Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): This thing isn't like that thing, hypocritical board of directors edition
Once you start reading the NR out of the Minera IRL usurpers this morning with a critical eye, it quickly moves from lightweight content to ridiculous. Ridiculous Daryl, ridiculous. Oh my stars this is going to be so much fun, Jaime!
Let's start with just one snippet from today's NR...
The Board is of the opinion that, as a Peruvian and an official of COFIDE, Mr. Ramos would be unsuitable as a member of the Board because of provisions of Peruvian law.
...and then compare it to what the same board, but at the time headed up by the ringleader Daryl Hodges as executive chair (voted off by over 90% at the AGM), said earlier this year when welcoming the COFIDE deal:
The Company has agreed to COFIDE's participation on the Minera IRL board of directors, subject to the required approvals.
Ain't this cute, Chuck? Oh my stars, and I'm just warming up, Eric. There are literally dozens of things to come from perhaps the worst ever board defence NR in the history of junior mining activity. And what's going to be great about this isn't just that Team Hodges is going to lose. That's a given, people. It's how they're going to be utterly humiliated during the whole process and then lose and then they'll never be able to show their faces in polite company ever again.
The Friday OT: Four Tet; Gillie Amma I Love You (Late Night Tales: Jon Hopkins)
Yet again, Jon Hopkins involved with something so different from anything I've ever heard before. It's mesmerizing, essential listening.
Highly recommended is the whole Jon Hopkins Late Night Tales set, found right here.
Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L) calls the EGM
NR here, it's as long as you'd imagine, so just the first paragraph here and click through for the rest:
LIMA, PERU--(Marketwired - Oct. 23, 2015) - Minera IRL Limited ("Minera IRL" or the "Company") (TSX:IRL)(AIM:MIRL)(BVLAC:MIRL) announces that it is convening an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM"). A Notice of EGM, Management Information Circular (the "Circular") and Form of Proxy are today being posted to shareholders and will be made available on SEDAR and the Company's website at www.minera-irl.com. The EGM will be held on the 24th Floor at 333 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2T6, on 26 November 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Toronto time (3:00 p.m. GMT).
Continues here. Plenty of BS already spotted in the text, too. This is going to get dirty. And yes, November 26th as explained here at IKN yesterday morning. That's one leaky ship you got there at Fasken, Chuck.
Vampire Squid still calls gold lower
Here's the front page of the Goldman Sachs 'Precious Metals Update' report dated October 21st. The basic line is "yeah well we've been totally wrong about gold in 2015 so far but we're Goldman Sachs so screw you, we're right and you're all wrong, peasants"
Gold prices have rallied over the past 2 months, to be flat ytd
Gold has rallied by almost 8% since its July lows, leaving the price flat over the 2015 calendar year to date, which represents substantial outperformance relative to most other commodity prices (see chart below). Indeed, prices are near our forecast as we expected only a gradual decline in prices in 2015 (please see Central banks stall a more bearish gold outlook, published January 25, 2015).
The recent rally in gold has in our view been driven by a reduction in the market's expectation of Fed rate hike during 2015, in turn a response to weaker US economic data, in part driven by a weaker EM outlook. A marked increase in Chinese official sector physical gold purchases during 3Q15 also likely supported gold prices.
Our economists continue to expect a 25 basis point rate hike at the December FOMC meeting (please see US Economics Analyst - Q&A on Fed Liftoff: Focus on the Data, published October 17 for details), and for a further 100 basis points of rate increases during 2016. However, our economists are only about 60% confident regarding December liftoff. As such, our base case remains for higher US real rates and lower gold prices, albeit with there being risks that the gold price weakness is pushed out further should the Fed surprise us and remain on hold in December.
Overall, our forecasts are unchanged, however we roll our forecasts along the existing price forecast path, such that our 3/6/12-month forecasts are $1,100/oz, $1,050/oz, and $1,000/oz, respectively.
Hycroft Mining (ex-Allied Nevada) and that cartoon of the birds
Once again, a more accurate analysis is impossible to achieve:
Today's NR starts this way:
Hycroft Mining Corporation Completes Financial Restructuring Process and Emerges from Chapter 11 with $221.7 Million in Financing
RENO, NEVADA--(Marketwired - Oct. 22, 2015) - Hycroft Mining Corporation (previously known as Allied Nevada Gold Corp. and referred to herein as "Hycroft Mining", "us", "we", "it" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, effective October 22, 2015, it has completed its financial restructuring process and has emerged from Chapter 11. On October 8, 2015, with the support of the Company's debt holders and creditors, the Company's Plan of Reorganization (the "Plan") was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Continues here
Gotta love how Randy Buffington is still in charge of this mess. And gotta love the way this company still has all its "gold on heap leach" as a current asset. Pity the main leach pad in question has turned to concrete but hey...details...
Pretium (PVG) inside selling
Large scale options exercises and then full dumping of the new shares by key insiders of Pretium (PVG)?
Hey, probably nothing, right?
I mean, what could they possibly know about the near-term future of the company?
Innit.
