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I wouldnt worry about CEO attitude, he probably gets lots of calls and since he surely doesnt pull a salary he has limited time.You are shareholder, and good to stay in contact periodically.
1. 3% NSR is better than 30% interest often because maintaining an interest involves issues often of participation in capital costs etc etc. That was one of issues Independance fought Hecla about.
2.The companies you mention are public companies so in the exhibits to their public filings will be the details you seek.
The CEO knows what he is doing, and Chester is a superb long term investment for patient investor. The key is the ownership of the claims in the Silver Valley, everything else gravy.The company has under 5 million shares, if CEO controls over 50%,and company is a hundred years old so many shareholders lost,the public float is minimal ( much less than Independance I think).
I still believe this is a $5 to $10 stock. Hopefully word of mouth with over time start moving price up before Sunshine Silver makes an offer. Just read the NI43-101 report at Sedar website- over 50 million ounces of silver resources + potential for even more at deeper levels -just on Chester ground !
1. Okay, I actually got the ceo on phone. I was shocked I finally got him on my cell phone. He also has been following this board which made me even more nervous.
2. I E-mailed a few questions that were repetitive just to make sure I heard things correctly. Some of the other questions in my e-mail were not asked by me over the phone. In any case , my e-mail (with too many repeat questions) upset him.
3. He suggested that I sell my shares and that chester was too long term for me. All I can say is that I was in independence lead from 2004 until the buy out by hecla in 2008. I am also in a-long term term financial stock that is just coming back now from near death during the financial crisis so I have patience. I have owned chester shares since 2009.
4. I'm kind of wondering whether the ceo is so upset with current marke( that they would like everybody to sell) so they could take the company private cheaply. They actually have a 3% nsr on the properties(new departure and conjecture and still own them. They leased those properties 70% to black mountain and 30% to company called abbott mining for 10 years renewable for 45. In addition ,chester has paid cash to settle any epa issues at conjecture. The more thought about it, the more I realized he's right this is a better deal than owning a 30% interest in it so I wanted him to repeat the terms in writing because it seemed like a good deal.
5. Perhaps you are someone else with more mining knowledge than I ( and better listening skills) would like to contact him so we can find out actual information. I might try to e-mail him again on a better day, but I think he would rather have contact someone other than I.
6. San Bruno: What do you think? I'm trying to make sure this is an accurate account of what happened today.
Metropolitan Mines ( MEMLA) also in a somewhat similar position to Chester in relation to the Sunshine Mine.
If you look at the history of the mine you will see savvy operators locked up these small juniors.
- Sunshine Mining Company owned 51% of Chester, had major ownership in Metropolitan, and bought several surrounding penny juniors. When Sunshine went under, they lost this control.
- When De Motte took over Sterling, he developed relatons with key players in the Silver Valley, and got control of Cheser and major agreement with Metropolitan.
- When Sterling changed management in May 2008 the new people ( Roger Voorhees, Jim Meek)embarked on an inexplicable strategy of getting rid of control of these companies ( hence why Cambell got control of Chester back).
So it is very likely Sunshine Silver will seek control of nearby juniors, and definitely have to have control of Chester. The contracts are based on very old agreements which are not always clear on APEX rights - no mining company wishes to become embroiled in legal challenges to where veins extend onto nearby propertiesm so easier just to buy control.
Other companies that may attract interets in a real silver boom might be ASLM or even SBUM, but CHMN remains best bet followed by MEMLA.
In response,
1. Have been following the juniors for a long time, the 1967-1968 I wasnt around but was a fantastic run, so was 2003-2006 for some stocks. Sterling had an incredible run, so did Chester at same time, American Silver also did well.
2. ILDM was another great run for the patient.
3. Lucky Friday story was best, actually if I recall last bit of Lucky Frday Hecla purchased way over $50.
Problem is now with new rules by clearing agents etc, whole sector dormant but I think Chester will prove the exception.
