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Huelva-Zafra, mining railway??
Sunday, March 17, 2013 00:56 Posted in Opinion published (da)
We are witnessing in recent weeks the debate on the continuation or not of Huelva-Zafra line. Obviously this would have to be without prejudice to the passenger line that currently exists. That is, a supplement that makes possible their economic viability.
If, as they say, in a few short years will be put into operation several mines in our beloved province. We refer to Sotiel, Lomero Poyatos, La Nava and even has been talk that there is great interest in La Zarza. And we add, that we know, we are already working on expanding production Concentrates Plant Dyed Waters Mines. It would be reasonable to think that from the government and from management of Renfe, ADIF or who has the damn skills on the subject, these companies offer and which may come to use this line to move their ores or concentrates to the port Huelva. It thus kill two birds with one stone, because apart from the tremendous service they could offer to the mines, we have no doubt that the Port of Huelva would also greatly benefited.
On the other hand and to assess at its true economic impact, it should be borne in mind that the day that all these farms are in full production, by the way will be great news for the province. We wonder if our politicians have thought of all signs, if the roads onubenses can withstand traffic of tens of lorries a day to and from all these mines, with the great deterioration that this will cause and the added danger to users of those roads. There will be money then to require intense maintenance. ? To unfold some of them? Does third auxiliary lanes constructed? We fear that when the time will not be easy.
You better go leaving partisan politics and put everyone to work towards the progress of the province of Huelva maintaining our infrastructure, the few we have, and try to find alternatives and especially imaginative solutions to problems. That there is and will be.
All mine have quoted are very close to this route from Huelva-Zafra, with this only to say that we are not proposing any nonsense, it can be a real alternative to transport the mineral solution and oxygen injection to exploit this line. Probably not much investment needed to flow through her freight trains with the typical tanks / mineral wagons. Not a mirage.
Many Huelva, more or less related to mining, to this day I still wonder how it is that the path that has this track, to barely a couple of kilometers from the Water Plant Dyed, only in operation today, not used by this mining company to transport your concentrated and the old station Valdelamusa, seems like he designed in his day for that purpose.
If, as seems the reason may simply be a matter of price or opportunities requires that rail officials make an effort and get to work on how to solve the issue. To make profitable a line you have to work also for the supply side, not just complain about the lack of demand.
What we are sure of is that if this line, now in question, was serving for years as well as to carry passengers by Andévalo, from Huelva to Zafra, to transport ore, nobody absolutely nobody today would dare to question it.
Economist.
He is the recently re-elected head of the Mining Engineers in Spain. He teachs economics and engineering at the college in Huvela. Is he going to be appointed to the b of d?
Great post DigiTech, Wonder how much we will have to pay for the rights? Looks like the process was the worst case scenario as we're coming up on two years since Behre Dolbear's report. Here's the quote from the NI43-101 on surface rights:
BEHRE DOLBEAR
NI43-101 Technical Report on the Lomero-Poyatos Mine 11 July 2011
CRI acquired the Lomero-Poyatos Concession(s) from the Spanish authorities through a public auction bid in April 2010. CRI did not obtain the surface rights at that time but acquired the surface rights to Finca Lomero at a later date. The process for compulsory acquisition of surface land rights is formal and may, in the best case scenario, take less than 12 months, or in the worst case scenario, up to 2 years to complete. The price to be paid (if there is no agreement) is based on independent valuations, taking into account the tax value and recent transactions. Once the agreed compulsory value has been established, the expropriating party can occupy the lands or rights.
'Ridiculously Bearish for Miners': Dennis Gartman on CNBC
Thursday, 9 May 2013 | 5:30 PM ET
The move in the U.S. dollar bodes poorly for gold and worse for mining companies, Dennis Gartman of The Gartman Letter says. "It broke out against every currency out there, even the Aussie, so this is a dollar move, and a dollar move to this sort of strength cannot be construed as being anything other than bearish for the metals and ridiculously bearish for the miners," he said.
The U.S. dollar surpassed the key 100 yen-level for the first time in four years on stronger U.S. data but also amid speculation about a report on Japanese capital flows. On "Fast Money," Gartman said that the dollar's move higher would be bearish for gold, copper and miners. "In an environment such as this, the miners have always – especially the gold miners – have underperformed gold," he added. "They may even do worse going forward."
Rainy season a month late. Got to help the production numbers for the 4th quarter. Could be 25,000 ounces with 30% improvement in processing capacity.
Congratulations on becoming the third monitor and thanks for your great posts.
Pro: Why Gold Is Rising
Published: CNBC, Friday, 26 Apr 2013 | 12:02 PM ET
By: Jeff Kilburg
Gold has bounced $160 higher since everyone and their mother sold out of their gold position. Now undergoing what's described as a "back-and-fill" movement.
So what's "back-'n-fill"? It's a technical term describing the price retracement from a dramatic move—such as the one we are seeing since gold fell from $1,523. Typically, in fierce swings like that, some prices never get traded, as the huge move easily skipped them over. A "back-'n-fill" price movement then goes back to those skipped prices and fills in the chart. So, are we going to see this "back-'n-fill" complete its course all the way back up to $1,523? I think so. When that happens, the bulls and bears can face off again to decide who's in charge of gold.
But until then, you might as well buy!
—By Jeff Kilburg, founder & CEO of KKM Financial, and a CNBC contributor
Pardon me, but I don't think you wish us any luck at all. There are some negative posters on this board but they're not vicious like you. You accuse PTQ of not paying its bills which would drive the company out of business or at least put them on a cash only purchasing basis over time. I don't see any evidence of this. I haven't seen an aging analysis of accts payable but I'll bet UCB is not listed as over 30 days. The auditors said nothing about overdue accounts payable in the yearly audited financial statements and this weeks MD&As show nothing about major legal disputes over payments for service. The auditors review interim financial statements and I believe they would have required management to put something in the quarterly statements if there were major problems. IMO you've shorted the company and are trying to drive down the price. It's hard to see anyone with a position in a company making such serious charges. If you're short, I hope you lose your shirt.
I still haven't pulled the trigger. Hard not too at $0.415. If 3rd quarter results aren't great and SP drops to $0.35 I'm in heaven. I'm probably dreaming, but please go to $0.35 next week.
Everything always seems to depend on what China is doing. Don't agree or disagree with this article but don't think uranium is the wave of the future.
Should First Quantum Shareholders be Concerned?
By Iain Butler - April 8, 2013 | See also: FM
inShare
The ink has barely dried on the mining world’s most recent mega-merger and already it looks like it could turn out to be a huge mistake. Finalized near the end of March, First Quantum’s (TSX:FM) +$6 billion takeout of Inmet Mining (TSX:IMN) has created the largest copper focused miner in the world and what First Quantum expects will become a top 5 global copper producer by 2018.
By completing the relatively uncontested transaction, First Quantum was able to scoop one of the world’s great potential copper mines – the $6.2 billion Cobre Panama project. The Cobre Panama copper deposit is massive, but contrary to what many a miner might have you believe, size doesn’t necessarily matter. Details like revenues and expenses are what investors’ truly care about.
Uh-oh
And while First Quantum is confident it can cut costs from the existing Cobre Panama budget (believe it when you see it) the recent price performance of copper does not bode well for the top line of a company that just went all-in.
A Financial Times article out over the weekend indicated global copper production is rising at its fastest rate in a decade. Wood Mackenzie, a leading consultancy, expects 2013 to see the biggest percentage increase in global mine production since 2004.
Demand for the metal, primarily from China which generates 40% of global demand, has been insatiable for a good chunk of the past decade. Supply couldn’t keep up.
The thing about commodities however is that when you throw enough money at them, you tend to find more. Billions have been poured into copper projects around the world and these projects are finally beginning to come on-line. These projects are why supply is increasing at a faster rate than demand and the price of copper has declined by 28% from its 2011 high.
The scariest part of the supply/demand equation is that the copper price hasn’t fallen far enough to make producers scale back on production. The price of approximately U$3.30/lb still compares favourably to the average production cost of about $2/lb.
Foolish Takeaway
Time will tell how this takeover plays out for First Quantum shareholders. It could turn out that Inmet’s executives, who disapproved of the hostile bid, end up with the last laugh. It wasn’t too long ago that Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX) spent $7.3 billion on a copper asset that is now carried on the books for just $3.1 billion. Should the price of copper continue on its current path, First Quantum shareholders may regret the day Cobre Panama came into their life.
