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Over on the Telegram Group, Richard Wilkins (PXC CFO) posted the following, which offers an explanation for the recent silence:

"We will update the market next week. Our hands are somewhat tied due to close periods which AIM and the Nomad monitor closely. Once we are out of the close period and can talk about things we are eager to get onto some podcasts, webinars or whatever. PEA is progressing well under very difficult circumstances. Covid has badly hit the laboratories - staff shortages, difficulty in timely sourcing of reagents, chemicals, etc, plus increased demand from mining companies due to rising metal prices. It is important however that we optimise the open pit project for all our benefits, also taking advantage of the clean energy, green economy world that we are clearly moving into. On another front, we finally have the Navarre Creek gold assays back. Only 4 months or so late. Enough said for now! Patience is a virtue".

So, whilst not the final news, it announces that news is imminent. The words on the Navarre Creek gold assays are enticing.....

Guys, everyone wonders about their investments. However, the facts are there for Phoenix, particularly with the accession of a President who is supportive of this industry and in particular the metals we will be producing. If you doubt that, then please post some facts which suggest that Phoenix has changed in any way. If you are after short term gains, as traders, short term profit takers, that's fine, but please come clean and admit it. I repeat a message I have said several times before. This is a share to hold for the long term, one which may quite well give you your pension. Put it away and forget about it.

The company promised the PEA in weeks back in December, and we are surely still within that period. What has changed except perhaps impatience? May I suggest that those impatient come clean for their reasons, and use facts, not emotions. I doubt that there are many companies out there who could compete with the opportunity for growth in Phoenix looking forward the next years!

Whilst we are waiting for the PEA, let me remind everyone that we are still waiting for the long overdue results from the gold play at Navarre Creek.

The surface geology at Navarre Creek looks compelling for this to be a Carlin style deposit (look this up if you do not know), which could be massive (or nothing). Carlin deposits are named after the little settlement of Carlin in Northeastern Nevada, and Carlin deposits can be very big gold strikes indeed. The Barrick gold mine on the Carlin Trend which started this off is the world’s 8th largest gold mine, which is a relatively short hop and a jump away.

The shallow ore is usually oxidised, which is relatively simple and cheap to extract since it can often be mined by open pit which costs a fraction of underground mining. We are expecting the assay results back from surface samples, and should not expect high levels of gold. This is because the gold should be present in very fine particles, generally too small for the human eye. Over time, the gold near the surface is leached out (prospectors used to pan for it in the rivers), so there should be just minute traces near the surface. Levels in the parts per billion level would be very positive. That’s the smoke showing there is fire below. Our geologists are optimistic that this has potential. Again, the results could come any day now. If we have higher than parts per billion, we can expect the champagne corks to start popping.

First for Dan. I'm glad you raise what you call the similar situation of “BP, Lloyds or HSBC, and that you do not have to call them to find out why they have not released key financial information to their own timescales”. The difference is first that these are all very mature companies, with a steady flow of news, large resources, and a large PR department. Meanwhile PXC is reliant today on a one-off event (the laboratory results), which at the moment are not late in any case by most people's understanding. Also, please note laboratory testwork cannot be predicted, for if you could, you would not bother doing it. You therefore cannot compare those companies with PXC. We have a binary situation, the results are declared, or work is progressing. Simple.

For Stanley, let me say that I do not consider myself a cheerleader. I am posting on a purely voluntary basis, and have never been asked to do this by the company. Anyone can call to the company. That I do it, is neither here nor there, and I can stop if my posts are not appreciated. I therefore found your statement “Feeding info to one person is amateurish” was both inaccurate and inappropriate.

But let me come back to the issue of announcements. This is a start-up company which by design will not have a continuous news flow. We have not yet built our plant, nor started production. There will be announcements made when there is news to release. If the results from the laboratory are delayed a few weeks (of which I have no knowledge) so what, for this is a share to hold long term, for years not weeks, and which could generate a return beyond your dreams. What difference can a few weeks make? If you feel differently, then either call to the company, to find out more (and how many times have I suggested this?), or go elsewhere, for you are free to do that as well, for I believe that you do not understand this company and this opportunity. And I emphasise, I am speaking in a personal capacity and have not consulted with the company over my post.

I'm going to raise a philosophical question here. Why are you buying PXC shares?

