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As the echo of your applause fades, a heavy wall of silence falls like a guillotine blade upon the neck of spoken opinion. A stainless blade still wet from fresh kill in chapter 7.
He was the wished-upon falling star -- MIA in the final act. A suddenly falling star or important name dropping? The brilliant flash of light in the night, as Springer exits from center stage? Effectively, a curtain tugging [desperate?] non-event, slamming the casket lid on IREC -- buried [alive?] with tainted memories forgotten. A coroner's report was not requested.
A fanciful casket designed by whom, is the million dollar question. Six zeros and the big number one. [shrugging shoulders]
The near-death experience leading to the final and total abandonment of the common shareholder, continues to interest and amaze me. The story of IREC now rests within an unmarked grave. Meanwhile, the vital organs go elsewhere... leaving us haunted by the ghost of a slaughtered dream. IMO.
The phone number works. I left a message with investor relations. That's the only department I tried and noone was in to take the call.
The disclosures of illegalities made by IPRC's whistle-blowing accountant provided proof of an effort to destroy the company. I was hoping for a better outcome, considering the company was internally wounded and made to bleed.
The health of the company directly impacts the shareholders. 'Therapy' for recovery from such deliberate acts and damages, was at least necessary to regain strength and develop forward momentum. But here we are, a crippled company with shareholders as roadkill now left to die....
This fractured story doesn't end well. The head was chopped off the goose able to lay the golden egg, IMO.
Company website is suspended / missing / gone. IPRC
Regarding the mystery money man - Owen Shuler. (Did he ever show up in court with the check?)
adstrategiesconference.com/43
Owen Shuler
CEO, Shuler Capital Corp.
Before becoming CEO of Shuler Capital Corp., Owen Shuler's career started with family interests during the 1970s in health care, construction and real estate. It has evolved over 35 years from advisory work in several sectors to leading an aerospace technology startup serving the U.S. government, and eventually to the early stage projects development or takeover of projects-in-progress in the transportation infrastructure, communications, medical and energy technologies industries. SEP was started by Shuler Capital Corp. in 2005 to hold an initial investment in a natural gas prospect, and it spun out as a stand-alone entity in 2009 as a private M&A platform for middle market O&G and electric power generation utilizing fossil and renewable fuels.
Same guy?
Nothing left to do but speculate and wait for the ultimate outcome.
Still one foot in and one foot out of the grave, until the next step proves otherwise.
Someone seems to be buying shares today.
Oh well, good-bye to February. March hearing, coming right up. We're overdue for a big sale. It sure would help the share value and lift some spirits around here. Starting to feel like IREC is on death row.
Good-luck to us all.
I believe there's room for more than 1% hope. At least, I haven't given-up on this thing. But I've quit speculating on what's next.
Good-luck to us all in March.
Seems like Springer wouldn't waste the effort, gathering funds, etc, at such a late stage, continuing on by doing all it takes to make the company compliant with the SEC and IRS, if sales weren't truly, almost, nearly, pretty much in the bag.
Another month about gone. No news doesn't increase my confidence, but still I keep looking and waiting. A signed sales contract would sure change everything fast.
Stock symbol IPRC is easily confused with IREC, to the inexperienced. Happened to a friend of mine a couple months ago when I mentioned Imperial Petroleum Recovery Corp. He liked it and opened an Etrade account. Told me he bought some IPRC shares; I thought he was referring to the company name. Turned out he bought shares of an entirely different animal by mistake. I checked it out and laughed. Told him that he might want to keep what he bought, because he'll probably have better luck with them. Yesterday and today, he's got his first sweet taste of green!
Come-on Springer, get 'er done already! We faithful longs need our old shares to survive so we can prosper!
Looks like January has started out to be another good month for dumping shares. Hmmm...
Any end of week update to report, by those following PACER? The ultra-quiet is like sensory deprivation.
Thanks for posting the update.
You asked and I shared what I know.
Nothing to do but wait and see.
Last Fall I was told to hang-in-there, and the message today hasn't changed.
"This too will pass."
I heard it straight from the horse's mouth, FWIW.
Today, another step on the stairway. The buys should overtake the sells as support provides more altitude. But the news is what really matters to those of us in it mostly for the long haul. A few years ago this stock ran from mere pennies to upwards of a dollar, with no hype that I recall. I don't wish to see this pattern repeat. Recovery to the dollar values and beyond requires solid news of success. To realize this has been a persistant effort by the company over many years.
Refineries seek higher efficiency producing technology
$400M gas-processing unit boosts refinery’s operation in Oregon
BY TYREL LINKHORN
3/8/2013
BP-Husky Refining LLC officials introduced a $400 million gasoline-processing giant to the public on Thursday, saying the 240-foot-tall addition will greatly enhance the 94-year-old Oregon refinery. And BP leaders said the work at the local refinery may be just part of a multibillion dollar investment to bring Canadian crude oil to market in the United States.
The unit, dubbed Reformer 3, went online in early February and is fully operational. It will make the refinery more efficient and slightly boost the amount of fuel produced, according to the company, which invited media and local officials to see it on Thursday.
The unit takes low-octane gasoline — produced from crude oil at another part of the refinery — and rearranges the molecules to make a much higher-grade gas that can be blended for use in cars and trucks.
“This really provides a platform for us to be competitive moving forward,” said Mark Dangler, president of BP-Husky refining and the refinery manager. “It makes more gasoline from the same amount of crude as well as more hydrogen we can use in other parts of the refinery. On many fronts, it makes this facility more competitive.”