If you’re looking for a commodity with a far more appealing supply/demand relationship than copper, look no further than uranium. Supply is in fact being removed from the market just as demand is set to take-off! Uranium has the potential to be the fuel that powers the 21st century and currently the market is completely ignoring it. Click here now for instant access to our FREE report titled “Fuel Your Portfolio With This Energetic Commodity”. We think you’ll be surprised just how bright the future is for uranium, just how far two Canadian names have fallen, AND how fast they could rebound. Click here now to access this free report, and hop on for the nuclear ride of your life.
Hard not to pull the trigger at these prices. Patience grasshopper. Wait till 3rd quarter comes out then buy. Hoping for $.40 but can't get too greedy. will be over $1.00 in six months. Hope my greediness doesn't cost me 25,000 PDI shares. Peta, is FQM negotiating with us for anything?
Texas May Start Hoarding Gold…Secession Next?
By The Daily Ticker | Daily Ticker – Thu, Mar 21, 2013 3:24 PM EDT
We all know the cliché: ‘Don’t mess with Texas.’
Well, a new piece of legislation is being proposed to send that message to Washington, when it comes to protecting Texas’ gold.
A lawmaker has proposed a bill to create a Texas Bullion Depository, which would allow the state and its citizens to store gold bullion in its own facility in Texas, with the protection of the state.
If passed, the Texas bill would tell Washington to “shove off” under the 10th amendment power given the states, if we ever saw the kind of currency craziness we saw during the Great Depression when President Franklin D. Roosevelt mandated citizens hand over most of their gold.
Texas isn't the first state to think about hedging its monetary destiny with precious metals.
Citing concerns over the value of the U.S. dollar, Arizona lawmakers are the latest to pursue legislation that would declare privately minted gold and silver coins legal tender. In 2011, Utah became the first state in the country to legalize these precious metal coins as currency. Lawmakers in states including Minnesota, North Carolina, Idaho, South Carolina, and Colorado have debated similar laws.
As for the Texas proposal, Jim Rickards, senior managing director of Tangent Capital Partners and author of Currency Wars, tells The Daily Ticker you can think of it like the “Fort Knox of Texas.”
And on the legal side Rickards says, “you’ve got the state of Texas standing up for you if the federal government tries to do what they tried to do in 1933, which is take the people’s gold." Rickards is also a lawyer and has read the legislation.
So, is Texas making preparations to start hoarding gold?
“It may end up that way,” Rickards says. “Personally, I think this is a game changer in terms of the way institutional investors are going to look at gold.” That’s because large Texas pension funds haven’t been allowed to invest in physical gold, but Rickards explains this law would change that.
Gold is considered a hedge against inflation. And while inflation is currently low in the U.S. right now by official figures, Rickards doesn’t expect that to remain the case, projecting an uptick to come later this year or early next year. If people were to lose faith in the dollar, Rickards concedes Texas could have the foundation for its own currency, of sorts. Which could come in handy if they, say, push forward in trying to secede. You may recall, more than 100,000 people signed an online petition calling on the Obama administration to allow Texas to secede from the U.S., according to New York Times. In January, the White House declined but the secession movement has pressed on.
In the Washington Post Today:
First Quantum to Keep Inmet Mines After Bid Gets Support
Firat KayakiranMar 22, 2013 4:18 pm ET
(Updates with Inmet recommendation in sixth paragraph.)
March 22 (Bloomberg) -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. plans to hold on to all of Inmet Mining Corp.’s operating assets and most of its employees after getting shareholder support for a C$5 billion ($4.9 billion) hostile takeover.
First Quantum said today in a statement that it has support from holders representing 86 percent of Inmet’s stock, allowing the deal to proceed. Vancouver-based First Quantum took its cash-and-stock bid straight to investors in January after two earlier proposals were rejected by the Inmet board. It’s seeking to add Inmet’s Cobre Panama copper project to help it become the world’s fifth-largest producer of the metal.
Inmet also mines copper in Spain and operates two pits in Turkey and Finland that produce the metal as well as zinc. They “are all very good assets, operating at very low cost,” First Quantum President Clive Newall said in a March 20 interview.
“Fortunately those assets are extremely well-run, they have good guys operating them so we don’t have to focus on them in the short run,” he said. “Our focus will be mainly on Cobre Panama immediately.”
The Inmet deal is the largest bid for a mining company to be announced since Tinkler Group Pty Ltd.’s bid for Australia’s Whitehaven Coal Ltd. in July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Inmet takeover will reduce risk and increase geographic diversification for First Quantum, Newall said.
Inmet Recommendation
Inmet recommends its shareholders tender to First Quantum’s offer before the bid deadline of April 1, “to facilitate prompt receipt of the offer consideration,” the Toronto-based company said today in a statement. Inmet’s directors have resigned and a new four-person board led by First Quantum Chief Executive Officer Philip Pascall has been appointed, the company said.
Cobre Panama will cost about $6.2 billion to develop and produce an average of 266,000 metric tons of copper annually, according to Toronto-based Inmet’s website. The project is 80 percent owned by Inmet. Korea Panama Mining Corp., a venture between LS-Nikko Copper Inc. and Korea Resources Corp., owns the rest. First Quantum plans to lower construction costs by using its own staff instead of contractors.
“Synergies are what we are reviewing right now,” Newall said. “For the exact extent of savings, we need three to six months on the ground to review the whole project.”
First Quantum is targeting annual copper output of 1.3 million tons by 2017, following the startup of Cobre Panama at the end of 2016, Newall said. That goal doesn’t include output from First Quantum’s Haquira project in Peru, which will come “a bit later,” he said.
First Quantum doesn’t have a headcount target for the combined company and will review jobs in the first few weeks after the takeover, Newall said.
“There will be areas we’ll have to review,” he said.
--With assistance from Liezel Hill in Toronto. Editors: Simon Casey, Steven Frank
Who is trader 79? Did I miss something? SP was up today on low volume. Did trader 79 cause it? Sorry if I missed something obvious.
Exactly right servantofbob, company is setting up for the long haul. The settlement with Inmet will benefit us with every ounce of gold and silver we sell. All the investments we've made in the past for PDI business is now guaranteed to return a profit. These things won't show up big this quarter but over time will add up. Yes MJK has predicted great things and it's disappointing that his predictions have yet to arrive but making fun of him doesn't help us. Nobody was forced to believe him and buy stock. He's had so many informative and useful posts that I'm sure we all would miss him if he left us. My belief is that the SP will start rising slowly as each quarter shows better results. But slowly not tomorrow. Hang in there people better times are ahead.
Over the last 2 years, the lag time in days for prelim numbers has ranged from a low of 10 to a high of 48 so we could still get the prelim for the 3rd quarter this month. The last 2 years of lag time for prelim numbers issued by quarter: 2/28/11 - 48 days, 5/31/11 - 10 days, 8/30/11 - 15 days, 11/30/11 - 20 days, 2/28/12 - 29 days, 5/31/12 - 33 days, 8/30/12 - 19 days, 11/30/11 - 17 days,
hope you're right - I'm ready to pull the trigger.
What a bargain this stock is. It's down with all the other juniors but look at the low volume. No one is selling out. Management is buying back what they can given that they don't have a lot of spare cash. As mjk has pointed out many times you can move this stock plus or minus 5 percent with a 5,000 share trade. The SP will pop sometime this year to well over a dollar. Going to buy another 100,000 shares with money from land sale that will give me a good long-term capital gains loss carryover for when this stock triples. Hope the SP drops to $0.35 and I'll buy 125,000.
Why Ben Bernanke Has Not Helped Gold, Crude Oil
Published: Monday, 4 Mar 2013 | 10:51 AM ET
By: Anthony Grisanti
GRZ Energy Inc. Founder & President
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke strongly reiterated the value of qualitative easing in his semi-annual testimony before Congress last week. He made it clear that QE, the Fed's low interest rate policy, could continue well into the future. What makes this significant is that there has been some dissension within the Fed, and some seem to believe that the policy should end early.
So if QE is the Fed's policy, why has the U.S. dollar been so strong of late, and why has gold failed to hold above $1,600
There is an interesting phenomenon going on with the world's central banks. Usually when there is an economic crisis or slowdown, it is confined to certain areas of the world. But in the latest recession, the faltering of economies was so widespread that central banks easing caused a race to devalue currencies — with the U.S. falling into last place. This, in turn, has kept our dollar relatively strong compared to the basket of major currencies in the dollar index.