Let me state here my opinion for why you should buy PXC. This company is going to have massive long term success. We see it in the resources, and we see it in the first Empire open pit mine, and the Resource data we've seen to date, combined with the laboratory recoveries of gold and copper. This company will make a lot of money for all those who invest in her, AND HOLD. On the way to that, there will be long periods when there will not be any news, when we are building our plant, when we are waiting for start-up. In these periods the share price will probably fluctuate. But you will never know when good news will be delivered, and if you are out, then you may miss the boat. When the results from Navarre Creek appear, when the silver mine is explored and results delivered, when the finance arrives, when we hit on another rich seam. My strong advice is to place your share certificates in the bottom drawer, and forget them, and to come back in 5 years time for your pension. If you are interested in short term profit taking, without real concern for the long term business, then this company may not be for you, since the price may pass through periods of stagnation, rather like now. Plus it's rather frustrating to those long term holders, with interest in the long term of this company, who are prepared to accept those periods, knowing that the building work is still going on, even if not shown in the share price.

So, I would encourage all to buy, and to hold on. and to put away for some years.

Guys, I sense your frustration, and I share that. First, some personal comments, to reinforce my position. I am a chemical engineer, a Fellow of my Institution. I am a professional, and try to post professionally. I have no connection to the company aside being a shareholder, and a friend, and most certainly do not consider myself a spin doctor. I do like the BoD, and find them also to be professional, and often post because I know that they cannot do that, under the rules. I post what I learn from research and from calls with the directors, but it is all public information.

One of the lessons I have learned in life is that it is far easier to criticise people, than it is to actually ask them directly "what's up". Could I ask why none of the recent posters have called to members of the BoD? If you won't do that, then please could I ask that you refrain from criticism of others that do.

I really don't want to get into a ****ing contest, so believe it won't serve any point in me providing a point by point response. I have also given an explanation of the technical complexity, and if you do not want to believe that, then I’m sorry, that’s your issue, not mine.

I have spoken with several directors the last week. From what I've learned, there’s certainly no cover-up, simply a going through stages and phases of testwork that must run their course to give the PEA its best/optimal outcome for all stakeholders, despite the vicissitudes of the pandemic. One director used the specific words "we will do the best professional job possible for all". I ask, can you posters never say you have never regretted taking a decision in a hurry (when some extra time would have delivered a better result)? I also noted the following from one director "Quite frankly, I see all around me, not only in mining but internationally in construction, in pharmaceuticals, and purchasing/supplies, companies struggling to get orders filled and to deliver services – it’s not a happy world out there for the large part! I can’t blame people for moaning but patience will, I hope, be rewarded!". And yes, they are still hoping to produce the PEA outcome for January.

At the moment I think we can all agree, the company is within the time schedule. Could I suggest, if you have concerns that you do call to the board, and do post what you learn.

Hold on Sparky. Let me suggest your first point of call if you are close to panic (as it sounded from the tone of your post) should be to communicate with the company. The BoD are extremely open, they publish their contact details on all RNS's, and would welcome calls to explain the issues. That’s a far more positive solution, particularly if you post what you learn.

Personally, I have read through the detail from Ryan, and find that we are still well in line with the timing Ryan states in the RNS. Additionally, I would state that they cannot work out the PEA without knowing the configuration, and it would be foolish to suggest otherwise. The recoveries of gold and copper would differ according to which recovery stage came first in the process, and similarly the operating economics. All of these are needed for the PEA. I know this from having called to the company, and I did post that here.

My suggestion, sit back and relax, and wait for the PEA to emerge in its own time.

Here’s a quick review of the technical background going into our PEA.

If we cast our minds back to just over a year ago, we were focused on copper through heap leach, with no gold recovery. If we had included plans for gold, it would at that time have been using the cyanide process, which would have delayed the whole project by a couple of years, as we sought the relevant environmental permits. With the price of gold still low, gold recovery was therefore set to one side. However, as the gold price started to move up, our USA team identified that a leaching process using ammonium thiosulphate as reagent had potential, so they started investigating this. ATS is environmentally friendly, of course, and getting an EP much easier. They took a new look at old pit data for copper and gold grades, now focussing on gold recovery, and found that gold now had economic potential, maybe ever better than copper. The bench scale laboratory testing moved to pilot plant, and that took us through to the autumn, and looked good for gold. Meanwhile, copper price had also started to move up, so they again revisited the recovery of copper AS WELL AS gold. It is this last stage which I believe has caused the short delay in preparation of the PEA, as they now determine which is the optimum configuration of the industrial process to recover the metals, and from that the capital costs. The objective now is to design a plant which will give the best recoveries of both copper AND gold while delivering the best economic case. That’s potentially a greater return for our investment, as well as possibly a faster build. And that’s where we are today, from what I understand. Now we wait for the PEA, to be delivered, I would guess, before end-January.

