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Yes, Bill read out the questions, not mentioning that they came from one person, and he gave generally good answers except for the PR/IR one, where he just spoke about the desire to push any cash towards mining, rather than PR. That gave me th opportunity though to tell him his PR/IR was "crap" (yes, I used that word), pointing out that his website information was years out of date and did not meet the company's corporate standards (look at their point 10), and as a result their share price was lower than it should have been. Maybe they needed to re-write their standards or withdraw? I was surprised, having heard of his strong character, that there was just a straight acceptance of this issue, and in front of us a desire to change. I sought opinions from the other small shareholders round the table, and they were all in agreement, both with the issue, and with the feeling that he had answered.
So, well done jdt for the excellent questions, and thank you for posing them.
Q: PR/IR has been awful. Do you accept this, and what do you plan to do to change, if anything? A: Yes we accept this, but we were ploughing every penny into our mining operation, and not diverting any into potentially expensive PR. We have also been severely constrained in what we could say by our NOMAD. But we intend changing PR/IR, and are for example redesigning and updating our website, which we accept is severely out of date. A new Presentation will also be issued shortly. There was definite frustration with Nomad and divulging information. Stated they were not in position to change due to historic legal case situation still technically being open even though the matter is now resolved. Bill said AIM restrictions also causing them to not be able to put out descriptive updates rather than factual. May be genuine slip of the tongue, but Bill did seem to imply something in the offing.
Q: What will the company do to return value to shareholders? A: It takes a lot to build a gold mine, but the management in Goldstone have done that. And they have achieved this with a very low level of debt. For the future they will ramp up production, and improve recovery. They are expanding the plant and the pads. “Let us remind our shareholders that our overall rational is not to stop with Homase, but to use this as a low hanging fruit to fund the exploration and development of Akrokeri. Today in Homase we are getting 1.4-1.5g/ton of gold, whilst in Akrokeri earlier grades have been around 50g/ton. The drill results from Akrokeri could therefore be a game changer, and with a potential 6km seam, this could be a world class deposit. There are 15 holes drilled to date, and they have 18 more planned from the present programme. If the results come good, this will have a real impact, and be a driver on share price”. Bill suggested that they would hoping to get news out on Akrokeri initial drills end of October, and If assays results were in a log jam in Ghana due to the big boys pushing their stuff ahead (paying more for the privilege), then they may look at send to South Africa. Dividends were hoped for end of this year, but hoping all things will progress to allow that this time next year. (Get the feeling this was about Paracale wanting to see something back sooner than later, on the basis they originally hoped for a return in 3/4yrs now more like 5/6yrs.)
To summarise Bill, “the company is virtually debt free, and is a shareholder driven company, of which I’m the largest one!”
Now for my own comments:
They were very optimistic indeed that the Akrokeri results would be extremely positive. Bill said on a number of occasions that if he could buy more shares, he would, but is precluded from doing so.
PS. I met with several other shareholder after and we went for a drink together. We all had the same concerns, but which we all felt had been answered. We exited feeling very positive indeed.
I attended the AGM today, and made the following notes:
All motions were passed without significant opposition. The interesting part started with the questions. Note here that AGM was not minuted, and I was taking down points as well as I could, so these may not be a totally complete record. But I think they were a pretty good verbatim account. I invite other shareholders present to correct me if they see any mistakes.
Q: Recovery rates. A: It is very difficult to anticipate recovery rates accurately from a first run, and that proved to be correct for pads 1 & 2. However, performance has improved with experience, with many lessons learned, such as the sensitivity to oxygen content in water. They also learned that they need to crush finer, because the clay like material was forming agglomerates. They feel very confident today that recovery rates are trending towards expected recovery rates.
Q: Are production targets still the same? Yes, 14,000 ozs as stated previously. Bill suggested (if I understood correctly) another gold pour was due end of this week.
Q: Are Goldstone able to recover the loss from the gold loss (robbery). A: No. They are a small operation in a high crime location, which makes it difficult to insure, and today impossible. They have improved security and have learned lessons. They mentioned that nearly all mines in this region suffer losses in one form or another and that some have a provision of around 10% for this which shows Goldstone are by no means unique in this event.
Q: What is the news on the drilling programme? A: The Akrokeri drilling programme has started this week, where the first drill hit former mine workings. That’s both good news and bad. Bad because drilling stopped. Good because it means they’re in the right place. They have now moved further south. Results are expected within about 2 months (more later).
Q: What’s the situation for diesel? A: Now available but is now more expensive. However, the impact on overall costs is too early to tell, and is guessed today at about 5-10%, which will increase as drilling goes down, but is difficult to predict today with great accuracy.
