Member Info for mrtibbles

Thank you Siko for the update.

True there seems to be some movement in the mining license round and that Centamin has been mentioned in the Dostour newspaper at the weekend that the winning bidders include Barrick, La Mancha, B2 Gold, International Red Sea, Medaf and of course Centamin.

There has been no confirmation from the government as yet....but Centamin anticipate some kind of press conference soon.

However It is important to not get too carried away by this mind you until more information is forthcoming , i.e. it is all about the prospectivity of the blocks combined with the right fiscal terms, which has not been something which Egypt has been consistent with.

No good throwing money at no hope prospects!

True there are not some of the comments on here by newer or short term holders that demonstrate they don't really understand Centamin, nor have much idea of the Egyptian way of doing things.
However I wouldn't say that long-term holders have been unfairly critical of the El Raghy family when considering they have stood by their investment for over a decade through some pretty uncertain times.
True Sami saw the potential and was the instigator of the Sukari project, but this wouldn't have been possible without the continued trust and support of long term investors, it can also be said that the company has no debt, a handsome cash float, a plethora of unrealised foreign reserves and a very reasonable dividend policy to its share holders including Sami and the El Ragy family who are still enjoying the benefits of Sami's foresight and ambition.
On social media Sami claims that Sukari is a worlds class mine with the best people which unfortunately after high grading the open pit for well over five years without stripping back the waste, failing to hit promised guidance three times in succession and by awarding out of their depth directors and even poorly performing family members generous share bonus packages is open to some interpretation and even ridicule by people such as Swairis,whom it must be said certainly has his shortcomings and is no friend of the El Raghy's
True Centamin has all the potential to be a world class gold mine and no doubt it has some of the best mining specialist and a new CEO who has ambition and promises much to share holders if he is allowed to do so.
So let’s face fact's Sami was the founder and instigator of the Sukari project for which he has been he has long been applauded and he and his family handsomely rewarded, but now it is time for Sami to accept that Sukari needs to truly become a world class mine by only employing those that contantly deliver on their promises and run the mine along world class standards, only then can Centamin hope to truly deliver on its unrealised potential and be taken seriously by the market.

Quite so Tiger, from my conversation I can assure you they are well aware of what they want if it is going to be a viable (profitable) proposition, if not then Martin Horgan has other plans anyway, this may just be the extra icing on the cake as it were, time will tell!

Very fair summing up Hedgehog, please be assured that others understand exactly and share your quite justifiable feelings and frustrations.

The gentleman in questions job title is somewhat inappropriate, he is where his because of who he is, for his connections and for political propriety, not because of his abilities as a mine manager. Others more suited to the task and better qualified are are now responsible for running the mine.
As Mr Bond points out the manegment are well aware of the gentleman's forte and that his his usefulness may be in other areas.

Today I had a chat with a reliably well informed acquaintance of how things stand at the present.

True there seems to be some movement in the mining license round with the successful applicants identified in the Dostour newspaper at the weekend which included Barrick, La Mancha, B2 Gold, International Red Sea, Medaf and of course Centamin.
However there has been no official confirmation from the government as yet....but Centamin anticipate some kind of press conference soon.
Whilst in essence this is good news is important to not get too carried away at this very early stage, once it is officially confirmed what has actually been awarded to Centamin then it is all about the prospectivity of the blocks combined with the right fiscal terms, which has not been something which Egypt has been consistent with in the past.

So it seems we will have to wait and see if the figures stack up!

Tibbs

Well said Mizolgit,
Unfortunately some of the newer members know little about the history of Centamin.
This will certainly highlight what a farce the outstanding court case is.
Sami El Raghy will have a good idea where the best deposits are to be found.
If you recall Capital drilling who Centamin have a close working relationship with have been investigating the surrounding areas of Sukari for some time.
Centamin will be way ahead on many counts of all the other successful candidates.

I am confident that over the coming moths we shall have the answers to those questions and lots more information besides on the future plans and prospects for Centamin.

