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I know the BB likes to speculate a lot in all directions, which is the point of the BB and also the reason why it gets systematically out of control.

I normally try to stay out of it, however upon reading this article I am reminded of one of the basic concepts about the lifecycle of mining companies (from exploration to major): destinies are determined from the top down.

Meaning that when majors start to move with their M&A, eventually the ripples reach the juniors and then the exploration companies. We are at the receiving end of that wave, no point in kidding ourselves.

So my speculation is that despite all the statements and the chest thumping over the years and the different CEOs, our destiny really depends on the macro and on our own we have not been able to move our own dial if not in the wrong direction. In 2017 we could have sold but NM got greedy and believed his own bs. The macro has been bad for our sector for at least 2 years, the majors have only just restarted the M&A cycle, and as you can read from the article we are just one of the many moving parts in the majors' portfolios. We may be the most desirable upcoming acquisition and equally the last company they want to consider buying, we just don't know and we just cannot do enough to change that in our favour.

What we can do is make our money go farther to minimize dilution until the project is advanced enough with government agreements and permits, but then it's just a highly defensive move and a waiting game as we can only sell when someone shows up to buy, and that wave might take some time to arrive for us.

In any case, I have a call with Scott next week, I will try and get his thoughts on this.

ARTICLE, PART 3

“When you talk about the true value of the business, the true value of the business is what the market is willing to pay.’’

Mr Tomsett said he was convinced the share price would have been trading well below its current levels in the absence of the Newmont offer.

Mr Tomsett said shareholders would also retain their exposure to gold and a lesser extent copper.

Newcrest shareholders will receive 0.4 Newmont securities for each of their shares, plus a $US1.10 per share special dividend.

Australian shareholders will receive chess depository interest (CDIs) in Newmont which will continue to be traded on the ASX.

The votes cast at the scheme meeting on Friday were overwhelmingly in favour, with 92.63 per cent of votes cast supporting the deal going through

Newmont CDIs are expected to start trading on the ASX on October 27.

Newcrest shares were trading at $26.08 on Friday, up 28c.

ARTICLE, PART 2

"The other element is, whenever there’s a merger, naturally, they look at ‘does everything fit within the new, new merged entity?’

Mr Andrawes said most of Newcrest’s Australian assets were probably a good fit for Newmont.

"But there’ll be some of the smaller things like some of the exploration areas which are probably not of interest

“Also Newcrest has some quite significant investment, large stakes in smaller companies like Lundin and SolGold.

“They’re probably one of the most obvious things, probably the first thing to look at are those non strategic investments and some of the exploration areas.’’

The Havieron JV with Greatland might also fit into this category, Mr Andrawes said.

More broadly in the gold sector Mr Andrawes said there had been consolidation in the Leonora area, “and I think we’re going to see more of that’’

There have also been rumours in the market for the past couple of months that Telfer would be put up for sale, which could be packaged together with Havieron.

Evolution Mining has already flagged its interest in any assets put on the sale block by Newmont, with founder Jake Klein telling the Australian at its mid-year investor day it would be in the running.

“The best opportunities do come for us from the majors and obviously (there’s) a lot of activity in the market at the moment,” he said.

“Newmont has made it clear that they are looking to dispose of some of their non-core assets if they proceed with the new post merger. So that is obviously a place that we would be looking in the future – recognising that it will take them probably until 2024 to make any decisions.”

Mr Tomsett would not comment on Friday about possible asset divestments, given that would be the responsibility of Newmont going forward.

At the meeting held to vote on the deal, he did field a number of queries on the question of whether shareholders were getting their due, with one asking, “Why do you think it’s OK to sell the company very cheaply?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s okay to sell a company very cheaply, and I don’t think we are selling it very cheaply,’’ Mr Tomsett said.

On the contrary, the prevailing trend in the sector at the larger end of the scale was for mergers with “just about always ... zero premium. mergers of equal’’, he said.

“We’ve managed to secure for our shareholders a significant premium, and that’s not easy to do in this world.’’

Mr Tomsett said the board had managed to extract a 17 per cent increase against Newmont’s first offer, which was an achievement given the US company was the only bidding party.

“More than they really wanted to pay, which was a 25 per cent premium in the first place, is an outstanding effort on behalf of our board and our advisors,’’ Mr Tomsett said.

ARTICLE, PART 1

The scrip takeover of Newcrest by the world’s biggest goldminer, now known as Newmont Corporation, is also expected to kick off a wave of deal making in the Western Australian gold sector and further afield, as Newmont pares off assets which don’t fit the merged entity’s criteria.

Newcrest was created as Newmont’s Australian subsidiary in 1966, and was then known as Newmont Australia

It merged with BHP Gold in late 1990, creating the nation’s largest pure gold producer, valued at $1.2bn

That deal scuttled a play by Robert Champion de Crespigny’s Poseidon Gold for Newmont’s Australian arm at the time, predating by more than decade the $US1.98bn buyout by the Denver-based Newmont, of Mr Champion de Crespigny’s own Adelaide-based Normandy Mining, signalling its major return to Australian goldfields

Newcrest chairman Peter Tomsett, reflecting on the deal on Friday, said the buyout by a foreign entity was “difficult on a personal level for a lot of people’’, given the hard work which has gone into building company over the past 30 years

We had a mine tour at Cadia and one of the descriptions given was that the whole situation was sad, but not bad,’’ he said

It’s a sad time for everybody but it’s an opportunity for everybody as well.