Here's the link below to Telegram for the shareholder action group. You will need to be subscribed to Telegram before you can join, then copy and go with the link below and you should get in. Let me know here of any problems. In order to have this pass the rules, I have added 5 spaces to the address, which you will have to delete.
Htt ps://t . me / +1ngv2N1p4qZhZDlk
I wrote to a friend, who has posted the link to me to the Telegram site, and I can guarantee it's not the empty one we were looking at, but has real activity. I am checking now if the link can be posted here, and will get back later. Please hang on.
Hi CRL123, I'm in the same boat as the others, I've joined what I thought is the Telegram board (actually called "channel"), but it's completely empty with no activity, and no way to request anything. Can you be very specific please with your suggested entry route, using the exact title, and also maybe positing something within the Telegram group, so we can see that we are at the correct location. Thank you.
Bill Trew is an insider, and knows everything there is to know about the company. Why would he convert a loan into shares if he did not have absolute trust that this is a company destined to improve it's sp, and grow. Yet anther sign of confidence in the company.
Yes, bald-eagle, there is much, but it is often possible to avoid through the use of friends. I never made a corrupt payment in my times there (I was in senior management), but I did have to drink a lot of vodka on occasions!
Yes, it's cultural in the region. I know because I lived there for over 10 years. Many the time I had to pay taxi drivers early so they could buy fuel, or in advance with a restaurant booking, so they could buy in the raw materials for meals. It was a shock at first....
I spoke with the Company last night. They noted that they are in a close period due to an ongoing updated project economic analysis to support the bond issue currently underway.
- It is a very uncertain market for obvious reasons, making it near impossible to pin down accurate pricing and lead times for equipment, rendering it virtually impossible to complete a fully compliant feasibility study at this time. All mining companies are affected in the same way. But the FS is not needed for the bond issue, which is good news.
- They are taking the opportunity to continue to optimise the project both economically and environmentally. For example the aerial tramway is being evaluated. This would have a very positive impact on both operating costs and environmental footprint. The possibility of bringing forward gold and silver production (using environmentally friendly ATS as the processing reagent) from year 4 to year 1 is also actively being considered. This would have a very positive impact on revenue and cashflow.
- The Company is also working on increasing its exposure to the mainstream press (such as Reuters) and ESG reporting platforms. This should generate good publicity going forward. But all comments to a wider and new audience will rightly and sensibly err on the side of caution, and aim to under promise and over deliver.
- Permitting is ongoing. Nothing negative to report. Production remains as soon as possible under the circumstances, with 2023 still the target. Production remains the priority focus.
- The Company has sufficient cash in the bank to fund exploration and corporate / operational costs this year and next.
- The drill rig is on site and up and running.
- The recent share sell-off is surely overdone. It is still the same company with the same project, and the same if not better potential for shareholder value.
- The copper price fall is surely short lived. If the world wants a clean economy and electric cars, the world will need lots more copper. A recent (1 July) Goldman Sachs Commodity Research Note still predicts copper at $15,000 / tonne by 2025 (approx. twice today’s price). If that is the case, Empire will be flying and we will all be very happy.
- The bond financing is non-dilutive and will enable activity on the patented land ahead of the permitting for the unpatented land, enabling the Company to hit the ground running as soon as the permit is issued. An update on the bond financing and the project is planned for later this month.
- The directors (also speaking as shareholders) remain hugely positive about the Company’s future, which, if anything, is getting more positive.
Stateside, I think you may be confusing two things. First "Empire" covers a very large area, including the Empire Open Pit (Copper Oxide ), which is the fast track project, the Silver/lead at Red Star, the deep sulphides, the Tungsten/Moly porphyry, Horseshoe, Bluebird, etc, etc, so they may be drilling in Empire but away from the Open Pit to look at future prospects. Note though, it is the Empire Open Pit mine which needs no drilling for the Resource. Second, they may be drilling in the Empire Open pit (I do not know), to determine water table, or something else, but they do not need to drill for the Resource, as it is already known.
That’s an easy one to respond to Sparky, for no more drilling is required. The resource at Empire has more than 400 holes and is well determined. That’s the open pit copper mine. That’s what the finance will be based on. All the rest, namely the high grade silver mine at Red Star, the Carlin gold at Navarre Creek, the deep sulphides, the Tunges/Moly porphyry, the Cobalt, the 99% yet to be determined, they all come for free!