"The silent rise of the prospect generator model"
The intrepid Alex Williams over at Global Mining Observer knocks it out of the park once again with this week's main feature, "The silent rise of the prospect generator model". He chews the cud with Brent Cook on the subject of the prospect generator model, but fortunately also gets to Q&A with people of good standing in the mining community.
Today's must-read, right here.
Rubicon (RBY) (RMX.to): Explaining sellside code
This morning, Joe Mazumdar of Canaccord dropped his reco on Rubicon (RMX.to) (RBY) from spec buy and an 80c target to "Hold" and a 60c target.
For those of you who need a translation, "cut to hold" in the world of sell side anal ysis means "MAKE LIKE A SHEPHERD"*
But hey, you can always get your hot stock tips from dumbasses in chatrooms.
For the record, good call Joe M. The can of corn has got a lot better under your watch.
*get the flock outta here
Minera IRL(MIRL.L) (IRL.to): Insight on the perversity
To give readers of this humble corner of cyberspace an idea of just how crazy, perverse and self-serving the current board of directors is, consider just some of the happenings in and around the company yesterday.
As a matter of fact, the company's non-executive chair, Jaime Pinto, spent all yesterday morning phoning round the export businesses in Peru, trying to find the gold that his company was selling. His objective was to block the export and stop the sale. This is because he wants his company to have the insolvency problems that were mentioned in the NR yesterday.
If you wanted a better example of a board of directors deliberately trying to drive its company into the ground it would be difficult to imagine. Which is why, of course, the EGM has been called by the group of concerned shareholders and why this current band needs to be kicked out. That EGM will be November 26th, by the way.
B2Gold 3q15 production
Here's the chart:
Slightly lighter than my estimates, the main miss being Libertad.
Lots more on these numbers Sunday, subbers.
UPDATED: Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): Oh my stars I just wet myself laughing
Looks like you're going to have to re-work that Friday NR, Jaime. This below published by Team Benavides (i.e Minera IRL SA, rather than the Canadian Ltd) this afternoon.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Minera IRL S.A. Reports Sale of Gold to a New Certified US Buyer
This sale guarantees resources for Minera IRL Ltd and the payment of salaries, social programmes and service providers
Lima, 21 October 2015; Minera IRL S.A. ("the Company") reports the sale of 1,074 ounces of gold to a new certified buyer based in the United States, in order to continue the normal development of Company activities and to meet contractual commitments with Scotiabank.
The Company has met all legal procedures for the sale and shipment of the Corihuarmi Gold Mine produced gold, after the previous buyer declined to continue with the commercial tie.
Earlier in the year, Scotiabank provided Minera IRL S.A. with a mining closure environmental performance bond which is required by law for presentation to the Ministry of Mining in January of each year. As banks are now expecting full collateral backing for these guarantees it was agreed that funds generated by Corihuarmi gold sales would be deposited in the Company's account with Scotiabank in Lima. Previously these funds were transferred to the Minera IRL S.A. account in the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Company maintains its normal activities at the Corihuarmi Gold Mine and gold production will continue to be sold to the new buyer in order to guarantee resources for Minera IRL Limited, as well as to pay salaries, social programmes and service providers to Minera IRL S.A.
Income generated by the sale of Minera IRL S.A. gold will be deposited in the Company's account in Lima as was agreed since the 30 July 2015.
Thank you for distributing this information.
minera@irl.com.pe
UPDATE: Two hours later, this comes from Team Hodges. Just when you thought it couldn't get any funnier. Wonderful guys, just wonderful. You made my day.
Minera IRL Limited Provides Corporate and Operational Update
Oct 21, 2015 - 06:02 ET
LIMA, PERU--(Marketwired - Oct. 21, 2015) - Minera IRL Limited ("Minera IRL" or the "Company") (AIM:MIRL)(BVLAC:MIRL)(TSX:IRL) provides the following corporate and operational update.
The Company has to date used offtake arrangements whereby the proceeds from its gold produced at the Corihuarmi mine have been paid into a Jersey bank account operated by Minera IRL, a company incorporated in Jersey, via a Swiss refiner. This has allowed the Company to maintain full control of the proceeds from gold sales which can then be disseminated down to its operating subsidiaries as required.
However, due to recent efforts by Mr. Diego Benavides, the former interim CEO of the Company, in his role as President and General Manager of the Company's Peruvian subsidiaries, to amend the existing offtake arrangements such that the proceeds from the sale of gold are directed straight to the Peruvian subsidiaries, the Company's existing offtaker has suspended receipt of shipments of gold in doré for refining and sale. Furthermore, the Company believes that Mr. Diego Benavides may be seeking alternative solutions for the sale of gold doré produced from the Corihuarmi mine, which would likely involve the proceeds being transferred directly to the Peruvian subsidiaries. The Company believes 1,070 ounces of gold are currently held in doré form which would be shipped for refining and sale. A further 1,000 ounces are expected to be capable of shipment shortly.
The Company currently has no control over the counterparty for its gold sales from the Corihuarmi mine and is unable to specify the recipient of the proceeds.
