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Here was the hit video in England...
looks like you will have to cut and paste link below
mms://a429.v137372.c13737.g.vm.akamaistream.net/5/429/13737/449abb00/1a1a1a127fe61481e65acc3b69cc3b69de4978ee57bb208f/narnia.wmv
or click the link at the middle of this article:
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=16024&in_page_id=2&expand=true
My take is that the financing is a done deal. Is that quick enough...
Less dilution would result via Preferred Share financing. Preferred shares have a preference should GBN go bankrupt, preferred shares would get first claim to assets. Also, preferred shares are often paid a preferred dividend, let's say 6% interest rate vs. bank interest rate of 10%, and often preferred shares have a conversion feature into common at 50% above current share price, e.g. Thus, the number of shares (dilution) needing to be issued is lower via Preferred shares.
If GBN goes the bank debt route, then GBN would have to hedge future gold ounce sales (e.g. 50% of production for first 5 years). Preferred shares are considered equity financing, even though preferred shares may be entitled to a semi-annual dividend before any dividend to common shareholders.
back from vacation. attended the EPM annual meeting in London. will post more by this weekend. am very positive on EPM.
this article deserves full post...
Construction at Burnstone project expected to start in July
---
Gold-development company Great Basin Gold (GBG), of Canada, is ready to proceed with initial development of the R1-billion Burnstone gold project, near Balfour, in Mpumalanga, and is awaiting only the necessary permits from the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) before proceeding to first blast.
Located in the South Rand area of the Witwatersrand Basin, Burnstone is situated on portions of 34 farms, 80 km on a main road from South Africa’s golden capital, Johannesburg. The basin was first identified in 1887 and the Burnstone property has been drilled intermittently since the 1970s. But more intense interrogation only truly began after the prospect’s acquisition by GBG in late 2002. Since January 2003, a total of 125 090 m of core has been drilled from 261 holes into the resource area. This process has unearthed a proved initial resource of 15,1-million tons, grading at 4,61 g/t.
The priority now, though, is to move more aggressively toward construction and production, with high-profile South African mining personality and former Harmony Gold marketing director Ferdi Dippenaar having been recently appointed CEO to drive this programme.
He is prioritising the assembly of a high-calibre team to deliver the project and tells Mining Weekly exclusively that he is optimistic that project work will get under way sometime in July.
Accelerating development
Dippenaar sees his main role as that of accelerating the development of a prospect now viewed as a company maker. He says the deposit has been well interrogated, pointing out that a technical report and final feasibility study was completed in May. In addition, funding for the project is available, with the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)-listed company having raised C$35-million (about R200-million) earlier in the year. Dippenaar says this money should be sufficient for the first two years of development and will facilitate the start of decline construction and take the project to first intersection.
Burnstone is envisaged as a typical long-life South African gold mine, with its geology reportedly mirroring that of Harmony’s Evander mine, a few kilometres away. In fact, a toll-treatment relationship is being considered with Evander in order to moderate surface- infrastructure costs. It is anticipated that, in the first phase, the mine will produce about 214 000 oz/y over a life-of-mine of 14 years. The cash costs are estimated at $254/oz and total costs at $314/oz.
Its main distinguishing feature, though, is that GBG plans to start mining from a decline at 250 m below surface, which, in South Africa, is extremely shallow. Another big advantage lies in the fact that it is virgin operation, allowing for the latest innovations, technologies and people structures to be introduced, a factor that the company is keen to maximise.
Funding in hand, JSE listing seen as strategic
Various further funding options are under review, including the deployment of cash flows from its Ivanhoe project, in Nevada, which is now under development. The project is a high-grade, short-life joint venture on the famous Carlin Trend, in the US, where the company is anticipating costs of around $150/oz.
Dippenaar stresses that, during construction, risk or equity funding will be GBG’s preferred financing route, as debt financing would inevitably result in hedging commitments. “Shareholders have not had the full value of their investment, and to hedge away the future upside is probably not the way to go,” says Dippenaar, who was part of the rabidly antihedging core while at Harmony. “We are on the realising-value curve as we begin developing the mine, so we do not want to dilute shareholders, especially since we don’t need the funding.” This desire not to dilute shareholders will be sustained even as the company pursues a secondary listing on the JSE, being tackled in light of significant interest from South African retail and institutional investors. “We also had some interest from European companies that traditionally trade on the JSE,” reports legal and compliance VP Willie Beckmann, who joined Dippenaar from Harmony earlier this year. For now, the JSE listing will provide a further funding mechanism through which GBG can structure and fund opportunities in Burnstone, thereby facilitating growth. “But it must be emphasised that the listing will not include an invitation to subscribe for shares in GBG. It will merely be the introduction of GBG into the ‘gold mining’ sector of the JSE,” Beckmann explains, admiting that it could be a significant future funding vehicle. Interestingly, GBG’s listing preparations are being supported by JP Morgan, a company employed by Gold Fields in 2004 to aggressively fend off the hostile advances of Harmony, which had been orchestrated, in part, by Dippenaar. In an unrelated, but also somewhat ironic twist, it appears, too, that the Burnstone project is subject to a sliding-scale royalty payable to Gold Fields itself. But this may be circumvented by South Africa’s new minerals regime and the impending royalty legislation.
