Rainbow Rare Earths Phalaborwa project shaping up to be one of the lowest cost producers globally. Watch the video here.
Hi Quady - see the post I just posted on the AFR article that @pob flagged - talks about defence.. I don't think NM would want this to go cheaply as he stands to make a load of money through both his personal holdings and DGR holdings... He is hugely invested and will want to make as much from this as possible, hence one of the reasons I originally invested back in 2013...
Thanks again to @pob on CEO.CA - he/she is on fire!
"[@pob] Further excellent $SOLG $CGP update from the always excellent AFR (behind paywall). #ecuador
Highlights of new material
BHP positions itself in looming battle for Solgold
"...suggesting there is serious intent behind BHP's $49 million investment in the explorer's scrip."
"...BHP is understood to have secured strategically located tenements in relation to Cascabel in Ecuador's Imbabura Province."
Solgold chief executive Nick Mather said BHP was not the only Australian company that had sought to get close to Solgold. "Hancock Prospecting are on our southern border," he told The Australian Financial Review on Wednesday.
Newcrest confirmed on Wednesday that it had Ecuadorian tenements in its own right, but none of them shared a border with Cascabel. "Newcrest is happy with its investment re SolGold. We can't comment on BHP's intentions," said a spokesman for Newcrest.
"We now we have effectively two majors on the company's register, and I don't think it is in the nature of either of them to want to sit still as minorities," said Mr Mather on Wednesday, adding that his company had defence advisors at the ready should a full takeover offer emerge.
"It is not in my nature to sell things under value and clearly the strengthening register suggests the world's major mining companies are coming to the same view as us in respect of its value."
https://www.afr.com/business/mining/bhp-positions-itself-in-looming-battle-for-solgold-20180905-h14ypv"
Hi Quady, there are protections that Solgold's board have already put in place just in case Newcrest and BHP or another party wanted to join up their shareholding for a hostile T/O:
1. Newcrest's dilution rights are back down to 10% so, not that we would necessarily want it, Solgold could issue more shares to raise and dilute Newcrest down from their 14.54% to closer to 10%...
2. Newcrest must follow Board recommendation and 60% of non-Newcrest shares in a change of control transaction
3. The board brought in James Clare from Bennet Jones LLP to the Board - "James Clare has a corporate commercial and securities law practice, with an emphasis on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, focused on assisting clients in the mining and oil and gas sectors. His transactional experience includes domestic and cross-border public and private corporate finance transactions representing issuers and underwriters as well as merger and acquisitions transactions."
Don't forget that NM and DGR still together hold the largest shareholding (as they would be deemed to be related parties under Company Law).
GLA and DYOR - these are just my own observations...
Totally agree TheItalian, my perspective is that the goal was to push through to feasibility and show funding was possible to strengthen a negotiation platform with potential suitors. The latest interview which confirms that the BHP move wasn't part of NM's controlled plan and the mention of the members of the Board who are versed in resisting hostile takeovers suggests to me that they are going to keep pressing on to Feasibility and look at options to resist this being taken over cheaply. The main variable for me in play at the moment is CGP and what happens to that.... That will be the key to whether this reaches production or not.... Warren Irwin tweeted about CGP and Solgold yesterday which some may find an interesting read given all the shenanigans last year... https://twitter.com/bigdude6669/status/1037196612878127105?s=19 GLA and DYOR
Don't forget Solgold is subject to UK takeover code... https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/7-107-6806?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true&comp=pluk&bhcp=1 "Mandatory bid A bid required to be made under Rule 9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, broadly where: the bidder and any persons acting in concert acquire shares carrying 30% or more of the voting rights of a target; or if a bidder, together with any concert parties, holding not less than 30% but not more than 50% of the voting rights increases its holding. Rule 9 requires a mandatory offer to be made in cash (or be accompanied by a cash alternative) and at the highest price paid by the bidder or any concert party for any interest in shares of the relevant class during the 12 months prior to the announcement of the offer." DYOR and GLA