The new reformer replaces three units built in the 1950s and 1960s. Construction took about two years and created some 1,500 temporary jobs for construction workers, who put in about 1.5 million hours of work.
Officials say the new unit can produce 3 percent more gasoline from the same amount of crude oil.
“Whenever you can do the same thing with one unit versus three, it makes the facility much more competitive, more energy-efficient, and overall really sets up the facility to be a competitive refinery for decades to come,” Mr. Dangler said.
The new unit also will reduce the refinery’s air emissions by 5 percent, continuing an effort that has seen refinery emissions drop by 45 percent since 2000.
The added hydrogen produced can be used in other processes throughout the refinery. Refiners can use hydrogen to reduce sulfur content in crude oil, making it cleaner.
The BP-Husky refinery primarily gets crude oil piped in from Canada. The raw crude is processed into a form of low-octane gasoline before it gets to the new unit, which is a catalytic reformer.
“We upgrade the quality of that gasoline with this unit,” Mr. Dangler explained. “The gasoline in crude oil has an octane of about 60. What you buy at the pump is anywhere from upper 80s to low 90s. This unit will make 100 octane gasoline, which then we can use to blend and make great finished product.”
The unit is designed to produce 42,000 barrels of gasoline a day. Officials say the Oregon refinery — a 50-50 joint venture between BP and Husky Energy — can process up to 160,000 barrels of crude oil per day. In addition to gasoline, the refinery produces jet fuel, diesel, several fuel gases, pet coke, sulfur, and asphalt.
BP sold two of its five U.S. refineries in 2012, and has placed its focus on its facilities in Cherry Point, Wash., Whiting, Ind., and Oregon.
“We feel like this is really the right place to invest in the United States. We feel like the Midwest has got a competitive advantage,” said Doug Sparkman, president of BP’s East of Rockies fuels business.
Mr. Sparkman said the new reformer helps keep the Oregon refinery on the cutting edge, and he’s hopeful for more capital investments.
“We’re not really here to talk about what we’re going to do, but we are actively working on the next series of investments,” he said.
With crude from the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia coming on, and access to Canadian crude, Ohio is especially well positioned.
Mr. Sparkman said BP has the flexibility to work with different types and grades of crude, and the company aims to be more flexible.
“That’s our next strategy, our next question,” he said. “How do we really increase the flexibility of what we can handle?”
BP and Husky said about four years ago, they planned to invest billions of dollars into development of vast Canadian oil sands fields. That would include investment both in the fields and in Oregon to equip the facility to process those heavy bitumen reserves.
Economic changes have delayed much of that investment, but officials say the companies continue evaluating options and that the $400 million investment in Oregon celebrated Thursday will be part of a multibillion-dollar investment in the project.
The BP-Husky Refinery employs about 650 people full time. Depending on the time of year and current projects, the number of contract employees ranges from 500 to 1,000.
Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at: tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2013/03/08/400M-gas-processing-unit-boosts-refinery-s-operation.html#O3ufhAxFMXGcGX8q.99
IPRC should be considered for effective solutions whenever serious interest exists for improvement / efficiency projects such as this.
Rosemount refinery to get $400 million upgrade
A $400 million upgrade at the Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount will increase the amount of oil that can be refined there.
Article by: DAVID SHAFFER
Star Tribune
November 16, 2012
Flint Hills Resources, which produces half the gasoline sold in Minnesota, plans to spend $400 million to upgrade its 57-year-old Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount, the company's largest investment there in at least a decade.
The project, requiring more than 500 additional construction workers starting in 2014, aims to boost efficiency without increasing the refinery's size, so that more barrels of crude oil can be processed each day, the company told the Star Tribune.
The Pine Bend Refinery, built in 1955 and greatly expanded over the decades, is the nation's 14th-largest, with a nameplate capacity of 320,000 barrels of oil per day. It has operated at 82 percent to 90 percent of capacity over the past five years, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
"This is a continuation of our efforts to make sure that this is a safe, clean, reliable refinery that is able to meet demand," Jake Reint, Flint Hills' director of public affairs, said in an interview.
It also is the latest sign that oil-related employment is taking off in Minnesota. Crude oil pipeline projects proposed recently by Enbridge Energy promise hundreds of additional construction jobs to northern Minnesota in the next few years.
"There will be a lot of folks getting fed for the next two or three years out there," said Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, referring to the Pine Bend Refinery project.
Reint said the refinery upgrade isn't directly related to the oil booms in North Dakota and Canada, from which the refinery gets its crude. North Dakota this year became the nation's No. 2 oil-producing state behind Texas, and in September pumped 728,494 barrels per day, a new record.
"There is no doubt that having access to a stable crude oil supply is vital," he said. "We are geographically blessed as a state to have access to that."
The upgrade project, which could take five years, will replace three less-efficient heaters and improve cooling towers used in crude oil refining, Reint said. The heaters will have best-available pollution control technology to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, the latest step in a multiyear effort that has reduced air pollutants by 70 percent, Reint said.
The boost in refinery output after the upgrade will increase the refinery's greenhouse gas emissions, however, and Flint Hills will request a modification in its state air permit for such releases, Reint said. The project requires approval from the state Pollution Control Agency and final authorization from Flint Hills' management, he added.
The last Pine Bend Refinery project even close to this size was a $350 million upgrade completed in 2006 to allow production of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuels and better conversion of diesel fuel to gasoline.