4. Sunshine Mine- on SEDAR website there is the NI43-101 plan Sterling did as well as that of Sunshine Silver. The original plan De Motte and Mclean put together taken over by Sunshine Silver except they are preparing a massive expansion in capacity. The real kicker is the Sterling tunnel built 2006-2007 which opened up all sorts of new upper country area for exploration.Thi sis in addition to deep targets from 3700 level.
Only wild card is how Campbell chooses to play his cards, hopefully holds out for $5 to $10+ plus per share, and maybe he will release unaudited financials one of these days.He has been around since old Spokane exchange days so he knows his stuff.
1. How long have you been following the Idaho jr's? Any idea what the 1967-1968 run-up was like or the run up in lucky Friday 1964? before $20 was offered by hecla?
2. Did you follow the ildm (independence lead story) when it was happening? I talked to the ceo a few times during that period?
3. Cambpell said a lot of cash was used buy previous people hired in 2005 before they were let go. He told me this in 2009 . I wonder how much of that 500k is left. If usa silver gets lower and lower maybe they sell 10% profits on caladay for some cash.
4. What is your source info on sunshine silvers projections mine plan etc? Have they put out anything other than the updated s-1?
I agree Chester share structure the key- and if Cambell sees it inching up over time, more ammunition for him to go the buyout route. While I agree maybe better they help portion of property interests, they have so many " kicks at the can " value certainly many times higher than current stock rice.
The Independance Lead scenario a good one, even better the originally Lucky Friday takeover by Hecla. ( Stock went from $.05 to way over $20 on final purchase by Hecla, or something in that range).
Chester doesnt need to spend money on promotion ( wonder how much cash on hand they have- used to be over $500,000).
1.I would have preferred they kept a small interest in the properties they gave to independence resources instead of taking only shares.
2. I also worried about any conflicts of interest between chester and brush prairie minerals.
The important thing going for chester 's structure in contrast to other bigger companies are the following:
1. Execution risk is transferred to other companies by owning royalties or net profits interests. Look at what happened to stock prices of revett minerals or atna resources for an example of execution risk.
2. Chester is not even doing any active exploration. No need to hire people to camp up in the frozen north and plan where to drill.
3. The good side of no promotion is that they don't spend money to get their story out. Since no cash is spent, they don't need to sell more shares to cover promotion costs. With the current bear market for jr resource companies, the presentations are not generating any interest anyway. I wonder how much it would cost update the web site which has the same info as it did in 2007.
4. Independence lead's corporate office was a few file cabinets in the treasurers cpa office. The board was paid in shares. usa silver took a position and hecla bought them out and no promotion was needed. The funny thing was listening to Phil Baker of Hecla explaining to analysts in April 2008 what independence lead was and why it was attractive to take them over.
5. For all of the above reasons , chester can manage to wait out the current bear market without the big dilution that other jr miners are forced into as a result of lack of cash flow.
6. The lag time as a result lack of promotion will give those who know about this time to increase their position even after silver prices increase and the more well known miners have already moved.
Good points.
1.Conjecture is in an environmentally-sensitive area, and even if they are going "zero-discharge" , even if nearby mill has sufficient capacity, it will still take quite a whilebefore it can produce If a "few quarters" after that , say 12 months, that is extremely aggressive. New Departure a better situation, but realize to re-open a mine requires equipment, personne, inspecetcions by MSHA and if Montana you can be sure that there will be some state oversight.
However both properties if on a path towards production a plus for Chester.
2. Chester Sunshine claims- The old plan De Motte and Mclean developed Behre Dolbear spoke highly about both then, and in subsequent NI43-101 report for Silver Opprtunities said the same. Main difference strategically is that Silver Opportunities wishes to expand capacity significantly, and has capital for more drilling. So (a) It would seem key target areas in Sterling's plan at 3700 level and bleow may be reached earlier than in Stelring's plan (b_)De Motte and Mclean were very innovative and set in motion the "upper country" exploration strategy which evidently working out well. I wonder if this will eventually cover Chester ground. (c)Chester may argue it has APEX rights for veins that start on its claims- which could lead to possibility of payments due from more than just their claims.
I agree . I dont know when Chester will take-off but at some point it will and the leverage is phenomenal.