Beckmann is optimistic that the listing process will culminate in Great Basin’s entry to the South African gold board sometime in late June or early July. He says the listing process has been smoothed by dint of the company’s listing on the TSX, whose compliance criteria are compatible with those of the JSE.
Prelisting documentation is reportedly being finalised and even though it involves listing as a foreign entity and the foreign-exchange issues that are conjured up, it is not expected that the South African Reserve Bank will raise any serious impediments.
Dippenaar believes the secondary listing will, ultimately, add liquidity to the company, whose TSX and Amex shares are attracting renewed investor interest. In the last five months, the company has traded an average of 700 000 shares a day, which is about 0,5% of its market capitalisation.
This said, GBG would need to be creative in ensuring that there are indeed some shares available for the South African investment community. It is, thus, considering a simultaneous American Depository Receipt programme, while talking to South African shareholders who hold the shares offshore and who might prefer to have the shares on the JSE.
Also acquisitive
“What we could also do is to use the listing here to issue shares in pursuing black economic empowerment or other potential mineral-rights transactions,” Dippenaar discloses, revealing that the company is interested in several acquisitions, mostly on the African continent. Exploration manager: Southern Africa Gernot Wober, a Canadian geologist who claims to have been prospecting since the age of 16, is optimistic about the company’s prospects in South Africa and the rest of Africa, hinting at the Democratic Republic of Congo as a likely priority.
At present, Tranter Investments, headed by well-known black mining personality Sipho Nkosi, is the company’s empowerment partner. The deal with Tranter gives it an option to participate in Burnstone on completion of the bankable feasibility, itself concluded in May. “We are finalising the details of the participation, and hope to make an announcement soon,” Dippenaar reports.
In addition, Dawie Mostert, also previously from Harmony and now vice-president of human capital, is looking at employment and empowerment solutions that involve communities surrounding Burnstone. He tells Mining Weekly that GBG is looking to introduce modern labour practices at the mine, which could ultimately employ as many as 2 000 people. The plan, as currently envisaged, is to source labour from the surrounding communities and immediately integrate them into a modern work-practice environment. “The big advantage here is that we will institutionalise future work methodology, using known best practices as we can truly start with a clean slate. We will also be drawing lessons from Nevada, in terms of shift structures.” Interestingly, Dippenaar reports that the mine will not embrace current conops practices, which were so controversially deployed at Harmony during the last months of his tenure. “We will have two specific full production shifts, optimising the service delivery and ‘off’ shift arrangements. From Nevada we are learning a few technical lessons as well as some tips on people productivity,” he states. Mostert is to be supported by Boniface Ngarachu, who is a specialist in organisational-effectiveness, having facilitated change leadership techniques with companies throughout Africa and in a diverse range of industries.
R1bn full capital commitment expected
As for the harder issue of project implementation, the team is relying on COO Johan Oelofse and Josiah Mashigo. Mashigo, a mining engineer, previously had leadership positions at the giant Kloof and Driefontein mines, while Oelofse, previously of Anglovaal and instrumental in the establishment of the ultramodern Nkomati nickel mine, has returned to South Africa after participating in mining projects in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, China, Tajikistan, Indonesia and the DRC.
The full capital commitment is likely to be about R1-billion, with R800-million for construction and R223-million for life-of-mine expenditure. The bulk of the capital will be spent in the first five years, hereafter expenditure decreasing to a level of maintenance capital.
The main items of expenditure over the life-of-mine are the construction of the decline (R105-million), associated underground development (R699-milllion), metallurgical plant (R160-million), a tailings facility (R37-million) and the main water supply (R15-million).
Current thinking is to work on the decline as soon as the permitting has been completed, with the R105-million anticipated cost including the purchase of the farms on which the infrastructure will be constructed. Great Basin plans to develop the decline itself, in alliance with suppliers of equipment and consumables.