That opportunity also extends to the mid-tier gold producers and deal-makers who will be keenly waiting as Newmont runs the ruler over Newcrest’s assets - and even some of its own - and likely decides there are some which do not fit their investment criteria

Newcrest’s major mining operations include the Cadia mine in Western Australia, Papua New Guinea-based open pit operation Lihir, Telfer in WA, the 70 per cent owned Red Chris mine in British Columbia, Canada, and the Brucejack mine, also in BC

Altogether, Newcrest’s assets are expected to produce 2-2.3 million ounces of gold and 120,000-140,000 tonnes of copper this financial year.

But, like most major mining companies, it has plenty of non-core assets. These include a 32 per cent stake in the Toronto-listed Lundin Gold, 10.3 per cent of London-listed SolGold with assets in Australia but also Ecuador and Chile, 19.9 per cent of Azucar Minerals, and 8.9 per cent of ASX-listed Antipa Minerals, among other equity investments.

It also has a 70 per cent stake in the Havieron copper-gold exploration joint venture with Greatland Gold, with that project 45km east of Telfer.

BDO head of global natural resources Sherif Andrawes said on Friday the last big merger, between Barrick Gold - now the world’s second largest gold miner - and Randgold in late 2018, triggered a “flurry” of merger and acquisition activity.

Not always just things falling out of the mergers, but also others just following suit. Because if it works for companies of that size, it works for others,’’ Mr Andrawes said.

Of course Sean, and that's why I wrote "Make of it what you want", who knows what Barrick really wants to do and whether they would tell a random stranger anything. I am non the wiser as well.

I just thought I would share it as getting a reply was really a long shot and he was gracious enough to respond within a day.

Remember yesterday one of you was talking about Barrick? I thought I would take my chances and email Mark Bristow directly (mark.bristow@barrick.com) to ask him whether Barrick would know SOLG and have an interest in them.

Unexpectedly, he just replied, his answer below and not what we would hope:

Dear XXX,

We know SOLGOLD well – unfortunately, we do not see it as passing our strategic and financial filters.

Regards

Mark

Make of it what you want, I just find it hilarious that he would actually respond!

Does any of you want to try other relevant CEOs?

Thank you for sharing Almostdone.

I wander whether, given the diverse book and the amount parties who engaged SOLG in the so called "data room", it's possible that the ongoing conversations under the strategic review banner are made more complicated by this partnership angle.

In other words, if the Chinese are interested and maybe BHP or Newmont, and who knows about the Barricks or the Sumitomos of the world, Maxit might be taking longer to figure out an investment structure that lines up two or more of these parties, and that is nor made easier by Ecuadorian country risk and western countries antagonizing China.

I know, I know, just fantasies maybe....

I bought some too, could not resist the boredom. No RNS for that though...

CFO bought 33500 shares, let's hope he has not overexerted himself with that amount!

well red, for one thing i cannot imagine that for barrick ****stan or the middle east in general is less risky than ecuador these days.

if you have mark bristow's number, perhaps you could give him your solg pitch!

My bad, my first ever SOLG trade was in 2011, bought at 26.40 and sold at 20.00, a very bad start!

Tesla1, if your answer is address to me, I just want to point out that you are not one of the filtered ones.

Luckily, I am not in love with any of the shares or bonds or funds I have invested in, it's just money and my desire to be financially free.

Also, looking at the profits I have already made from SOLG since I first invested in 2014 and the desire to move on to a different asset class, I would consider myself more impatient than deluded at this point in time.

Do I know for sure we will eventually see a rerate? No of course not, but on balance given this share's historical volatility and the fact that 1) the entire sector is in an off-risk phase and 2) SOLG is in the worst part of the orphan period, I put my money where my mouth is and I am willing to run with this risk level, with a relatively favourable outlook on the next 12 months.

As you can see from my posts, I never really dramatize the ramp or the deramp, I am critical of the management as much as they deserve, my analysis is aligned to my position and risk predisposition. I may share some opinions but I don't tell others what to do with SOLG. In fact, all that matters is whether this trade is a win or a loss and either way it sits with me, same as your investment outcome sits with you.

Let's just be nice.

Considering the solution to that is available and it's the filter button, it's remarkably dumb that some keep indulging them with a constant response.

You can also refer to the FT, which reports a slightly lower forecast.

Personally, even the lowest end is highly desirable given where we are.

https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/forecasts?s=SOLG:LSE

Pad, that's how I learned to play drums when I was a kid, first the odd meters like Apocalypse in 9/8, or Dance on a volcano in 7/8, before I could play straight 4/4 rock tunes. Some say I even look like Phil.....

Paraphrasing 1974's Genesis:

There's something solid forming in the air, The wall of death is lowered in Times Square.

No-one seems to care, They carry on as if nothing was there.

The wind is blowing harder now, Blowing dust into my eyes.

The dust settles on my skin, Making a crust I cannot move in

And I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway.

...and I have messaged Nick as well, in the old days he was gracious enough to respond when I asked him about SOLG.

For what it's worth, I have just emailed the company asking that they issue a clear and unambiguous statement and reassure the investors.

Just for balance, and while I would agree that he meant 2017, between Nov 2022 and March 2023, when the price was around 17p, there was a volume spike, so theoretically he could have been selling there.

On a personal note, with hindsight I find it interesting (and depressing) that in July 2017 someone I trusted told me I would never see again the price peak we had just experienced, but I thought it was impossible that we would not go even higher so I stayed invested. So I too feel I should have sold then. Great thing hindsight!

Thank you Dinner. So that would be unclear and personally I would then discount that after talking over SOLG, SC and BS will open the door to any risk of losing control.