The dollar index closed at $82.3 on Friday — its highest level since August of last year. And of course, with all the liquidity around the world looking for a home, it has found one in the good old U.S. dollar. The dollar is still the reserve currency of choice, and that has driven demand.
And you know what happens when you have a strong dollar? Yes — you have cheaper commodities, especially gold and crude oil. Gold has also been pressured because government statistics – emphasis on "government" — has shown inflation to be well within acceptable levels, taking away one of the main reasons for investors to put money into gold.
The trend for both gold and crude has been a downtrend.$1,530 to $1,522 in gold is an important support level to watch, and the $1,545 to $1,555 level should also not be ignored. On the upside, $1,600 and then $1,620 are the first resistance levels.
For crude, $90 dollars is downside support, and then $89 is the next level. Only a close above $94 ignites rallies to the upside. But as long as the strength in the dollar continues, the immediate future for crude and gold looks dim.
Great Post Geico, here is the 2005 news release:
May 18, 2005 16:41 ET
Gold Dragon Options Rio Belencillo from Petaquilla
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - May 18, 2005) - Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. ("PTQ" or the "Company") (TSX:PTQ)(OTCBB:PTQMF) announces that the Company has granted Gold Dragon Capital Management Ltd. ("Gold Dragon") an option (the "Option) to purchase its interests in the Rio Belencillo and Rio Petaquilla(i) concessions in Panama for $1,152,400, payable in capital stock of Gold Dragon.
(i) Note: The Rio Petaquilla concession is separate from the much larger Minera Petaquilla S.A. project, which is a joint venture between the Company, Inmet Mining and Teck Cominco.
Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. owns 68.88% of Zone 1 and 100% of Zone 2 of the Rio Belencillo Property Concession. Madison Enterprises Corp. owns the remaining 31.12% of Zone 1 and has the right to equal or better Gold Dragon's offer on the Rio Belencillo for a period of 60 days. The Company owns 100% of the Rio Petaquilla Property Concession.
Gold Dragon Capital Management Ltd. is a privately held company holding primarily cash and equities of major exchange listed companies. The number of shares of Gold Dragon to be issued to the Company if the Option is exercised will be calculated based on the value of Gold Dragon's cash and equities plus exploration expenses under the agreement, less liabilities. The Company will become a significant shareholder of Gold Dragon if the Option is exercised.
In order to activate the Option, Gold Dragon must evidence ownership of a minimum of 1,025,000 shares of Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. within 120 days of the execution of the Option Agreement. Upon activation of the Option, Gold Dragon has the irrevocable right and option to purchase the concessions until May 7, 2006. Petaquilla will grant a nine-month extension provided Gold Dragon has spent a minimum of $100,000 CDN on developing the concessions prior to May 7, 2006. Gold Dragon must evidence ownership of a minimum of at least 2% of the issued and outstanding shares of Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. at the time Gold Dragon elects to exercise the Option.
The Company has also agreed to process the ore from the concessions for a fee through the facilities of its Molejon gold project, provided that the Molejon is operational.
Initial exploration on the Rio Belencillo by Madison Enterprises Corp. included 3756 meters of diamond drilling. The Rio Petaquilla is a 45 square kilometer exploration stage property located adjacent to Zone 1 of the Rio Belencillo.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
PETAQUILLA MINERALS LTD.
Thank you to MJK. PetaBull, German Investor and others for your timely and correct info on the land dispute. You made me a lot of money. Thank you again
Land Rights of Petaquilla Upheld by Panamanian Supreme Court
By Zacks Equity Research | Zacks – 4 hours ago
By Steven Ralston, CFA
Last week, the Supreme Court of Panama upheld the decisions of the National Authority of Land Administration to deny Minera Panama’s request to place a tailings facility within the concessions of Petaquilla Minerals (Toronto:T.PTQ) (OTC BB:PTQMF). Minera Panama is a subsidiary of Inmet Mining (Toronto:T.IMN) (OTC Markets:IEMMF).
Recall that Inmet unsuccessfully attempted to acquire the Panamanian assets of Petaquilla Minerals last year. The increased offer of $0.60 per share insufficiently reflected Petaquilla’s value. Petaquilla is a strategic asset for the completion of Inmet's Cobre Panamá project, which is the largest mining project ever undertaken in Central America and potentially could become the second most important copper mine in the world.
The Cobre Panamá project consists of several conventional open pit mines and the associated infrastructure to produce copper, gold, silver and molybdenum. The Basic Engineering Summary Report proposes the construction of three pits (Colina, Valle Grande and Botija) and four associated waste dumps. Without an agreement with Petaquilla, Minera Panama is unable to locate the waste dumps as planned.
Minera Panama, may still be able to develop the Cobre Panamá project but with inefficiencies that will require additional capital costs. Minera Panama has the required permits to begin construction of the project; however, the construction and optimal placement of the waste dumps will require either the acquisition of the Panamanian assets of Petaquilla or the consent from Petaquilla for access to the land, which at this point would most likely require a sizable negotiated fee or compensation set by arbitration as provided for in Petaquilla Law 9. As stated by Inmet’s management, though in a different context, the acquisition of Petaquilla would eliminate a potential source of disruption to the development of Cobre Panamá.
In developing Cobre Panamá, Inmet has committed considerable capital, approximately $3.0 billion through the end of 2012, with the projected total capital cost of the project being $6.18 billion. The $140 million ($0.60 per share) offer for Petaquilla Minerals was minor (less than 3%) compared to the potential sub-optimal development of Cobre Panamá and/or the legal costs to acquire access to the required lands.
Possibly the current hostile offer by First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM: TSE) for Inmet Mining distracted Inmet’s management from pursuing the acquisition of Petaquilla. If First Quantum’s takeover is successful, the management of First Quantum should soon recognized the strategic importance of acquiring Petaquilla’s Panamanian assets and be willing to pay a fair price.
We reaffirm our Outperform rating of Petaquilla Minerals and price target of $1.70.
Interesting Article Below that discuss junior gold minor prospects and discusses several companies. I Iooked at the companies and did an analysis based on how he does it. It follows. I can't line up the headings so in order they are Company, Current SP, Stockholder Equity Per Share, Proven & Probable and Measured and Indicated gold ounces, cash cost of production per ounces and Value per Share of reserves at $100 an ounce.
PTQ $0.54 $0.30 857,000 $444 $0.41
Luna Gold $3.37 $1.07 3,171,000 $749 $3.19
Eastmain Res $0.82 $0.55 632,000 Not In Prod $0.59
Veris Gold $1.65 $0.58 3,380,000 $900 $3.08
Eric Winmill, mining equities research analyst with Casimir Capital, sees great potential for small-cap metals producers and developers in the Americas-home to good infrastructure, skilled workers and great geology. In this Gold Report interview, Winmill also explains how "all-in" cash costs are making it easier for companies and investors to understand and predict cash flow generation and identifies companies that he expects to take off.
The Gold Report: Eric, most of the companies you cover are small-cap names operating one or two mines in the Americas. Is that where investors will make money in 2013?
Eric Winmill: We are seeing a lot of money flowing back into the Americas, along with a lot of merger and acquisition [M&A] activity in the gold space.
This is happening for all the reasons you might expect: access to skilled workers, a highly productive workforce, security of mineral rights, great infrastructure and, of course, great geology. These small- to mid-cap producers with one or two assets are typically ramping up. We focus on finding great teams and great assets as we believe these will deliver the best potential for returns this year and in subsequent years.
TGR: What valuation metric do you use or trust most?
EW: We tend to use price-to-net-asset-value [NAV] multiples. That captures most of the growth in the companies and the projects going forward and allows us to run sensitivities on gold prices and such. In some cases we incorporate price to cash flow, but rely primarily on price to NAV.
TGR: Can you give us a brief overview of Casimir Capital's gold trading range projections for 2013?
EW: Rather than forecasting a price range, we use a fixed value. For 2013 we are using a price of $1,800/ounce [$1,800/oz], a little bit above where the quote is now.
I agree with a Barron's quote from Darren C. Pollock at Cheviot Value Management LLC, who said, "We are in the middle of a monetary stimulus marathon, this is no sprint." Just about all of the major currencies are "reflating" at the moment. Against that backdrop, we are bullish on gold prices through 2013 and into 2014.
