Member Info for TigerByTheTail

Hi 1234567!
Isn''t this board - as we agree and disagree with each other - already a kind of open letter to management?
All Dan and Bert have to do is to read through the posts here to get a taste of how PIs in general view this move.
Hopefully, the institutional investors are also making their feelings known to them, more directly. They can't be very amused, either.

Specifically, on the subject of Bunker Hill, I believe you are asking the wrong questions of this investment.
I have worked for years in America, in a particularly litigious sector (the film industry), and I know the American legal system very well. I am convinced that the question you should be asking with regard to Bunker Hill is: "Will this project get sued into the ground over environmental issues?" And I believe the answer to this question is undoubtedly "yes".
Some specific concerns:
The horrific dangers of lead toxicity are well known and accepted scientific fact - that's why we don't put lead in gasoline anymore. Bunker Hill mine itself caused massive problems in the surrounding area when it operated up until the 1980s. Damaging growing children's intelligence is also a highly emotive issue, and any jury will naturally tend to sympathise with the plaintiffs (such kids), rather than the defendant (big bad greedy mining company). Not smelting the lead at site reduces the problem of lead toxicity, but it does not eliminate it. And you can't just mine the zinc and not mine the lead; it doesn't work like that.
So, if I were a hungry, ambitious lawyer in Boise, Idaho, and I hoped to become the next Erin Brockovitch, I would be thinking along two lines here:
a. The permission to reopen the mine was only granted recently by Trump's anti-green pro-greed appointee to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Scott Pruitt. He has since been forced to resign after a series of scandals involving his personal corruption. (The regular EPA staff were heard cheering in the corridors when he had to announce his departure). So, firstly, I would question in court Scott Pruitt's motives in signing off the reopening of the mine, and allege all kinds of corporate malfeasance.
b. Secondly, I would be looking to start a class action suit on behalf of the mine's workers and local people alleging wrongdoing by the company. I would want to document every puff of dust into the air, alleging that it was spreading more poison into the environment. It might be impossible to absolutely prove my case, but it couldn't be disproved, either. And I'd know that the jury would instinctively be on my side...
What amazes me is that Dan Betts and his team don't realise this. But then again, they know nothing about lead mining and lead poisoning, and nothing about operating in the USA...

Hi Lobon!
Two posts and then I'll shut up about this, because I don't want to damage my own investment.
Firstly, I thought I owned shares in "Hummingbird Resources - a West African gold producer". Those are the company's own words.
I have no wish to be invested in lead / zinc.
I have no wish to be invested in the United States natural resources sector (distrust of costs and regulatory issues).
And I have no wish to be invested in a mining investment company rather than a producer (for Hummingbird are presumably looking to take a large minority stake in BKNR, and thus we will all incur two layers of corporate costs).
I feel extremely let down by Dan Betts and Hummingbird that I have been deceived in this manner. I am taking legal advice before writing to the Nomad to enquire whether this amounts (or will amount in the near future) to a breach of the directorial code and a fundamental change of business.
As I wrote before, I am looking to exit this unfortunate investment, but rationally and in my own time.

Hi Frank!
1. There is no doubt about it - investing in a US lead/zinc mine is crazy. I can't see why you can't understand this. Lead is highly toxic and a magnet for endless law suits. The only people to benefit from this mad idea will be lawyers.
2. The board know nothing about operating in the USA or about base metals or about brownfield underground mining. Why can't they stick to what they know?
3. We invested in a West African gold company. Dan Betts has no right to go off on a wild tangent like this. At best, it's high-handed and arrogant; at worst, it's a breach of the director's code.
4. I can only imagine what the institutional investors have told Dan Betts today. It can't have been very pleasant.
5. I actually wonder what is going on with our CEO. Perhaps it is time for the Chairman to step in and take action.
There's a time when blind ramping of a share has to stop, and that's about now. I'm not prepared to sit back and "see what transpires". That's as good as saying I'm happy to let my money be ****ed away.

Then, please God of stockmarkets, send us a takeover soon. - Endeavour, Avesoro, anybody, I don't care who!
A company run like this doesn't deserve to keep its independence.

If this is purely a short term financial operation to loan out $1.5m and to hopefully make a profit on it, then OK, I'll swallow that.
But I really need to hear from Hummingbird that they are not intending to use Hummingbird cash to take a major stake in Broken Hill.
I invested in a West African gold company. I have no wish to be invested (against my will) in a lead-zinc mine in Idaho, USA. I don't care what the potential IRR / NPV of Broken Hill is; it's irrelevant. Environmental and legal concerns will (quite rightly) kill this project before it ever mines a tonne of lead. It's a money-pit.

Hi JW!
It's an old lead mine in Kellogg, Idaho, USA - previously closed down in the 80s, and with a horrible legacy of toxic pollution and the associated mental illnesses lead causes in children.
The go ahead to reopen it was recently signed off by Scott Pruitt, Trump's controversial appointee as head of the Environment Protection Agency. He's recently had to resign having been caught up in a quite amazing number of corruption scandals. In time, all his decisions will be subject to court review, including this one.
On the first suggestion of any lead poisoning, even a little puff of dust in the air, every lawyer in Idaho will be starting up class actions suits against this project.
As bad ideas go, this one is really really bad.
This is obvious stuff, and it really worries me that the BOD can't see this.

