The answer to all of your questions is "no"... but then we didn't have any of those answers beforehand either. Now we have a very positive announcement that tells us short term financing was secured and long term financing is being negotiated. It's not "everything" but it is good news.

Good news announced today. Good luck to all KATX shareholders.

I've spent many hours on the phone to and in email conversations with Ken and with others of his team and I know from this experience that Ken is an honest and hard working man who has been doing all he can to make KAT Exploration a success. I am still in touch with him and I know he is still working hard to turn things around for the company and for its shareholders. Unfounded comments like these are in my opinion unprofessional, misleading, unhelpful and unpleasant.

Hi guys. I'm sorry to say that I've had to take on additional responsibilities at work, so I just don't have the time to do the Mod job justice. I hope there's someone else with more time who can therefore do a much better job!

Yes hold its own. I suggest you re-read what I wrote.

Its a miracle this has not returned to its November 2009 sub-penny level of .004.

Although I don't agree with all of what you are saying I agree with much of it. I am very pleasantly surprised that given the lack of money and lack of news KATX has managed to hold up so well in the last 6 months. I think this bodes extremely well for shareholders because when a finance agreemant is signed and an announcement is made I think KATX could take off vertically. If it can hold its own with no news for six months it will skyrocket on the right positive news.

Try reading what I posted again.

I constantly keep an eye on and see for myself that this company is in trouble. What absolute rubbish, and it doesn't even make sense! Driving past a building (even assuming you really have done so) tells you squat. Ken and his team are there every day and I have no doubt they are working very hard, and I have never had any problem getting hold of them whenever I have needed to. None whatsoever.

Apparently many hedge funds were forced to sell gold to cover their losses in other areas, hence the slight dip in gold prices. Gold will rebound even more strongly IMO.

No... it makes it an inaccurate statement, but it is only a lie when there is deliberate intent to deceive. You may think that there was deliberate intent to deceive. I do not.

Falon, whatever they end up doing I would certainly agree that they need to make sure that they do things legally.

Hi. No, I hold both.

I can understand why you would be angry and FWIW I also was buying at those prices, as I had bought all the way up from January through to June last year and had expected great things which have not (as yet at least) emerged. My hope and expectation is that the right investment will move KAT forwards big time. IMO until we get that investment announcement there is little we can say or do except wait. :o)

All the best to you.

Rick

A small correction on reduced volume like this is to be anticipated after multiple days of upward momentum. Hopefully it sets us up nicely for the next leg upwards as existing and new investors see a good entry point.

I accept that what was announced has not happened. But can you prove deliberate intent to lie or is that just your opinion?

You didn't say "closing lower today" you said "closing lower each day" and Splash59 used simple, factual information to show you that you were not just slightly wrong but entirely wrong. Essentially this stock has been running in a groove in terms of price and volume for a few months now, waiting for news. No doubt there will come a time when if no news occurs the share price will indeed start to take a hit but OTOH if the right news hits then the share price could go crazy. Neither you nor I can know whether or when that news will come, though we may have our differeing opinions on it. That is the truth of the situation as I see it.

I accept that what the company said would happen re the BVIG share distribution did not happen, but "lied" is a strong word. I do not believe that the company lied, or not in the sense that I take the word "lied" to mean, ie deliberately and knowingly telling a falsehood. I have no doubt at all that when the news release was issued the company had every intention of the distribution going ahead. I am not suggesting that the BVIG distribution situation is good, it's not and no doubt it's one of the reasons why the share price has fallen so steeply, but I do not agree that the company lied. I realise that this may be an irrelevance for some, but for me it is a very important distinction.

My feeling is that the distribution may well not happen now at all, because the company is in a different situation now and it may not be in the company's (and hence the shareholders') interests to do so. My preference is to roll everything into BVIG and to reward shareholders that way, by moving us up to OTC and keeping the corporate structure nice and simple.

Thanks for sharing your DD with the board and the conversation sounded very positive. "Things moving on" is just what is needed. We are moving upwards even without news so I am more than happy to wait for our announcements... no rush, they will come!