EW: Under our peak-pricing scenario, we forecast $1,900/oz in 2014. We move to a long-term price of $1,400/oz after 2016.
TGR: Since mid-July 2012 you have turned over or dropped 6 of 15 the companies you cover. Of the 10 companies, which is the most likely to receive a takeover offer?
EW: That is a good question, given that takeover "optionality" is a part of what we look for in the companies we cover. We see takeover potential underpinning or sweetening the valuation. However, looking solely for takeover targets as an investment strategy is not really our mandate.
Nonetheless, as companies surface value in their key assets, it is natural to suspect that they might be takeover targets. One example is Luna Gold Corp. (LGCUF.PK), which is ramping production at its Aurizona mine in Brazil. Next year, production will reach 125,000 oz [125 Koz]/year. The company has a long-term plan that could take production up to 300 Koz/year or even 500 Koz/year. That kind of asset could be very attractive to midtier or even senior gold companies.
TGR: What are the longer-term expansion plans at Aurizona?
EW: Luna Gold has a very clear expansion strategy at Aurizona. The company is working through a phase 1 expansion right now. In the next few months we expect news on a phase 2 expansion that could add another 100 Koz/year or more.
Looking down the road, Luna Gold has a very promising property right next to the Aurizona property called Luna Greenfields. The company intends for that to be the source of its next gold mine. Including underground potential, it could drive production to 300-500 Koz/year.
TGR: Does Luna Gold plan to mine the high-grade portion of that first to generate early cash flow? If so, could we see a slight drop from production at Aurizona over the next couple of years?
EW: I would not call it "high-grading" per se. Right now, Luna is mining a lot of the near-surface saprolite-type ores. These are very easy and cheap to process. Down the road, the company plans to do some crusher improvements to facilitate processing of more of the deeper fresh rock ore.
TGR: How do Luna Gold's cash costs of roughly $705-715/oz compare with other companies of similar size?
EW: Luna Gold would probably be on the lower end of the junior to midtier gold producers.
In Luna Gold's latest guidance, it presented an "all-in sustaining cash cost" measure. This is a new trend in the industry to help investors understand better which companies are adding cash to the balance sheet. Luna Gold is suggesting a 2013 all-in cost just over $1,000/oz. I think that stacks up very well against the juniors and even the midtiers and some of the seniors.
Another interesting company is Eastmain Resources Inc. (EANRF.PK), which is exploring its Eau Claire deposit in the James Bay region of Québec, Canada. Eau Claire has to be on the radar screen of a lot of potential acquirers.
TGR: Eastmain has a Measured and Indicated resource of 2.5 million ounces, and your valuation puts those ounces at roughly $100/oz in the ground. Is that a bit high given the devaluation of ounces-in-the-ground resources we have seen recently?
EW: We think $100/oz is a reasonable number in this instance. In the M&A landscape certain assets are commanding a real premium in the eyes of acquirers. Often those are very high-grade deposits with great infrastructure or great synergies with established companies. In those cases, it is not unreasonable to think that large premiums could be paid.
TGR: What advantages does Eastmain have over other similar-sized companies?
EW: One advantage is that Eastmain is operating in the Americas, and in Québec in particular. It is a great spot for exploration projects. Eastmain has good access to infrastructure, skilled talent and world-class geology: high-grade results near surface and at depth and a deposit that is wide open in many directions.
TGR: Doesn't an average of roughly 4 grams per ton in an open-pit scenario seem quite positive?
EW: Yes, that is one of the reasons we like it. In 2013, we should see Eastmain do about 25,000 meters [2,500m] of drilling at its flagship Eau Claire project.
TGR: Of the companies you cover, some are up and some are down. Of those that are down, which is the most likely to rebound from a tough year in 2012?
EW: There is no doubt that the junior to mid-cap sector has been challenging for investors in the last 12 months. However, we are looking for catalysts in 2013 from a number of companies.
Luna Gold's expected news about its phase 2 expansion should be positive for that stock.
TGR: Last month you launched coverage of Veris Gold Corp. (YNGFD.PK), previously called Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. Veris is slated to dramatically increase gold production in 2013. What should investors expect from Veris this year?
EW: We see 2013 as a very exciting year for Veris. The company owns and operates the Jerritt Canyon mine in Nevada. This is a storied asset that has produced nearly 8 Moz of gold since the early 1980s.
In 2012, the company produced 108 Koz gold. This year we could see production upward of 170 Koz from three underground mines.
One of the big catalysts we are looking for from Veris is its plan to do toll milling. The company's roaster in Nevada has spare capacity to treat refractory ore. We expect Veris to start toll-milling third-party ore. This could generate significant revenue and help drive its cash costs down.
The company also has a huge land package in Nevada: 120 square miles only 35 miles from the Carlin Trend. It contains some very interesting targets that Veris plans to drill off later this year.
TGR: Veris had some exploration success at Jerritt Canyon, too. One hole hit 49.7m of 8.3 g/t gold. What did you make of that?
EW: Those results were from the Smith underground mine and are indicative of the type of high-grade results we might see going forward. It is a prolific district with a long history of production and the right kind of geology for new discoveries as well.
TGR: You have a buy rating on Veris and target price of $3.80, correct?
EW: Yes.
TGR: What's another strong buy rating?
EW: One of them is Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (SAND).
Sandstorm is a gold royalty and streaming company. It has a portfolio of producing assets and is different from a traditional gold producer in that it provides early-stage financing in exchange for a portion of the gold sales. Nolan Watson and his team have done a terrific job of creating value. Investors get a lot of upside participation in gold prices without the traditional operating and capital expense risk.
TGR: It certainly seems to be an almost ideal way to play the space. Does Sandstorm have enough production coming onstream to get royalty streams at good prices?
EW: Absolutely. Sandstorm has a very full pipeline of deals. It just acquired a 60% interest in Premier Royalty Inc., a new royalty company that just started trading in December 2012. The fact that Sandstorm has taken control is indicative of the kind of innovative, value-added transactions we think investors can look forward to.
TGR: Can you give our readers a reason or two to be hopeful in 2013, after a difficult 2012?
EW: I think the industry as a whole has gotten the message loud and clear that it is all about a renewed focus on smart projects and efficient capital allocation, not just growth for growth's sake. In addition, the industry trend toward reporting all-in sustaining cash costs should help investors make better decisions about which companies are really adding cash to the balance sheet.
TGR: Eric, thank you for your time and your insights.
Eric Winmill joined Casimir Capital in 2012 as a mining analyst in the Equity Research Department. Winmill has 14 years of capital markets' experience, primarily in the evaluation and analysis of precious and base metal projects around the globe. Most recently he worked in mining equity research at National Bank Financial and at Wellington West Capital Markets. Prior to that, Winmill was a vice president at Regent Mercantile Bancorp, a private resource-based merchant bank. Winmill holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and a Master in Finance from Rotman School of Management, and is a CFA Charterholder.
DISCLOSURE:
1) Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report conducted this interview. He personally and/or his family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: None.
2) The following companies mentioned in the interview are sponsors of The Gold Report: None. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for services. Interviews are edited for clarity.
3) Eric Winmill: I personally and/or my family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: None. I personally and/or my family am paid by the following companies mentioned in this interview: None. I was not paid by Streetwise Reports for participating in this interview.
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Does anyone know if Inmet can further appeal the recent decision, and if yes, what Ministry or Court will it be heard in? What follows gives background on the legal system in Panama
A Guide to Panama’s Legal System and Research
Published November/December 2011
Country Information
The Republic of Panama is located in the Western Hemisphere and borders to the North with the Caribbean Sea, to the South with the Pacific Ocean, to the East with Colombia and to the West with Costa Rica, Panama, forms a link between Central America and an isthmus of 80 km wide in its narrower section. The Republic as an area of 77,082 square km, being mountainous toward the Caribbean coast, with rolling hills and extensive savannas towards the Pacific. The country’s population of 2.7 million speaks Spanish as the official language. However, English is widely spoken and understood in the urban centers.
Various native languages exist such as Kuna and Ngobe-Bugle. Minority urban groups speak Italian, Panama, Greek, Cantonese Chinese and Hindi, among others, giving the capital of Panama City a heterogeneous character. No official census is kept about ethnic groups but unofficial estimates state the population to be around 14% black, 10% white and 6% Amerindian, with the majority belonging to 70% comprised by an interracial of the previously mentioned groups known as mestizo. 85% of the population is Catholic, as the National Constitution acknowledges. 15% is Protestant and small Jewish, Moslem and Hindu congregations co-exist.
