Gold Exploration in West Africa

[FL]

Pornographic Subranum Gold-Explorer? Adult Shop.com (ASC.ASX)?

My earlier message, to which this is a reply, said there was no simple way to buy into the Subranum gold prospecting concession in Ghana via gold stocks. I've noticed that 25% of the direct ownership is unaccounted-for. Cambrian Mining (CBM on London AIM) and Investika (IVK on Sydney ASX) own only 75% of the Subranum concession, as far as I can figure from web documents and Google.

Western Minerals of Australia was the gold explorer that evidently once had the Subranum concession that is now mostly owned by Cambrian and Investika. Unsuccessful, the Western Minerals company became effectively a shell that was converted from gold exploration to "adult products" and telephone sex, renamed as Adult Shop.com and is now traded as ASC on the ASX. (It was recently involved in insider-trading scandal and prosecutions http://www.ag.gov.au/www/justiceministerHome.nsf/Alldocs/RWP325993FF041061EDCA256ECC000EF655?OpenDoc... )

The 1999 Adult Shop.com annual report described the prior gold exploration that had been done (sort of half-heartedly, it seems) at Subranum; don't read this if you're easily offended by pictures of scantily clad, kinkily clad, or unclad women:

http://investoren.adultshop.de/PDF_files/AnnualReport_1999_%20pictures.PDF

The introduction said that they "left behind a company with limited potential for a significant gold discovery and a languishing share price ..." The report said that the property was written off as having no ascertainable value.

But, it also noted that they had found 16m (9-25) at 3.86 grams/ton, 7m (6-13) at 27 grams/ton and 3m (21-24) at 2.7 grams/ton of gold. "... the controls on the drilling were only approximate...."

Susmit Shah was listed on the boards of both Adult Shop.com and "Cambrian Resources NL"; also various people surnamed Shah were among the largest listed option holders of Adult Shop.com. The current German website at adultshop.de lists Shah as Company Secretary.

The 2000-01 and 2001-02 annual reports reported Adult Shop.com owning 100% of something called "West Min (Ghana) Ltd" -- marked "dormant".

Meanwhile, Cambrian Mining PLC bought all of "Metak Ltd." which apparently now has a 75% interest in Subranum. Cambrian then sold part of Metak to Investika.

According to a Cambrian offer for subscription (of stock) at

http://www.cambrianmining.com/cam_publications/CambrianMiningPlc20030618.pdf

"Limited" RC drilling had found 6m at 7.25 g/t, 4m at 47.08 g/t, and 7m at 1.67 g/t gold at Subranum.

The prospectus is coy about whom Metak (a Jersey entity) was bought from. The passive voice is used, or else "the owners of Metak" or just "the vendors" is used. Apparently, on 13 June 2002 Cambrian issued a million shares to "the vendors" for Metak, agreeing to pay US$100,000 at study-completion and US$1.5 million at start-of-mining. Metak did not then own any interest in Subranum at all, but soon had a "heads of terms" agreement with whoever then had Subranum, and was "in advanced discussions that may lead to it acquiring up to 90% of a gold prospecting concession known as the Subranum Concession." RSG Global was listed as the operator.

In Section 14.16 we see a "Samtua Mining Resources Ltd." as the entity from whom Metak got the 75% of Subranum rights 5 days later, for US$5,000, plus $100,000 at study-completion, and $1.5m at start-of-mining, plus a 7-year option to get an additional 15% from Samtua for $1.5m.

Possibly the remaining 25% of Subranum is the Ghana government's standard 10% and the 15% still in Samtua's possession. Dunno. If so, who, then, owns Samtua? Adult Shop.com via its "dormant" subsidiary West Min (Ghana) Ltd.? Or maybe Susmit Shah?

It' unclear how, or whether, the Subranum rights got from Adult Shop.com Ltd. to Samtua Mining Resources Ltd.

I just emailed Cambrian to ask who owns the rest of the Subranum concession.

The interest, for this board, might be in some way to buy into the Subranum concession without the irrelevant parts of Cambrian or Investika or the hyperdilution of the latter (billions and billions ...).

The gold intersections, if accurately reported, seem good. The property is in a nice location on the east (Bibiani) side of the Yamfo-Sewi gold belt adjoining Red Back's (RBI.V) property. See the latest drill results at:

http://www.cambrianmining.com/cam_announcements/040615_amend.htm

This is almost as nice as the earlier finds; surface trenching 1 meter at 110.44 g/t and another at 20.84 g/t gold is not bad either.

FL