1.Black mountain resources claims new departure will be in production by July and conjecture a few quarters after that. They claim no permits needed-check their web site. On the other hand stock of bmz.l or bmz.ax keeps hitting new lows. Still there's only upside for chester and not much downside with their relationship with black mountain resources.
2. I remember looking at an old sterling mining plan that had chester in production 3-4 years after production started in other areas. The other problem (similar to independence lead) is 20% net profits is after capital costs have been paid back. I think 4% nsr will kick it before though.
3. The one good thing about lack of info is their will be lag time before chmn starts to move compared with hl or even usgif when silver starts to move.
a few thoughts:
1. i cant imagine why new sunshine owners would wait until they were closer to production from chester area to make an offer (a) not only price woudl go up but negotiations could slow down production from that area (b) price less now because of current price of silver.but your scenario certainly possible. intemrs hwere they woudl produce from,h"sweet spots" forerly identified at the 3700 level are significantly in the Chester area - especially since while teh De Motte-Mclean plan still in placement, a key modification has been a much bigger capacity- so they will need the consistent ore to achieve this plan.
2.the conjecture and new departure certainly great value additions to chester, but i would forget about producing in 1 year. conjecture are has been under EPA scrutiny for some time, will take a while for permits.
look forward to hearing what CEO says. i still say this is a $5 to $10 stock.
1. I wish you were right ,but I think their plans are: Get ipo done first. Production will not be in chester vein for a few years. Once in production, they will be able to do a stock deal and conserve cash. It will cost them more, but it's 5? years away and they (sunshine silver) will have a much higher stock price if & when they get into production. Remember they also will need to buy out others in the area also such as metropolitan and mineral mountain.
2. There is a possibility we will not have to wait that long with new departure and conjecture. Black mountain Resources claims that they will be producing 1.7 million ounces of silver at a cash cost near $10 per oz. If I'm right ,chester and 30% owned lfex will have a 30% interest in this production in about 1 year!
3. I hope to talk to Bill Campbell soon and find out if I'm right.
One of many sleepers like you noted; perhaps the best one if all of #2 is true!
My opinion is the fellows who now own the Sunshine if they are smart wil make an ofer before they start producing to buy control of Chester, production will only make Chester hold out for higher price.
Yes would be nice if Chester posted even unaudited statements as it has a lot to brag about as it seems many investments and or propertie sthey dont fully disclose to investors.However quite clear the net asstes of company exceed teh market cap by several times.
A real sleeper that requires patience, but cant imagine a simpler investment play.
1. There is an article in mining web concerning Black Mountain resources plans for new departure and conjecture. Conjecture used to be owned by chester but was traded to lucky Friday extension mines for 4 million shares of lfex. Both companies own some of black mountain but they must still own the 30% of both properties that black mountain does not own. I have not confirmed this though.
2. The big problem down at sunshine was the delay caused by the fire and the poor market conditions that have delayed and will continue to delay the sunshine offering. Until they get the funds, the sunshine and chester will continue to be inactive.
3. Chester & Lucky Friday extension have some properties east of lucky Friday mine and there is is also something called the wheat land gold property. Perhaps someone get ask management about these. They also owned a few other Idaho mining stocks.
4. One good thing about Chester is management is not having to spend huge sums on promoting themselves. I hope the new board member John Ryan will be happy with future shares.
5. Thanks for trying to keep this board alive and here's hoping a few others join us in the future.
You may be correct about the current ownership of Independence as I was going by earlier figure.
As you point out with under 5 million share outstanding even without the Sunshine claims Chester's impleid value over its current market cap.
The Sunshine Chester claims are the jewell in the crown. The Behre Dolbear Ni43-101 originally quoted a resource of over 50 million ounces, but didnt identify which reserves on Chester ground. This is an even betted deal than the old independence Lead- which at $.50 a share and Hecla bought out for over $10.
The Chester claims have interesing history, Under Sterling's CEO Ray De Motte Sterling worked out with Chester for Sterling to own majority. When De Motte left, new team headed by Jim Meek and Roger Voorhees took over they traded for almost no cash the ownership back to Chester.Now new Sunshine owners stuck though with original lease with Chester, which grants Chester 20% of profits from all production from the Chester claims !
