Member Info for Tyfoon

I don't think that's quite what daitom meant when he asked for 'new' news but it's better than nothing I guess

on the timetable and next steps to finalise the process with this article from yesterday http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/32890-16-days-go-mantashe-unwavering-charter-talks-deadline/ "SOUTH Africa mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, showed no signs that the three month deadline for completion of Mining Charter negotiations was in peril in his maiden budget vote speech in Parliament today in which he also vowed to stamp out corruption in his Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). In addition, Mantashe said a Mining Charter summit was envisaged, to take place after conclusion of the discussions, in which stakeholders would be asked to review the finished document as a means of testing it before it was gazetted. New proposals would not be permitted at the summit. �We are trying to finalise the stipulated period of three months [in negotiations for the Mining Charter],� he said. �I can report there has been serious engagement with all stakeholders,� he added. Charter negotiations, which have broadly focused on the areas of transformation and industry growth, started in March with Mantashe sticking by claims they would be finished by end-May, in 16 days time. He identified community engagement has a key achievement in the Mining Charter redraft process. �We have visited seven community areas and will still have meetings with another five. Once we are finished, we will have ensured consultation about the charter and will have minimised the risk of it being rejected,� he said. Mantashe also repeated comments, first made on April 10, that charter negotiations were �80% complete�. Departing from his prepared speech, Mantashe said: �I get criticised for saying this, but percentages are estimated�. Commenting on the proposed Mining Charter summit in a later press conference, Mantashe said its purpose was to allow stakeholders to comment on items that had been left out of the new Mining Charter. �Before we publish and gazette it [the Mining Charter], we must test it,� added Mantashe in response to questions. �That is what should be the last stage. We have gone to communities, labour and the Chamber [of Mines] and this is what has come out. People can comment whether we have left things out or have distorted it,� he said. Mantashe added there wouldn�t be any new inputs allowed at the summit. �The summit is not for new proposals entirely as that will be counter-productive, but it is to capture issues raised in the consultation process,� he said."

98D7, not sure if your comment was tongue in cheek, but spbhoy is a LTH here and consistently positive, plus this BB is for people to post their opinions. How many here have never posted their 'feelings' about something eg I feel there's an RNS coming. I know I have. Just saying

This news item is too big to post in it's entirety but it's good read with plenty of good news for SA and, by extension, BMN and us. Here's the pre-amble from the article: "OHANNESBURG � Faith in South Africa is starting to return as illustrated by the country�s first Eurobond sale since September last year. Treasury said that it managed to raise $2bn from notes maturing in 2030 and 2048 and that its bond sale was 1.7 times oversubscribed. Demand stemmed from major financial centres in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Middle East and Asia. The proceeds will be used to finance government�s foreign currency commitments. The over-arching theme here is that global investors have faith in Team Ramaphosa. South Africa is increasingly also being viewed as a safer haven among its emerging market peers, some of whom (like Russia and Argentina) have been struggling of late. " https://www.biznews.com/sa-investing/2018/05/16/ramaphosa-sa-eurobond-sale-oversubscribed/

Cheers mate, the plot thickens...

Dammit AM, you got in before me! Lol (and by a full 30mins too, altho in my defence I've been having more probs with this website) Anyway, my questions still stand if anyone would care to comment

On this quiet afternoon I thought I'd share an observation with the BB. On the BMN website under the 'Investor' tab and dated 30th March, Pictet Asset Mgmt, Geneva held 63,692,075 shares or 6% of issued shares but no TR1 was ever issued for their acquisition; however, on the investor presentation shareholders list as at 10th May, First Island Trust Company Limited held 41,349,909 shares or 3.87% of the total shares issued (TR1 issued on 27th April), and Pictet are no longer listed. It may well be that Pictet sold a large proportion of their shares to First Island and consequenty their own holding has dropped out of the top 10, or they may have even divested entirely, but without a TR1 we'll never know. It looks like a bit of smoke and mirrors going on, but who would ever have thought that a large, respected financial organisation like that would try to obfuscate their market dealings (he said, tongue firmly in cheek). I know that BMN can't issue a TR1 without being informed by the shareholder in question, but does anyone have any other ideas for the lack of Pictet TR1s to date? Being Geneva based, do they even have to inform BMN so that they can issue the TR1?

Thanks Daisydog but I actually read that article as positive. I believe that, now he has identified this issue and gone public with it, Gwede is going to kick some ass and unblock the blockages that have held so many licence applications back for many years ie the 'brown envelope' stage of the process. I think the licence will now appear quickly because whoever it was that was holding his hand out while holding the licence back will now want to appear squeaky clean and get that licence out of his/her intray at the rush. I also think the long delay over Mokopane speaks volumes about the integrity of FM and the BoD in that they have obviously not paid the bunce demanded else we would have had the licence months/years ago. My faith in the BMN management team has been confirmed once again.