Panama invests great part of the National Budget in Education. Its private and public schools are under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. The school system is organized in primary and secondary levels of six years each one, as well as higher education or university. Eleven Universities exist with substantial enrollment. The University of Panama and the Technological University are state-run, while the Universidad Santa María la Antigua, and others (including Panama campuses of Florida State University and other U.S. institutions) are private.
The climate of Panama is tropical and the temperature is practically uniform throughout the year. The nights are generally fresh. The average temperature is of 27C. The country has two seasons: rainy season -May until January and dry season -January until May.
The economy is fully dollarized, with the local Balboa and the U.S. Dollar, being currencies of legal tender. The Constitution forbids the enactment of laws providing for a currency of compulsory tender, which has preserved the freedom from currency restrictions. This fact has made the country different from most of its neighbors, as the economy is comprised 75% by services, 16% industries, and 10% agricultural activities. The rate of inflation is no more than 1.5% and the official rate of unemployment is of 11%. Major International Markets for its exports of bananas, products refined from oil, shrimp, and sugar are U.S., Germany, and Sweden. Services to foreign customers are an important source of revenue that makes up for the substantial imports mostly from U.S. and Japan.
History
While human settlements have existed in Panama from prehistoric times (around 12,000 B.C.), the lack of any written records has forced scholars to rely on archaeological findings to elaborate a history of PreColumbian peoples of the Isthmus.
The prevalent theory about organized human groups points to a Southward migration of Meso-American peoples in the XII century as the source of Amerindian organizations in the Isthmus. Unlike the empires of the Incas or the city-states of Meso-America, political organizations in Panama did not rise above the village, headed by autocratic chieftains, sometimes ruling with the advice of councils of elders. A body of customs emerged in each village, regulating aspects of family life as well as crimes against life. The minimal information currently available on the customary law of those days is that collected by Spanish chroniclers that lived then among the Amerindian tribes.
The arrival in 1501 of Spanish troops resulted in the conquest of the Isthmus and the imposition of Spanish laws. A special body of laws was enacted for application in the American colonies and the Philippines, codified in the “Recopilación de Leyes de Indias y Filipinas” published in 1680. The compilation has 9 volumes, 218 titles and more than 6000 laws covering all aspects of legislation in the Spanish colonies overseas. As the character of Spanish presence changed from that of a military campaign to a colonial territorial expansion, the Isthmus was subject throughout three centuries to territorial institutions such as the Governorship, the Viceroyalty and the Audiencia.
The Governorship was a military, political and judicial institution, called Castilla de Oro and later in 1513 Veraguas, which included Panama. The Viceroyalty was a jurisdiction where political and administrative powers of the king were exercised by a lieutenant appointed by each king. As the importance of Panama decreased, it became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1718 until independence in 1821. These entities governed along with the Audiencia – an entity with political, administrative and judicial duties. It also exercised judicial review of decisions taken by governors and viceroys. The Panama Audiencia was created in 1535 and operated intermittently throughout the colonial period.
Panama declared its independence in 1821 and joined the Gran Colombia – a confederation also formed by Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. A Presidential decree of 1825 provided that Spanish laws in force in the colonies up to 1808 would be a source of law supplementary to the Colombian laws enacted. These Colombian laws eventually were enacted by autocratic Executive and subordinate Legislative powers in Bogota. During said period, attempts to seccede the Isthmus ensued several times. An exception was a brief period between 1863 and 1885 when Colombia was a federal entity of which the Panama was a state called Sovereign State of the Isthmus with its state Constitution and assembly. The state assembly enacted a Civil and an Administrative Code for Panama which replaced Spanish laws in most cases, and even served as model for other Colombian states. The enactment in 1873 of a national Colombian Civil Code finally abrogated the Spanish law along with all state constitutions and codes.
The fifth seccession attempt in 1903 finally succeeded in creating the Republic of Panama, which by 1904 approved a Constitution with a laissez-faire orientation product of the previous century just ended. A Codifying Commission submitted to the Legislature in 1916 drafts of a Civil, Commerce, Criminal, Judicial, Mining, and Tax Code, which were enacted in 1917 along with an Administrative Code.
A Common Law area subsisted in the Panama Canal Zone, a Panamanian territory under U.S. jurisdiction pursuant to the 1904 Panama Canal treaties. Canal Zone courts applied U.S. Federal law, as dictated in the Panama Canal title of the U.S. Code and Executive Orders, until their abrogation by new treaties in 1979.
The Constitutions of 1941 and 1946 granted social rights and the duties of the welfare state the rank of constitutional guarantees. Eventually, a Labor and a Health Code were approved, and the Tax Code was replaced by a more progressive version. These socializing trends were abruptly detained in 1968, when a military coup d‘etat against the civilian regime led to a suspension of most freedoms, the abrogation of all political parties and the removal of most judicial civil servants. A new Constitution was approved in 1972 by a single-party Legislature which appeared to expand on most social rights but reserved the appointment of Cabinet ministers and Supreme Court justices on the sole discretion of the Chief of Staff of the National Guard. Constitutional amendments in 1983 removed said reserve and most authoritarian provisions, leading to increasing restoration of the rule of law. In the following two years the Criminal, Judicial and Mining Codes were replaced by more modern versions.
Legal Concepts
The Republic of Panama is a sovereign and independent State. Its government is centralized, republican, democratic and representative, composed by a President, two Vice presidents and twelve Ministers of State that comprise the Executive Power; the Legislative Assembly with 72 Legislators integrating the Legislative Power, and 9 Magistrates that head the Judicial Power. These three powers are the ones that govern the country.
The Civil Law system is applied by the Judicial system, which judges are not bound by judicial precedent in their decisions. Judges rely in the Constitution, followed by Codes, laws and regulations as direct source of law. Only 3 identical decisions by the full Supreme Court have a rank of mere “probable doctrine”. In the absence of express legal provisions applicable to a subject matter, general principles of law as stated in scholarly publications (and in commerce law, local customs if practiced by 5 or more merchants who testify to that fact) serve as indirect source of law.
The Constitution and procedure laws have provisions, from which Panamanian jurists have determined to be the main concepts or principles which guide the legal system. A chapter of the Constitution is devoted to individual freedoms, which provide safeguards against arbitrary detention or punishment. Article 20 of the Constitution provides that no discrimination shall exist by reason of birth, race, sex or religion and that foreigners and national are equal before the law. This equality is also applicable to the acts and appearances of parties before the judicial entities. Another constitutional guarantee provides that nobody shall be judged other than by a competent authority for violations of the previously enacted law. This rule of law principle is also extended to imposition of fines or any other decisions that any public official takes with regards to citizens or their properties. Constitutional provisions which have been criticized abroad are the powers granted to high-ranking officials to order a detention without due process for up to 24 hours and the imprisonment penalties for libel that results in "offenses to the honor". Another chapter of the Constitution provides principles for the actions of the Judiciary power. The constitutional principle of judicial independence provides that Judges are independent in their acts and are subject to nothing more than the Constitution and the laws (Article 207, Constitution)
The 1984 Judicial Code, based after provisions in force in Colombia, expanded on the scope of the constitutional guarantees as applied in the procedural area. These principles are those of contradiction or bilateral character (whereby parties be granted all the opportunities for their defense (or actions) as provided under the law), publicity (whereby proceedings are public (except when open only to the parties involved due to morality reasons) and secret proceedings are prohibited), procedural economy (whereby procedures must be conducted pursuant to the law but also in a manner that brings results promptly and with the use of less resources), Res judicata, double instance (whereby decisions are subject to review by a superior judicial entity), and congruence (whereby the award rendered should not exceed or be different from that which is requested by the parties). An important principle of valuation of evidence is that the sound judgment ("sana crítica") of the judge, based on his technical knowledge and previous experience, is the standard whereby evidence is valuated. However, the judge does not have a proactive approach under the procedural truth principle, whereby the evidence provided by the parties is the only one to be admitted by the judge instead of the material truth. According to the Fraser Institute, the Panama Legal Structure and its impact on Property Rights received a ranking in 1997 of 6.9 out of 10. Aspects such as Security of Private Ownership Rights were ranked 7.2, while Viability of Contracts and Rule of Law received rankings of 6.6 and 7.0, respectively. In 1997, Panama's rating was 8.3, up from 6.9 in 1990. Its ranking rose from 30th in 1990 to 14th in 1997. In spite of these negative factors that reduce the trust of investors, Panama has the best economic freedom rating in Central America, being ranked 14th in the world.