About 950 people are employed directly by the refinery, and 400 to 2,000 contractors can be there at any time working on $200 million to $300 million in maintenance and smaller upgrade projects each year. Reint said the planned upgrade project will come on top of those efforts, boosting the current 500-contractor workforce above 1,000.
Melander, of the construction trades council, an umbrella group for unions, said the refinery has consistently been one of the top building trades employers in the metro area. It requires a range of skilled workers, including electricians, pipefitters, mechanical workers, boilermakers, carpenters, ironworkers and laborers, he said.
Other, smaller projects also are ramping up at the refinery. A pair of giant coker drums used in fuel extraction arrived recently at Flint Hills and will be installed beginning next year. Meanwhile, Flint Hills plans to install two large tanks and railcar loading equipment to store and ship propylene, a petrochemical used in making plastics.
Rosemount Mayor Bill Droste, who had been briefed on the upgrade, said he has seen steady reductions in emissions, odors and flaring of gas from the refinery over the years.
"When you are improving efficiency, productivity and creating jobs, those are good things," Droste said.
Flint Hills Resources, which also has refineries in Alaska and Texas, is a unit of Koch Industries, based in Wichita, Kan., the nation's second-largest private company with an estimated $115 billion in annual revenue and 67,000 employees, according to Forbes.
Koch is a global conglomerate whose other interests include biofuel, cattle, fertilizer, minerals, paper, pipelines and textiles. Brothers Charles Koch, CEO, and David Koch, executive vice president, own most of the company, and are tied for fourth place on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, worth a reported $31 billion each.
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/179598001.html?refer=y
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Shareholders are still able to dream of success, even after 13 years of waiting. I can vouch for that.
Imagine the MST logo appearing overnight as MSTerious crop circles on our collective field of dreams.
-overloded
..............................................
Rosemount refinery to get $400 million upgrade
A $400 million upgrade at the Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount will increase the amount of oil that can be refined there.
Article by: DAVID SHAFFER
Star Tribune
November 16, 2012
Flint Hills Resources, which produces half the gasoline sold in Minnesota, plans to spend $400 million to upgrade its 57-year-old Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount, the company's largest investment there in at least a decade.
The project, requiring more than 500 additional construction workers starting in 2014, aims to boost efficiency without increasing the refinery's size, so that more barrels of crude oil can be processed each day, the company told the Star Tribune.
The Pine Bend Refinery, built in 1955 and greatly expanded over the decades, is the nation's 14th-largest, with a nameplate capacity of 320,000 barrels of oil per day. It has operated at 82 percent to 90 percent of capacity over the past five years, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
"This is a continuation of our efforts to make sure that this is a safe, clean, reliable refinery that is able to meet demand," Jake Reint, Flint Hills' director of public affairs, said in an interview.
It also is the latest sign that oil-related employment is taking off in Minnesota. Crude oil pipeline projects proposed recently by Enbridge Energy promise hundreds of additional construction jobs to northern Minnesota in the next few years.
"There will be a lot of folks getting fed for the next two or three years out there," said Harry Melander, president of the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, referring to the Pine Bend Refinery project.
Reint said the refinery upgrade isn't directly related to the oil booms in North Dakota and Canada, from which the refinery gets its crude. North Dakota this year became the nation's No. 2 oil-producing state behind Texas, and in September pumped 728,494 barrels per day, a new record.
"There is no doubt that having access to a stable crude oil supply is vital," he said. "We are geographically blessed as a state to have access to that."
The upgrade project, which could take five years, will replace three less-efficient heaters and improve cooling towers used in crude oil refining, Reint said. The heaters will have best-available pollution control technology to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, the latest step in a multiyear effort that has reduced air pollutants by 70 percent, Reint said.
The boost in refinery output after the upgrade will increase the refinery's greenhouse gas emissions, however, and Flint Hills will request a modification in its state air permit for such releases, Reint said. The project requires approval from the state Pollution Control Agency and final authorization from Flint Hills' management, he added.
The last Pine Bend Refinery project even close to this size was a $350 million upgrade completed in 2006 to allow production of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuels and better conversion of diesel fuel to gasoline.
About 950 people are employed directly by the refinery, and 400 to 2,000 contractors can be there at any time working on $200 million to $300 million in maintenance and smaller upgrade projects each year. Reint said the planned upgrade project will come on top of those efforts, boosting the current 500-contractor workforce above 1,000.
Melander, of the construction trades council, an umbrella group for unions, said the refinery has consistently been one of the top building trades employers in the metro area. It requires a range of skilled workers, including electricians, pipefitters, mechanical workers, boilermakers, carpenters, ironworkers and laborers, he said.
Other, smaller projects also are ramping up at the refinery. A pair of giant coker drums used in fuel extraction arrived recently at Flint Hills and will be installed beginning next year. Meanwhile, Flint Hills plans to install two large tanks and railcar loading equipment to store and ship propylene, a petrochemical used in making plastics.
Rosemount Mayor Bill Droste, who had been briefed on the upgrade, said he has seen steady reductions in emissions, odors and flaring of gas from the refinery over the years.
"When you are improving efficiency, productivity and creating jobs, those are good things," Droste said.
Flint Hills Resources, which also has refineries in Alaska and Texas, is a unit of Koch Industries, based in Wichita, Kan., the nation's second-largest private company with an estimated $115 billion in annual revenue and 67,000 employees, according to Forbes.
Koch is a global conglomerate whose other interests include biofuel, cattle, fertilizer, minerals, paper, pipelines and textiles. Brothers Charles Koch, CEO, and David Koch, executive vice president, own most of the company, and are tied for fourth place on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, worth a reported $31 billion each.
