Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
"Seed capital required for near term production pipeline projects in both Romania and in Southern Africa on which the Company will update the market at the appropriate time"
Baita Plai was a "near-term production" asset too...............and when we thought we were finally there (after some time) even the term 'production' got divided up and re-defined as a way to buy more time.
We still today have no solid evidence of that production.................and this is our "Flagship".
Foolishly or not however, I do feel that the company may just hit their projected targets in time to show up positively on the next set of production figures. As for targets being hit after that date, remains questionable, given all the uncertainties surrounding Baita Plai.
For example, the companies ability to extract more ore from the underground galleries may increase as a result of improved or upgraded equipment, but if these new "double-decked" lift shaft cages are not as efficient as the name "double-decked" suggests, then it wont be long until the extracted ore begins to pile up in the lower galleries, forcing the company to turn off its new equipment whilst the blockage at the lift shaft is cleared.
Are "double-decked" lift shafts, really a solution to our problem, or are they simply a cheap alternative, that give the impression that they will do the job?
I think the term "double-decked" is an un-intentionally misleading term. On the surface it suggests a 100% increase, but I doubt very much that this will be the case, and I doubt that anyone else will think this either.
So how efficient are the upgraded lift shafts, and will their apparent efficiency, actually allow us to meet all our future projected targets?
This is just one of many examples of how the overall production at Baita Plai could suddenly be reduced, putting our projected targets in the future at threat of being missed.
Andrew Prelea would know all Baita Plai's inefficiencies and 'bottlenecks', and I wonder if he foresees issues in the future too, issues that may require some additional shiny new toys, such as these new "near-term" projects, in order to distract?
Does anybody else find it really odd that Marcus Brewster should exit the company so suddenly, after only 5 months?
Personally, I think there is a little bit more to Marcus's Exit, then simply finding a better opportunity elsewhere. I've never seen a company publish such a short and hollow goodbye as Vast has today.
"The Company has installed Stancu Viorel who has replaced Marcus Brewster as General Manager of Baita Plai, reporting to Nicolae Turdean, the Romanian Country Manager. Stancu manages the underground as part of his remit and Edward Hollings continues to manage the processing plant."
That was it..................no thanks, no love, no appreciation. Clearly there are issues within the company.
And just to make the point, compare this to just a paragraph of Mark Mabhudhu's goodbye, and consider the benefits we've seen from his appointment.
“On behalf of the Board and Mangement Team, I would like to thank Mark for all of his efforts and wish him all the best for the future and stress that he will always have an open door to return to the Company when he finalises his mandate at the ZCDC.”
So what is this fall-out about? Has Marcus been shown the door by the Board of Directors?
Was Marcus not willing to overlook his responsibilities as a manager, in order to save company cash (that it didn't have) and therefore got pushed.
Or are there much bigger issues with the mine itself, issues that may ultimately tarnish his career if he was to choose to stay?
I also noticed that Marcus Brewster's linked-in page has no mention of his time at Vast Resources. This maybe nothing at all, It may simply be that he has not updated it............or on the other hand, maybe he thinks that announcing it won't benefit his career in any way?
Does anybody happen to know any other alternative email addresses for Mark Brewster that aren't related to Vast Resources?
Antharry - "This family is hilarious!!!" Lol.
It amazes me how they get away with it all. There should be a Prelea Victims Foundation created..........I could only Imagine the length of the queue to get in.
"even further fat man himself is talking about go karting on facebook lol!"
I think watching Andrew Prelea trying to squeeze into a go-kart seat could be quite an amusing event to watch. It could even burn some time waiting to get into victims foundation?
"why bother checking minor things like bridges and employee safety when your little soldier needs fresh tyres every week."
I think Andrew Prelea does see the importance of employee safety. That employee hit by a wagon last month, he was removed from the mine........and now he's safe.
As of the other employees down in the underground galleries, they will soon all be replaced with robots in Andrew Prelea's new, yet to be announced, re-revised mining plan.