Current Government Structure
On a national level, Panama has Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches.
The Executive branch is formed by the President - elected in general elections for a 5-year term – which appoints at his or her discretion Cabinet Ministers and the directors of several regulatory entities. The branch has some entities with duties related to the legal system, such as the Ministry of Government and Justice which includes several entities such as the Public Registry in charge of registering deeds and property transfers, the Public Force in charge of national defense and police duties, and the Directorate of Correction in charge of penitentiaries. Other entities are the Ministry of Economy and Finance which imposes fines for tax infringements and its Customs Tribunal imposes imprisonment penalties for customs fraud, the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development which provides dispute resolution on labor claims and its Boards of Conciliation and Decision hear cases for unjustified termination, the Commission of Free Competition and Consumer Affairs which provides dispute resolution in consumer disputes and files actions ex officio in anti-competitive matters, and the Regulatory Entity of Public Services which provides dispute resolution in disputes between public utilities and their users and hears cases for violations of telecommunications laws.
The Legislative branch is formed by the Legislative Assembly, elected by popular vote. It enacts laws and only hears cases during impeachment proceedings.
The Judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court of Justice, formed by 9 Justices. They hear jointly constitutionality cases, while groups of 3 Justices each form 4 Sections: Civil, Criminal, Contentious-Administrative (judicial review of administrative cases, appeal of labor courts) and General Affairs each with their specialized caseload. Constitutionality cases are decided by the totality of all Justices. Civil Superior Justice Tribunals act as appellate courts, while Civil Circuit and Municipal judges try cases above and below US$1,000, respectively. Courts of special jurisdictions are the Family courts which try family law cases and the single Admiralty court which deals with admiralty cases arising from incidents in ships sailing the Panama Canal and Panamanian waters, or on board ships with Panamanian flag wherever they are located.
In the Criminal jurisdiction, Criminal Circuit and Municipal judges try cases with imprisonment terms above and below 2 years, respectively. Their decisions are appealed before Criminal Superior Justice Tribunals and may be subject to extraordinary review by the Criminal Section of the Supreme Court.
A Public Defender’s Office is of recent creation and is meant to provide counsel to defendants indicted.
A special labor jurisdiction has Superior Justice Tribunals as appellate courts, and Sectional judges which hear cases. Extraordinary review of their decision is exercised by the Contentious-Administrative Section of the Supreme Court, in the absence of the Labor Section provided under the Labor Code.
The Public Ministry is formed by the Attorney (“Procurador”) General of the Nation and the Solicitor (also called “Procurador”) General of the Administration. The Attorney General works along with lower district attorneys (“Fiscales de Distrito”), circuit attorneys (“Fiscales de Circuit”) and municipal attorneys (“Personeros”) which prosecute criminal cases before criminal courts. The Technical Judicial Police is the investigative department of the Public Ministry. Scholars debate to which of the branches the Public Ministry belongs, since it is not subordinate to any of the heads of the branches.
On a local level, municipalities have their equivalent of the three branches of power. Each municipality is led by a mayor, who enforces ordinances enacted by a Municipal Council of community representatives (“Representantes de Corregimientos”) – all of which are elected for 5-year terms in general elections. The mayor appoints justices of the peace (“Corregidores”) who assist in enforcing ordinances in each Corregimiento. Corregidores deal with most minor offenses, as they have presence in each of the 500-plus Corregimiento communities. Their decisions are subject to appeal before the mayor of the relevant municipality and to judicial review by the Contentious-Administrative Section of the Supreme Court.
Specialized Judicial Bodies
The Electoral Tribunal is a court separate from the other branches of government. Its 3 magistrates are is appointed by the Assembly for 10-year terms not concurrent with the presidential term or with each other’s term. The Tribunal keeps birth and marriage records, serves as electoral office and also tries cases for violation of electoral laws. The Electoral Attorney (“Fiscal”) takes cases to them for trial.
The People’s Defender or Ombudsman investigates complaints from citizens about abuses by government officials and can call for their sanction or removal. The Ombudsman is appointed by the Assembly for a 5-yeaterm not concurrent with the presidential term.
A Special District Attorney (“Fiscal Especial”) was created in 1990 to prosecute crimes against the Nation. It prosecuted several cases of human rights violations by the military of the pre-1990 governments. However, cases were tried before traditional criminal courts, where acts of alleged coertion against juries preceded the acquittals of
Some non-governmental organizations have acted as human rights groups to gather complaints of violations or abuses by the Panamanian and/or U.S. military between 1968 and 1990. The 20-year statute of limitations for further prosecution of pre-1980 violations and the uncovering of human remains at a former Panamanian military airbase triggered the appointment by the President of a ad-hoc truth commission in 2001. The commission has the duty of gathering information about complaints of human rights violations by the Panamanian military and its mandate has a specific exclusion from exercising judicial duties. Despite budgetary constraints, the commission has compiled a list of more than a hundred disappearances allegedly related to the Panamanian military.
Staffing
The top positions in the judiciary require a number of years acting as accredited attorney-at-law (or in a position that requires a law degree), at least 30 years of age, to be in full exercise of political or civil rights, and Panamanian citizenship by birth. The main positions with tenure requirements are: Position / Minimum age / No. of years as attorney / Appointed by
Supreme Court Justices, Attorney General of the Nation, Solicitor General of the Administration / 35 / 10 / Cabinet, approved by Legislature, for 10-year term
Magistrates of Superior Tribunals, Secretary of Supreme Court of Justice, District Attorney / 30 / 5 / Supreme Court Justices, for indefinite term
Circuit Judges, Circuit Attorney / 30 / 3 / Magistrates of Superior Tribunals, for indefinite term
Municipal Judges, Municipal Attorney / 25 / 3 / Circuit Judges, for indefinite term.
The Cabinet retains discretion in the selection of its appointments, while lower positions are subject to the Civil Service law which was enacted in 1991 to cover judicial branch employees. This law is not applicable to the appointment of Supreme Court Justices, and their assistants. The “judicial service” is meant to ensure the filling of positions with competitive candidates on a non-political basis, through the merit-based system. Judicial branch statistics indicate that out of 2,382 judicial employees in 1996, 1,382 were appointed through the judicial service selection system.
Accreditation as attorney-at-law is granted to all Panamanian citizens that earn a law degree from a Panamanian law school (or a law school from a Spanish-speaking country recognized by the University of Panama) and apply to the General Affairs Section of the Supreme Court. Graduates from non-recognized foreign law schools must comply with a thesis requirement in Panama.
Membership in a Panamanian bar association is a requirement to litigate.
There is no training requirement for court administrative personnel, so a Judicial School was created with assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1993. 7,000 judicial and administrative servants have received training courses at the school.
More is available in:
Colegio Nacional de Abogados (Panama Bar Association)
Abogados de Panama
Comision de Rlaciones Internacionales - Colegio Nacional de Abogados (International Relations Commission - Panama Bar Association)
Impact
Law in Panama has acted mostly as an instrument of centralized (and in the past authoritarian), regimes than as means for peaceful resolution of disputes between individuals. In said sense, the law has a profound impact in everyday public and private affairs, specially among the ever-growing urban population. The position of Panama as a trade center has resulted since the opening of the trans-isthmian railroad in 1855 in a prolific production of legal treatises and legislation by local jurists geared towards civil and business law. However, pressures from changing party-oriented political administrations as well as kinship and social links typical of a small population have, in a decreasing manner, affected the independence of the judiciary and the perception of its proper administration of justice.
Negative political factors in the administration of justice have been addressed through legal reforms or have been lessened by the evolution of the local community. This has led to the realization that non-political factors, such as the overloaded dockets, excessive bureaucratic proceedings, lack of training and equipment, and budgetary deficiencies continue affecting the administration of justice and its ability to give the law the role it is meant to have. The visible forms of these effects are the amount years in the duration of a case and the fact that more than half of the jail population is made up by detainees awaiting their hearing. The latest administrations, with financing and training from the U.S. and the European Union foreign aid entities, continue implementing projects in order to reverse this trend.
Law, Jurisprudence and Doctrine Websites
Here is a selection of Panama legal "portals"(list of Panama legal websites):
Centro de Documentación Judicial - (Judicial Documentation Center) Supreme Court website with its decisions and appeals court judgments since 1993.
Legispan - Legislative Assembly website with searchable database of laws since 1903.
Infojuridica - Solicitor General website with laws and regulations since 1903
Ejuridica - Law website with free laws and Codes available for download for a fee.
Rhino International - Catalogue of legal publisher of Panama laws and Tax Code updates
Government
Government sites provide institutional information, news and basic information about their respective fields in Spanish.
Ministries
Panama Canal Authority (with English site)
Ministry of Economic Industry and Commerce
Ministry of Agricultural Development
Ministry of Social Development
Ministry of Economics and Finance
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Goverment and Justice
Ministry of Public Works
President of the Republic
Ministry of Exterior Affairs
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development
Housing Ministry
Thank you Geico, that is a great article.
She deleted several of my posts for minor reasons and a few others on this board complained about her deleting their posts. I haven't heard any complaints about post deletions lately and many of the recent posts seem to be mostly personal which should have been deleted based on Southern Girls past actions. Maybe she's sold her shares and no longer reads this board. Hope that answers your questions.
Is southern girl still with us?
You are correct.
America Should Declare Bankruptcy: Doug Casey
By Lauren Lyster | Daily Ticker – 1 hour 24 minutes ago
This week started with President Obama Monday demanding lawmakers raise the U.S.’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, warning Republicans not to insist on spending cuts in return. The same day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke advocated getting rid of the debt limit altogether. The Washington Post reports in a conversation at the University of Michigan Bernanke said the debt ceiling has only “symbolic value.”
And the week ends with lawmakers still careening towards a deadline somewhere between mid-February and late March, when the U.S. will run out of funding for most government programs and risk default. They have no plan to raise the ceiling or abolish it. Even so, perhaps playing chicken with the debt limit, a charade we already witnessed once before in 2011, is not the real story.
“Bernanke is quite correct, it is theatrics,” Doug Casey, chairman of Casey Research, professional investor, and author of Totally Incorrect: Conversations with Doug Casey tells The Daily Ticker. “The problem is the amount of debt itself. The problem is so big at this point, I think it’s very questionable whether this can be solved at all.”
Related: Debt Ceiling Theatrics Could Spark 10% Sell-Off
Casey points to the money America owes above and beyond the official $16 trillion in national debt, as the real issue. This includes the so-called unfunded liabilities from entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.
Two former U.S. government officials put the federal government’s actual liabilities in excess of $86.8 trillion, or 550% of GDP, in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed. Casey argues we’re talking of upwards of $100 trillion when you also factor in the liability of promises such as FDIC deposit insurance.
“This is far more than can conceivably be repaid, so the debt is going to be defaulted on, it’s simply a question of how,” he says.
There is the specter of outright default like we’ve seen in the case of Argentina, where Casey himself spends much of his time. There’s also the scenario of “destroying the dollar,” devaluing it so the debt burden isn’t as heavy.
Related: Bill Gross: Fed’s “Hot Air” Will Keep Bond Bubble Aloft in 2013
Casey takes it one step further.
“I think the U.S. government should default on the national debt,” he says, pre-empting his statement with the admission that it may sound outrageous and too radical. “I say that for several reasons. The most important of them is if they don’t default on it, it’s going to make the next several generations of Americans into effect indentured servants, serfs, to pay off the debt that their parents and grandparents have incurred.”
Why is Inmet trading at $70 when First Quantum is offering $72?
If Trust in Currencies Erodes, Gold Will Skyrocket
Published: Tuesday, 15 Jan 2013 | 11:04 AM ET
By: Jim Iuorio
Managing Director, TJM Institutional Services
Is gold getting ready to rip?
Reports that Germany intends to repatriate the gold that is being stored at the New York Federal Reserve should be supportive for gold prices. The implication here is that trust in fiat currencies is being eroded by central bank involvement. Japan's recent policy change toward a weaker yen, coupled with the Federal Reserve's ongoing bond purchases, is making gold a more attractive asset.
The gold market's reaction to the news, so far, has been positive — but only mildly so. My belief is that if February gold futures can settle above $1,680, this will be an indication of further upside. My initial upside target will be $1,750.
Frankly, I'm surprised that the move in gold has not been bigger, as this count be the beginning of a monumental shift toward "safe haven" wealth storage. When trust is the central issue, markets tend to have enormous moves.
Wonder if any of those 5 big owners of Inmet stock own any of our shares? FQ must understand the land use issue and believes the cost to settle it is reasonable. Hope they take over Inmet.
Second-Step Transactions
An acquiror is highly unlikely to acquire all of a target’s shares in a takeover bid or tender offer and, therefore, some form of second-step transaction will be necessary to obtain 100% ownership. The form of second-step transaction and its speed will depend primarily on the percentage of target shares that the acquiror owns after the bid. The mechanics of second-step transactions are governed by the provincial or state corporate laws under which the acquiror and target are incorporated or organized. To simplify the mechanics of the deal, acquirors commonly incorporate a new subsidiary as an acquisition vehicle in the same jurisdiction where the target is incorporated or organized.
Second Steps in Canada
When a bidder obtains at least 90% of the outstanding shares of a target company under a bid, provincial corporate law statutes generally confer a compulsory acquisition right in favour of the bidder to acquire the balance of the securities. In calculating the 90% threshold, securities held by the bidder at the time of making the bid or acquired in the open market during the bid must be excluded. No shareholder approval is required for a compulsory acquisition and, as a result, it can be completed quickly and efficiently.
If the statutory compulsory acquisition procedure referred to above is not available because the bidder achieved less than a 90% tender to the bid, the bidder will instead be able to effect a transaction that squeezes out the remaining minority shareholders (at the same price as was offered under the bid) as long as the bidder (i) owns at least 66 M% of the outstanding shares after the bid; (ii) acquired through the formal bid a majority of the shares that it did not own beforehand; and (iii) satisfies the additional requirements of the business combination rules under Multilateral Instrument 61-101.
First Quantum Takes C$5.1 Billion Inmet Mining Bid Hostile
By Liezel Hill & Firat Kayakiran - Jan 9, 2013 4:54 AM ET
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM), a producer of copper in Africa, took its C$5.1 billion ($5.17 billion) bid for Inmet (IMN) Mining Corp. straight to shareholders as it seeks control of a project in Panama.
First Quantum’s C$72-a-share offer in cash and stock is 36 percent more than Inmet’s closing price on Nov. 27, the day before Toronto-based Inmet said it had rejected two unsolicited proposals. The bid will expire Feb. 14 and requires acceptance by holders of 66 percent of Inmet shares, First Quantum said today in a statement.
Enlarge image
First Quantum Minerals Ltd Chief Executive Officer Philip Pascall. Photographer: Ron D'Raine/Bloomberg
“We are taking the significant step of making this proposal directly to Inmet shareholders and requesting their support,” Chief Executive Officer Philip Pascall said in the statement. “First Quantum and Inmet are very complementary in terms of their copper focus.”
The deal, the biggest hostile bid by a mining company since BHP Billiton Ltd. withdrew a $40 billion offer for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. in 2010, would help First Quantum diversify geographically and increase its output, President Clive Newall said on a Dec. 17 conference call. The Vancouver-based company can develop projects more cheaply than its peers and would use its expertise to cut the cost of building Inmet’s Cobre Panama project, he said.
First Quantum’s London traded shares fell 1.6 percent to 1,330 pence as of 9:15 a.m. local time. The offer isn’t subject to any financing conditions or approval from First Quantum shareholders, according to the statement.
‘Broadly Skeptical’
“We remain broadly skeptical of the rationale for the bid and believe a major merger and acquisition now distracts from First Quantum’s already impressive standalone growth platform,” Nomura International Plc wrote in a note.
Founded in 1996 by Pascall, First Quantum operates the Kansanshi copper mine in Zambia, the Guelb Moghrein copper and gold mine in Mauritania and the Ravensthorpe nickel facility in Australia. First Quantum is the world’s 13th-largest copper producer and predicts it will become the sixth-biggest in 2016, it said last year.
Cobre Panama is the second-largest copper venture under construction, after Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, according to a November presentation posted on Inmet’s website. The project will cost about $6.2 billion and produce an average of 266,000 metric tons a year of the metal, which has more than quadrupled in price in the past 10 years in New York.
Finland, Spain
Inmet also operates mines in Finland, Spain and Turkey. Leucadia National Corp. (LUK) is its largest shareholder with a 16 percent stake and Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd., Singapore’s state investment company, has 11 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
First Quantum made an offer of C$62.50 a share for Inmet on Oct. 28 and another at C$70 on Nov. 25, before announcing Dec. 16 it would take a sweetened C$72 a share bid straight to Inmet shareholders.
The cash component of the latest offer will be financed through existing cash resources, undrawn financing facilities of $1.25 billion and a $2.5 billion acquisition facility provided by Standard Chartered Bank, the company said today.
Inmet said Nov. 28 it adopted a shareholder-rights plan, or poison pill, to block an unsolicited bid.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Jefferies Group Inc. and RBC Capital Markets are advising First Quantum.
Thinking Your Way Through A Corporate Takeover
By Iain Butler - January 8, 2013 | See also: FMIMN
There are few better feelings than waking up to the news that a company you own shares in has received a takeover offer at a significant premium to the prior day’s close. An immediate sense of bravado takes over and for the first time in months, you are very likely to log in to your quote provider of choice at 9:30am, as the market opens, to bask in the glory of your new found wealth.
But wait. What if that price you see as the market opens isn’t the takeover price you read about. It’s higher! What’s going on? How high could this thing go? Both very fair and very human questions. However, when it comes to investing, thinking like a human doesn’t tend to work. To best handle this kind of scenario, we don’t want you to think like a human. We want you to think like a Fool!
We Got a Live One
This very scenario is currently playing out in the Canadian market as First Quantum (TSX:FM) has made a third offer for fellow copper producer Inmet (TSX:IMN). After being rebuffed by Inmet’s board at $62.50 and $70, First Quantum is taking its new offer of $72 per share to Inmet’s owners, the public shareholders, to seek their approval. Inmet shares however currently trade above this $72 level, an indication that the market expects First Quantum, or somebody else, to pay even more.
This kind of scenario can leave Inmet shareholders, or any shareholder of a company facing a similar situation, scratching their head as to what to do next. What’s the right move? The way we see it, there are three options, two primary and one hybrid.
Option #1
The first option is to take the market price that is higher than the bid, and liquidate your entire position. Essentially, take the money and run, thus removing all risk that the deal goes through at the offered price (lower), or worse, doesn’t go through at all. While selling out will allow you to immediately line your pockets, it doesn’t necessarily allow you to participate if subsequent bids are made. This could mean you’re leaving thousands of dollars on the table. Not ideal from a financial standpoint, but potentially much worse when it comes to your investment psyche as your regret from selling could be significant.
Option #2
Do nothing. This implies that you are whole heartedly convinced that another bid is coming. By doing nothing, you are trading the risk that the deal falls through for the upside potential that another bid would bring.
Option #3
The hybrid solution involves selling a portion of your holdings, but holding onto the rest in case another bid does arrive. From an emotional standpoint, the hybrid is in most cases the easiest to digest. By selling some of your position, you are at least able to crystallize a portion of the gain you have made. In addition, you are reducing the risk that something goes awry with the deal. Even if it falls through, chances are that you’re still going to feel good about yourself for having taken some money off the table.
On the other side, you leave the door ajar to participate should a higher bid appear. In this case, you won’t feel the regret that you would have had you completely sold out (option #1), although you’ll be less well off financially than you would have been had you just gone with option #2.
Learning From Each Other
For investors, this whole process boils down to “regret minimization,” a term that I first heard from Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner, who in turn had it described to him by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. These corporate transactions have a lot of variables at play. You want to make the decision that will minimize your regret, regardless of how it all plays out.
Even though we’re dealing with a financial transaction here, we suggest that whatever action Fools take should maximize that initial sense of awesome that you felt when you first learned of the takeover. This doesn’t always mean maximizing your profit. Understand your financial upside, and downside, before making a decision but under most of these takeover situations, your brain will thank you for taking the hybrid route.
PRESS DIGEST-Canada-Jan 8
FINANCIAL POST
* With First Quantum Minerals Ltd expected to file its takeover circular imminently, the pressure will be on Inmet Mining Corp Chief Executive Jochen Tilk to explain why the $5.1-billion hostile offer for his company is inadequate.
Inmet shares have jumped nearly 40 percent since news of a bid surfaced in November, and are trading roughly in line with the offer price of $72 a share.
*
Petaquilla opts for $140 million loan to advance projects in Panama and Spain
Zacks Small Cap Research – 2 hours 37 minutes ago
By Steven Ralston, CFA
Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.TO) announced that a five-year $140 million loan facility is expected to close on or about January 15th. The loan facility is being made available by Red Kite Mine Finance Trust I in two tranches, the first for $90 million at 3-month LIBOR (or 1.0%, whichever is more) plus 750 basis points (bps) and the second for $50 million at 3-month LIBOR plus 850 bps. The first tranche will be available upon closing and the second tranche upon the completion of an updated NI 43-101 resource estimate on either the Molejón project in Panama or Lomero-Poyatos in Spain.
Management plans to use part of the net proceeds to unwind the company’s obligations under the forward gold and silver purchase contracts with Deutsche Bank, thereby terminating the contractual selling levels of $1,090 per ounce on roughly 40,000 gold ounces and $26.50 per ounce on about 420,000 silver ounces. The estimated cost for eliminating the company's obligations with Deutsche Bank, including the unwinding of the forward gold and silver purchase contracts and the convertible debt repayment, is approximately $70 million.
Additional net proceeds from the loan facility, along with the savings from prepaying the gold and silver contracts, will be directed towards advancing the Lomero-Poyatos project towards on-site production, which is expected to be achieved in mid-2014. Management estimated that approximately $80 million will be required for the further development of the Lomero-Poyatos mine, namely drilling, metallurgical test work and process flow-sheet and engineering design for a full feasibility study, along with the construction of water treatment plants and a floatation circuit.
The loan’s term may be extended by one year and can be repaid prior to maturity without penalty. In addition, the cost of the loan facility includes originating fees and a $5.00 off-take from every troy ounce of gold sold by Petaquilla for the next seven years from the company's projects in Panama and Spain. The off-take agreement also applies to copper, zinc and lead production, presumably on a gold-equivalent basis. Management estimates that the all-in cost of the loan facility is approximately 10.3%.
Obviously, the $140 million loan facility supersedes the previously proposed private placement of five-year $210 million senior secured notes announced in July 2012 since the use of net proceeds for both are roughly equivalent.
We reaffirm our Outperform rating and our price target of $1.75.
Geico, is this an update to the Oct 30, 2012 news release? I didn't see anything on Sedar or our website. The Oct 30 news release mentioned around 500,000 ounces of gold for pamilla at a cost to produce through G&A of just over $900 an ounce. Does this upgrade the deposit from inferred to M&I? I hope this means more gold but I don't know enough about the technical side of the 43-101 release to understand what it all means.
Capital Gains tax rates are going up big-time in U.S. on Jan 1, 2013 for rich people which I assume Sprott and his customers are. IMO, one of the reasons Sprott sold was to lock in the current 15 percent capital gains tax rate on what ever profit there was. Also, as posted, maybe he saw that the HT was failing and felt that the SP would fall back after the HT failed. Also, a possible reason why he didn't sell all his stock might be based on how he accounts for his shares tax wise (FIFO or LIFO) and he wouldn't realize a profit on his remaining shares. Either way, his selling didn't help the SP over the time he sold and assuming he's stopped selling, we should see a firming up in SP.
Don't panic investor 20501. The SP has drifted downward on very low volume. It's the holiday season and people aren't paying attention.
Lots of issues with First Quantum's bid for Inmet. First and foremost is does FQ have any contacts in Panama? Do they even have an office in Panama? What does Panama think about a new Canadian Corporation taking over? I would think they'd be glad to be rid of Inmet after Inmet's attack on us. I would think that, prior to the HT for Inmet, someone high up in FQ would have talked to the powers that be in Panama and reached an understanding on what is expected in regards to needed concessions and other issues that Inmet has messed up. I'm sure MJK, Peta, and other posters from Panama have a much better idea of Panama's take on this. I for one hope FQ succeeds in its HT as Inmet has played hard-ball with us in regards to its HT and stating it would not give any contracts to PDI.