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/179598001.html?refer=y
.........................................
IPRC should be considered for effective solutions whenever there's serious interest for improvement / efficiency projects such as this.
Imagine the MST logo appearing overnight as MSTerious crop circles on our collective field of dreams. Shareholders are still able to dream of success, even after 13 years of waiting. I can vouch for that.
...............................................
They appear to have generally covered that application in their patent. The challenge would be overwhelming, IMO, on a very large scale spill or an uncontrolled flow escaping from the sea bed.
-----
The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Improved method, apparatus and system for treating bilge water and other marine emulsion wastes comprising water and hydrocarbon, and possibly solids in some cases. Microwave Separation Technology (MST) is used to
treat a broad class of emulsion wastes associated with, generated by, or carried at sea on, ships or other marine entities (such as drilling platforms, oil spill clean-up systems, etc.). The hydrocarbon component from a marine emulsion waste comprising water and hydrocarbon, and possibly solids in some cases, is concentrated (e.g., the emulsion’s water content is reduced)
so that the volume of waste material that requires off-loading or
out-hauling (or both) is reduced over conventional methods of separating emulsion wastes for disposal. In view of the reductions achieved in process volumes, significant cost savings may be realized. Better compliance with environmental laws and standards may also be realized.”
IMO, it's all a matter of when, not if. 13 long years still hasn't changed my mind.
ExxonMobil finds multiple uses for emulsion-treatment technology
11/06/2000
After experiencing first-hand the benefits of a novel emulsion-breaking technology, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co. (EMRE) has signed a marketing agreement with the developer of the technology-Houston-based Imperial Petroleum Recovery Corp. (IPRC)-and is applying the process in varied operational settings, both downstream and upstream.
The process uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range to separate stable, difficult-to-break emulsions into oil, water, and solids. ExxonMobil had tested the process on desalter undercarry at its Torrance, Calif., refinery. The application, called MST (Microwave Separation Technology), debottlenecked the desalter and enabled the refinery to increase crude throughput significantly.
The refinery was so pleased with the results that after the merger between Exxon and Mobil late last year, ExxonMobil took a closer look at MST and decided to carry through with its efforts, together with IPRC, jointly to further develop the technology, apply it internally, and license it externally.
In May, EMRE completed a worldwide marketing and development agreement with IPRC for the MST technology. In addition to applying the technology to downstream operations, upstream applications are being considered as well. IPRC retains title to the patents related to the process (it has 1 US and 19 international patents).
How it works
MST is a deceptively simple process. The general concept of using microwave energy to separate emulsions is not a new one, says IPRC, but the firm was the first to realize the necessary changes and developments to the technology to apply it effectively in commercial settings. "Lots of people worked on [microwave-based separation technologies], but they couldn't get the energy safely and consistently into the feed," said IPRC Pres. Brent Kartchner.
According to a paper written jointly by engineers from ExxonMobil and IPRC and presented in March 2000 at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers spring national meeting in Atlanta, "The MST has the potential to economically treat a wide range of crude oil emulsions in the upstream, downstream, and chemical sectors. Benefits include desalter and crude unit water and solids-related maintenance and chemical savings; enhanced crude-unit energy, yield, and reliability performance; and increased desalter operating flexibility."
Kenneth Albinson, ExxonMobil, presented the paper and said, "These emulsions cause multiple problems to operating units, accumulate in refinery tankage, and in many instances have strong negative economics."
The MST process uses a proprietary microwave applicator to destabilize emulsions, facilitating their separation into oil, water, and solids streams.
A transmitter converts electricity to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range. The units have a 75-kw power rating, says Kartchner, producing radiation with a frequency unlike the one used in a home microwave.
The microwaves then travel through a carefully configured arrangement of wave guides formed into precise shapes and assembled in such a way as to convey the microwaves toward the applicator, where they contact the emulsion feed.
The interior of the wave guides is specially coated with material that facilitates propagation of the microwaves, and the system contains what Kartchner calls "aiming mechanisms" and uses precise angles of reflection. (Think of the way a camera uses a series of mirrors to reflect light onto film.)
Stepper motors keep the radiation moving toward the applicator at the correct rate, said Kartchner. The feed rate to a typical MST unit is 15-30 gpm, The water portion of the emulsion absorbs the applied energy preferentially.
It is this characteristic that destabilizes the emulsion, says IPRC, because heating promotes flocculation and creaming. The MST process accelerates settling. "Disruption of the droplet interface promotes coalescence," said Albinson.
The energy absorbed by the feed increases its temperature by about 50° F., and the typical outlet temperature is less than 200° F. No further heating is applied after the microwaving step. Operating pressure ranges from 20 psig to 50 psig.
The system is effective on most oil-based emulsions, says IPRC, including so-called "rag layers" (the unseparated mixture that remains between the oil and water layers of an emulsion), slop-oil emulsion solids, dissolved air flotation float, API separator sludge, desalter undercarry (the undesirable transport of crude oil out the bottom of the desalter along with the desalter brine), and tank bottoms.
The output from the unit can be separated with either a centrifuge or in a settling tank, depending on the speed of separation needed, says IPRC.
IPRC's MST units are mounted on either 10 ft by 40 ft skids or 48 ft by 8 ft trailers, and thus are mobile and have a small footprint. They are fully automated and can be monitored on operator rounds.
The units are controlled by a sophisticated computer system that can be operated independently or run through a site-wide control system, such as a refinery distributed control system. If there is a problem on the system of any sort, an 80-db horn sounds, as does an alarm on the operator's computer monitor.