Wober is enthused by the geological potential of the greater South Rand Basin, arguing that the resource is shallow compared to the rest of the Wits Basin, starting at 250 m in the initial area, the subject of a bankable feasibility study, and falling to around 800 m.
“But even though the project involves the sinking of a decline, which is shallower and simpler than a conventional vertical shaft, it still takes time. But we are looking at creative ways to shorten the time taken to get the process under way,” Oelofse reports.
Loose ends being tied
Outstanding is the issuing of the prospecting rights, but Beckmann says that the company has submitted all relevant applications in accordance with the relevant legislation and has so far been granted one by the department. The major right, which would facilitate the start of construction, is reportedly near finalisation and an outcome is anticipated soon.
“We applied for the conversion of the old-order prospecting rights relating to Burnstone in 2005 and these have been accepted by the DME. But, as from March, we intensified the effort to ensure that our applications are given the necessary attention within the required DME processes,” Beckmann reveals.
Dippenaar, who initially became aware of the project when Great Basin requested access to Harmony’s Evander mine in a bid to gain a better understanding of the Burnstone orebody, is clearly anxious to get the process moving.
“GBG is at a unique stage of its development. It has two projects, which have progressed to the extent that production from them is more of a reality than what it was a few months ago. The project in Nevada is actually ahead of schedule and we are intersecting the high-grade gold and silver vein systems that we were expecting. The Burnstone feasibility study has been completed, and we hope to get the project under way, as soon as we have the permitting process completed. That will see the transition of GBG from an exploration and development company, to a gold producer,” he avers, adding that the strategy is to bring the two projects into production as quickly as possible.
“They are robust and, as a base, are probably not bad to start the further growth of the company,” he adds, stressing that he would like to develop GBG into a “complete gold-mining company”, unashamedly borrowing the phrase from former rival Gold Fields.
He has no intention, however, of turning GBG into a so-called “bottom feeder”, stressing that its acquisitions will eschew marginal opportunities and focus, instead, on projects that are similar or better than the two under development. “We would be looking at increasing the diversity of the assets portfolio of GBG,” he reports. But for now, Ivanhoe and, more particularly, Burnstone are being given priority attention. “Burnstone is extremely important. It has a huge, shallow resource, which can be turned to account with a relatively modest capital budget. In addition, the project still has huge exploration potential, that we will be unlocking over the next 12 months. We then see Burnstone forming the base of GBG’s production profile for the next 12 to 16 years,” Dippenaar concludes.
back from vacation.
see no problem with preferred shares. Alamos (AGI) had very good results via their preferred offering. this was a more cost effective means to raise capital for Alamos and likely will be for GBN as well (i.e. less dilution).
SA gold sector bulking up
David McKay
Posted: Sun, 11 Jun 2006
[miningmx.com] -- THE prospect of a higher long-term rand gold price has added spice to the gold mining sector with a number of interesting prospects kicking about that were absent less than 18 months ago. Some gold enterprises are getting a new lease on life.
One is the Burnstone project in Mpumalanga province which is owned by Great Basin Gold. Its newly appointed CEO, Ferdi Dippenaar, is hopeful of bringing Great Basin to the JSE, possibly before the half-year is out.
“There’s been quite a lot of interest from the local guys in Burnstone, so we’re thinking of getting a secondary listing,” said Dippenaar.
That will allow investors the opportunity to buy two relatively highly speculative gold shares, including Wits Gold. But perhaps there’s more to come.
FWIW, on vacation from June 13-June 28...
Going to London and will likely attend EPM shareholder meeting...
Added to MDW.v position, that's it, I am done buying for today. Still retaining about 20% cash. MDW has been holding up nicely despite sell off in HUI.
MDW has 3 deep holes being drilled currently. News should be out on the first hole within next 2 weeks. Barrick recently took 6% position in MDW. Spring Valley has potential to be 5M ounce deposit in Nevada, hence Barrick's interest. If these deep holes hit decent gold grades, then MDW should rocket forward, perhaps over C$5.00 since Barrick may likely be making acquisition. If they miss, then MDW will be under C$2.00. Barrick is supervising this drill program, so Barrick will learn of results prior to we shareholders...
Got filled on my KGI position, finally... Takes Schwab very long sometimes to buy shares of Canadian companies, but I get to trade them for $9.95 commission, so that's okay.
also the World Cup starts tomorrow..., so most of the world will be taking a few weeks off...
