Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
As much chance of that as £7+. Trying to time the market is hopeless. It’s a long term investment, and entry price, whilst important, will fade over time.
Black rock hold Solgold in their World Mining Trust fund.
https://www.blackrock.com/uk/literature/policies/bwmt-portfolio-disclosure.pdf
My take on this.... fwiw.... it’s great news. The fact that AHEAD of the exploitation agreement extension (end of next year) they intend to negotiate an exploitation agreement. If successful, an exploitation agreement is for 25 years, and can be extended for a further 25 years. That is, to my mind, something that will provide a much needed boost to the SP in the absence of a bid. If I’m a potential bidder, I.e. a major mining business, I want to negotiate that license myself. Something obvious, but I feel constantly needs pointing out on here..... we do not, never have, and never will, own the minerals we have discovered. They will always be owned by the Ecuadorean state, on behalf of the people. We merely own the license which is our main asset. If (big if) we can get an exploitation license in place prior to any bid, I think we are in a much, much stronger position.
Ok, as promised yesterday, below is the response I received to my query over the current position of the exploration license at Cascabel. Fair play to them for the prompt reply. Seems I was wrong in assuming evaluation started at PEA, but my point around the time constraints remains valid. Here’s the reply in full....
Thanks you for reaching out. You're correct, the timeline consists of 4+4+2: 4 years early exploration, 4 years advanced exploration and 2 years economic evaluation that can extend another 2 years. At Cascabel we currently have an Exploration Investment Protection Agreement (as announced on 23 November 2021) that covers the period through to end-2023. Ahead of that time the Company will be negotiating an exploitation agreement that goes beyond then, so this is the timeline you should be looking at. As announced in the Company Update on 22 November 2022, we will continue to de-risk the Cascabel project.
Kind regards.
I understand that any buyer will want their own DFS. but my point is there isn’t a buyer yet. The PEA for Cascabel came out in May 2019. From which point, we had two years to complete an economic evaluation. This can be, and presumably was, extended for a further two years. That gives us until May next year to **** or get off the pot. Do we believe we will be sold before May? I would take a great deal of comfort from a simple RNS outlining the latest position with regard to the Cascabel license. Given it’s our main asset, is that too much to ask? If I’m BHP, I’m already in discussion with government officials about taking over that license on the cheap.
Ok, so we were (allegedly) on a path to production. I always struggled to believe that, but if I’m an Ecuadorean government official responsible for overseeing mining exploration licences, I had a clear project path and timeline, PFS, DFS, mine design, build commence etc. All published on the company website, and all within the timeframe of the existing Cascabel license agreement. Now there’s nothing. Presumably any buyer will have to renegotiate (and possibly restart) the timeline from PFS. Unless and until that happens, the imm we have left on the economic evaluation stage is running out. As another poster likes to say on here...... tick tock.
“Since announcing the merger, the SolGold board has acted swiftly to position the combined company on a path that is in the best interest of all shareholders.”
Sorry to sound facetious.... but isn’t this what any decent board should be doing ALL the time? I get that the combined companies may have different strategic goals than the individual ones, but it begs the question what path were we on before this “swift” action?
Sorry to be a copy and paste poster, but here’s a section of Ecuador Mining Law..... In accordance with the mining law, a mining concession has four years on initial exploration, four years on advanced exploration, two years renewable to an additional two years on economic evaluation and the remaining up to 25 years on exploitation. The exploitation period can be extended for up to another 25 years.
So I’ve we are clearly in economic evaluation, and have been for some time, that clock is ticking. And not in a good way.
Monte, your post of 20:14 pretty much hits the nail on the head. It’s been a mishandled, sorry mess. I further share the sentiment of your last sentence.. “ Hopefully the filling of troughs and options is done ad we can get rid if the whole lot quickly.” But sadly I’ve long since given up on optimism for the best outcome for Sol gold. We shall see. I don’t believe it will be too long now. Those licences have some pretty penal clauses (government take ownership of the lot) if we don’t get the finger out soon and either design a mine, or sell it to someone who will.
“.... is said to be at the centre of a bidding war between Jiangxi, China’s largest copper miner on the one side, and BHP ... “
shoddy journalism. Said by who? If this were known, and true, SP would be well north of 17p. Now I’m not saying something isn’t going on in the background, I just don’t know, but if it was the open secret implied here, we would be seeing more movement on SP. it’s speculative fluff.
Our old CEO Malcolm Norris ( who secured Cascabel) is beginning to make a few ripples again in Ecuador, not too far way from us.
Anyone who fancies another rollercoaster decade might want to get in on the ground again..... it’s not for me, I’m to old to wait for another Solgold type project. Couple of drawbacks.... it’s only quoted in Oz at present, and Cornerstone are once more involved, but if you believe in the future of mining in Ecuador, I’d say this crew represent as good a prospect as any.
Well.... I’m in here...... anyone else?
RK, if, as you say, you have filtered me, you probably won’t get this post, but in case you have held back on pressing that button, here goes.
My last post did not mention you by name, however you correctly assumed it was directed at you. It was meant to be a lighthearted critique of you recent posting history on here, but I agree, it was slightly barbed. If I’ve offended you, I apologise.
However, there is a serious message here. Please, for your own sake, and health, try to obsess slightly less on this share. It can’t be good for you. It’s a beautiful day. Go for a walk. If ever anyone needed to sell down part of their holding in one share, it’s you. I suspect you are in this well over your head, and are absolutely desperate for a profitable exit. You’re right, that may be just around the corner. But, as bitter experience here has taught us all, it could still be years away.
There are better was to spend your time (and money). You can’t take it with you.
Best wishes.