Torrance application
Although Mobil was dewatering its crude feed at the Torrance refinery, said Kartchner, the inefficiency of the operation was causing a reduction in crude unit throughput, "wear" problems with processing equipment, and increased costs associated with additional chemical usage.
Mobil decided to review the MST technology and, based on the results of that review, opted for an 8-month test of a trailer-mounted unit. The results of the Torrance test run were included in the ExxonMobil-IPRC paper presented at AIChE.
In a test run, the feed rate to the unit was 629 b/d, consisting of 282 b/d of oil, 317 b/d of water, and 30 b/d of solids.
After separation, the oil stream contained 96.5 vol % oil, 2.5 vol % solids, and 1.0 vol % water; the water stream contained 91.5 vol % water, 8.2 vol % solids, and 0.3 vol % oil; and the solids stream contained 46.3 vol % solids, 44.0 vol % oil, and 9.7 vol % water.
"We blast that stuff apart, give them back oil with less than 2% bs&w [basic sediment and water], so essentially only oil goes backellipse" to the crude unit, said Kartchner. Beyond the separation efficiency, the results of the test run were successful.
By simply debottlenecking the desalter, the refinery has been able significantly to increase oil throughput. "This is because every barrel of water not removed displaces 6 bbl of oil in the crude unit," says Kartchner.
ExxonMobil was so pleased with the results of the extended test that it completed the marketing and development agreement with IPRC and arranged for IPRC to install an MST-1000 (a 1,000 b/d MST unit) at Torrance and operate it for a minimum of 3 years, with an option to extend it for another 3 years.
continued:
http://www.ogj.com/articles/print/volume-98/issue-45/processing/exxonmobil-finds-multiple-uses-for-emulsion-treatment-technology.html
Here's for hoping that IREC returns to a decent stock value... beyond where the ones who bought in 2000 and earlier are still left holding the bag. We've pretty much been told news is coming -- early 2013. Last year I was reading about a Minnesota refinery being upgraded big time by Koch. All I could think was why not use the MST, now? Which got me wondering about IREC... as I've not been following it for years. So I went to the website which was still online and sent off a shareholder comment. Damn surprised there was life when an email arrived a couple hours later. I was encouraged to hear 'hang in there, news coming soon'.
I know IREC was always about a product selling itself, not hype and pump & dumps, stock dilution, ect. Not surprising there's so much about the stock that still looks healthy and promising. I'm from way back in the good ol' days when an MST [leased] sat on a flatbed in a parking lot, for months... at the Torrance CA refinery. Until someone lit a fire under some butts to finally get it online so officials from all over could witness the proof of concept. Yeah, back in the day when Exxon merged with Mobil, and Exxon first got wind of the technology. Showcased IPRC under their wings on the corporate website, and all that jazz. When our dreams of a forward stock split were very much alive. Beyond all that, to right now, everyone on the old team of the company has been replaced about four years ago, I've discovered. It appears we have a CEO/CFO who is an experienced leader, quite capable of moving this company to success [and quick to respond to shareholder queries also.]
Gathering up what I see... getting up to date on filings, patents granted, ect; that's a good sign. And 2013 is moving right along. I hope this is the year 'it' happens. I have been hanging on... literally on the edge. I didn't know who Springer was at the time I received an email response telling me to hang in there, news is coming. Now I do. We all know news is on the way, and if he feels it'll be worth it for me -- one of the $2 to $6 investors -- to hang on, then I'm going to imagine seeing some green in my portfolio again. I know news could mean many things, developments, possibilities, delays, ect. But, I'm betting on projected sales revenue... with more of a guarantee than mere speculation, at this stage of the game and my long years of hanging in there.
Just thought I'd pop in and share my thoughts. I don't wish to be owning a sleeper stock forever and ever. Part of that definition is the awakening moment from slumber... one that turns heads, and lives around. I hope the long awaited morning sunrise is drawing near. To me, it feels more like we are in the twilight of the dawn, what with all the developments that indicate nothing otherwise.
best of luck to us all,
-overloded
I accept that response as your one cent's worth. Now, don't create assumptions from me mentioning that this could turn on a dime, because even dying dogs can reincarnate on the upside. In rebirth this puppy may have gained some legs. Give it another week or so to stretch and strengthen.
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Thanks for the shadowed compliment. BTW, it appears our golden AMVS is soon to offer everyone it's two cents worth also.
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It's encouraging to see the chronic tension here finding an outlet, and that the unsettling reality of a new opportunity is gradually becoming an objective in the collective mindset. Paint this balloon whatever color you choose, but the structure of possibilities is beyond your control, it's likely going to rise. Whenever and wherever this event ends, there will be two opposing groups of wise people. One looking down, the other looking back; one busy calculating profits and the other busy calculating the odds of it happening again. It's a tactical issue for all concerned who wish to be effective at what they desire to win, or prove. An logic fortified argument fought and won will never stop the earth from spinning, but if so little leaves you feeling satisfied, maybe it's a superior option. So, success to all involved with their personal challenge. May greed and fear chase you to the top of every mountain.
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I hope the prevailing heavy mood of predictabiity is shattered this time around - if only for the sake of [WTF?]. Beyond all doubt is serious concern for the inevitable: change.
Cheers!
I can see it now. They will strike gold - just prior to being trucked away by a government convoy rolling on custom Sportswheels. As the curtain falls, the fat lady reaches for the light switch plate. Fade to black - with no PR at the end of the tunnel.