In a word "no" :o)

We are still awaiting developments...

well here at least is something we can agree on...

Hi Akec. Yes indeed, if Ken can get hold of the right ingredients then we have the makings of a highly successful company here...

Every stock in the world will go up on (or on anticipation of) good news and will go down on (or on anticipation of) bad news. This activity is not the definition of a pump and dump! I am not for a moment suggesting that P&D doesn't happen. It does. But the fact that it happens sometimes doesn't mean that it happens with every stock, or even with every pink sheets stock. Your argument is the same as saying "my cat has four legs and all dogs have four legs, therefore my cat is a dog". It simply isn't logical. ;o)

You are effectively defining "pump and dump" as meaning that whenever stock goes up due to increased investor confidence it's a "pump" and whenever stock goes down due to reduced investor confidence it's a "dump". That is most definitely not how the terms pump and dump are generally used. KATX went up in value in the first half of last year because investors (myself included and no doubt Ken too) were optimistic about the company's prospects. The stock took a big hit in the second half of the year when results were not as good as many (myself included and no doubt Ken too) had hoped. That is not a pump and dump, that is investor confidence and it what you would expect to see with any stock in any market anywhere in the world from the NYSE to the pink sheets to the LSE to anywhere else.

As I have already explained, pump and dump is when a company is deliberately marketed to mislead investors into thinking something that is not true. Maybe you think that happened. Maybe you even think that the company did that. I most certainly do not think that. As we now know with the wonderful aid of hindsight, investors (myself included) were wrong to be so optimistic this time last year. That doesn't make it a pump and dump!

As others such as BigOwl have said, this is a longer term play. Neither of us know what is around the corner. A fantastic financing deal and a few good (and honest) announcements about exploration activity on our properties could see us moving up again.

Yes indeed. Back to 0.0068 and over 4m volume so far today. The right announcement will surely make this thing fly!

So is this post from a different B402 then?

If so I apologise.

To change the subject, re IR activities and the term "pump" or the term "pump and dump", "pump" is one of those words isn't it? It sounds bad, maybe even unethical. Actually though, IR is precisely there to bring the stock to the attention of potential investors. That is their job. It's what they are paid to do, and every company (pretty much without exception and no doubt including your Amazon) has an IR department or an IR Officer or an IR agent working for them. What most people understand by the terms "pump" or "pump and dump" is when this is done cynically and deliberately with the intent to fool investors into believing something that is not true. You seem to use the word "pump" to mean "any marketing or positive ststement whatsoever, from anyone whether related to the company itself or not". This seems to me to be a very wide use of the term, and one that might confuse people into thinking you mean that the company is deliberately misleading its investors.

B402, you say...

It is certainly safer to do as you suggest, but not necessarily "best". It comes down to risk versus reward. There can be little doubt that waiting until after a property has been announced with proven minerals would be a safer play, but OTOH those who are in beforehand are likely to see much bigger % gains. I would say it depends entirely on each investor's strategy. Maybe safety over potential growth is what is "best" for you. What's "best" for you may not be best for others.

I (respectfully) do not agree with that at all. Whilst much remains to be done, progress has most definitely been made in the last year and a half, with many exciting properties added to the portfolio and in particular the drill program at HC whilst not in itself being sufficient to prove up reserves looks very promising - sufficient to warrant a Phase II. Yes the company has taken a few steps forwards and also a few steps back, but overall we have moved forwards. Much more needs to be done and there's all to play for.