Can't really see them taking over Centamin Sukari operations because of the partnership with EMRA and the 50/50 profit share,which I am sure that arrogant Mark Bristow wouldn't be happy with.
A Barrick take over would be pretty bad for existing share holders going on his past record Bristow wouldn't want to pay a fair price for Centamin or retain the existing dividend package which he would see as a over generousness, he likes to toss a few scraps to share holders, the only over generous package he would he in favour of is his own over bloated salary.
As you may gather I have no time for Bristow and certainly wouldn't want to hold shares in any company unfortunate enough to have him as CEO.
So two fingers to Bristow and inwards and upwards with Martin Horgan and Centamin!

Thank you Siko,

Really good news, looking forward to any updates you may have.

Best Wishes

Tibbs

Hi Siko,
Thank you for the update, it is greatly appreciated as has been all your help to everyone on this board on our long journey over the years , perhaps we shall all be wearing our golden flip flops before too long!
“Maa salama”
Tibbs

Hi Razor's,
We now seem to have the type of CEO that Centamin needed since before 2015, what is annoying is that the potential danger and risks of continuing to high grade the open pit were highlighted to Pardey in 2015, at first Pardey said the analyst had miscalculated, then when challenged he stated that the analyst's conclusions were based on inaccurate information, when the analyst asked Pardey to supply the accurate information on which he could base another report the dialogue ended,.
When Pardey was challenged on a conference call over the findings of the 2015 report just after the 2018 guidance cut due to hitting unexpected low grades Pardey denied all knowledge of the 2015 report, he was subsequently sent a copy of the analysts 2015 and the latest 2018 report which concluded that the open pit was still being high graded and that there was still insufficient or no waste at all stripping taking place (i.e. lack of good house keeping) but Pardey carried on just the same until the wall pit wall started to cave in.
So it seems that Pardey owes the share holders and the Centamin board an apology for failing in his professional duties and misleading them and he should also apologise to Kees Dekker for accusing him of writing inaccurate reports.

Quite so Autoomy1, but on the other hand it equally it may well refer to Centamin when considering how long they have actually been producing gold in Eygpt and all equipment needs replacing or upgrading to reduce costs at times or even to be able to cope with additional work load .
I don't know how familiar you are with this forum, but one of its great strengths when compared to so many of the others is the tremendous effort that members put in finding all sorts of information that may have an influence on the future prospects of Centamin.
I appreciator that you are a new member so and also look forward to your contributions.
Once again thank you Cowichan.

Well done Cowichan,

Wonder if this company supplied the lightweight bodies that the Cey CEO referred to?

Gold steady as rising virus cases offset vaccine optimism
By Asha Sistla

(Reuters) - Gold held steady in a narrow range on Friday, with optimism over a COVID-19 vaccine was countered by market concerns about its rollout as global infections continue to mount.
Spot gold was little changed at $1,876.40 an ounce by 0938 GMT but was down 3.7% for the week, heading for its worst weekly loss since September after the initial vaccine euphoria dented safe-haven investor demand.

U.S. gold futures were up 0.1% at $1,875.50.

“Gold has rebounded because the pandemic and the COVID-19 numbers globally are still rising. The market optimism towards the vaccine and risk-on sentiment has faded,” said Bank of China International analyst Xiao Fu.
“There’s only going to be a limited number of vaccines produced in the next three months, even in 2021, but there could be other companies coming up with vaccines as well. There could be other factors like mutation of the virus, the need to develop a new vaccine.”

Gold slumped 4.6% on Monday, its biggest daily fall since Aug. 11, after drugmaker Pfizer and BioNTech SE said their COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective based on initial trial results.

U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell and ECB President Christine Lagarde said the economy was still in for a tough time even if development of a potential vaccine was reason for some optimism further ahead.

Crude oil today edged back from this week's attempt to break 2-month highs, holding 13.5% higher for November so far.

Silver meantime tracked and extended the move in gold prices, recovering half of Monday's 8.0% Covid-vaccine-news plunge against the Dollar to reach $24.75 per ounce.

Friday, 11/13/2020 14:59
GOLD PRICES rose on Dhanteras 2020, regaining two-fifths of this week's earlier $100 plunge by Friday afternoon in London as fading hopes that a Covid vaccine will end the pandemic anytime soon saw world stock markets slip while longer-term interest rates reversed their spike.