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/
Picked up initial position in AAU.v at C$2.03
With CKG at C$5.00, this puts .29 shares of AAU conversion at C$1.45 vs. C$2.03 paid, plus get the warrants and options which I believe are worth more than C$.58 difference (C$2.03-C$1.45)
Here's hoping for $850 gold within the next 1-2 years, because the Right is very accretive...
"Pursuant to the business combination, Chesapeake will issue for every one (1) outstanding common share of American Gold (i) 0.29 Chesapeake common shares ("Shares"), (ii) 0.145 Chesapeake common share purchase warrants ("Warrants") and (iii) 0.29 Chesapeake rights ("Rights"). Based on 30,855,525 outstanding common shares of American Gold this would result in the issuance by Chesapeake of approximately 8,948,102 Shares, 4,474,051 Warrants and 8,948,102 Rights.
Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one (1) Chesapeake common share at $8.00 for a term of 5 years. Each Right will, on or after such date (the "Exchange Date") as the average London PM fix closing trading price of gold for the trading days on such market during any 90 day period is equal to or greater than US$850 per ounce, be exercisable for one (1) Chesapeake common share at $1.00 for a term of five years (which will be extended by one year if the trading price for gold has been at or above US$850 per ounce on any day during the last six months of the five year term)."
Well, I did some fundamental buying today... hoping the bottom was in fact today.
Bought MFN at $7.32 and tried to catch the EPM falling knife a bit too early at C$.85. Not filled yet on KGI at C$7.09 for some reason... Also, bought my AUY July covered calls back for very tidy profit (strike prices $10 and $7.50) which has protected my downside recently.
Concentrating on juniors that will have significant production within the next 12 months... Buying back positions which I had sold at higher prices. Hoping EPM will drop further, because I still want to buy a little more.
No, have not spoken to Kip lately.
SHY should start out-performing when they drill the new well in July. Given its location on Allen Ranch property (next to Newfield), striking a good size well appears pretty much assured.
But here's hoping Kip gets that 2nd drill rig with a "good" crew... This is of utmost importance. With 2 dedicated deep drill rigs and good crews, then SHY should be a good long term hold, especially if SHY retains 50% of NW Speaks, is the operator, and strikes at NW Speaks... That's my hope anyway...
PMI should be announcing drill results in next few weeks...
"The discovery results from recent underground development work and an on-going drilling program, which should be completed by mid-June."
Am not sure if PMI will announce full 43-101 results at that time or not..., but 43-101 will have to be announced by July 2006 when annual filing must be submitted. Sure would like to see 2+ years production of PP reserves with average grade above .23, and lots of inferred ounces (e.g. over 3 years production).
Decent volume today, let's hope its related to the upcoming announcement of the drill results...
http://tsedb.globeinvestor.com/servlet/WireFeedRedirect?cf=GlobeInvestor/tsx/config&date=2006051...
Rogers
Nils Pratley
Tuesday June 6, 2006
The Guardian
It was in 1999 - when the investment world was still bewitched by the supposed "new economy" - that Jim Rogers, the former right-hand man to George Soros, coined the phrase, "The next big thing is things."
Buy the old economy, he said - everything from gold to oil to wheat. While you're at it, sell the US dollar, he added, arguing that it was a currency in decline.
The timing of his investment call could hardly have been better. The hottest debate in the financial world now is whether the price of "things" - or commodities - is a bubble to match the excesses of the dotcom years.
Article continues
Gold has risen from $250 an ounce to $640. The price of oil, which had fallen as low as $10 a barrel, edged up to $72 a barrel yesterday, as Iran suggested that any western action over its nuclear enrichment programme could hit supplies.
The other hot debate is whether the dollar, having declined for five years, is about to fall off a cliff - dragged over by the debts of the US government and American consumers.
In other words, Rogers has made a lot of money since 1999.
Readers of the Guardian could have done the same, he points out. The New York-based investor had espoused these views in an interview published in these pages in July 2004, when the first leg of the commodity bull market had been up and running. "Remember," he said then, "that the second leg is wonderful, and the third leg is spectacular. In the fourth leg, there is dancing in the streets, and in the fifth leg, people are hysterical and everything is skyrocketing every day."
The prime reason for seeking him out again was to ask where he thinks we are now. Copper, for example, has almost doubled in value since the start of this year, to about $8,000 a tonne. Rises of 8% and even 10% have been seen in single days, bringing to mind Rogers' description of his "fifth leg" - "hysterical" and "skyrocketing". So, is this the end?