There is plenty of DD to suggest that EXTO could see some fantastic growth in the next few days, weeks and months, which is why so many people here are expressing optimism about where the share price is headed. But we cannot say it's an absolute certainty that we will see the hundreds or even thousands of percents of gain that many including me are anticipating. No need to get nervous because some are expressing their optimism, but equally it's no good just relying upon other people's expectations rather than working it out for yourself. Enter with eyes open and regardless of where it might ultimately go, make sure to take profits along the way. I would be a lot wealthier if I had always followed this advice! :o)

Hi solidgold. Whatever shareholders were promised, my feeling is that we're 12 months down the line and in a very different place than we were when those promises were made. The company has to make hard decisions, and whatever those decisions are, they should be made in the best interests of the Company. Personally I think we need a different and simplified approach to any corporate restructure. I'd like to see everything go into BVIG, if that can be achieved. As a shareholder I am looking for the company to do the best for the shareholders by doing what is best now, rather than by honouring what was previously promised but may now in hindsight and/or in very different circumstances may actually be harmful to KAT Exploration either in the short term or the long time. What I want to see is a simple and direct route to corporate growth. let's hope we see it!

This is looking very nice...

Hi solidgold, my assumption is that the salaries and wages in the first half included the many people who were short term contracted to work on the exploration at HC, RR and elsewhere, as well as the people who are actual full time and permanent with KAT, hence the big difference between the first and second halves. Or to put it another way, you could allocate maybe $700k or so of the salaries and wages to direct costs of exploration. Of course I could be wrong on that assumption.

I am in at .0042 (as of a day or two ago) and I am looking forward to one or more exciting announcements that IMO could see EXTO move upwards very fast indeed. Good luck all and thanks to the mods and others for all the great DD.

Let me help you some more, because you've got your figures mixed up again and you're reading data from the wrong lines - perhaps you should print it out and use a ruler to give you a guideline :o)

Here are the true facts...

Just under $9,000 was spent on mapping in the first half of the year, none in the second half. Mapping would not be expected to take place except as part of an exploration programme and we know that in the first half of the year we had a programme at RR and a programme at HC, but none in the second half, so those figures look right to me.

Just under $17,000 was spent on axcavator equiment in the year of which all but $567 was in the first half of the year. Again this makes total sense given when the exploration programmes were occuring.

just over $18k was spent on field supplies and again almost the entirety of it was in the first half when the exploration programmes were in operation.

Why might there have been a small amount of expenditure for each of the above in the second half of the year? Well.. this would have been the beginning of October so it may we have been that one or two invoices from the exploration programmes remained to be paid or even had not yet been received at this time, so of course they would carry forward into the second half.

Of course although you were reading the figures off the wrong lines you could still by accident have been right and there may well have been shovels and pails, coolers, ice and beer somewhere within the expenses... and I hope there was! ;o)

I hope that helps.

Hi Rainmaker,

How familiar are you with balance sheets? I'm not sure I agree with your figures, or with your extrapolation of them to arrive at the (to my mind highly erroneous) conclusion that we are funding a hedonistic lifestyle in Newfoundland :o)

We do not operate any mines so you will not find any expenditure on mining activity on our expenses sheet, but assuming you mean exploration activity, where on earth do you get the figure of $100k from? I make it more like (very roughly) $1m on wages and salaries, $500k on exploration, $425k on professional fees, $100k on option agreements and licence fees and the remainder on admin and support. Of this $2.4m total just over a fifth is direct costs of exploration and a little under a half ($1m) is paying everyone's salaries. Almost every business's biggest cost by a long way is salaries. This is perfectly normal.

Let's examine the expenditure shall we?

The left column represents the current financials for the past 6 months (from Oct 2010 to Mar 2011) and the right column represents the previous 6 months (Apr 2010 to Sep 2010).



Let's look at the previous half of the year - salaries were $750k and that's no surprise because this will be for all of the people who were involved in the exploration programs at Handcamp and at Rusty Ridge and elsewhere. Drilling was $250k - but remember these operations are labour intensive and wages probably cost as much or more than hiring the equipment. Between wages and drilling that accounts for a little over half of all expenditure. About $325k was spent on professional fees - this no doubt was to do with BVIG etc. About $110k was spent on line cutting and trenching activities, $80k on assays and $112k on geophysics surveys etc. Another $70k was spent on option agreements and there were various other expenditure on core business activities too (licence fees, insurance, field supplies, accomodation, etc, etc, etc).

