery whose potential has not been fully revealed, (c) what is for me a once in a lifetime investment in AIM. Yes, I've taken on board ludeck and others assessment of risk - and that perhaps we should be "happy" with the current terms. But just at the moment I will hold to see how this plays out in the short term. I also hope that I am doing a service in pointing out (perhaps in an overly cynical manner) the past performance of the SAND share price. I have been taken for a ride a number of times on AIM, and really hope that this will not be for the nth time. I have been invested here for a good while. I have a decent sized holding. I do hope that the board is not to be viewed only as the mouthpiece of those who are thrilled and delighted with the current offer! Cordially, as always, Lionel

WfG: I don't think SAND shareholders will be too concerned by this sort of tiny drop, to be honest. After all, if you'd held SAND for 5 years, you'd by down by 80% from it's high of 15 US$ at the back end of 2012. I can't WAIT for my MARL shares to be turned into SAND shares! They have such a track record! Jam tomorrow! Cordially Lionel

well, eyesblue, we must be happy that it's only down by 1.3% on the day. I've been thinking of buying into a US mining stock called Sandstorm. But I've just spotted that it's down 36% since early February. Doesn't that sound a great investment! Jam tomorrow! Cordially Lionel

...with the present SAND SP at 3.38 US$, and the current exchange rate, SAND's offer currently values MARL at 96.1p per share, with MARL trading (now at 90.93p) at a 5.4% discount. Like fulmar, I had been eyeing a £2.50 buyout price. We would need the SAND SP to rise to 11.1 US$ (a factor 2.7 times its pre-offer level of 4.04 US$, or 3.3 times its current level) to equate to a buyout at the "fulmar price". Can we imagine such a lift in the SAND SP (a few months out) resulting from the increased streaming royalties and increased P/E in the ludeck scenario? Cordially Lionel

Also for those that can't see the 15:18 RNS, Man Group now own 2.328m shares. Various other late trades also now showing, including a buy of 1,204,900 from 27 April. Cordially Lionel

Bushy, I don't see it on Investegate either, but it is RNS number 3 today - linked to this Board. Cordially Lionel

Thanks, ludeck. In your 11:09 post you state "I would then be taking the higher trading multiple that we have been told to expect, and getting... well I don't know... but I suspect it's going to be £1.50+." What does your £1.50+ refer to, please? Might you be drawn into giving us your guess at the SAND SP post-PFS? A factor 3 increase in the current SAND SP would correspond (roughly) to a sale of MARL at £2.50. Does your feeling for voting "YES" not come down, in large part, to "trusting" the MARL and SAND management to draw up a deal that really is in the interest of their shareholders? Is this a good principle underpinning such an investment? Cordially Lionel

samewise: I'm also invested in AAU. They seem to be progressing well with their Red Rabbit project, and I've taken a punt on AAU purely on what might unfold at Salinbas (15km from HM). Cordially Lionel

SS, the offer was not 109p per share, but a number of SAND shares + cash per share which, at the time the offer was reported, corresponded to 109p. Today, with the SAND SP at 3.48 $, this would correspond to an offer of 98.1p. The discount of the present MARL share price (89.4p) to this "offer" represents the perceived risk ... that the offer does not proceed, that the SAND Sp falls further, etc Cordially Lionel