Sorry Fallingknife, I'm about to disappoint you, for our copper coins are today (and have been since 1992), 94% mild steel, and only 6% copper, which is as a plating. Please don't cry. I'll give you 9p for the lot.

For newcomers, here follows a little more background information about PXC. The “foreground” is represented by the Empire Open Pit mine, where we are promised the PEA “within weeks”. We expect shortly after that to receive finance for this project, and which will judge that project alone. Then behind (and relatively visible) is the Red Star silver zone, where we have already identified a rich silver seam, and plan to continue to map it out as soon as conditions permit. We are hopeful to see this happening next year, and perhaps in production in 2022. Meanwhile we are waiting for results from the Navarre Creek gold play, results which are long overdue due to COVID in the laboratories. This is a Carlin type deposit, and if we get good results, then this could be a bumper resource. Finally for the foreground, we have the Cobalt area, with Bighorn and Redcastle, which showed good cobalt results in their first look some time ago.

Now for the background, and here I speak rather of the depth, and the elephant which lies below the region. This is a massive porphyry, which is in essence the reservoir at depth which fed all the veins near to the surface we are chasing, and which I described above. These are typically MASSIVE, and this deposit types includes many of the world's largest deposits of copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, tin and tungsten and are often potentially world scale mining resources. Examples of porphyry copper deposits are El Salvador, Chile, and Bingham Canyon, Utah, which is the largest man-made excavation, and deepest open-pit mine, in the world, and which is considered to have produced more copper than any other mine in history. And it’s just round the corner from us! Or the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, one of the world’s largest, again a copper porphyry.

This is why our consultant geologist writes that we have discovered less than 1% of our potential resources in Empire to date.

So, in buying in today with the present price, which is exceptionally low for just the Empire Open Pit (what a bargain price), you are getting for free, all the rest of the potential, namely silver in Red Star, gold in Navarre Creek, Cobalt in Redcastle and Bighorn, and the elephant of them all, the deposits of copper in the deep. The Empire open pit mine project will generate the cash flow to maintain control for all the other projects, so keeping all the projects in-house for all our investors.

Now I hope you newcomers understand what you are buying into, and why today’s price represents a real bargain. Buy this share, put it under your bed, and come back in 5 years to find your pension!!

That's great Mr Negative. You sought precise communications, so here is one. The accusation that our largest shareholder, who inputted cash to our company at a 50% premium when we most needed the money, is selling, is not based on any known fact. Can we agree on that now? Please let this one go. It's a dead donkey, and flogging it any more will not make it come suddenly to life.

This is a start up company, which goes through quiet spells in between the major announcements. Can't you see that? But that does not change any of the facts which we know (and love) about this company. This is perfectly poised for the PEA, and then the finance. Just be patient please.

By the way, I did enjoy your post about Glencore. Thanks for posting.

Hi Mr Negative, I quite understand why you have concerns, and those show through with your clear message. Yes, the situation is vague, and that is because this is a start-up company, which has not yet completed the PEA required to raise the (as yet not achieved) financing, and for as yet unknown sum. Frankly I find this a trifle amusing, and I remember the days when I did not understand the market and also wanted security of knowledge, whilst also seeking a bargain price. Who in the world does not want this? So let me state the obvious. We have not yet seen the PEA, which will be presented at a yet undisclosed date (due to regulatory requirements), and following which we may (or may not) get the finance which should (or might not) take us through to design, engineering, construction, start-up and into production. But if we were in production today, the share price would be maybe £5.00. But we are not there yet, and we all have to be patient a little longer. Instead we have these unknowns, so you have to use your own judgement on whether to invest, or not, and in my opinion, not put any responsibility on to others, for these unknowns which cannot be solved. The BoD are doing their best to get this company financed and into production, I know that myself very, very well. And I think they are doing a very good job in the circumstances of a major pandemic.