"Looking back at previous bull markets in commodities, the shortest has lasted 15 years and the longest has lasted 23 years," says Rogers. "This one started in early 1999, so if it's going to last 18 years or so, we are a third of the way. That's not a prediction, I'm just pointing out what history would indicate: that this bull market will end some time between 2014 and 2022."
This statement will strike many as irresponsible. The theory that metals prices are displaying bubble-like characteristics is a pretty solid consensus in the financial establishment.
Credibility
Rogers is having none of it. "Where is the copper coming from that's going to drive down the price of copper and keep it down? Where are the mines? All these people talking about a bubble are the same people who missed the move completely and were buying dotcom stocks, so I don't give them much credibility. I suggest it would be better to listen to someone who was saying, 'Buy commodities', in 1999.
"How can you say it's a bubble when silver is 75% below its all-time high? Copper, when you adjust for inflation, is not at an all-time high. And oil, when you adjust for inflation, is far below its all-time high. Where's the oil going to come from? Nobody can give me an answer, including Shell, Exxon, Chevron. They're out there looking for oil, and they don't know where it's coming from." It is well-accepted that oil and mining firms under-invested in exploration in the 1990s. Low prices are never an incentive to look for more of anything. High prices encourage exploration and investment, but it can take a decade to bring a find to production. The miners would love to cash in on current prices but, with short supplies of everything from dumper-truck wheels to oil for lamps, it is a struggle to dig faster.
However, even Rogers, the superbull, admits that commodities are not a one-way bet in the short term.
"There will definitely be consolidations along the way," he says. "In the 1970s, gold went down by 50% in two years and then it rose by 850%. That sort of thing happens in bull markets." The cause of a correction - or consolidation, as Rogers calls it - could be anything, he argues, from a slowdown in China to a bird flu outbreak in Germany. "Something always causes consolidations and some of them will be dramatic. It could go down 20%, 30%, 40%, but I'm not going to try to time it because the bull market will still be there. Oil went down 50% in 2000 and has since risen 500%. Some people will be scared by consolidations and will get out. I think they're mistaken. I'm not selling anything. This bull market's got another 10 to 15 years to go."
To sceptical ears, that sounds horribly reminiscent of some of the wild declarations of dotcom gurus who spotted a good thing but not the subsequent crash.
Rogers, 63, is rich enough to do his own thing. Having worked with Soros to found one of the first and most successful hedge funds, Quantum, in 1973, he retired at 37 to manage his money. But it is only fair to point out that most other long-term bulls of commodities accept that prices are infected by speculative money. Their advice would be to wait for a correction before stepping into the market.
Opportunities
Rogers thinks the best opportunities in commodities lie not with metals. "Agricultural commodities are the most attractive," he says. "Sugar is 80% below its all-time high. Maize is 60% below its all-time high - so is cotton. Adjusted for inflation, some of these commodities are 80%, 90% below their all-time highs.
"The hectares devoted to wheat have been declining for 30 years. The world has consumed more food than it has produced for the past five years, and that's the first time in recorded history that that's happened. We've had no worldwide drought for several years. I don't know if we'll have one again, but I know what happened in the 1960s and 1970s when we had droughts with low stocks of nutrition. The price of sugar went up 47-fold in an eight-year period."
Faber
http://www.gloomboomdoom.com/marketcoms/mcdownloads/060605.pdf
take a holiday Frank...
Central Bank Gold Sales
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=8327291
Stop Profit...?
Reminds me of my new animated gif signature below...
New Board
Appears GBN Burnstone mine compares very favorably to GFI's planned new SA Mine projects
______________________
http://www.miningweekly.co.za/min/news/today/?show=87105
"Two large below-current-infrastructure projects at Driefontein and Kloof gold mines would require a combined capital expenditure of R2,7-billion, Gold Fields executive vice-president South African operations Brendan Walker said at an analyst open day in Johannesburg yesterday.
Walker...reported that the Driefontein Five Shaft depth extension project would require a capital investment of R1,8-billion and the Kloof KEA depth extension project a capital investment of R847-million.
The feasibility studies for both were under review at a gold price of R100,000/kg and at break-even gold prices of R87,388/kg and R84,910/kg respectively, against a current actual gold price of some R140,000/kg.
The Driefontein project would have an internal rate of return of 12% and the Kloof project one of 14%.
The Driefontein project would provide an additional 8,2-million ounces of reserves and the Kloof project 1,8-million ounces.
The Driefontein project would extend an additional 531 m from 3 300 m - 50 level - to 3 831 m - 55 level.