Treasury Dept. claims power to seize
gold and silver -- and everything else.
12:11p ET Saturday, August 20, 2005
http://www.gata.org/TreasuryClaimsPower.html
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
The U.S. Government has the authority to prohibit the private possession of gold and silver coin and bullion by U.S. citizens during wartime, and, during wartime and declared emergencies, to freeze their ownership of shares of mining companies, the Treasury Department has told the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee.
But gold and silver advocates shouldn't feel too picked on. For the U.S. Government claims the authority in declared emergencies to seize or freeze just about everything else that might be considered a financial instrument.
The Treasury Department's assertions came in a letter dated August 12 and written by Sean M. Thornton, chief counsel for the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, who replied to questions GATA posed to the department in January. It took GATA six months and a little prodding to get answers from the Treasury, but the Treasury's reply, when it came, was remarkably comprehensive and candid.
The government's authority to interfere with the ownership of gold, silver, and mining shares arises, Thornton wrote, from the Trading With the Enemy Act, which became law in 1917 during World War I and applies during declared wars, and from 1977's International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which can be applied without declared wars.
While the Trading With the Enemy Act authorizes the government to interfere with the ownership of gold and silver particularly, it also applies to all forms of currency and all securities. So the Treasury official stressed that it could be applied not just to shares of gold and silver mining companies but to the shares of all companies in which there is a foreign ownership interest. Further, there is no requirement in the law that the targets of the government's interference must have some connection to the declared enemies of the United States, or, really, some connection to foreign ownership. Anything that can be construed as a financial instrument, no matter how innocently it has been used, is subject to seizure under the Trading With the Enemy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Having just gone through a controversy about a Supreme Court decision about government's power of eminent domain, most Americans may be surprised to learn that the Trading With the Enemy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act could expropriate them instantly and far more broadly without any of the due process extended to parties in eminent domain cases. All that is needed is a presidential proclamation of an emergency of some kind -- and of course Americans lately have been living in a state of perpetual emergency.
When the Trading With the Enemy Act was passed in 1917, gold and silver formed part of the official currency of the United States and were essential to ordinary commerce, so perhaps an argument could be made then against "hoarding," even if "hoarding" could not be well defined. That is no longer the case; the United States has officially disavowed gold and silver as money and they no longer have a meaningful role in commerce. (GATA is working on that.) So gold and silver investors may want to ask their members of Congress to seek repeal of the statutes that give the government the authority to interfere with the private ownership of gold and silver, emergencies or not.
And ordinary citizens with no particular interest in gold and silver may want to ask their members of Congress to reconsider these statutes simply for being wildly tyrannical.
GATA's correspondence with the Treasury Department is appended.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
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January 20, 2005
Roberta K. McInerney Assistant General Counsel / Banking and Finance Department of the Treasury Washington, D.C. 20220
Dear Ms. Mclnerney:
Michael Kirk of U.S. Rep. John B. Larson's office has forwarded to me your letter to him of December 17, which answered my e-mailed inquiry to him about forcible redemption by the Treasury Department of gold and silver coins held by private citizens. You replied that a statute empowering the Treasury Department to do that, 12 U.S.C. Section 248(n), had been repealed.
But since reading your letter I have learned of a similar statute: Title 12. Chapter 2, Subchapter IV, Section 95a, which provides in part:
"During the time of war, the president may, through any agency that he may designate, and under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, by means of instructions, licenses, or otherwise -- (A) investigate, regulate, or prohibit any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit or payments between, by, through, or to any banking institution, and the importing, exporting, hoarding, melting, or earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion, currency or securities. ..."
Section 95a further authorizes the president to "prevent" the "use" by U.S. citizens of "any property in which a foreign country or a national thereof has any interest."
These provisions are of the greatest concern to investors in gold and silver bullion, coins, and shares of gold and silver mining companies, and to those companies themselves. So the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee urgently requests that the Treasury Department explain how it construes these provisions. Particularly, we'd like to know:
* How does the Treasury Department construe "the time of war"? How can gold and silver investors know when the powers described in Section 95a are in operation or likely to come into operation? Are formal declarations of war by Congress required here, or lesser declarations, or none at all, but rather declarations made only by the president?
* How does the Treasury Department construe "hoarding"? Does it include the ordinary collection of gold and silver coins, numismatic or not, and bullion by U.S. citizens, businesses, and corporations, absent any collaboration with enemies of the United States?
* Does the Treasury Department construe Section 95a to empower the president to interfere with the ownership of shares in gold and silver mining companies merely because shares of such companies also might be owned by foreign nationals or foreign governments, at war with the United States or not? Under what circumstances would the president be so empowered?
In essence, we need to know whether Section 95a contemplates the instant destruction of gold and silver investors and the precious metals mining industry in the United States. So the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee asks the Treasury Department for a meeting with the officials who might become responsible for implementing Section 95a, at which we might discuss the concerns of precious metals investors and mining companies. Would you kindly forward our request to the appropriate people?
Thanks for your help.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
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February 28, 2005
Mr. Chris Powell Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. Manchester, Connecticut
Dear Mr. Powell:
Thank you for your follow up letter dated January 20, 2005, requesting information about how the Treasury Department interprets aspects of Title 12, Section 95a, of the U.S. Code.
Most of the questions you raise fall within the jurisdiction of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Consequently, I wanted to let you know that I have forwarded your letter to OFAC's Office of the Chief Counsel for a response. The chief counsel's office will ensure that you receive a response to your letter.