Now I have to pick you up on a couple of your points. First, you say "not being able to properly assess what we have invested in". Could I ask what has changed since you first invested? And if nothing has changed, then why did you accept that challenge in the first place? I am genuinely curious as to what has changed.

Next you wrote "given the context of major shareholder selling". Could I ask where you get this information from? I feel you should disclose this to all. Who is this mysterious person who has this impact on the share price?

I understand you, and I see myself in you from the start of my investing career. I wanted to get maximum return from minimum risk. But sometimes that profile is not there. Indeed it is absent for the vast majority of companies (as otherwise everyone would have invested long ago). In our case we know very well why the PEA has not been delivered yet. But it is just a few weeks away, from what we have been told. And personally I have great confidence that it will be very good. So, knowing this information on the timeline, could I suggest you sit back and relax a little, for I do not think there is anything we could do these days which may have impact on the delivery of the PEA.

I hope these words set you at rest a little, but waiting is sometimes the most difficult thing to do.

Please don't be so bitter. Life happens. They've offered explanations (not excuses), and have suggested a revised date.

As a chemical engineer, I understand the situation exactly. They've been performing pilot plant work, and noticed some specific benefits from investigating different angles, particularly with the evolution in copper prices. I call that good work, and demonstrates flexibility. If they knew the answers before they started the tests, they would not have bothered with the tests.

They can't be held responsible for people selling stock (that's their loss), and I see no justification for the negative comments. This is a share to hold for the long term, and not to trade. What more do you want? Please be patient, and hold on.

Mr Negative. You wrote "... the PEA could be two weeks away , a month away or longer . Sure it will come when it comes and taking that approach , the BOD should say nothing about any future inflection point as everything will pass , sometime or another . Like I said choose a date that you know you can be certain of and deliver on that date . At the moment we have not had any updates and it would help shareholders if they understood what the problems are , if any . Sure , we can guess , Covid , lab time etc but that is exactly what it is guessing .
I think you missed a message from the company, which made this very clear, and responded precisely to your point. Here it is from their RNS dated 9th December, from Ryan their CEO:
"While the bulk metallurgical test work will continue well into the ongoing feasibility study process, with continued refinement of the process design, I anticipate that the initial metallurgical test work on all metals necessary to complete the PEA level studies will be completed in the next few weeks, allowing us to complete and publish an updated PEA shortly thereafter."
That's pretty precise, isn't it? I hope you are happy with this now?

As we move in 2021 towards the PEA, followed by finance, and into production for end 2021/2022, there is naturally a concern today over whether finance is possible, and any possible dilution the share may suffer. I think the easiest answer to this is to tell the story of Oxus Gold, in which several directors (but not all) had a hand.

Founded in 1996, Oxus was listed on AIM in 2001 producing gold and silver from its 50% stake in the Amantaytau Goldfields JV (AGF) in the Republic of Uzbekistan. AGF was situated on one of the world’s largest areas of gold endowment, the Tien Shan belt.

With the share price at about 6p and struggling to get project finance, because the banks were insisting on a large equity issue which would have resulted in substantial dilution, which they did not want for their shareholders, Oxus held off, and managed to raise $35 million through debt, a 100% loan. The moment they had the finance in place the share took a massive upwards turn, particularly after finance was just announced, and the sp went up fast to 90p (in under 2 years), giving the company a market cap of £500 million.

The company achieved this growth firstly because with finance in place, investors knew that production was imminent from the open pit, and secondly, because like PXC, they were there in anticipation of the metals in the deep.

However, in 2006, with large profits now being made, the Uzbeks started getting greedy, with the state sending the tax police in, as a prelude to eventual expropriation of Oxus’s mining assets.

The same directors are now in Idaho, and happy to be there. They see a similar technical environment, with PXC also starting from an open pit mine then moving to the massive potential in the deep. The key difference it that USA is a safe jurisdiction. They know that this will be a walk in the park getting the finance compared to Uzbekistan. I know it is likely the company will issue some equity to get the thing going, as that’s the simplest route and the sp is that much higher than it was with OXS (so the impact of dilution is lower), and there are people queuing at the door already offering finance. I know that the Directors are also extremely confident about seeing the same, or better, take-off in sp when the finance is put in place.

A number of former Oxus shareholders are also here (as I was), who know the story well, and are fully supportive, despite the adventures in Uzbekistan. What the directors did with Oxus they intend to do with Phoenix, but this time they don’t intend to have the tax police coming after them!!