_______________________
GBN Burnstone Capex = R1.0 Billion
GFI Driefontein Five Capex= R1.8 Billion
GFI Kloof KEA Capex= R847 Million
Burnstone IRR = 18.3% at $450 POG per ounce
$450POG = R101,270 per kilogram
GFI IRR = 12% & 14% @ R100,000 per kilogram vs. GBN Burnstone at 18.3% @ R101,270 per kilogram.
____________
If GFI comfortable investing in these 2 new projects, then GBN shareholders should be comfortable with Burnstone...
______
new presentation:
http://www.greatbasingold.com/i/gbg/GBG_AMEX_Mar06.pdf
Slide 19 & 23 of interest on Hollister.
Per slide 23, appears GBN investigating doubling mine throughput.
gold may go down for next few months BUT...
"“The trend is up. I have a 50 percent probability that we will get to $800 next year and a 25-30 percent probability to take that up to $850,” Martin Murenbeeld told Reuters on the sidelines of the European Gold Forum, which ended on Thursday."
european central bank gold sales
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=8327291
great, glad your self imposed exile is over...!!
any opinion on natgas stocks here...?
That's where my property was, a vacant lot on Privada Independencia, a condo was built on it in 2002 as I recall. Believe the address was Privada Independencia #29. One of my clients lives at Linda Vista, just off the lake.
FWIW, looks like restaurant prices have gone up since I visited last...!!
That is a wise way to go:
"rent and explore the country for a year or two before buying"
I owned some land in downtown Ajijic from 1996 until 2002, was thinking on retiring there. Got scared on the water situation there (Lake Chapala was becoming dust bowl), and sold at a nice profit. In last 2 years, they finally solved the Lake Chapala water problem (dam built I believe) and now Lake Chapala is about up to historic levels.
Yep, I really like Ajijic.
Where do you plan on moving in 2009?
Central Bank Gold Sales
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=8327291
Great Basin
Posted: Sun, 21 May 2006
[miningmx.com] -- GREAT Basin Gold, which owns the Burnstone gold mining prospect in South Africa, said it had raised gross proceeds of C$25m and expected to raise C$10m more.
Great Basin Gold issued 11.2 million shares at C$2.25/share on a 'bought deal basis'. A programme to place shares at the same price to raise C$10m would be announced this week, it said.
Ferdi Dippenaar, president and CEO of Great Basin Gold, told Miningmx recently the company wants to add up to two million more ounces at its Burnstone project in South Africa. This would increase gold output and extend the life of the operation beyond the planned 14 years, Dippenaar said.
Some of the cash raised from the placement and share issue would be used for Burnstone. Dippenaar told Miningmx that it will use cash flow from its Hollister Block at its Ivanhoe property in Nevada once the mine is in full production in 2009 to further fund Burnstone.
Ortega Takes First Place in Nicaragua
May 19, 2006
(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Former president Daniel Ortega has become the top contender in Nicaragua’s election, according to a poll by Borge y Asociados. 28.4 per cent of respondents would vote for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) candidate in this year’s election.
Former presidency secretary Eduardo Montealegre of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance - Conservative Party (ALN-PC) is second with 26.5 per cent, followed by José Rizo of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC) with 17.1 per cent, former Managua mayor Herty Lewites with 14.8 per cent, and Edén Pastora of Christian Alternative (AC) with 1.3 per cent.
In March 2005, the FSLN officially designated Ortega as its presidential nominee. Ortega governed from 1985 to 1990, but was a losing candidate in the 1990, 1996 and 2001 ballots. Lewites headed the government of Nicaragua’s capital from 2001 to 2005, but was expelled from the FSLN and assembled the Herty 2006 Alliance (AH). Montealegre is a former PLC member.
In 2001, the PLC’s Enrique Bolaños won the presidential election with 56.3 per cent of the vote. The president lost the support of the PLC in January 2002, when his government decided to take legal action against Arnoldo Alemán. In 2004, Alemán—who governed the country from 1997 to 2002—was sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud, money laundering and embezzlement.
Earlier this month, former defence minister José Antonio Alvarado rejected a presidential bid of his own, and became Rizo’s running mate. Ortega has announced that he will settle on a vice-presidential nominee later this month.
The presidential election is scheduled for Nov. 5. In the event no contender receives 40 per cent of all cast ballots, the first place finisher can only avoid a run-off by holding a five-point advantage over the closest rival.
Polling Data
Who would you vote for in the presidential election if the candidates were these?