If you have questions about the status of your request, please call Mark Monborne, OFAC's acting chief counsel.
Thank you for taking the time to write.
Sincerely,
Roberta K. McInerney Assistant General Counsel (Banking and Finance) U.S. Department of the Treasury Washington, D.C. 20220
* * *
August 12, 2005
Mr. Chris Powell Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. Manchester, Connecticut
Dear Mr. Powell:
Your letters to Roberta McInerney, assistant general counsel (banking and finance), dated January 20 and July 17, 2005, have been forwarded to me for response. I recently became the chief counsel (foreign assets control).
The U.S. Code provision that you reference, 12 U.S.C. Sec. 95a, is a duplicate codification of Section 5 of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917, 50 U.S.C. App. Secs. 1-44 ("TWEA"), with respect to which my office bears responsibility for interpreting.
As you may be aware, Congress enacted TWEA during World War I to prevent certain transactions that might be of advantage to an enemy during wartime. During World War II the Treasury Department implemented extensive punitive blockings of Axis assets and protective blockings of Allied assets.
In 1950 the United States imposed economic sanctions against the People's Republic of China as a result of the Korean emergency to prevent, among other things, Chinese acquisition of foreign exchange through transactions with Americans. The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") began enforcing foreign asset control programs in the 1950s. Today the only economic sanctions programs administered by OFAC under TWEA are with respect to Cuba, North Korea, and certain third-country transfers of sensitive materials.
You have asked how the Treasury Department construes the term "the time of war," which appears in section 5 (b) (1) of TWEA. Although TWEA does not include a definition of the term "during the time of war," it does include definitions for the terms "the beginning of the war" and "end of the war." The words "the beginning of the war" are deemed to mean "midnight ending the day on which Congress has declared or shall declare war or the existence of a state of war." The words "end of the war" are deemed to mean "the date of proclamation of exchange of ratifications of the treaty of peace, unless the president shall, by proclamation, declare a prior date."
Thus the phrase "during the time of war" would seem to cover the period between "the beginning of the war" and the "end of the war."
Since this period cannot come into existence without some form of congressional declaration, it would appear that TWEA -- with the exception of its present applicability to the Cuba, North Korea, and transaction control programs referenced above* -- applies only to situations involving a declared state of war. In exercising any of the specific powers available to him under TWEA during the time of war, the president would issue an executive order or other similar instrument generally made available through publication in the Federal Register.
(* -- From the early 1930s until 1977, when the International Emergency Economic Powers Act was enacted, TWEA applied not only in times of war but also in situations in which the president declared a peacetime national emergency. Pre-existing emergencies declared with respect to Cuba and North Korea and certain transaction controls were grandfathered, which explains why TWEA still serves as the basis for those sanctions programs, even though the United States is presently not in a state of war with respect to any of the affected countries.)
The construction of the term "hoarding," as used in section 5(b)(1) of TWEA, would depend on how the president chooses to exercise his authority with respect to hoarding in any particular instance.
In making any decisions under the authorities conferred by TWEA, the president would, of course, be taking steps to address threats to our national security during a time of war. In the past, the president has used TWEA or TWEA-like authorities to criminalize hoarding. See generally Bauer v. United States, 244 F.2d 794 (9th Cir. 1957). Today, however, such activity is not restricted under the only sanctions programs in effect pursuant to TWEA -- i.e., the Cuba, North Korea, and transactions-control programs.
If, during a time of war, the president expressly chose to restrict the hoarding of gold or silver, he could do so.
Among the many factors the president would likely consider before taking such action, however, is the fact that the U.S. Government now mints and issues gold and silver coins to meet public demand for both numismatic and investment purposes.
(See 31 U.S.C. § 5112(a)(7)-(10) & (e)-(i).)
You also have asked about the president's ability to "interfere with the ownership of shares in gold and silver mining companies merely because shares of such companies also might be owned by foreign nationals or foreign governments, at war with the United States or not."
Under TWEA during times of war -- and also under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. Secs. 1701-05 ("IEEPA") during peacetime national emergencies -- the president has broad powers to regulate property in which there exists a foreign interest. See TWEA § 5(b)(1)(B); IEEPA Secs. 1702 (a) (1) (B).
Consequently, the president may restrict shares in any company owned by foreign persons consistent with the purposes of any declared emergency.
In this respect, foreign-owned shares in gold and silver mining companies are no different from foreign-owned shares in companies in any other industry.
Finally, you raise concerns about the "instant destruction of gold and silver investors and the precious metals mining industry in the United States." In the establishment and implementation of sanctions, the U.S. Government is always mindful of the domestic impact of restrictions meant to serve national security and foreign policy purposes. Just as the U.S. Government has been mindful of the practical impact that sanctions have on various service and manufacturing industries, it would also be mindful of the potential impact of sanctions with respect to the markets and industries associated with precious metals.
I hope you find this letter instructive. Thank you for your interest. If I can be of any further assistance, please call me.
Sincerely,
Sean M. Thornton Chief Counsel (Foreign Assets Control) U.S. Department of the Treasury Washington, D.C. 20220
PPS: if chasing value was our greatest concern, the day to day hell would be pleasent here on Ihub.
Waiting for the prophet and the bean counters...
Welcome, deadcenter. I agree with your overall evaluation and opinion.
Everyone here in this jungle should agree to a cease fire, take a deep breath, and relax. It's become nearly impossible to be visible without being hit in the crossfire. The struggle to make AMVS a black or white issue is holding this forum hostage. Take a time-out, folks, at least on the weekends.
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Never argue with idiots. They will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience!