Gold priced in the Dollar reached $1895 per ounce as the US currency retreated on the FX market, Asian stock markets closed the day lower and the EuroStoxx 600 index held unchanged, keeping its weekly gain at 5.2%.

"Gold has rebounded because the pandemic and the Covid-19 numbers globally are still rising. The market optimism towards the vaccine and risk-on sentiment has faded," Bank of China International analyst Xiao Fu told Reuters overnight.

Adjusted for inflation expectations – now edging back from their strongest since spring 2019 – real 10-year US bond yields fell this morning to minus 0.87% per annum, the lowest in 6 trading days and matching their level when gold prices began their steep rise to August's current all-time high of $2075 per ounce.

With tomorrow's culmination of India's Diwali festival usually marking the world's 2nd heaviest gold-buying season after Chinese New Year, "There has been a decrease in the purchasing power of the people in the country thanks to Corona deprivation," said Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) President B.C.Bhartia in New Delhi today.

"But in view of the rising price of gold and silver, huge investment is expected in the markets this year as always."

With bullion import duty at 12.5% since mid-2019 and GST sales tax at 3.0% since 2017, 24-carat gold edged higher to INR 53,620 per 10 grams in New Delhi today, and reached INR 51,930 in Chennai.

Both gold and silver "witnessed a tepid response from consumers" on Thursday, the Times of India reports from New Delhi and Mumbai, blaming high prices and the economic hardship caused by Covid-19 lockdowns – now entering its 230th day – for the weakest festival demand in many years.

The Sensex index of Indian stocks today closed at a record-high Friday finish, up 3.7% from last weekend, while the wider Asia ex-Japan equity markets erased the week's earlier 0.8% rise.
"We have a firm plan for disengagement on the table, it is being internally discussed on both sides," said an Indian official today about a deal with fellow nuclear power China to de-escalate tensions in the disputed Western Himalayas, where at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese troops using rocks and clubs in June.
Beijing's Communist dictatorship today "congratulated" Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for winning the US election as President and Vice-President, saying it "will respect American people's choice" – apparently a dig at current White House resident Donald Trump, who continues to back lawsuits and as-yet unproven allegations of massive ballot fraud.
Crude oil today edged back from this week's attempt to break 2-month highs, holding 13.

So those that want to drive the indices ever higher are are basing this assumption on a recovery in 2021, does this mean the pandemic is under control, even over, have all those people made redundant or under threat of being made redundant suddenly been reinstated or offered new decent employment, have all the businesses associated with hospitality, holidays and travel been able to come out of closure and suddenly be making a profit, has all the ever increasing government and personal debt suddenly started to reduce and become manageable.
Has Brexit gone without a hitch, a credible deal with the EU, no hard bonder with Ireland ,does the UK have new fit for purpose trade deals with new partners, has the BOE stopped printing mickey mouse money and pushing up the national deficit , has the NHS sudden found 40,000 nurses and the routine operations are up to speed once again.
2021 recovery my rear end, these people either don't live in the real world with ordinary people or they just care not a jot as long as that can carry on running the same old unfit for purpose market system and making those that run it even richer.
I certainly don't see 2021 as the recovery for the UK, or the US, even if these vaccines offer some hope initially, no one knows the long term effectiveness or side effects , or if the virus will mutate and render them ineffective.
Any recovery should not be further patching up of the present unfit for purpose governmental and market system , it need to be sustainable ,environmentally fit for purpose and fairer to everyone
So I really hope that in 2021 there is some turning of the corner and some hope of recovery from this present dark and depressing time, but any meaningful recovery and some return to what everyone assumed was the norm is going to take a very long time, possibly even decades, who really knows?
I do agree though the outlook for POG should be good, but how much nicer if we could have a better world as well!

Sotolo,

Excerpt from Kees Dekker ,

Yes, I did pick up early (in my 2015 report) that Centamin was falling badly behind with waste stripping compared to plan. When the drop in waste stripping coincided with very low feed grades I looked into the possibility that this was attributable to a wrong resource model using Multiple Indicator Kriging without moderating the impact of high grades, alternatively the overestimation of the level of selectivity the can achieve.
With the latter I mean that much waste was classified ore, hence the low strip ratio. Without the benefit of being on site and discussing the model and results with management, I am still not clear what the exact problem is.