May 2006
Feb. 2006
Daniel Ortega (FSLN)
28.4%
18.3%
Eduardo Montealegre (ALN-PC)
26.5%
21.7%
José Rizo (PLC)
17.1%
--
Herty Lewites (AH)
14.8%
27.3%
Edén Pastora (AC)
1.3%
--
Burnstone has attractive IRR at anything above SA Rand 120,000 per kilo = $600 POG. Thus, Burnstone will go into production. The final decision in 2007 probably relates more to exactly how GBN builds the mine, rather than whether GBN builds it.
I would prefer that the construction period be shorter and the ounces produced be greater. Namely, a 2 year construction period and 400,000 ounces a year. But my preferences do not appear feasible for this Burnstone thin vein mining, which cannot be mechanized much. I am hoping some changes can be made to speed up the construction time period.
Burnstone will be funded primarily with about 70% debt. Unlike banks in most countries, S Africa banks are happy, willing and able to lend to finance mining projects, but GBN will be required to hedge ounces for this loan. Between current cash including this latest PP and Hollister cash flow, Burnstone 30% equity financing should be substantially complete.
Great Basin to add 1-2moz gold to Burnstone
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Mon, 15 May 2006
[miningmx.com] -- GREAT Basin Gold wants to add up to two million more ounces to its mine plan at the shallow Burnstone project in South Africa to increase gold output and extend the life of the operation beyond the planned 14 years, CEO Ferdi Dippenaar said on Monday.
The mine is still some two years away from production. So far, it has 7.1 million ounces of measured and indicated resources, but will continue a drilling programme to push more ounces into these categories, Dippenaar told Miningmx in an interview.
There are an estimated five million ounces of low-confidence resource material at Burnstone, 80km southeast of Johannesburg, TSX-listed Great Basin Gold plans to drill to bump more ounces into higher confidence level categories.
“We could probably add one to two million more ounces to our project over the next 12 to 18 months, which we will use to either increase our production or extend the life of mine, but the idea is to add a bit to both plans,” Dippenaar said.
We could probably add one to two million more ounces
In the newly released feasibility study data, the mine will produce 214,000 oz/year at a forecast cash cost of $254/oz. The current 14-year life-of-mine plan includes a four-year pre-production period. The study used a gold price of $450/oz and a rand/dollar exchange rate of R7 to one. Gold is now at $690 and the rand at R6.43.
Great Basin Gold has contracted JP Morgan to assist it in discussions with the Johannesburg bourse about a South African listing, he said.
Before spending an enormous amount of cash on a vertical shaft and developing the mine, Great Basin Gold plans to extract a 26,000 tonne sample when a planned 327-metre decline intersects the reef at 250 metres.
Great Basin Gold is awaiting approval of its new-order prospecting permit application and is preparing an application for a new-order mining licence. If by the end of June the prospecting permit is in place, it will take up to 22 months to complete the decline.
One of the key requirements for government approval of new-order rights is the inclusion of a black economic empowerment partner. Great Basin has granted Tranter Investments, headed by Eyesizwe Coal’s Sipho Nkosi, the option of buying into the project.
Tranter can take a 15% or 20% stake in the Burnstone project and pay either 15% or 20% of the R972m ($139m) net present value, which carries a five percent discount.
The empowerment deal should be in place within a month, Dippenaar said.
Great Basin Gold is raising C$35m in an equity placement exercise, of which C$25m has been earmarked for developing Burnstone and a further C$2m for exploration there.
Great Basin will come to the market again, but “not soon”, Dippenaar said. It will use cash from its Hollister Block at its Ivanhoe property in Nevada once the mine is in full production in 2009 to fund Burnstone. Cash costs in Nevada are forecast at $100/oz.
“When the market recognises the quality and progress we’ve made on our two assets there will be an appreciation in the stock price which will make it cheaper to raise capital,” Dippenaar said.
At Burnstone, a vertical shaft down to about 327 metres will supplement the decline, and will be used to haul ore. The processing plant will be built near the vertical shaft.
Great Basin Gold plans to mine seven different regions underground, each with a dedicated haulage system, which will give the company greater flexibility.
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but I fixed the mostly gold links today...
tomorrow maybe I get around to fixing mostly currency...
Dippenaar sees 214 000 oz a year from new SA gold mine
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http://www.miningweekly.co.za/min/news/today/?show=85968
Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Great Basin Gold has announced that its South African gold project, Burnstone Gold is likely to have a life-of-mine of 14 years and produce about 214 000 oz a year when in full production.
