Member Info for SharketMare

Thanks for the responses. The whole website has changed for me - my Watchlist looks different, Quick Picks has changed and the forum issue. I think they are rolling out an update and making a hash of it, which is why some users will be affected and others not. Hopefully they fix the bugs soon, or just roll it all back.

I read this forum in "Thread View". Previously this meant I could click on a thread and read all of the messages in chronological order. Now I click on a thread, and am only shown the latest 5 posts, and have to follow a separate link to view the whole thread. The thread is then presented in reverse chronological order.

Are others experiencing the same? Absolutely bonkers decision from admin.

Hi bamps, in response to your 12.18 post - it would be silly of me to try and pretend to have a fraction of the technical knowledge you do with regard to mining and whether or not SOLG is yet defined as a Tier 1 asset. I would note that the April '22 PFS was only based upon 21% of the measured & indicated resource tonnage (or 38% of contained metal), and was considered very conservative.

As for your youngsters/oldies point - if SOLG still exists in its current format by the end of this year, investors are in big trouble and the BoD will all be looking for new jobs. The company has halted almost all activity and is preparing for a sale. They gave themselves a timeline of H1 this year to update the market on the outcome of the "strategic review" which is fast approaching. Many (myself included) think the Chinese who came onboard towards the backend of last year will bid for the whole company following DD.

All the best for the long weekend when it arrives!

@Redirons 09.56. What a load of baloney. Zoros, like most of us SOLG investors, is totally fed up of the company and looking forward to getting it sold and a long overdue payday. He called out your base level analysis of the two companies and was right to do so. SOLG own 100% of a much bigger resource whilst GGP own 30% of theirs. This alone explains why SOLG has a valuation higher than/equal to GGP's. As for "big boy involvement" - two of SOLG's biggest shareholders are BHP and NCM.

I agree with bamps that comparisons between the two companies are moot, but for different reasons. GGP is on the cusp of becoming a producer in one of the world's safest mining jurisdictions. SOLG is years away from production and its Tier 1 asset is situated in Ecuador, which is in the midst of political turmoil. Moreover, SOLG has essentially mothballed the company as it undergoes its "strategic review" i.e. a sale/takeover.

I have between 7/8x more invested here than I do in SOLG for the above reasons.

I have always thought that @northerncharm6 on Twitter was our very own Ortherncopper. The tone of the posts are pretty much identical.

Warren Irwin responded to this point on Twitter and said: "We should have no issues with selling SolGold."

Each time we hear news of Newmont taking over Newcrest, the SP seems to bounce. The market clearly views the acquisition as a positive for GGP. Really looking forward to how it plays out for us.

Fort, I really don't follow I'm afraid.

Lasso is the most pro-business president that Ecuador has possibly ever had. He's got into bed with the IMF and pursued the neoliberal economic agenda that has been the bedrock of Western economics since the 80s and exported to all corners of the earth when the opportunity has arisen (more often than not a western-backed coup has provided an excellent catalyst for massive deregulation and the "opening up" of a nation's resources to global capital).

Whilst I imagine that privately the US have some concerns over a China-Ecuador FTA, the idea that they would try and destabilize the Lasso administration - which has enjoyed relatively strong support from Biden even after these allegations have come out - doesn't seem plausible given the alternative (the opposition) is likely to pivot back towards great state ownership, fuel subsidies and other protectionist policies.

We just have to wait and see how it all plays out, and hope that SOLG has enough credibility with the other numerous parties in Ecuador as well as the incumbent.

Fort, we are veering into rose-tinted-nonsense-cum-conspiracy-theory territory here. Are you saying that the reports of political turmoil in various media outlets are untrue or fabricated? And all the experts and analysts quoted in the pieces just "on the payroll"? I nearly responded to you on here last night when you were waxing lyrical about Lasso and the China/Ecuador free trade agreement being the final piece in the puzzle before a deal was done, but decided the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. But to read you claim that Ecuador is politically robust is pure fantasy.