# The high grade vein in Gosha (“Hasan”) has gold grades in the 100’s of g/ton, which could be exceptional (noting that this does not say that we have this level throughout). They are hopeful of mining before year end.
# Concerning Libero, we were told “we do not like to stay in just 1 geographic location”. They found Libero very well technically qualified, so this will not be a drain on their resources. With an investment of just $5 million, and the potential that this could be a billion dollar company, Libero could eventually be looked on virtually as a royalty provider.
# The key point I took out was the palpable relief from the board for the issue of the hoped for parliamentary ratification. I captured the words “we feel unburdened”. The board feel that AAZ has had to endure a couple of difficult years with delays but that the trajectory from here is clearly up for the foreseeable future ….
Please note that these words are personal, are not advice, and I invite any other present to correct and/or add.
I attended the AAZ AGM today, and in case this were of interest to others, I supply here my notes:
# The company started with thanks to the patient shareholders bearing in mind the times we have gone through since the last in person AGM. This included the Pandemic with its impact on the workers, noting that we have isolated locations with specific issues. Then of course the pandemic impacted the supply chain. Then we were located just 60 kms from a live war. All the above meant that today we are in a situation with a share price far lower than it is felt it should be.
# As for the share repurchase scheme, the directors felt that they wanted to tighten the market, and to see the sp move up, thereby rewarding shareholders. They are hoping to tempt in institutions and if they buy in (in the future) at a higher price, the company will gain the benefit.
# One questioner stated that the company are excellent concerning technical aspects, but light on the road they intend to follow, ie presenting their strategy. The response was very informative. AAZ saw themselves as a gold producer, but are now moving to have copper as a strong component of their portfolio, just when the world needs copper. They apologised for the lack of communication, but also explained that this was due to discussions with the Az government. They commented that news getting out does not take much to derail things. The great news is that this has been agreed with the PM (signed off), the decree issued by the President, and we are now just waiting for the parliament ratification decision, which is expected within weeks (and before they go on holiday on 15th July).
# Now for some detail about the new properties. The deal involves Garadagh, Xarxar, Demirli and Vejnaly. Garadagh is today owned by Azergold, and the license is being transferred after Azergold have already completed some exploration. They have swapped this with a property on the border with Armenia, so this represents a bird in the hand today, besides which Garadagh looks good, and is also close by Gedabek, as is Xarxar. This was a good commercial deal with payment after work starts. Demirli is the potential jewel in the portfolio, being a massive copper mine. Vejnaly already has work under way, with production from the underground. Although there are Russian “peacekeepers” locally, these are not anticipated to be a problem., since with Turkish military also present, and the Russian peacekeeping role in theory present for just 3 years, the Turks will make sure they do not extend their stay.
# This represents 2 huge steps ups for the company, first the new mines, and secondly we now have full access to all our (extremely valuable) properties. In the next 2-3 years everything is expected to come together, with the company focussed on producing dividends, low cost production, and free cash generation. They anticipate that it will take a 4 year step-wise approach to ramp up to full production.
Silence from sirspread..... Is what he says hot air, or a grenade thrown without regard to the consequences, or even a comment made after proper research? Is he prepared to take the consequences for what he writes? Let's hear....
Sirspread, let me quote back to you your comment in your post today at 15.39:
Start
what a shambles
when this comes off of the grey market in about a fortnight we will be lucky to trade out at 1p per share
face it folks if you are holding anything here 90-100% of your money is gone
End
I have followed your comments here, so let me lay down the challenge, and see if you are prepared to stake your reputation on the above quote. Presuming that none of us here know what the actual event is which has triggered the suspension, you came out strongly saying that 90-100% of our money is gone. No ifs. No buts. A specific range. Do you stand by that, and are you prepared to eat humble pie if you got it wrong?
and it confirms that the raise is being done without dilution. That's fantastic news today, and I believe the turning of a page, maybe a chapter, in the history and progress of PXC. Plus, without having to repay now, it leaves the money in place for further exploration and development of the other treasures. It's win all round.
Stanley, I think we need some clarification. The money is being raised by the company, and not the shareholders, who include ExGen (as well as you, I would presume), and as such there will be no general call to any individual shareholder to participate. However, the issue specific to ExGen is that under the terms of their agreement with PXC, when there is a bankable feasibility study completed, ExGen will be given the opportunity to contribute according to their share in Konnex (20%). If they do not make that contribution, and at the present time that is not expected, they will be diluted. But ExGen's main interest is in Royalty payments, so I do not think this will be an issue for them. As for producing a BFS, there will most likely be a situation at which they will agree on this definition, since we are friends. This above is my analysis.