(crap website this) ...and turn SA mining into the 'sunrise' industry Cyril says he wants.

...and why it's taking so long https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2018-05-16-gwede-mantashe-blasts-department-bedevilled-by-corruption/ "Gwede Mantashe blasts department bedevilled by corruption The minister vows to clean up backlogs in application process for mining rights and licences Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe conceded on Tuesday the application process for mining rights and licences was "fraught with corruption". These and other challenges were inhibiting the development of the sector. The problems contributed to a decline in prospecting rights, unprocessed applications and unexplained red tape, Mantashe said in his budget vote speech in Parliament. He undertook to tackle the problems "aggressively" and to restore the reputation of the mineral resources department. "The preliminary investigation has found that the backlog on new mineral right applications stretches as far back as 2012 in some regional offices. "It has further been found that the applications for renewal of prospecting right applications go as far back as to 2010. "The implication of unprocessed renewal applications is that it blocks any other party from applying for mineral rights in that area. No satisfactory reasons were advanced as to why we have these backlogs. The word in the corridors is that applications from �known� or �paying� applicants are prioritised. Internal systems to detect delays in the processing of mineral right application is non-existent. "Renewal applications are normally dealt with on the applicant�s request, otherwise it is hardly attended to. "To unleash our economy, we must overcome this hurdle to ensure that prospectors can prospect and those with the legal permits and the means to mine can mine. Among various considerations before us is an audit of all applications, permits and mining rights. In addition, various measures to deal heavily with corruption," he said. The fact that there was a large a number of mines and shafts that were not operational and were being kept on a care and maintenance basis had contributed to the massive decline in mining production. These mines were sidelined in favour of high-grade mines. He would be discussing the "use it or lose it principle" with companies to encourage them either to use their assets or allow others to do so. Mantashe said he was reluctant to enforce this law, which has not been used before. His comments were made in the context of the 8.4% plunge in year-on-year mining production in March. On the Mining Charter, he said the government aimed to finalise and gazette the revised charter in June." Good spot Gwede, now give us our Mokopane licence asap. And while you're at it, how about creating a Mining Charter that's actually mining and investor friendly? That might just save thousands of jobs and turn SA mining into the 'sunrise' i

And the comedy answer is.... Nope there's still only two of them! I'll get my coat...

faramog, personally I wish you had won it because then we would have already achieved our first target for this year, a charity (yours) would already have recieved your/our donations, all LTHs would be many more quids in and, on top of all that, we'd be looking forward to - or have already had our - 30p party! (Also, I need to sell a few shares soon for living expenses and I'd much rather sell them around 30p than 21p)

Haha, nice one kev, but also it's just round the corner and any day now, I can feel it in my water, it's coming! (eventually) :-)

Espaol (I'm not sure a real Spaniard would mispell the name of his own language, Espanol), the rules on here state that, if you post anything in a foreign language, you MUST also post the same words in English IN THE SAME POST. Reported.

gambit I hope you're right about the RNSs, I've read the BMN press releases, RNSs and web pages so many times now that I'm starting to get annoyed by the typos! Have pity on me FM and bring on some earth-shattering (in a good way) news soon, imminently even... :-)

I have used them, but no longer because I learnt the danger the hard way. I was in an African gold miner about 3 or 4 years back, the sp was hovering around the 18-20p mark for several days then one day the first opening trade was a large sell at 14p which was way below the bid price so of course the MMs dropped the bid viciously down to match that sell and just happened to take out lots of stops in one fell swoop, including mine which was set at 16p, but settled @ 14p. Strangely, the large sell was cancelled about an hour later... Make of it what you will, but I'll never set a stop again!

In case you've forgotten, he also pointed out that it's v expensive to switch from V to niobium and, if you want to switch back for any reason eg niobium price spike, it's equally expensive to do the reverse. I can't see too many steel producers rushing to to that, can you?

It could play right into my hands as I've got more funds coming on Monday :-)

the sell-on-news brigade and the MMs have teamed up for a bit of fun this morning

Hi rhertig, I'm not in casp but I'm interested in your comments about buying shares in the US because I've got a mate who lives in Canada and wants to buy a certain AIM listed share. He's never bought a share in his life before so can you give me some idea of how he would go about doing so? He's found the share on the US grey market but, as a total novice, I don't think he'd be wise to buy his shares there imo Apologies to all for off topic questions