Member Info for TigerByTheTail

RH69 - They're not great lithium results - that's complete misinformation (as usual, from you). Based on these numbers, the idea of hard rock lithium mining at TV is a total bust. Even Larry Johnson doesn't bother to big the figures up. You don't seem to understand that lithium is common - the 24th most common element in fact. What matters is how cheaply you can extract it, and this operation is never going to be commercially viable, not in a million years. (And this is without considering the (lack of) water problem, which the company has finally admitted). TV might (just might) have a future as a tantalum operation. Tantalum isn't my field and I can't judge. It has NO future as a lithium operation. To suggest otherwise is utter rollocks.

HI Tom Crow! Thanks for posting the new exploration plan. Here are some key facts for this year's work: Exploration Budget: $8.7M (and this comes out of free cash flow!) For 401kozs = $22 / reserve oz 26% Resource � Reserve conversion Total drilling : 70,000m Drilling to commence in May

Hi Johnnywaz! I don't doubt you're repeating what was said, but Hummingbird would have to say that, wouldn't they? Takeovers don't happen all that often, so I guess the odds of one happening here are still less than 50%. But it just makes so much good business sense for a medium-sized gold miner like Endeavour to make a buyout offer in the nearest future - that is, before Hummingbird declares full commercial production, and the SP moves up significantly. Hummingbird's bargain basement share price (and its share ownership structure) make it a very attractive target. In fact, I'm wondering if the quote from Rick Rule that Darola posted this morning is entirely coincidental, or whether it can be read as a public statement of support from Sprott (who are a significant shareholder in HUM).

On the subject of Endeavour, they've just raised a load of money in January and they are one of the very few fellow gold miners that Hummingbird "follow" on Twitter. There is no way that Endeavour have not run the rule over Hummingbird and considered a takeover. They know Mali, and as TomCorvid posted, they've taken over remarkably similar 100,000 oz per year gold miners before.

Hi Ragnar! Yeah, I did get to look Martin in the eye. Liked what I saw.

Hi Kevmb - nobody knows the extraction costs for either Sanankoro or Tekeledougou, of course. But this is Mali, and both are open pit style fresh gold / oxide deposits. So, judging by average costs of similar Mali production, we should be looking at lowest quartile costs. (Finally, this also depends on average grade, of course).

The market-makers have now printed one trade at 18.25 of 250,000 shares from yesterday afternoon - almost certainly a "buy", and presumably from our big buyer (Miton?). Judging by the volume of sells recently there may be another one to come.

For those who follow, Cora's SP is flying again this morning.

Market-makers collecting shares to fill big buy order? At around 18.5p?

Hi Trading Ape! Maybe I didn't make it clear enough. Only the very slightest trace of thorium in this mineralisation (in sharp contrast to other rare earth deposits). No special measures needed to deal with radiation when transporting concentrate. Lopolith (if confirmed) should be made of exactly the same stuff as the narrow veins - 70% bastnasite and 30% monazite. (Just like the breakaway boulders found at Kiyenzi). Should be good on this question.

Looking out into the future??? a. Complete exploration campaign, raise money for second phase of exploration, drill carbonatite pipes to JORC standard (q2 and q3 2018). Meanwhile, ramp up existing production to target output. b. If Kiyenzi confirms, start mining it with existing plant. (It will be made up of the same basic high-grade material as the rare earth veins). c. Propose plan to mine carbonatite pipes at large scale (end 2018), and look for money to build plant to process that ore? (Or use profits from existing mine operation + Kiyenzi)? That's pretty much all I've got. Hope it helps. Definitely holding what I've got. As drill results are still a ways off, I've not piled in this morning to buy more, but will hope for a slight dip in SP sometime over the next month.

For those who care about such things, project mineralisation is about 70% bastnasite, 30% monazite. The rare earth veins are almost pure. It's simply a remarkable geological phenomenon. I found it interesting that the rare earth composition of the basket remains stable.