"I know that most men, including those at ease with
problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept
even the simplest and most obvious truth if it would
oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they
have delighted in explaining to colleagues, proudly
taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by
thread, into the fabric of their lives."
-Leo Tolstoy-
I see the outspoken naysayers are again left standing in raincoats on a sunny Friday of non-slippage. Keep practicing your rain dance, chiefs, and remain on high alert for those troublesome rainbows.
Seek the company of those who are looking for the truth,
but run from those who have found it.
-- Vaclav Havel
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A list of conclusions, yours, that reveal more truth about the author than facts about the subject - especially the remarkable statement about GOINGUP11 having attacked the U.S.
Such a compact pile of weighted personal opinion stokes the emotions behind an agenda to beat down anything that supports AMVS. It appears the delivery person of facts and figures has an embedded reactive identity that cannot escape the gravity of a co-dependent role and the cartoonish caricature that it creates here.
This is seriously entertaining in a way it shouldn't be. Emotions cannot be the captain at the helm of a ship called critical thinking; of what use is a crew that cannot resist jumping into a polluted ocean of conclusions?
My nose says there is far more smoke in this theatre than there is fire, and I hope to hear less background noise if and when the curtain rises. I too, purchased my ticket early and I'm still waiting for Showtime. The relentless babble about bad plots and never-ending sequels of dissatisfaction is still only the pre-show, not to be confused with the main feature yet to come. IMHO, speaking as a seated member of the positive minded non-violent audience.
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Any day now? How can you declare with certainty that the bottom is going to fall out? This is ridiculous! Too much coincidental thought fosters unfulfilled expectations, or is it the other way around?? Sometimes dark clouds only threaten rain, despite the formations and imaginations.
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I've been waiting to read news with validation for as long as most of you, but minus the heavy baggage. Thanks for the gloomy prediction and offering of luck. I'll hold the 4-leaf clovers for the tough days ahead, IF they come by way of AMVS.
This auto-response is not a document for solicitation of conversation or debate.
[IF] ***Flagged***
Determination: unknown suspicious letters / word -- obfuscated content / malicious error.
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Trolling for responses that contain *if* is another tactic of partisan polling here on I-Hub. Firing three [if] missles in such rapid succession is sure to crash the fact based system.
"You care only about a quick score" lol That all depends on if changes are being made or the same foul ups occur.
We will see if they are about to make a change for the better or if nothing has changed.
Let's hope for a major change. So I can make a ten-bagger statement using higher math for the if of it.
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Not forgetting anything of value within this conversation. Did you comprehend my post concerning the reality leap in valuation, and the character of this forum?
But have at it chiefs, be confrontational, because the love won't happen until the day after $1 and a significant company profit. Until then enjoy your role as: dreamer, schemer, teacher, and/or preacher.
You may introduce facts as everyone's friend and ally, but the future is foreign territory subject to change. The present is the *if all* of all possibilities that open the door, and it's being blocked, by whom?. The bridge to success is always just ahead of your thinking. To burn it is to succumb to a predictable life on an island of mediocrity and repetition. As you continue on a downhill slope of global condemnation for anything and everything that [AMVS] did or won't fulfill, be prepared to suffer the woes of inflexible mindsets. It only takes the smallest of feet to prevent the door from slamming shut. *IF* you know what I mean.
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Imagine that, someone's first post snagged your attention. BTW, it's not the historical DD that overwhelmingly suggests a ten-bagger. It's the obvious immediate pattern of responsiveness that followed the rapid injection of positive information, and the fact that 20 cents is a near target in time for anyone wading into the float at .02 or less.
I say it as I see it, despite the excessive negative discourse and reactivity here. My original post was merely a comment in regard to a possibility that a company [AMVS] could be getting their act together, and that this forum might survive those who dwell within a fortress box of black and white thoughts. Hope and the possibility for new experiences are in the alternate realm of expansive thought - a place in which I choose to remain for the sake of opportunity and growth, beyond yesterday, free from the quarrels and heavy chains of discontent.
Saviors trying to color a universal picture, convincingly, as fact revealing while creating a defensive atmosphere is polarizing and stressing this forum beyond the limits of intelligent communication. Emotional warfare is destructive and infectious to the body of support that is sorely needed. After all, beyond the soapbox and pecking order, that is why you're here, correct? Reading me, to tag an agenda, is a flimsy offense and further waste of everyone's time. For the moment, it's nicer to lurk outside the I-Hub circle, where each day, sunny or not, is becoming a dirty laundry day.
In affirmation I repeat my original posted message of hope and positive possibilities:
Looks like a ten-bagger to me. And if they get their wheels in a row.... say good-by to the bad old days and those here who continue to live them.
-cheers
At least we aren't sub-penny, right?
What are we doing in this handbasket and where are we going?
Bets rolled into predictions; desire, anger, and fighting words about the wrath of someone's god. A mixed cocktail of enthusiasm and bitterness with plenty of talk about somewhere and nowhere. All just words of opinion, like mine. I lost a ton of shares in the RS, but I'm not trapped in deep regret or on a head hunt. I've learned that smart money always rules and that the judgement call is usually a wrong number. But have at it chiefs, be confrontational, because the love won't happen until the day after $1 and a significant company profit. Until then enjoy your role as: dreamer, schemer, teacher, and/or preacher. This is the pink sheets, where it's serious to be serious.
-- IMO --
Looks like a ten-bagger to me. And if they get their wheels in a row.... say good-by to the bad old days and those here who continue to live them.