Chester therefore has for each share outstanding control of over 12 ounces of silver, or if one uses profit percentage, 2.4 ounces per share of Chester. One day Sunshine owners will buy them out- I think over $10 a share easy.
1. I think chester owns only about 300k of independence resources and the majority is held by brush praire minerals (privately held by Bill Campbell). Those shares were acquired for the rights to the cobalt property in Idaho and the gold property in California.
2. What's more interesting is the new departure and conjecture properties which were transferred (70 % only!) to Australian listed Black Mountain resources. Chester plus 40% owned Lucky Friday extension mines own about 300k of this company which has a total market cap of about 7 million. However they also seem to retain 30% of new departure and conjecture properties with an implied value (based on 70% black mountain res) of over 2.5 million.
3. That 2.5 million value is over 1 million more than the total market cap of chester without including the whole chester and bismark properties that are part of the sunshine mine.
4. I have been trying to contact Bill Campbell at the 800 number listed on the chester mining web-site to find out whether points 1-3 are indeed correct. Maybe someone else who reads this will have better luck.
Chester owns $1.5 million in shares ( 10 million shares) of Independence Resources (formerly senetek). this equates to $.30 per share. Plus owns key Sunshine Mine claims.
Chester according to NI43-101 report prepaared by Behre Dolbear has 51 million ounces of silver resources. If valued at even $.50 an ounce for market cap. that means $25 million dollars- chester has under 5 million shares outstanding. Theoretically this means a value of $5 a share in sunshine silver buys them out.
Fantastic but for long term investors. Could be 1 month , could be 5 years, who knows.
Will Sunshine Silver buyout Chester ? Seems a long time coming but apparently Sunshine Silver doing IPO next month. For long run they need Chester claims. Sunshine Silver planning massive investment in the Sunshine - over $100 million. Basically re-invent the wheel : new infrastructure to increase annual capacity from 5 million to 8 million ounces.So logical to assume at some point rather than pay Chester 20% of profits from production from their claims, that they wil buy Chester out.
When would be anyone's guess !
CHMN acquires interest in Senetek (?) PLC
Chester Mining apparently has acquired an interest in a public company with chrome deposit in Idaho and Gold in California.
Chester sitting in catbird seat at the Sunshine Mine.
Sterling just had another bankruptcy hearing and inching towards the new buyer taking full control. The bankruptcy court evidently confirmed Chester's lease.
So Chester's time is coming for the patient !!
Properties
Conjecture Mine - The Conjecture property consists of approximately 240 acres and includes both patented and unpatented lode mining claims, located in the Lakeview Mining District of northern Idaho, roughly 30 miles northwest of the Coeur d'Alene Mining District. Read more...
Chester & Bismark Properties - North Idaho's prolific "Silver Valley" has been buzzing with excitement since Sterling Mining took control of the Sunshine Mine in June 2003. The Sunshine Mine is the richest silver mine in American history with more than 360 million ounces of production over the past century, within a district which has produced in excess of 1 billion ounces of silver. And yet, geologists estimate less than 15% of the district has been explored using modern exploration techniques. Read more...
Other Properties - Please contact Chester Mining Company for more information.
Chester has approximately 4.4 million shares outstanding, positive working capital and no debt.
Any kind of buying pressure sends this one up in a big hurry.
You are quite correct a chart would be most helpful.I am technologically challenged so do not know how to add a chart,if you could do so it would be helpful. I did not know making a post makes one the moderator !
Chester Mining remains a low float high-value per share stock that is a sleeper until recognized. It is very thinly-traded so accumulating over time in small amounts makes sense.
You need a chart in the Ibox too along with the website addy...
http://www.chestermining.com/
It would seem if one accepts speculation, and is patient, for a bet on silver Chester Mining in my opinion a reasonable bet though not the only one.I like it- simple and clear speculation on silver without having to worry about management spending too much money or issuing too many shares !