Now let's review this half of the year - note that wages have been massively cut back from $750k to $212k. Bear in mind that those wages include not just Ken and Tim but also all other personnel, so if you divide it up betwen say six people (not sure how many are on the payroll in one form or another) it really is a very small amount indeed. I think they have a couple of geologists on the team and I am sure they don't come cheap. Just two geologists alone would surely account for half of that amount in six months. Overall wages was about half of the expenses for the half year, professional fees (lawyers and accountants) were about a quarter and everything else makes up the remaining quarter.

I do not see any extravangance or wastage here. I see a company that was more activity in the first half of its year than the second and which has tightened its belt and done all the right things to keep afloat whilst it is no doubt looking for (and hopefully finding and agreeing the details of) a capital investment deal in order to move forwards again. Meantime they have really controlled their budgets and have reduced expenditure massively.

No boats or jewellery out of that so far as I can see...

Hi ShortonCash. There are only a small number of different ways that companies can raise cash...

1. Borrow it from a bank and pay it back over an agree amount of time at an agreed rate of interest

2. Issue shares (common or preferred stock) and either sell them to existing shareholders (rights issue) or to one or more specific investors (private placement)

3. Use profits from business activities

4. Form a new company and raise capital in that company using methods 1. to 3. above

There may be a few others as well but these are the most common. Banks generally won't lend to a company without seeing definite income to pay them back, or unless there's some kind of asset that can be put up as collateral. Junior explorers do not expect profits until they sell a property or (usually after many years) bring a property into production and sell the minerals. So that leaves issuing shares or bonds.

The most common method of raising capital is a private placement. They agree certain rules (eg how many shares will be bought, what price the investor will pay, over what time period the purchase will be made and so on). Of course, an investor will be looking for a discount because otherwise they would just buy on the market like anyone else. So the investor usually gets a discount off the current price in return for their guarantee to buy the agreed quantity.

Well we won't get much if we're not prepared to give up something to get it. So either we dilute or we find another way. Personally I would be happy with equity financing so long as the deal was right of course. I guess we'd all rather have a smaller share of a successful pie that's going places than a larger share of a stagnant pie that's going nowhere.

Hi Solidgold, and thanks for the kind welcome back from you and from others too and for your continued work as asst mod.

If KAT can get the funding it needs then I believe we will have some exciting and very positive times ahead of us...

I cannot remember. Does anyone else know?

I would think it unlikely that Ken will sell any of his own shares right now. My belief is that he will want to attract investors not frighten them away, and he will need to give up some of the company to get the sort of multi $m capital that we need, so he will need his shares :o)

Hi shaddrack and thank you for the welcome.

Many companies (especially on the all-too-volatile Pink Sheets) have taken similar substantial hits on their stock prices, in fact many companies even go completely out of business and shareholders end up with nothing. This is sad and very regrettable, but it doesn't mean they were all pump and dump scams.

That said, I have no doubt whatsoever that there are P&D scams out there. But IMVSO this is not one of them. Review who is on the Board of Directors and review whether their financial statements match up with the activity shown on (for example) the Newfoundland Government's exploration site. This company is not a scam, it is real, with real people doing (or trying to do) real things to bring value for themselves and to its investors. This is easy to see if you review the DD.

Of course it doesn't mean that the company will be successful. companies fail (or at least fail to perform) for a variety of reasons. In the case of junior exploration companies my belief is that the critical success factors are whether they can attract the right investment, whether they have the right key management in place and most essentially whether the properties are any good. You need all three, but the latter will usually mean you can get the former.

What I understand you to be saying is that you do not have any facts or evidence for KAT Exploration being a P&D and you are simply referring me to what has already been posted and discussed (mostly ad nauseum) on this board, which to my mind has not gone anywhere towards showing KATX to be a P&D whatsoever. I thought as much but thank you for your confirmation of this.

OK I am back as Mod :o)

Volunteers for hard working assistant mods who feel they are able to keep order, maintain the iBox and resist the temptation to promote their own opinions over ensuring a fair and balanced board please PM me!