Have had a chance to calm down,
Do DD that I should have done before my initial reaction to the Pro announcement.
Have spoken to many people -hardly any from Tara Gold as Mr.Biscan runs a tight ship. But accountants , lawyers familiar with the agreements , even people from the J/V partners and ex-Joint venture partners and from people familiar with Mexican picture.
First- My suggestion regarding halting the stock was a poor one. In Canada a company can ask for a trading halt and can get many weeks or months before asking for the halt to be lifted. Under Nasdaq/SEC rules a halt can only be for a very limited time [eg day or so} under most circumstances. Such a brief halt would be counter-indicated for Tara Gold. So out with that idea.
PRO is listed on the TSX V. exchange. Tara Gold has hired a top Canadian lawyer to confirm and defend Tara Gold's position re the Las Minitas property and its validity in claiming 100% ownership of same. All monies expended by PRO and shares of Pro transferred to Tara Gold remain the property of Tara Gold under the terms of the agreement.
Pro was well aware of the non compliant status of historical data when the agreements were signed. New properties that were added to the original Las Minitas property were recognized as value based on the work done by Pro on the Las Minitas property and as a result of such a connection ,the Tara Gold/ Pro J/V agreement was altered to reflect ALL such property was to be owned based on the percentages of the original agreement. Such an agreement was signed by both Tara Gold and Pro.
Here, it gets tricky. One source says that subsequent ground and drilling indicated that the new properties might hold very high mineral values of gold and silver as an extension of the Las Minitas orebody. Pro management wanted to alter the agreement more to their benefit.
A second source said that the "devil shorts' approached Pro and suggested they would bankroll any move by Pro to recover the new property-thus hurting Tara Gold.
I have not been able to confirm which of the above is true. Pro Managements abrupt termination of the J/V agreement is without merit and would seem like a major blunder on their part.
Re Columbia and liens. Both Columbia and Tara Gold were aware of 3 liens on the Lluvia de Oro property at the signing of the J/V agreement. The liens were to be removed by negotiated payment from monies provided by Columbia. TWO OF THOSE LIENS HAVE BEEN REMOVED. The third lien will be settled either soon from the payment in late November by Columbia or after the next payment due in a month or so.
Again ,one source says , that a lawyer for Columbia thought it should be mentioned in the last PR [why after all this time is anyone's guess]. Another source says the "evil shorts' intervened and convinced Columbia to add that to the PR.
Easy to get paranoid with the lurking "shorts'. But some times Paranoia IS justified.
Bottom line . We should not focus on the "naked shorts'- their problem is theirs. They have NOT been successful in collapsing the share price. Volume of trading on the open market and share price levels on the open market are showing they are basically ineffectual to a large degree. Off book settlement will become their problem with the people who facilitated such trading.
Tara Gold now owns 100 % of Picacho,Las Militas,Pilar De Mocoribo,
Don Ramon and Lourdes,and La Millonaria. ALL monies expended by their former J/V partners on these properties and all shares received from these ex-J/V partners are retained 100% by Tara Gold. all exploration information is the property of Tara Gold.
Within a month [given the usual, inability to meet timing frameworks] some of these properties MAY be J/V with hopefully, better funded and more reliable partners. Others that are ready to ship ore for processing MAY be done totally under Tara Gold's management.
Mr. Biscan and his legal team has done a GREAT job in drawin up the contracts to protect Tara gold's position. It is disappointing that greed seems to be part and parcel in dealing with many players in the mining field. Luckily Mr.Biscan had the experience and knowledge to avert most of these problems. the "naked shorts' is a different kettle of fish. Hope they shortly will be gone.
All of the above is from sources i believe are reliable , but ,as in all things connected to legal matters, is subject to negotiations or possible law suits, etc. No such suits have been filed to my knowledge at this time.
Do the math . Tara Gold's holdings are massive.
I still have concerns re La Currita and Raven. Columbia seems to be a hiccup and is moving right along. Paramount's reporting leaves much to be desired. But, all in this Pro surprise works for the benefit of Tara gold.
Time to reevaluate the share price based on fundamental increased values and possible new deals .