Back to the world again.
Sorry to see so many so anxious to sell. Jal raised his hope from $1.10 last year to $3.69. Everybody seems to want to dump and run from $1.00 to $2.00 to around $3.00 or so. This must encourage Inmet to see such short vision. I still believe the "For Sale"sign has not been put in the window in Panama City, Penonome, or La Pintada. I still feel there will be some other accommodation that will allow Inmet to use the land they need. It will not come cheap and will offset a lot of the money we are seeking to borrow with the bonds, since it will all be used to further the same purposes. (So all of you looking for a big check to come your way may be disappointed. Also, as Loji points out very accurately, Inmet has so many caveats in their offer, where they are the sole "decider", that if the company is sold you will not see a dime for years, and then much less than you believe based on any selling price. That offer has more twisted corners than a Halloween corn maze!) I think it will just be steady progress as usual.
The documentation on who owns what gold is very specific and very clear. It is all in the public record. Gold that is thinly scattered throughout large quantities of copper ore will of course come out as a by-product in the Inmet processing. They are expecting something like 80,000oz. per year. The gold "deposits" like Molejon, Botija Abajo, Brazo, Lata, and several others are known belong to Petaquilla. Neither side is contesting that and to date 100% of all the gold in PTQ's N.I. 43-101's are from Inmet's concession. Petaquilla has yet to file a single N.I. 43-101 on any Petaquilla concession and all of the gold mined to date, has come from Inmet's concessions. That is crystal clear to all parties involved. No one is questioning it, although Inmet may be sitting on some drilling results. As the Joao said in the interview LOM is not a consideration. There are millions of ounces on PTQ's concessions and also on Inmet's that PTQ owns.
It is a horse and cart issue only since there is cap/ex involved in firming up the reserves. Right now, Pamailla, ODN, and LP are on the front burner.
Right now we have more gold ready to process, hence the expansion. Where you spend you cap/ex/exploration money is dictated by your strategic plan. If you are building cars you don't need to build more engines that bodies. This should be very easy to understand. While all the world is focused on access and tailings ponds, don't think for a moment that both sides are not fully aware that there is more than a billion dollars in gold also in play. According to the UN studies there is still a lot of exploration that needs to be done above even that level.
It would benefit both companies if this can be worked out. If not, I am pretty confident that Petaquilla will hold the line and if Inmet wants a war, they will get one. Keep studying your Mandarin and never forget that the Chinese are standing right outside the door. Six Billion Dollars for them is exactly 1.2% of the money their government has set aside to purchase copper, gold, silver, zinc, molybdenum, and other metal resource world wide over the next five years. They would be more than willing to step into any vacuum and would, I believe, act to preserve little Petaquilla as a local brand and a very useful vehicle if you understand how these things can be worked.
I have not received, and anticipate no call from anyone. If any of you do talk to them Monday, you might ask the simple question, "Do you anticipate selling the company?" Or more simply, "Is the company on the market For Sale?" The answer may surprise and comfort you...or maybe not...LOL.
Saludos,
AI