Note out (thanks to @pob on CEO.ca) http://www.redcloudks.com/rcks/solg-the-sharks-are-circling-is-a-bidding-war-about-to-begin?. Don't you just love the title of the article :) Excerpt: "The Sharks are Circling, is a Bidding War About to Begin? Impact: Very Positive BHP Billiton (LON:BLT, ASX:BHP), the world’s biggest miner, has entered into a $35M deal for a 6.1% stake in SolGold Plc (TSX:SOLG) that it has acquired from Guyana Goldfields Inc (TSX:GUY), which adds a second major miner (Newcrest currently owns 14.54%) to the race to acquire the Cascabel Cu-Au project in Ecuador. • Share purchase by BHP reminds the market that the Alpala deposits and wider Cascabel project are among the world’s largest undeveloped copper projects and are likely to be multi-generation mines. This is the type that is highly coveted by major miners, like BHP and Newcrest, who have been actively searching for large scale copper projects. • In our view, significant upside exists if a bidding war breaks out. Historically, copper projects sell for ~US$0.07/lb CuEq, this implies a share price of C$0.83 for SolGold. • Since the maiden mineral resource estimate of 16.18Blb CuEq (1.08Bt grading 0.68% CuEq) at Cascabel, a total of 80,538m of additional drilling has been completed by the company, which continues to outline a higher-grade core at Alpala and point to significant resource growth expected in a revised resource estimate. In our view, the SolGold's current valuation (C$0.041/lb vs. peers at C$0.026/lb CuEq) does not reflect the exceptional nature of the existing Cascabel project, its the meaningful exploration upside or the fact the multiple majors have now demonstrated interest in acquiring the company" Glad and DYOR
Mystique, Solgold has first refusal rights over any DISPOSAL of the ENSA shares by CGP not on a takeover offer of CGP as a whole. So CGP can't sell their stake in ENSA without offering to Solgold first however a lock stock takeover of CGP can take place without any first refusal for Solgold. Hope that makes sense. GLA
Hi Montecristo yes Carnegie Ridge resources (a Solgold subsidiary) holds Blanca Nieves (epithermal gold discovery) and Rio Amarillo (I believe) which is another Copper Gold Porphyr discovery (I believe), both close proximity to Cascabel tenement. Please correct me anyone (Lotto, pad etc I think you're better on the tenements than I)
From the AFR article just read this: "BHP sits at the front of that new crowd having acquired four exploration licences that sit in relatively close proximity to the Cascabel. BHP secured those rights by pitching an $US80 million exploration work program to the government. It is said that BHP has acquired some highly regarded exploration ground and it has not been shy about paying to get it." So sounds like they've also been trying to also get land around Cascabel... I know Newcrest and Hancock do as well as ENAMI... Plenty of big players around the ENSA tenement if Cascabel... Hmmm love the suspense! Great day all LTH, another milestone on the journey, GLA
Hi richyrich1 the disclosure was of approximately 6.1% due to acquiring the shares from Guyana privately. If they already had a stake below the reporting threshold (3%) they would have to disclosed their full position, i.e. over 6.1%. Great news today, further derisks the project and endorsed what we've got here
...has been going crazy this morning.
Here's a tweet on a note Berenberg bank sent out this morning regarding the transaction:
https://twitter.com/SolGold_plc/status/1037247342179700736
Nice article about Newcrest Vs BHP https://www.fool.com.au/2018/09/05/bhp-billiton-limited-asxbhp-just-grabbed-a-slice-of-a-highly-coveted-mining-company/
...as battle With Newcrest heats up" https://www.afr.com/business/mining/bhp-buys-solgold-stake-as-battle-with-newcrest-heats-up-20180904-h14y1d
I always thought the last raising at 25p would form the floor, certainly now that BHP sees value at the 26p+ level you would hope any who needed further reassurance of value proposition may choose to head back in here .. this now makes the CGP Spinout process even more interesting as we will have 2 major miners with a stake in the company who may want to either gain or maintain a bigger slice of they pie than the other...
...from yesterday:
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4201828-best-drill-interceptions-mining-sector-week-ended-19-august-2018
Excerpt from final Paragraph:
"And this resource was calculated using just 53,616 meters out of 63,500 meters drilled as of the middle of December 2017. So far, Solgold has drilled around 135,000 meters with another 20,000 meters planned over the next four months. There is a preliminary economic assessment underway for Casbabel and I think that a project of this magnitude and with this much exploration potential will turn Solgold into a compelling takeover target. I think that among the likely buyers are Newcrest (OTCPK:NCMGF) and Guyana Goldfields (OTCPK:GUYFF) who already own 14.54% and 6.08% of the company, respectively."
Thanks to @robo over on Ceo.ca for flagging :) GLA and DYOR
...result call today. Encouraging words from Sandeep Biswas in the results call. Taken from the transcript some excerpts below: "As announced earlier in the year, by 2020, we aspire to have exposure to 5 Tier 1 ore bodies either as operations, development projects or equity investments.... On 26th Feb this year, we announced our acquisition of a s27% interest in Lundin gold, who are currently building the Fruta del Norte gold mine in Ecuador. We believe Fruta del Norte is a Tier 1 orebody with construction well advanced with it scheduled to come into production by the end of next calendar year. We also continued to hold our investment in SolGold, which owns the Cascabel deposit also in Ecuador. And after conducting an opportunity review, we optimized our portfolio by divesting Bonikro during the year." In short Sandeep the way I read that was that Sandeep was confirming that Cascabel is targeted to be one of their 5 tier one deposit exposures as part of their strategy, currently through an equity investment. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/article/4201697-newcrest-mining-ltd-ncmgf-ceo-sandeep-biswas-q4-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript GLA and DYOR