EricEric - Good luck getting your answers. As of the "lifestyle company" we've helped develop his mine, his racing team, it wouldn't surprise me if we were sponsoring the South Pacific Group to help develop his new house too.
Anyway, I'm going to leave it there before I end up provoking Firwood.
I didn't realise that Andrew Prelea and his sons Xracing Team was being sponsored by Vast Resources.
The first time that I looked I never noticed, but Andrew Prelea's sons racing car has Vast PLC advertising all over it. I wasn't too sure if it was just free publicity, or something more.
https://www.facebook.com/alexander4prelea?refsrc=deprecated&_rdr
However, looking through his sons twitter page, I noticed a comment made by Alexander (his son) thanking his sponsors..........one of which was Vast Resources. This sponsorship goes back to at least 2015, as far as I can see.
https://mobile.twitter.com/alexanderprelea?lang=en
I would usually say that any free advertising isn't a bad thing for any company, but I really can't see how advertising a mining company that produces copper concentrate, on the side of a racing car, will have any positive benefits for Vast as a company at all? This is equivalent to HSBC advertising on CBBC.
The small crowds attending these races probably havnt turned up looking to find a new supplier of copper concentrate.
And furthermore, any advertising that has already been done to date, using XRacing, has clearly not attracted any new shareholders to the company, or even found the company a new finance package.
So, if free advertising through Xracing, to a completely unrelated audiance, is not effective and won't benefit the company in any way, then why would the company be willing to pay to sponsor the racing team?
Why not sponsor the Racing Team through South Pacific Group, or even Ozone Homes LTD, or is it cheaper to have Vast Shareholders paying instead?
Why do I feel as though Vast Resources are part-funding the racing team, as opposed to sponsoring the team?
Why are Vast Shareholders funding the hobbies of the Prelea family, whilst still seeking our own funding?
And by how much are we sponsoring this racing team?
There doesn't seem to be much benefit to this whole sponsorship deal at all.
I wonder if the recent Director Share Purchase was an attempt by the company to distract shareholders from whats happening on the ground at Baita Plai?
Awarding themselves through SARS, after all that's happened, might be just enough to anger, and possibly distract too.
Baita Plai Mine worker hit by wagon.
https://m.ebihoreanul.ro/stiri/accident-la-mina-de-cupru-vast-resources-de-la-baita-un-muncitor-a-ajuns-la-spital-164841.html
Floatation plant leak causes enviromental issues.
https://m.ebihoreanul.ro/stiri/descindere-a-autoritatilor-la-baita-poluare-la-mina-britanicilor-de-la-vast-resources-164888.html
ZCDC, not looking like the best JV Partner.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.263chat.com/halt-zcdc-operations-marange-villagers-tell-govt/
What next?
"A small group of underground miners who presented themselves at the Baita Plai Administration Offices in opposition to the formal negotiation process"
I find it hard to think that the demands of a "small group of miners" would have enough weight behind them to force the company to bend.
Given that the country has a long, well known history of mining, there must be an abundance of miners in the area desperate for work.
Its not too unreasonable to think that a "small group" of rebellious workers, could not be easily replaced by the company, for staff that are far more obedient.
In the video uploaded with the article published this morning, that "small group" of protesters appears to be a slightly bigger group, with what looks to be over 100 miners in attendance. Or said another way........half of our work force at Baita Plai.
Of course, if half of the work force decide to 'down their tools' it won't be long until the companies production figures begin to get affected.
Another slip in production, under the new 'revised mine plan' would be a disaster for Andrew Prelea, and the company.
I personally think that the company were more than willing to negotiate here, on the basis that having to replace and train half your new workforce would take months, which would no doubt then affect the companies production targets. To avoid further embarrassment from having to announce poor production figures, I think the company has reluctantly met their demands.
I think todays RNS has painted a rather fanciful picture, attempting to downplay the issue with the pretext of 'a few unhappy souls'.
I'm all for workers rights, and also a fair return for your labour, it's just a shame that I feel that having to pay more now, at this point, is only to save Andrew Prelea the embarrassment of having to announce another failing plan.
