Member Info for SharketMare

Hi, I have listened to the first chunk of Liam's interview but won't get to the rest before finishing up work this evening. Does Liam ask Shaun whether or not there is a risk of a further delay to the publication of the FS?

If the drill bit continues to deliver strong results at HAV, what is stopping Newcrest turning around and saying we're going to delay the FS further and look at the possibility of a second decline to up production from 2 (expected to be 3) Mtpa to 4+ in year 1? A second decline would mean a revised mine plan and increased Capex required from our side.

Is it a question of what is more pressing for NCM - ensuring Telfer has a new supply of ore, or squeezing us to see whether they can snap up the remaining 30% on the cheap?

Thanks, SM

Thanks all, helpful. Nice rise today, too.

Thanks red. I had heard rumours a couple of months back that this year's AGM had been slated for November. It's possible that it was pushed back due to the merger, or because of delays to the Porvenir PEA and PFS addendum, but there's always the chance they are buying time as they are deep in negotiations to sell the business, if we can do so prior to merger formally completing.

It seems the next news here we are expecting is on funding. 3 weeks ago DC said we could expect an update on this 'very soon' or something to that effect. As we have come to learn, SOLG's use of words like 'soon' and 'imminent' do not always tally with how they are used by the rest of the English speaking world!

So if CGP own 157.1m SOLG shares, that they are planning to place with an investor, or investors, and then loan the proceeds back to SOLG to keep the lights on, how are they pitching these shares?

It is very clear that CGP top brass are expecting this company to be sold, and I guess within a reasonable timeframe - let's say 6 to 12 month from the date the merger was announced (but that is a guess). Using SOLG's own presentation as a guide, the base case for a takeover is 78p based upon the value of Cascabel alone. So the pitch - I imagine - goes something like this: you buy our 157.1m shares from us for Xp and within 6-12 months we strongly expect them to be worth at a minimum, 78p. What are the rules on them stating or hinting that Mather has a buyer for their shares lined up, subject to the merger completing? Would this be legal?

As an investor I would be asking: 1) What happens if no one makes an offer for SOLG, would I then be forced to stump up more cash to maintain my 6.84% of the company? 2) Why has no one tried to buy the company outright already?

I would also like to know, prior to news of the merger completing, would it be possible for SOLG to announce news of an agreed bid, subject to the merger completing? For example, would it be feasible for us to release an RNS stating that BHP and SOLG have come to an agreement of 78p/share that will be put to a shareholder vote, and that the offer is conditional on shareholders voting it through and the merger completing?

Apols in advance if some of these are silly questions. It feels like there are a few ways in which this could play out and just trying to get my head around it all, particularly before putting anymore cash in here at these bargain prices.

Thanks, SM

Good afternoon zoros, thank you for sharing. Somewhat disappointing they have revised down their PT to 15p from 18p, but good to read reassurance that the decision to pushback the FS to next year isn't an issue. I must admit, I thought the market might use that as an opportunity to push us lower earlier this week, but the bad was tempered with the good from the drilling.

I agree with the note that based upon what we know, we shouldn't expect a huge amount of price action here until we reach production. That said, I don't expect SD to be sitting on his hands until then, so will be interesting to see what he decides to do with regard to M&A in the new year. Then there is the possibility of a new discovery outside of Hav of course, too.

I loved this line: "How this plays out is unclear, but we firmly see this team as empire builders, something few peers could claim". What I am fairly confident is that this time next year we won't be sitting around 8p. If we are sub 10p still in April I will be ploughing a lump of my ISA allowance in here for sure.

Bon weekend.

addicknt, great news, thank you for sharing.

Onwards!

I think the whole interview is clunky and contradictory, as the journalist conducting the interview surmises as much with their questioning towards the end. There's quite a lot of 'I don't know' and 'I can't say' - in which case perhaps you shouldn't be giving an interview to the press, as it's going to invite speculation!