Thanks san sounds like what i am looking for. Will have to sell something with less potential and get a position. Will see if the co. will send me some info.
Chester is a medium term dream stock if you want leverage to silver.
1. Low Public Float : while under 5 million shares, most in hands of insiders who can only sell 1% of outstanding shares per quarter.
2. Resources/Reserves : the NI43-101 rpeort on the Sunshine Mine ( available on sedar ) shows over 50 million ounces in the Chester vein area.
- How many low priced stocks like this have a NI43-101 report showing actual resources located in the heart of the richest silevr mine in American history AND management who is waiting for much higher prices to sell AND not taking out salaries ?
3. Potential : the Chester vein area is part of any future of the Sunshine Mine. It has also other mining assets.
5. Merger/Takeover : Whomever ends up with the Sunshine Mine has no choice but to do business with Chester Mining.
6. Cheap Management : Management hardly spends a dime, doesn't take salaries.
The stock has traded as high as $6 in the past few years, and is very thinly traded. So key is to buy in small amounts and accumulate over time.
I would hazard a guess a good selling price would be in $6 to $9 range within 1 to 4 years.
For the more speculative investor, act as a market maker, have order in for 2,500 shares at least 15% over the bid, and sell 10% under the ask, but do so continually. Over time this for the patient investor can deliver good returns. Liquidity is low for this stock to be sure.
Not much info available. Sent a request on their website asking for more info. Would buy some shares if good potential.
Chester Mining owns key mining claims that form part of the Sunshine Mine. It has a very small public float. It has under 5 million shares outstanding, yet the NI43-101 report on the Sunshine Mine shows over 50 million ounces in resources ( per the Chester website).
It has traded over $5 per share in the past. This is one it appears best to accumulate waiting for when the market realises it's value.
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Chester Mining Company (CHMN) was founded in Coeur d'Alene in 1900 to explore the Chester property, just east of the Sunshine Mine, in the heart of Idaho's world-famous Silver Valley. The property was later operated by Sunshine Mining & Refining and was most recently producing silver between 1961 through 1976. Chester paid shareholders a substantial dividend while its property was in production.
Today, a reinvigorated Chester Mining is a unique mineral exploration company with a strategy of acquiring properties in proven mining districts and leasing them out to generate an income stream while retaining speculative leverage to exploration success through royalty interests.
Chester has approximately 4.4 million shares outstanding, positive working capital and no debt.
Conjecture Mine
The Conjecture property consists of approximately 240 acres and includes both patented and unpatented lode mining claims, located in the Lakeview Mining District of northern Idaho, roughly 30 miles northwest of the Coeur d'Alene Mining District.
The Conjecture property is currently under lease to Shoshone Silver Mining Company.
The Chester Property
The Chester property consists of a 100-acre parcel, completely surrounded by the Sunshine Mine property and less than one mile east of its Jewell Shaft.
Despite almost 100 years of continuous production at the Sunshine Mine, having produced silver at grades exceeding on average 27.8 ounces of silver per ton, there has been relatively limited exploration in the upper levels of the mine due to the historical record of consistently converting resources to reserves and production at the Sunshine Mine.
Since 1900, Chester Mining has been in the area, and is now in its second century. For years, Chester Mining Company paid dividends derived from its profit percentage of silver produced from the Chester property area.
Chester Mining anticipates benefitting from Sterling Mining's announced dual program for advancing its Sunshine Mine project: Exploration in the "upper country" of the Sunshine Mine and rehabilitation of the mine and restoration of power and services to re-commerce mining in the "lower country".
(Click to enlarge polarization map)
The Bismark Property
The Bismark property consists of a 75-acre parcel, adjacent to the Sunshine Mine property and roughly one mile south-southwest of its Jewell Shaft. The Bismark claims were developed by a 1500-foot access drift from the surface and include over 1000 feet of lateral development along the Bismark Vein. Under the prior lease, Sunshine Mining & Refining drilled the property to explore the downward extension of the Bismark Vein. Although mineralized vein material was intersected, along with other veins and fault structures, detailed information regarding grade and thickness were not disclosed.
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