As said, results due in "late April". No big revelations, but ME seemed pretty relaxed and confident. 1. Carbonatite pipes - yes, grades should be substantially lower in the pipe material, but the tonnage involved will be vast (one pipe has a diameter of 2700m). The carbonatite pipe material WILL require a different (i.e. more complex) kind of processing from the rare earth vein material. 2. Kiyenzi lopolith - if ME knows the results of that drilling yet, then he's a good poker player. But clearly there is "something" there, and the presentation booklet continues to take of a "sill-like anomaly potentially 22m thick, and 80m x 100m in size." I'd bet either on a lopolith, or a very tightly-packed network of veins. The booklet also talks about a quick start to a second confirmatory drilling campaign in Q2 and Q3, leading to a JORC resource later this year. If you think about that, it means results in late April, probably a swift small capital raise to fund second phase of exploration, and a rapid return to exploration. This is a company confident of success.

ME doesn't think there will be a return to the situation in 2011, when China cut off rare earth supplies and prices spiked. But who really knows? Anyway, a U.S. - China trade war can't really have a negative effect on rare earth prices. Magnet rare earths have unequalled performance in permanent magnets and they are not easily substituted by other / cheaper materials. They are still in short supply, and China has been claiming down on their "illegal" mining, which makes up 1/4 of Chinese supply. Longer term there may be other supply coming to market, but most of these projects require big capital raises. For now, the only non-Chinese supply is Lynas Corp in Australia, a mine in the USA, and Rainbow. All in all, the outlook is pretty good for rare earth pricing over the next few years, even without a trade war.

Investors: According to latest slide, Miton now own 5% and Legal & General 6%. Both took part in the December placing, and judging by the way that Miton's stake is growing, they could well be our open market buyer. It's really something for a tiny African miner to have two such institutions aboard. Board and management still own 40%. ME commented with a smile that shares are "very tightly held", which I think we can all agree is true.

Rainy season (the long rains are now) - not a problem. (Simply less rain falls on Burundi than parts of Kenya / Tanzania). Diesel situation in Burundi - OK. Problem lessened from last year. Security situation: OK. No armed guards, no roadblocks. No problems with artisan mining. Radioactivity: Only the slightest trace of thorium in material, well below international safety standards. (ME did indicate this will be a difficult problem for Steelskamp to handle, which I found interesting).

Drilling results from current exploration campaign should come (in one big lump) in "late April". Exploration campaign is apparently on target, time wise. There should also be a quarterly production report in April, which ME promised would give more financial detail. In answer to a specific question, he said that each load / truck carried 25 tonnes of concentrate (25 x 1 tonne bags). So, for example, when he says four trucks / shipments left in February, that equals 100 tonnes. Obviously, ramp-up is still in progress, and will be for some time yet. In the booklet accompanying the presentation current market price of RBW's basket is listed as $14.06 kg (as of 19/3), which has gone up from $12.27 as of 31/12/2017. The magnet rare earths (Nd and Pr) now make up almost 85% of the value of the basket. Sales are very strong and ME said thyssenkrupp would take everything they could dig up.

Hi all! Yes, I went to the presentation last night. Sorry, Shakeypremis, if you were there I missed you (I arrived a bit late). No big revelations, and I'm not sure I'd do it twice, but I've sat through more boring movies and it was free and mildlly useful exercise. General impressions: Martin Eales came off as very relaxed and confident - the best of the four people presenting, I think. The guy from Caledonia Mining (a goldie from Zimbabwe) also presented well. If I were an investor in the other two companies, Thor or Wolf, I'd be selling out this morning. Anyway, I'll deal with various topics one by one...

The apparent "down" is an illusion caused by a tiny uncrossing trade. Current real spread something like 17.7 to sell / 18.1 to buy.

CEY paid out about 7.2p in dividend last night! Anything less than a fall of that amount is in effect a rise!