There is also the issue of translation and accuracy that's worth taking in to account.

addicknt, keen to know what the company revert with. If this is something that has in fact had implications for either the regional concessions that we've been trying to shift, or even bringing JV partners on at Porvenir and Cascabel, then it's unsurprising that the company haven't been vocal about it.

I think the timing is interesting though - cadastre opening mid-Dec, our merger with CGP slated to complete late Q4. Potentially all falling in to place?

Comment: I wonder whether the ongoing JV conversations around our many, as-yet-untouched licenses have been held up by this? I've tried to make it clear when there were questions and answers below but missed one or two. Probably easier to click the link, right click on the page and translate to English as I did.

Cheers and good evening all. Sean I agree that news is forthcoming.
SM

The impression remains that this table will be able to decide whether or not to go to a project that already had a mining title

In my personal opinion, this oversight will be informative. I understand that they (the indigenous movements) want to oversee the large-scale concessions that are already operating and I don't think there will be a problem with the operators of those titles, because they meet high standards. We shouldn't be afraid.

Prior consultation was the most controversial issue in the dialogues. Does the Executive already have a proposal?

On October 25, the technical table begins to analyze that. I know that there is a draft bill from the Ministry of the Environment. The most difficult part will be to identify where the prior consultation will apply and if it will be binding.

What is the deadline to have the prior consultation law ready?

I do not see a clear horizon of how long the approval will take, especially since the National Assembly has to deal with it. Without that clarity, how will they attract mining investment? There is interest from the world's largest miners, such as Australia's Newcrest and BHP. We are trying to give positive signals. If no agreement is reached on the prior consultation law, the government must look for a plan B.

Reshared from the Telegram group (thanks Pete). Link here: https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/economia/catastro-minero-dialogo-indigenas/

So why are there delays on some projects?

There are seven projects that are about to start the construction of their mines before 2025 and they are: Curipamba, La Plata, Loma Larga, Ruta del Cobre, the second stage of Mirador, Cascabel (copper) and Warintza (copper). Of these seven projects, six are stopped because the pre-legislative consultation that allows them to obtain environmental licensing has not been given. Only the second stage of Mirador does not need it, because it is part of the project that is already underway.

What does the pre-legislative consultation imply and why has it not been given?

They are the guidelines or regulations on how to carry out an environmental consultation. The only thing missing is the publication of the executive decree.

Why haven't they issued it if it is in the hands of the Executive?

The decree is ready, but it has not been issued due to political issues. I can't give more details.

In the dialogue tables it was agreed to form a binding technical table to review mining rights already granted. What reach will it have over mines in production?

We are open to any oversight and to deliver information. But in the technical tables, the legality of including the word "binding" in the minutes of agreements will have to be analyzed.

How will the mining sector close in 2022 and what is the projection for 2023?

The goal is to close with USD 2,600 million in mining exports in 2022. But we hope to exceed that figure and reach USD 3,000 million. If that happens, we are likely to overtake bananas as the third largest export product. And we expect the sector to reach USD 3.2 billion in exports in 2023.

How many new mines are planned to be built in 2023?

New mines are planned in the Curipamba (copper) projects, in the province of Bolívar; La Plata (copper and silver), in Cotopaxi; and Loma Larga (copper), in Azuay. A fourth project would be the second stage of the Mirador (copper) project, in charge of the Chinese company Ecuacorriente. This concession is located in the Amazon province of Zamora Chinchipe. In total, the four mines imply an investment of USD 1,563 million in 2023. The mining production of these projects will start from 2024 or 2025.

How much will Ecuacorriente invest in the new mine?

The first stage of Mirador is already operating. In the second stage, it will build a new mine, with an investment of USD 750 million.
When will the mining cadastre be opened?

In the second half of December 2022. There is no way it will not come out. With the mining registry, companies will be able to request new mining concessions. The system and regulations for opening still have to be fine-tuned. With the mining registry, companies will be able to request new mining concessions.

How many concessions will be available?

At this time, there are 1.7 million hectares under concession. And we have 3.7 million hectares available. But not all areas have mining potential.

How are they going to open the cadastre if an agreement was not reached at the dialogue table with the indigenous movements?