I wonder what diminished value Baita Plai will hold, when I wake up tomorrow morning.
Maxcady
My guess would be that the lady in the photo is actually Vast Resources Mine Geologist Alexandra Scarlet. Alexandra has been employed by the company since November 2017, and was involved with the re-opening of the Baita Plai mine.
https://ro.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-scarlet
I dread to think what this might be? If anybody is willing to spend a penny more on this company, be my guest.
https://www.africaintelligence.com/mining-sector_exploration-production/2021/03/01/vast-resources-sets-up-shop-in-gaborone,109646827-bre
Hi Pecten11
Thanks. Im really not sure? I can imagine the answer is in plain sight, only I cant see it. It was just a curiosity I had.
I do have this horrible feeling however, that we may all discover that Baita Plai isn't all that it has been made out to be.
The company announcements have become incresingly vague and secretive, that when I think about it, I don't really know what it is we actually have at Baita Plai.
Given that, It worries me that Andrew Prelea may/could have just potentially dumped a poor asset onto Vast Shareholders.
Using my example from earlier, if the 'Tribe' can dump a poor asset onto Vast Shareholders for an over inflated return of £1.4M, and that return is far higher than its worth, or could be gotten elsewhere, then surely it must be worth the tribe dumping the asset.
If the Tribe already know that the asset they've dumped isnt that good, then the Tribe would also know not to expect a return from the locked-in 60.52% and can therefore effectively discard it. At that point the tribe no longer have the drive, or the incentive they previously had (pre-acquisition) to actually steer the company.
Providing the tribe can maintain their secretive stance, and limit the information being released, shareholders can be dragged about paying salaries for what could later turn out to be a poor asset.
This is obviously all just a 'worst case' theory, but given what shareholders have witnessed over the years, perhaps there maybe some potential.
I believe we are still waiting for confirmatory drill results to prove up historic drilling done at Baita Plai.......I guess that's when we will know if the asset was worth the Tribe dumping or not? Or they could, like zagra drill results, drag them out too.
I'm not sure what it is with this company, but it just seems that the more research you do, the less you know.
Anyways, thanks again.
PART 3 OF 3
Another thing I would also be interested to know is, how much Andrew Prelea, or APMG, actually spent acquiring, and (So say) modifying the Baita Plai Asset, before Vast purchased the entire share capital of APMG.
What if, for example, APMG had spent a total of say £500k on the Baita Plai asset, and then Vast was to then purchase APMG for a consideration of £4.845M, as was the case on 30th Nov 2020. Then regardless to the fact that Andrew Prelea and Roy Tucker were both forced to lock-in their 60.52% share of the transaction for 12 months, the remaining 39.48% owned by their sons and Kellow, could be dumped for £1,912,806 from day one, leaving the Prelea and Tucker tribe with a tidy £1.4M+ return.
At that point, it doesn't really matter what the shareprice is when the lock-in period for the other 60.52% ends, If the company does well........the tribe get a bonus. If the company folds in........the tribe made £1.4M profit. But regardless to which direction the company takes, the tribe will always take a salary.
The question is.........do the board even care which direction the company takes from here on?
Given the latest news, I would say that Andrew Prelea has decided to opt for the 'take a salary' route.
PART 2 OF 3
It wasn't long after that, that shareholders discovered that the Bank will no longer be financing the company, which I find totally unbelievable.
How could a Bank not have seen the issues with our corporate structure before, or even during the due diligence process? Why would the Bank after all that time, and at the last moment, then layout the pre-conditions of the finance deal, have Vast satisfy all those conditions (which all suit Andrew Prelea) to then discover an issue that was worth walking away for?
A Bank would have spotted the issues from day one, which is why Vast end up with lenders like atlas. This was never about finance, this was all about AP Options.
Now, looking back at Teacups questions, it is now clear to see that Andrew Prelea never did, at any point considered any other alternatives to AP Options.