Hi Troajan!
Technically, it is possible to do a placing if delisted.
However, it is extremely improbable that any new investors would want to put fresh money into a delisted company - at any price at all. It's financial suicide.

I agree.
I've written already to Bert Monro.
If I can find the Chairman's e-mail I'll write to him as well.
I'd encourage everybody else to do the same. This is serious.

"They are doing what they said they would do..."
Really, JW? So Dan said that HUM were going to throw money at horribly polluting brownfield lead-zinc projects in Idaho before, did he? I must have missed that.
Yes, it's only $1.5m - now. And we Hummingbird shareholders can afford to lose that much, if we must.
But what if Dan decides to invest a lot more into Broken Hill in the next few weeks / months? Then we are truly screwed. Broken Hill is not a good project, and in normal circumstances I would never, ever chose it as an investment.
And what other projects are Hummingbird looking at that we don't know about?
I thought I was investing into a West African gold company. I was happy about that. But now, I find, I'm invested into God only knows what.

Vigenere - to state the very obvious, as it seems somebody must do it, delisting from AIM would be a catastrophe for BMR's shareholders.
Liquidity would dry up completely, and it would be impossible to sell even a small number of shares.
It would also be almost impossible to raise any new equity, which BMR desperately needs to do in order to pay its bills.
For everybody's sake, I really hope BMR is not delisted from AIM. It would be the end of all hope here.

FWIW, I'm not panic-selling, either. HUM shares are worth more than this.
But I would welcome a takeover offer, even at 45p per share.
And I am no longer thinking of Hummingbird as a very long term investment. Between the 1p options grant and this crazy Broken Hill adventure, Dan Betts has lost my trust.

No, getting involved in a lead-zinc project is plain dumb - sorry to be so blunt.
Yes, there is demand for zinc (batteries, galvanised steel). But the cyclical timing is all wrong; prices will fall off a cliff as the inevitable recession approaches. (in fact, they've already started to drop).
As for lead, it's a metal to avoid. In low demand, highly toxic, and a magnet for lawsuits (especially in the USA, for God's sake!). This project will get mired up in endless court disputes.
I really worry what the Broken Hill investment says about the board of directors. They know nothing about base metals and mining in the USA. What are they playing at?
Hummingbird should stick to what it knows, gold and West Africa. And also act far more responsibly with shareholders' money.

Hi Otho!
So far the financial damage is limited - the convertible loan is only a fairly small amount, even if it never gets repaid.
What is more damaging long term is what this says about Hummingbird's management. What on earth were they thinking? As bad ideas go this one is really really bad. Lead is a "futureless" metal - highly toxic, in low demand, and an invitation to endless law suits (especially in the USA). And they have no consent from shareholders to move the company in this direction - I don't want to invest in zinc or lead, especially at the top of the economic cycle!!!

I agree that getting involved in a USA-based lead-zinc project (for no apparent good reason) would be a catastrophic mistake. This is not why I am invested here. Apart from anything else, lead is a major toxic pollutant, and as soon as Trump is voted out of office then the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be all over this mine like a rash. (Note: the recent permission granted to reopen this mine was signed off by acknowledged corrupt Trump appointee Scott Pruitt. All his decisions will be reversed in due course).
The best use of company funds currently (given the atrocious share price) is a buyback. I'm also happy to see some money put into Dugbe to prepare it for sale or a free-carry as part of a joint venture. I would also look positively at other opportunities in the gold sector, especially in West Africa.
But not a lead-zinc mine in Idaho.
This is so weird I am actually going to write to the Chairman of Hummingbird to ask what the f is going on!

Hi DropInMonkey!
The Coris loan is at 9% interest, but early repayment will incur a 50% interest charge. So repaying early will only benefit HUM to a tune of a 4.5% net interest "saving". I'm not sure that saving is worth taking, given the opportunities in front of HUM.
I accept that the Broken Hill convertible loan is well-structured and there is only a fairly low risk of actual loss, and also that the project looks at first sight a good one, but I too wonder why HUM is interested in a lead-zinc project in Idaho.

directorstalk.net/interview-jubilee-metals-group-ceo-expects-even-better-results-next-quarter

(With thanks to Mike Bassetts on BMR board!)

Yep, placing failed. Massive embarrassment all round.
Unless there is something big hidden here, such as a takeover offer in the works, this is not good at all. The actual construction of the mine will be on hold almost indefinitely until an alternative source of equity is found (I'm sure BCN won't be able to use the debt finance until the equity is raised).
I'm amazed AIM is so sanguine about this turn of affairs. Reading that RNS I'd expect the share price to plummet.

My questions for the conference call:
1. What is the long term thinking behind the Bunker Hill investment?
2. What obstacles remain to completing the MDA for Dugbe in Liberia? How long do you think it will take to resolve those difficulties?
3. You mentioned the court process in the RNS. Are you contemplating a share buyback in the near future?

Well, HUM owed Coris Bank $60m + interest. They've probably just repaid the first $5m of the principal ($5m per quarter for 3 years going forward from now). So the debt there should now be $55m (or is still $60m but HUM have $5m in cash ready to pay).
HUM have no other debts that I'm aware of, except run-of-business outstanding invoices.
So, yes, HUM is headed rapidly towards being net debt-free. One more quarter of full production should do it, even at a lower gold price.