Lasso is going to be focusing entirely on avoiding impeachment or worse, prison. The charges against him and his associates are real. To date, the US haven't altered their stance towards Ecuador, but there are voices on the Democratic wing of the party who are starting to lobby the administration to reconsider as a result of the charges levied against Lasso. Most are forecasting his chances of political survival as very slim. The idea that he's going to prioritize a China-Ecuador free trade agreement conducive to making mining investment easier in the country when this is one of the main things he is being criticised doesn't make any sense in my book.

We are likely heading towards snap elections and more turmoil if congress goes ahead with impeaching him. This will provide SOLG with a convenient excuse to delay the strategic review should no offer materialize by the end of H1, and Caldwell & co can give themselves another 3-6 months of getting paid to do sweet FA.

The 100k bonus for Turney is appalling and the comparisons Bozi points out to the former execs' salaries are even worse to read. When you put it as approx 20% of funds that were raised and never actually delivered it's simply outrageous.

I am working off these as current holdings (and there will be others that are smaller and not listed):

BlackRock (Luxembourg) SA: 6,777,549
BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited: 1,001,721
BlackRock: 2,250,834
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd.: 244,314
BlackRock Fund Advisors: 13,915,528

The big ticket moves that DM rightly points out are the sells from the two funds he lists, which in turn are held by (or were held by) the top two on my list above.

Also, Fort, if you select "Selling" and "Institutions" on the tabs next to ownership, then tot up those with Blackrock in the left hand column, you'll see they still hold closer to 23m.

Fort, thanks for sharing. Here is a link to the fund which holds the remaining shares: https://markets.ft.com/data/funds/tearsheet/summary?s=LU0075056555:USD

It would be interesting to know why Evy Hambro and Olivia Markham, the two listed fund managers, have decided to markedly sell down their holding in the company. Perhaps it's due to the shift in SOLG's strategy to not become a miner and instead sell the asset / the company to the highest bidder. Or it may be something from a risk perspective that has changed that means it no longer abides by the fund's risk threshold.

Could always fire off a speculative email and ask them directly, though I doubt you'd get a response.

I had hoped that we would be undertaking these changes - which make sense from GGP's point of view - from a "position of strength" as per Shaun's words at the September '22 townhall when asked about consolidation. I appreciate we don't yet know the finer details of what is being planned, but feel that retail need to be thrown a carrot before dealing with what *could* be yet another stick in what's been a tough and frustrating year (with a huge amount of positive progress made not reflected in the SP). It would be nice to get the revised resource estimate published before or in tandem with this restructuring.

Nowt wrong with that post Bozi. We have to hope that Caldwell and co are working on a credible Plan B whilst Maxit do their thing.

There is no conflict whatsoever. As a reminder, this is what the strategic review entails. The words "advancing Cascabel" do not appear. Taken from the RNS dated 17/02/23.

"As previously disclosed, the Strategic Review includes, among other things, evaluating and pursuing value-enhancing opportunities for the Company, such as:

· evaluating financing alternatives for the Company;

· a spin-out of assets, other than the Cascabel project, to all shareholders;

· the direct or indirect sale of an interest in the Cascabel project howsoever effected; or

· any other transaction or series of related transactions."

I guess we have a decision to make - choose to believe the highly successful mining investor who has amassed millions of pounds doing this for a living, or the anonymous bloke on a BB who can't see the wood for the trees.

This piece in the FT provides a pretty good summary of the situation in Ecuador. I must admit I hadn't realised just how bad things had become for Lasso and his prospects for staying in power. Let's hope that SOLG have maintained relationships on both sides of the political divide.

https://www.ft.com/content/e19489a1-a63f-4d70-abaf-379dc63c18e2

Bozi/DM. That was my take too. I've thought for a while now that the strategy is to come to an agreed price with the Chinese, who were let in relatively cheap not too long ago, hopefully with the understanding that they would tender some sort of offer. Once that offer is made public - around the numbers you suggest - we have to wait and see whether anyone comes out of the woodwork and counters.

Bloke takes job at CFO in late March. Realises what he's been asked to do will see him out of a job. Ensures he gets a decent payout for when that happens. As long as there is an offer on the table north of 35p by the end of H1 I couldn't care less.