For me that was a surprise, I participated in the dialogue tables and that was an agreement. I do not know what happened. We cannot know where to make a prior consultation if there is no mining cadastre. What is clear is that we will not assign mining rights without prior consultation, but only where appropriate; that is, where there are indigenous peoples and nationalities. They cannot say that there are indigenous peoples in all of Ecuador. For example, if they ask for a concession in El Oro, where there are no indigenous nationalities, I don't have to do prior consultation. They cannot say that there are indigenous peoples in all of Ecuador. The mining projects in production or exploration will not have any brake after the agreements in the dialogue table, because they already have titles.

Government will open mining registry despite disagreement with indigenous people

In an interview with PRIMICIAS, the deputy minister of mines, Andrés Wierdak, explained that in December 2022 Ecuador will have a cadastre for mining companies to request concessions.

The deputy minister of mines, Andrés Wierdak , anticipates that in the second half of December 2022, the government will open the mining cadastre , which has been suspended and in purge since 2018. This instrument is an information platform that will allow companies to apply for mining concessions.

But the indigenous movements do not agree with the opening of the cadastre , and this was established in the closing minutes of the dialogue table with the government on energy and natural resources. In an interview with PRIMICIAS, Wierdak announced that this disagreement will not stop the opening of the cadastre, since he considers that this tool will help identify in which areas prior consultation should be carried out before approving the concessions.

Added a few more at 15.65. Might have jumped the gun as it looks like it might go lower into the close. Does feel a bit like it's being held in a range, but then again not much else on my watchlise, bar Shanta Gold and Landore has moved much beyond 2-3% for the last week or so.

Sean, come on mate. They are chalk and cheese.

One poster is discussing SOLG, the other is on here posting abuse and threatening to take down the board. By and large, Quady keeps it on topic, unless he starts rambling on about Slug's views or free speech or whatever.

Quady is the bloke in the village preaching about the Good (diverse) Book and claiming hellfire awaits us all (dilution and production). Slug is the bloke who rac*ally abuses the kind woman behind the counter in your local post office when she struggles to understand what he's saying.

Perhaps a final shake of the tree today Dbw before they release some news on funding. Come on SOLG, you're going to need our votes at the AGM next month!

Colonel, good posts yesterday and this morning. Thanks.

Agreed Dbw, this guy is a dealmaker. I would love to know how the CGP and SOLG merger came about - whether it was Citi's idea or the first move was made by us/them. The agreement to put the bad blood behind us and come to a mutually beneficial agreement that should hopefully make everyone some good coin. I wonder whether Nick was allowed in the room at all!

TheItalian, if we stuck to just discussing what the company says, this BB would have been very quiet this year (and we'd all be pretty disappointed, I imagine).

Morning MrTud, IMO it's the question around funding that is stopping us from significantly re-rating, along with the macro environment being particularly tough at the moment.

Darryl and the team did stress multiple times in the presentation that they were hoping to update on funding very shortly. That was just a week ago. So hopefully before month end we'll have the news that will give the market confidence that only cold hard cash in the coffers can provide.

Looking across the exploration sector at the moment, fund raising is not easy, and if CGP can negotiate a good deal to place their shares, and loan the money back to SOLG, I think it's fair to say Darryl and the team will have done extremely well.

But for me, in absence of a bid, we won't see meaningful action until the funding situation has been resolved. At which point, we'll be in a strong position to release news on Porvenir and the amended PFS at Alpala.

Orthern, I think despite the chances of SOLG being bought out soon increasingly substantially over the last fortnight, our funding situation remains as it was. I am hoping that CGP are able to place their shares with an investor, or several investors, at a premium to today's price, particularly if they are as confident as they seem to be that they will see a return on their investment sooner rather than later.

With that cash loaned back to SOLG, and with the merger completing later this year, I would hope that the takeover rumours (e.g. Mitui entering the mix) would then start to be factored in to the share price too as FOMO kicks in and investors are reassured that they are punting a company that is fully cashed up.