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2 1/2 years (130 weeks) ago tomorrow. 10 September 2020
"Strategic Minerals plc (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY), a producing mineral company actively developing projects prospective for battery materials, announces that, in line with its 1 September 2020 notice to the market, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Leigh Creek Copper Mine ("Leigh Creek", "LCCM" or the "Project"), has formally lodged with the South Australian government its Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation ("PEPR") in relation to its planned operations in accessing the Paltridge North deposit."
and for those hanging in there:
"The lodgement of the full PEPR and the strong recovery in copper prices increases the likelihood that 2021 will see the full-scale re-commencement of operations at Leigh Creek."
You forgot to mention the sp back then was double what it is now. Looking at the current sp and try to understand exactly what the market is telling us. Is it telling us that finance is imminent? Is it telling us the PEPR is imminent? Is it telling us that LCCM production is imminent? Is it telling us that even with a PEPR and finance, LCCM is profitable? Is it telling us that LCCM is commercially viable? Because whatever else it is telling us. It is certainly telling us the complete opposite of what we are being told by the Bod.
One trades can be followed by an RNS. Some are and some are not. Another indicator is share movement after a 1 trade. I was not overly expecting an RNS. I was expecting the Broad reach receivers quarterly update which is due. But here's fingers crossed for some good news for a change.
DEM have always been very responsive and as helpful as they can be during my contacts with them. The idea that they would delay anything is laughable. It is not in their interest or scope to have anything other than a work focused ethic. Don't forget we have been here before with this very PEPR. We have known for a long time what is required. All the BoD had to do was produce the answers or in their words "copy and paste".
Using a fragment of fact to provide IMO misinformation or is it disinformation?
RNS Number : 8079P Strategic Minerals PLC 23 February 2021
"In March 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of the Leigh Creek Copper Mine situated in the copper rich belt of South Australia and brought the project into production in April 2019." Two years on from failed production. It is raised in an RNS and no further information to explain that it failed and we produced no more.
The fragment of fact is that back in April 2019, we did release an RNS stating "First tonne of copper production in a cement product (approximately 70% Cu) completed at the Mountain of Light processing plant."
and then went on to state "The feasibility study for the commencement of full-scale production from Paltridge North and Rosmann East, and submissions associated with government approvals for mining these areas, are well advanced and scheduled to be completed in Q3 2019". Not content with that, also included was "The production of the first tonne of high grade copper concentrate, in the form of cement, is a major milestone in the development of LCCM. At acquisition, in March 2018, a strategic plan was adopted that set out a low capital cost to re-start operations, an ambitious time frame to initial cash flows, high operating margins and upside potential for the copper resources within the existing Mining Leases". Did anyone note "within existing Mining Leases"? So we have been here before and now we are here again.
We already have a PEPR to produce Oxide. We have income from Cobre. We are shovel ready. Why are we not producing? Why do we need finance to produce? Unless.....
The SP is relevant to shareholder value. The mcap is more relevant to the company. Since JP took over as CEO shareholders have seen an increase in the share issue from 723m to 2.016bn effectively diluting their holdings by 2/3 (64%), but the SP is only 1/4 (28%) down over the same period. The sums raised are visible in the relevant RNS's. The expenditure is not quite as transparent, but you can get a reasonable idea of where/to who the money went.
Why are we not already taking advantage of our current PEPR (for which we waited over 18 months) and producing on a low scale to fund ourselves, rather than going for funding of over our current mcap to then see shareholders disadvantaged again to the tune of 50%+.
You question was "What do we think?"
I think I bought into spin and rhetoric. I think **** poor performance should not be rewarded. I think positions should be based on ability to achieve. I think this will drag on ad infinitum. I think that if there is no penalty or consequence for mismanagement, nothing will change. I think therefore nothing will change and we will be having these discussions until we expire. I think that luckily for new potential investors, RNS's cannot be torn down like statues, stated history will be visible and results and performance based on that stated history will be open for scrutiny.
A CLN for $10m would basically double the shares once converted. Our current mcap is Cobre and not LCCM. Once we have paid the piper for the PEPR and paid the financial backer, after operating costs what exactly is left for us? We are already meant to be shovel ready for oxide and yet I do not hear shovels?
we are close to production. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KSOVoufhVxLMAecV6qGcN7kQ39pAe0dQ/view
Slide 11 and the comments on slide 12 will show exactly why there is negative sentiment here. People invested in good faith, based on information provided by the BoD. The same BoD we still have and the same statements 5 years on. Is LCCM just Hanns Camp mkII?
Not really. Redmoor is a licence. We have a mine and it has taken 5 years to get to a point where we we haven't done anything with it except destroy shareholder value. What did Mr Broome do with Redmoor when he owned it with NAE, apart from selling it to himself at SML? If Mustang ever relists, I wonder if he can do it again?
As we slip into February 2023 it is worth going back 5 years to an mcap of £26.7m, an sp of 2p and a share issue of 1,337,492,227. It is worth remembering those words of encouragement given to investors via RNS with regards to LCCM. Those words taken by investors in good faith. Those words used to encourage investment is a growing company. Those word like “dividends”, “shareholder value” “production rate”, “successful restart”, “attractive”, “low cost”. Reading back over the past 5 years and to the February RNS of 2018, it is easy to see why I feel so disenfranchised with our BoD. How can you possibly keep your positions…
“All conditions precedent associated with the contract for the purchase of the Leigh Creek Copper Mine have been met”
“24,900 tonnes of JORC compliant resource copper metal acquired at less than USD 100 per tonne of contained copper”
“Production rate of over 200 tonnes of copper per month expected to be reached in approximately one year”
"Recent discussions with the London investment community have been positive, and many existing and potential new investors have indicated that they are encouraged by the successful restart of the LCCM. We believe that we will resume copper production in approximately one year.”
“Once production commences and SML has a second line of cash flow, we will be in a significantly stronger position to consider cash management alternatives, which includes dividend payment as well as continuing our strategy of acquiring value accretive projects.”
“The LCCM is an attractive low-cost project containing significant quantities of copper. The site has excellent infrastructure in place and we look forward to resuming production and generating further shareholder value.”