President and CEO Ferdi Dippenaar, who was previously at South African miner Harmony Gold, indicated that the feasibility study was undertaken on the assumption of an exchange rate of R7:$1.
The feasibility study recommends flexible, mechanised materials handling and conventional narrow reef underground mining of the Burnstone deposit, using a combination of decline and vertical shaft for access.
Dippenaar said: "Management is pleased with the results of this first phase development of the Burnstone Gold project. The company intends to immediately move to the permitting stage, initiate pre-production activities.
“We are completing a financing to construct the surface facilities and the decline shaft component.
“As this project only includes a portion of the mineral resources outlined at Burnstone to date, we will continue to assess opportunities to extend the mine life."
Great Basin is a mining exploration and development company with advanced stage gold assets on the Carlin Trend in Nevada and the Witwatersrand Goldfield in South Africa.
It intends undertaking development in two phases. A 4,5-metre wide by 4,8-metre high decline will be developed, first, to enable early access to the ore body for some mining.
A confirmatory 26 000 t bulk sample will be extracted and processed. Secondly, a 7,5-metre diameter vertical shaft will be developed and commissioned.
For full production, employees and equipment will use the decline for access and the shaft will be used for hoisting ore and mine rock to surface. Full employment would entail some 2 000 people.
The project is located in the south rand area of the Witwatersrand Basin, 80 km southeast of Johannesburg.
“The proposed mine site is situated in an area of open, rolling country, traversed by major paved highways, railroads, power lines and pipelines that provide excellent infrastructure for development.
“Skilled labour, mining expertise, equipment, process facilities and development capital are all at hand to support efficient development of the project,” stated a press release.
The company's financial analysis assumes 100% ownership and no debt leverage.
Great Basin is completing its agreement with black economic-empowerment company Tranter Investments, which is to take part in the project in accordance with local regulations.
The results of the base case scenario, at a gold price of $450/oz, pre-tax and 100% equity development financing indicate a 14 year mine life, including four years of pre-production.
The mine should see annual production of 214 000 ounces of gold at full production and capital cost of $144,5 million, or R1,013-billion.
It anticipates operating costs at R256,41 a ton and cash cost of $254,42 an ounce, or R57 256 a kilogram.
The Burnstone processing plant has been designed with a nominal capacity of 125 000 t a month, and consists of conventional crushing, semi-autogenous grinding and ball milling, followed by gravity separation and carbon-in-leach treatment prior to gold refining.
Expected metallurgical recovery is 95%, with 2,2-million ounces recovered over the 14 year mine life. Measured and indicated mineral resources for the Burnstone Project, as outlined by drilling to date, are 29-million tons at a grade of 7,63 g/t, containing 7,1-million ounces of gold.
Of these, 19,8-million tons graded at 9,22 g/t are measured and 9,2-million tons at 4,20 g/t are indicated.
These mineral resources are inclusive of the mineral reserves used for the feasibility study.
The current mine plan, however, is based on a portion of the mineral resources previously known as Area 1. Progressive development of additional mineral resources is expected.
The company's prospectus and private financings announced on April 11, to raise up to $35-million by issuing shares at C$2.25 were delayed on account of finalising the feasibility study, however, both financings are scheduled to complete next week.
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The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to raise its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 5 percent.
Economic growth has been quite strong so far this year. The Committee sees growth as likely to moderate to a more sustainable pace, partly reflecting a gradual cooling of the housing market and the lagged effects of increases in interest rates and energy prices.
As yet, the run-up in the prices of energy and other commodities appears to have had only a modest effect on core inflation, ongoing productivity gains have helped to hold the growth of unit labor costs in check, and inflation expectations remain contained. Still, possible increases in resource utilization, in combination with the elevated prices of energy and other commodities, have the potential to add to inflation pressures.
The Committee judges that some further policy firming may yet be needed to address inflation risks but emphasizes that the extent and timing of any such firming will depend importantly on the evolution of the economic outlook as implied by incoming information. In any event, the Committee will respond to changes in economic prospects as needed to support the attainment of its objectives.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; Timothy F. Geithner, Vice Chairman; Susan S. Bies; Jack Guynn; Donald L. Kohn; Randall S. Kroszner; Jeffrey M. Lacker; Mark W. Olson; Sandra Pianalto; Kevin M. Warsh; and Janet L. Yellen.
In a related action, the Board of Governors unanimously approved a 25-basis-point increase in the discount rate to 6 percent. In taking this action, the Board approved the requests submitted by the Boards of Directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco.