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Idaho Strategic Metals is showing serious interest in the Coosa Deposit. A merger might be in everybody's best interest. It never hurts to listen to an offer.
What ever happened to the drilling at the gold project in northern Nevada. CDSG announced that only three months ago. Since then crickets.
Anybody heard what the results were of the BofD meeting today?
I can't say I blame you for not paying attention. Meadow Bay has been dead in the water for a couple years since the drilling they did back in the winter of 2015.
From the conversations I've had with them, they plan to use this year to put out a PEA. The in-pit resource is the first step in the process but they need to conduct more metallurgy and resource modeling first. They also need to bring on a mining engineer and metallurgist.
If they start moving forward with this, expect a steady stream of news releases (the last technical news release was back in 2017). That will be the sign that they have woken up and are serious about moving the resource forward to production.
The cost to getting to a PEA is not all that much - less than a drilling program and with a MUCH better chance of adding value. Any production would likely be a couple years out but they have a big head start relative to other advance stage projects. The in-pit resource is on patented mining claims and they have a lot of the infrastructure already in place. And the project is in Nevada. Still the best jurisdiction in North America - good climate, sparse population (outside of LV and Reno) and the BLM has become less antagonistic under Trump.
Finally found it. The resource table didn't format so well but it looks like 280,000 ounces gold and 2,800,000 ounces silver in a starter pit. The grade is decent and the pit is over the Atlanta Porphyry which is easier to process. I like the idea of putting this into production. Companies that are going down this road see a steady growth in their market cap.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/desert-hawk-resources-inc-a-wholly-owned-subsidiary-of-meadow-bay-gold-corp-reports-initial-in-pit-resource-estimate-for-its-atlanta-gold-project-in-nevada-usa-2018-06-15
There was supposed to have been a News Release at the close of business but I didn't see it on either the Meadow Bay site or Market Wire. Hopefully, we will get to see something on Monday.
Meadow Bay was on a conference call with the Lincoln County Planning Commission yesterday. The person on the phone for Meadow Bay verified that they are moving forward with an in-pit resource estimate as a first step toward putting Atlanta into production.
News of a pending 43-101 report on the other boards. Recent drop in share price caused by selling among the people who participated in the private placement having their shares come free-trading. Those guys made 3 to 4X on their money and still have the warrant. Not too shabby, but there are wheels in motion here.
I like and respect Bob Moriarty. But Pete Berdusco (the new CEO) ran Nexus into the ground. Experience only counts if positive results were achieved.
Interesting article -
https://equity.guru/2018/04/16/no-bullshit-no-hiding-nexus-gold-nxs-v-rolls-back-rolls/
The problem is the Burkina Faso project. Projects in Africa don't get much respect by the market. The political situation is a never-ending issue. Particularly when you factor in ISIS-style insurgents moving down from the north.
Have you actually been out there or are you just repeating what you've heard?
There is an operational placer plant on the property. Period.
As far as photos go, get on Google Earth. Type in 39.066153 / -114.448919. That's the trommel. To the north s the conveyor belt to the grizzly, to the south the conveyor to the waste pile. The sluice box / processing plant is to the west of the south end of the tromell. Clear enough?
If this isn't OSCI's placer plant, whose is it?
BTW, I love your handle. Very tongue in cheek.
I'll be happy to share the photos. Just so you know, I don't have a dog in this fight. So do us both a favor and don't lose your manners.
The rumors about everything being removed and/or sold at a sheriff auction seem to be unfounded. I went out to the site today. There was nobody out there and I didn't want to go past the 'no trespassing' sign. But I got some pictures outside the gate.
The trommel I saw last fall is still there along with the grizzly screen and the conveyor belts. I couldn't see if there was a gravity separator / sluice box on the far side of the trommel, but that's where is should be. That is essentially the entire processing plant you would need for a placer operation. I've seen better equipment, but I've also seen worse.
There were two track hoe excavators, two dump trucks and some other utility trucks. I don't know what kind of shape they are in but that's the equipment you would need for mining. There isn't a man-camp but there are enough pre-fabs for office and living quarters to support an operation this size.
There is also a lot of processed over-size material stacked to the east. Hard to say how long it has been there but somebody has run that trommel in the recent past.
Not trying to pick a fight with anyone, but this looks like a potential mining operation that could be started up if somebody showed up with some working capital and an operating plan. There might not be anything gong on, but the site didn't look abandoned.
I just came into an equity position in Westwater Resources via Alabama Graphite which they acquired by shares. I know a lot about Alabama Graphite but next to nothing about Westwater.
Any opinions as to how good/bad they look? I have a technical background in this stuff but most of the time it really depends on the management. A lot of the junior resource sector is run either by idiots, shysters or both.
Are you saying somebody removed the trommel? That was there the last time I looked.
Actually, there is historical data that could be used as long as you did some confirmation drilling / sampling (and the results were in agreement). From what I've seen of the historical data it wouldn't be that hard to get some of the deposit to an inferred / indicated category. Some of the active areas would probably meet the definition of measured.
Whether it is a scam, gross incompetence or both are equally likely. I've been out to the site a couple times. The equipment is a mismatch for the deposit. How they are intending to mine and haul doesn't make much sense. My overall impression was that it looks like somebody who is woefully under-capitalized trying to produce a few ounces so they could say they're in production.
Okay, so is there a 3rd party appraisal report for OSCI?
I talked to my QP. He said they would write a technical report to NI 43-101 standards but just call it a Technical Report. The organization, formatting, etc would all be the same. CIM standards for resource classifications are in agreement with AIME standards. Reserve classifications are more complicated.
And, depending on the level of the report, they would include valuation.
I've had interactions with both the BCSC and the SEC. The BCSC tends to be overly picky about trivial things. The SEC tends to be willfully blind even after they get complaints.
Okay, so is there an Industry Guide 7 report for OSCI?
Would you be so kind as to direct me to the SEC regulation that says that?
What about companies that are listed on both American and Canadian exchanges? How does the SEC deal with those?
Yes, I know what NI stands for. However, it is not just for Canadian companies. There are a lot of European companies that issue them as well. It is a reporting standard that gives you faith in the underlying asset. The JORC reports do the same thing. Geologists are not prohibited from writing them as long as they follow NI 43-101 or JORC protocols.
Have you seen the 'reports' that are on OSCI's website? Are you telling me that you would trust those over a NI 43-101 were a qualified person puts his reputation on the line before signing it?
Why would it possibly be illegal? There isn't anything in a NI 43-101 that violates SEC rules. The SEC might have their own reporting requirements, but they aren't going to fine a company for publishing a NI 43-101. A lot of the consulting companies that issue these reports are based in the US.
NI 43-101 reports routinely give the NPV of projects once they are beyond the PEA stage. The V in NPV stands for value.
I'll go one step further and say that the SEC's lax reporting standards are one of the reasons that scams like OSCI are allowed to take place. The BCSC would shut these guys down in a heartbeat if they tried to get listed on a Canadian exchange. At least they Canadians learned from their BREE-X fiasco.
I think you are equating the sorry effort that OSCI has made with the underlying geology.
The Osceola District has a long history of producing gold including very large nuggets. What they say on their website is correct about a lot of historical data existing on the deposit. There has been some more recent reports and drilling that are in agreement with the old reports. There isn't anything to suggest that those reports are fraudulent.
What the project needs is to have the data put in a GIS database so that modeling can be done. I suspect that more drilling will be needed to come up with a NI 43-101 compliant resource. However, I also think that the size of the resource could be a lot bigger than people suspect. The alluvial fan at Osceola is pretty substantial. What isn't known is how much of it contains gold.
Once you have a resource you could put a mine plan together (including looking into the possibility of selling by-product sand and gravel). However, what is needed at every step of the way are competent professionals who know what they are doing. I don't see that with the current bunch trying to promote the project.
At some point these guys will get tired and move on. Maybe the next owner will be more interested in making a proper go of it.
While NI 43-101 reports are required by Canadian exchanges, they are widely used by companies regardless where they are traded. They give an objective 3rd-party appraisal of the project. This is particularly necessary with resource calculations where most junior explorers don't have the expertise or the software to do it right.
Seriously, why would anybody invest in a project without an independent appraisal of what is there? That's like buying a house without getting an inspection first.
Good question. The reports I'm looking at don't seem to be. Is there one?
It all comes down to knowing the people running the company and getting an informed appraisal of their project. This is where NI 43-101 reports come in. Sure, they can have errors, but nobody is going to commit fraud and attach their name to one of those reports. Otherwise, you might want to invest your money with Nigerian princes.
Frankly, I think Osceola is a good project. The guys who are running it, not so much.
Still managing to find new lows. Burkina Faso... Yeah, that's the place to be, alright. It looks like even the boys at Nexus have given up trying to prop up their share price.
Elcora is an interesting company. The mine lump graphite from Sri Lanka which is fundamentally different from flake graphite everywhere else. It has far fewer impurities because how it forms and occurs in very large flakes. The only downside is that the mines are very small and it is hard to scale up production on that type of deposit.
I've heard where they also have some properties in Canada but don't know anything about them. More than likely they are flake graphite deposits which are similar to all the other North American deposits. The only exception to that is Zenyatta's Albany graphite deposit. Zenyatta was a market darling a few years ago when it got hyped beyond any reasonable price. While the graphite they have is different from other deposits, they were putting a dollar value on it that was delusionally optimistic.
The fact that Elcora is working with Coulormetrics is a plus. Those guys are doing some interesting things regarding graphite technology. I'm less impressed with the graphene angle. There is a lot of research into low-cost graphene production and it's just a matter of time before somebody figures it out (you are just breaking Van Der Waal bonds). A very small amount of graphite can produce a huge amount of graphene. The big emerging growth for graphite is still in batteries and maybe desalinization.
Alabama Graphite is in the process of being acquired by Westwater Resources. The decision is supposed to take place tomorrow so it is possible that Alabama Graphite will cease to exist shortly after that.
Eagle Graphite is a funny company. They mine at very small scale high up in the Canadian Rockies. Their resource is poorly explored and pretty low-grade. They would have a difficult time ramping up production with their current mill. I've never really understood what they want to accomplish. I've talked to management a couple times and didn't come away any smarter for it.
Graphite Energy Corp is an interesting player. Their stock has certainly been performing. Their asset is the Lac Aux Bouleaux deposit in Quebec. Here's the thing - if you look at their NI 43-101 Technical Report dated May 23, 2017, they don't list any resources. Factor in drilling, defining those resources, scoping studies, permits, dealing with First Nations and buildout, you are talking 5 to 10 years out. And that assumes the size and geometry of the deposit warrants production. Or that they could raise the money to put in into production which is the toughest hurdle.
I'm not sure why the market is giving them so much love. Do they have a 'proprietary' technique for turning flake graphite into graphene or coated spherical graphite? It seems everybody in the natural graphite sector either has a proprietary process or has 'magic' graphite that nobody else has. A few years ago Alabama Graphite announced that they found naturally-occurring graphene on their property in Alabama. Funny how they never mentioned that ever again.
One last caveat - it isn't entirely clear that you can use natural flake graphite for lithium ion batteries. I've talked to people in the battery business and they claim the limits on impurities are too strict for that to work. Individual batches will meet spec and others won't. Flake graphite is tough to get to 99.999 purity and the metals are the hardest impurity to remove. You definitely can't use flake graphite in nuclear reactors. Right now synthetic graphite is what people are using. Flake graphite is still what is used in electrodes, crucibles, refractory bricks, pencils, lubricants but the sales price for that is a fraction of what battery-grade graphite sells for. Trying to get the economics to work on a natural graphite deposit without producing battery-grade material is pretty tough.
Maybe putting all their eggs in Burkina Faso wasn't such a great idea.
http://time.com/5182513/attack-french-embassy-burkina-faso/
This place is turning into a war zone. War zones and mining don't mix so well.
Hot off the presses.
https://www.morningstar.com/news/the-news-wire-ca/TheNewsWire_20180301BKRF2mWz/meadow-bay-gold-announces-listing-of-its-common-shares-on-the-canadian-securities-exchange-and-commissioning-of-an-inpit-resource-study-at-its-atlanta-gold-mine-nevada.html
This is the most news we've seen on Meadow Bay in quite some time. This is a very ambitious process to move Atlanta to production. Exploration isn't selling these days - a path to production gives real value.
I can respect that. Wastewater has done nothing but go down since the deal was announced. It is trading 20% below where it was. That just means that Alabama Graphite's shareholders get even less for their shares.
I don't know about any of the rest of you, but I've been getting a lot of contact from Computershare to vote my shares. Other times this has happened was when management thought the vote was going to be close and they needed all the 'friends' they could find to swing the outcome.
If that's the case, they clearly put me in the wrong column. I'm voting against and urge others to do so as well.
If they want an election, then let's vote out the current BoD and put up a dissident slate of candidates. One that will represent the shareholder's interests rather than management.
Westwater is NOT the only option! Vote AGAINST.
Don Baxter brought so much baggage with him that he needed a moving van. He never left a graphite company without hard feelings and/or threats of legal action. One of the guys I knew at Alabama Graphite says bringing Don aboard was the dumbest thing they ever did. They must have paid him by the press release.
Let me begin by saying that I haven't torn apart their financial filings to see how bad a shape they are in. More than likely I'd get no farther how much Don Baxter was paying himself and Ty and Jean and the rest of the board. At that point I'd start hitting the Tequila.
However, I'm still of the opinion that there were other options - particularly after they got rid of the current group of ne'er do wells and brought in competent management. This company was doing okay until Don. Not great, mind you - Ron Roda brought nothing to the table. But Don rubs people the wrong way - not a trait you want in a CEO that has to make deals.
One option would be to do a reverse split and get the share structure back under control. This is still the only graphite deposit in the continental US. How is it that Graphite One in Alaska can get the state to kick in money to get that project moving forward? This is a strategic resource for the US, and Alabama should be enthusiastically pushing to help this along.
Who would I bring in to manage it? How about Tom Burkett of Ontario Graphite. He is a straight shooter and is interested in seeing his company be successful rather than prancing around like some narcissistic rooster. If Tom doesn't want it, than Ellerton Castor, his #2 at Ontario. For that matter, merge the two companies.
Right now I'm not convinced that Westwater is going to do anything good with the Coosa deposit. On the bright side, they have lithium which is currently hot. But what started out with so much promise in Alabama is facing an inglorious end.
"Osceola Gold Inc, has rights to mining claims in the Osceola Mining district in Mary Ann Canyon, which is situated about 30 miles north of Ely, Nevada."
No wonder these guys can't find any gold. Osceola is located SOUTH of Ely, not north.
I expect to be back in the area this week. I'll swing by and see how the coyotes and jack rabbits are faring.
Got my proxy to approve this abortion of a deal. I seriously hope it falls through. This deal really sucks.
I had a chance to tour a boiler room in Zurich during the ramp-up of the gold boom in 2005. A company would pay a 20 to 30% brokers commission and the room of phone chimps would get to work. The phone lists must've been pretty good because they were effective at raising cash. The company meanwhile would engage in a full-blown media blitz to get analyst coverage, and the spam-bots would start posting on the bulletin boards. The "XYZ is going straight to the Moon!!!" type of post you still see.
These companies actually had decent projects that might've produced a discovery if serious exploration had been done. The only giveaway was when you saw how little money was going for exploration. In addition to the 20 to 30% brokers commission, management would pay themselves consulting fees and handling fees and salaries and whatever so that only 10% ever slipped through their fingers.
These guys in Zurich suckered some pretty savvy investors. They even suckered guys who had reputations for suckering other guys. When everything blew up in 2007 / 2008, a lot of people who should have known better had egg on their faces.
And it is still going on today. That is why I only invest in companies where I personally know the management. Exploration projects - no matter how good they are - don't develop themselves.
Amazing how fast a year can pass when you aren't doing anything.
What I'm hearing is they are arranging financing before making their announcement. I'm just happy to hear there is a plan.
Could be a very nice year indeed. I was able to get in on some of the recent subscription at C$0.05.