Furthermore, in our Nov 6th RNS (letter to shareholders and Notice of General Meeting) our qualified??, Independent??, Non-related directors, somehow failed to include a lock-in period into the terms of the APMG transaction, effectively allowing Andrew Prelea, and Roy Tucker to dump their shares from day one. Not only did this contradict the simple, hands tied gesture given to Teacup as an answer to his/her question in the QandA, but also made it clear that Andrew Prelea and the gang, had the intention to avoid a lock-in period completely..............it's no wonder he smirked and said nothing.
Thankfully, a few users on the bulletin board flagged this exclusion of a lock-in period as soon as the announcement was made. Three days later, and probably much to Andrew Prelea and Roy Tucker's annoyance, another announcement was published, reluctantly agreeing to a 12 month lock-in period.
This was a clear demonstration of either lack of professionalism amongst the qualified, non-related parties, or quite simply that the Board of Directors interests are not aligned with the interest of the shareholders.
Quite honestly, I do not believe that this "International Bank" ever existed. I think it was just another fabrication of the Board in order to push through AP options by giving shareholders no other choice other than to accept and approve the transaction........can anybody tell me who this "International Bank" was?
This is the beauty of it. Nobody can.
PART 1 OF 3
Does anybody believe that this "international bank" ever existed?
When Andrew Prelea became CEO of Vast Resources in Jan 2018, the argument of 'AP Options' was a topic that was continuously bought up on the bulletin board, as a conflict of interest.
A poster named Teacup64 asked, in a recorded QandA, whether Andrew Prelea had considered any other alternatives to 'AP Options' given that the exercise of these options would massively dilute shareholders? to which Andrew Prelea simply replied "yes I have"...........no other alternatives were given though.
The next question that this Teacup64 asked was - are you planning on dumping your shares after the conversion of 'AP Options'? Andrew prelea (smirking) then raised his hands, putting his wrists together (with imaginary handcuffs) effectively suggesting that his hands would be tied.............no comment was made, as he moved on to the next question.
Since then however, sentiment amongst shareholders, especially in the last year and a half, has been on the floor. Back then, a year and a half ago, shareholders had not seen a single peice of progress from the company, only mass dilution, smoke and mirrors, and over inflated salaries, with a few lies sprinkled on the top.
I find it hard to imagine that Andrew Prelea himself, at that time, and given the damage he had done to the company, could even justify diluting shareholders further by exercising AP Options.
However, there was another way he could push his options through. He could force shareholders into the corner, and into submission, by introducing the idea of a brilliant new refinancing package for Baita Plai with a "Well known" "International Bank". An International Bank that would sweep all our problems away forever and ever.
At the time, this all sounded really good, up until the last minute when the company decided to announce that the 'International Bank' had pre-conditions, a £5M+ placing on Vast shareholders, and the need for Vast to acquire APMG.
I did find it strange when the company first announced the pre-conditions, it seemed as though the company was trying overly hard to highlight the fact that this type of pre-condition was a normal expectation........which I found a bit odd?
Regardless, Andrew Prelea now had shareholders in that corner, the only way we could get our refinance now, was by accepting the pre-conditions of the Bank. Most importantly, Andrew Prelea could now make it appear as though the exercise of "AP Options" was at the request of the "Bank", with the right to claim it had also been approved by shareholders.
If this response from Andrew Hall is the case, then the company should have announced it through RNS, as Antharry has already mentioned. This is price sensitive information.
"We have made several tweets highlighting the increasing commodity prices"
A few tweets from the company telling shareholders that organisation A,B or C predict higher copper prices in the future, is in no way informing Vast shareholders about the terms we have in place with Mercuria.
This information should have been RNS'd, rather than whispered into a few privileged ears.........if it is true of course.
https://www.newzimbabwe.com/breaking-mnangagwa-extends-lockdown-by-two-more-weeks
ZAGRA MINING SRL
Zagra Mining SRL was registered in December 2018 with the Trade Register. The company has two directors, Andrew Prelea, and Vasile Sebastian Albulescu. The company has three share holders, Vast Resources (50%) Vasile Sebastian Albulescu (25%) Mavgo Holding SRL (25%).