Oh yes, and by the way, Tavira1, if you wait till the PEA is issued, a sp of 40p may be far away in the rear view mirror.....

Tavira1, there's no basis in fact for that. The largest shareholder (Martin Hughes) offloaded some shares earlier this year since for various reasons he had invested more than his normal ratio, and since then he has maintained his holding with no sales. This is clearly visible since the company are obliged to report all holdings above 3%. He is a friend of the Chairman and is said to be very happy indeed with his holdings here.

Good evening Mr Negative. I hope that your festivities have gone well.

I thank you for your kind words, but personally I believe that it is the company, and the BoD who should take the credit for the company. We owe a lot to the BoD, for this company would not exist without them. I know the history of several of them. After having their profitable company (Oxus Gold) taken away by the government of Uzbekistan, they searched the world, and identified a prolific metals region, then focussed on this mining zone, with fantastic potential. They then sank their pensions into it. I know their focus has been one of science and mining, and of seeking and reporting factual data. Yes, they have been weak in PR, and they know it, but they would rather see the pounds spent in exploration to generate the data, rather than in supporting empty publicity, and trust me, good PR comes at a price, and needs to be sustained, which would necessarily be from our pockets at the present time, for this company is not earning money yet. For the PEA, I know that the feel they are on to something, and I respect them to be focussed on producing genuinely good data, and so if their decision is to delay, I trust that they have a good reason.

But I must pick you up on one point. Your main grudge appears to be against the lack of information of the date of issue of the PEA. You may not know that this information is considered to be financially sensitive information, and according to the rules of the LSE, this information should not be put out before the event. So, in place of blaming PXC, I think it is the listing authorities who are to blame.

It is a balance between spending money (on PR), which they are not yet earning, and spending it on generating data to advance the project. All these issues are not necessarily clear to outsiders, but I would suggest your patience will most certainly be rewarded.

And then jumping over the company propaganda here follow a selection of the slides, walking you through it, starting from slide 17:

Slide 19 History has proven during times of fiscal disorder gold tends to outperform equities. Inverted twin deficits suggests a massive upward move in the gold to S&P 500 ratio is still ahead.
Slide 21 Fiat currencies around the world are in a race to the bottom. The price of gold has been rising across all of them.
Slide 23 Money printing only supports financial asset bubbles for so long. Ultimately, QE drives flows out of overvalued stocks and credit and into undervalued precious metals.
Slide 24 Negative and declining real yields are a macro driver for higher gold prices. Recent divergence indicates catch up trade for gold is due.
Slide 26 Majors have underinvested in exploration and must replace their reserves. Supply shortfall a macro positive for gold prices. Extremely bullish for junior explorers.
Slide 27 There were zero gold discoveries above 2 million ounces in the last 3 years. Precious metals companies are reluctant to spend capital even though gold prices have reached all - time highs.
Slide 29 Miners have been reluctant to spend capital even though gold prices have been moving higher. Thus, supply is constrained, an incredibly bullish fundamental backdrop for gold and silver.
Slide 31 The entire gold and silver mining industry is the beneficiary of today’s macro environment with strong balance sheets, high growth, and still incredible valuation.
Slide 34 Gold and silver mining stocks compared to global stocks are still near record lows.
Slide 36 Gold & silver junior mining companies have been leaving the broader stock market in the dust.
Slide 37 Gold mining companies acted in counter cyclical fashion to create wealth during the credit deflationary bust of the Great Depression.

There’s a fantastic presentation, from Crescat Capital, with detailed analysis of the precious metals industry, particularly gold and silver, with loads of curves and data. I really do recommend a read, and it says everything to me for why we should be in PXC. You can find it on hTTps://www.crescat.net/wp-content/uploads/Crescat-Precious-Metals-Fund-Presentation_December2020.pdf

For those with limited time, here are the key conclusions, noting that everything below are cuts and pastes:

• The gold and silver mining industry faces supply/demand imbalances that create an extraordinary opportunity for investors today.
• The new environment of record deficit spending and fiat money printing, including negative and declining real interest rates, presents the ideal macro setup for a new secular bull market in precious metals.
• Inflationary policies in the face of today’s historic asset bubbles in stocks and fixed income securities are likely to drive forward thinking investors out of these over-valued asset classes and into under-valued precious metals