As previously announced, the Company is in the process of dismissing Mr. Diego Benavides from his role as President and General Manager of the Company's two Peruvian subsidiaries. This process is expected to take several months under Peruvian corporate law.
As announced on 21 September 2015, the Company has significant working capital constraints caused primarily by recent lower gold prices adversely affecting the profitability of the Company's low-grade Corihuarmi mine, which has been in operation since 2008, but is nearing the end of its mine life.
Furthermore, under the existing US$70 million bridge loan structured by the Peruvian state-owned development and promotion bank, Corporación Financiera de Desarrollo S.A. ("COFIDE"), funds are not permitted to be used for general corporate working capital purposes. The Company has so far been unsuccessful in its attempts to reach an agreement with COFIDE pursuant to which the funds can be used for this purpose.
Due to the Company's limited existing cash resources and the possibility that it will not receive the proceeds of near term gold sales, the Company expects that it may have difficulty meeting its obligations as they fall due until appropriate control of the Peruvian subsidiaries is re-established. In addition, the Company has limited visibility as to the financial position of the Peruvian subsidiaries. Consequently, the directors are considering the solvency of the Company as a whole and a further announcement will be made in due course.
EGM requisition
Pursuant to the announcement on 9 October 2015, the Company will shortly be convening an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) as requisitioned by a group of shareholders (the "Proposing Shareholders"). The Proposing Shareholders are seeking to requisition an EGM to consider special resolutions to appoint six new directors: Messers. Leonard Harris, Julian R. lngham, Diego Benavides, Jorge L. Ramos, Frank S. O'Kelly and Jesus A. Lema and to remove Messers. Robin Fryer, Douglas Jones and Jaime A. Pinto as directors of the Company. If successful, this would have the effect of removing all of the independent non-executive directors and replacing them with six appointees of the Proposing Shareholders. The circular convening the EGM will include the reasons for which the Proposing Shareholders have requisitioned an EGM as well as the directors' robust responses to these matters.
About Minera IRL Limited
Minera IRL Limited is an AIM, TSX and BVL listed precious metals mining and exploration company with operations in Latin America. Minera IRL is led by a management team with extensive operating experience in South America. In Peru, the Company operates the Corihuarmi Gold Mine and is advancing its flagship Ollachea Gold Project towards production. For more information, please visit www.minera-irl.com.
The San Juan gold mine in Peru and Deloitte Canada
Here's a strange tale in the making: When Century Mining hit the skids a few years ago (remember Margaret Kent/Peggy Witte?, yeah me too) one of its assets at the time was a majority share of the San Juan mine, a small operating gold mine in the Camana region of southern Peru. So as is the nature of these things the receiver was brought in to sell the asset, which is still working and churning out gold, to the highest bidder and in charge of the vending process was and still is Deloitte Canada (the Toronto office, to be precise).
Thing is, Deloitte has received several offers over the last couple of years at fair prices for the asset, but somehow the offers never seem to get accepted. For sure the first reaction is all positive, then agreements get signed, due diligence gets done, all the normal stuff but when the formal offer is made the deals suddenly seem to get lost in the inner workings and nothing gets closed. If it were a single offer you could perhaps pass it off, but your humble scribe now hears that this hasn't just happened once, but on multiple occasions.
Why should that be? Why is Deloitte reluctant to sell one of the things that it's supposed to be selling? Which just so happens to be an operating gold mine, too.
Blade Runner is a better movie
But we have four more years for that one. Until then...
True Gold (TGM.v) breaks ground and breaks twenty
As subbers of The IKN Weekly know, I own a few of these and paid 18c for the honour:
Not counting any pre-hatched chikkinz, but breaking 20c on the "we're mining now" news this morning looks quite interesting. Let's see if the move sticks, or whether it drifts back to the 18c floor again. There's a specific selling price in mind over at the weekly, too.
UPDATE: Yup.
Today's background music
Bomba Estereo's album, Elegancia Tropical. So very good. Full album on this youtube link.
Peru narco flights and the massive AP report
IKN is loving this new AP report on how drug-running planes still fly straight past the Peru military that's designated to stop them, even after laws that allow the places to be shot down in flight were recently passed.
Peru's government has barely impeded the airborne drug flow. Prosecutors, narcotics police, former military officers and current and former U.S. drug agents say that while corruption is rife in Peru, the narco-flight plague is the military's failure because it controls the remote jungle region known as the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro river valley.
Wilson Barrantes, a retired army general who has long complained about military drug corruption, said giving the armed services control over the valley is "like putting four street dogs to guard a plate of beefsteak."
An Associated Press investigation found that "narco planes" have been loaded with partially refined cocaine at landing strips just minutes by air from military bases in the remote, nearly road-less valley where about two-thirds of Peru's cocaine originates.
After a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Defense Minister Jakke Valakivi said the defense ministry and armed forces would jointly investigate the allegations of military corruption.
Valakivi called the AP's report "tendentious" while drug czar Alberto Otarola accused the AP of "irresponsibly offending Peru's image" in an interview published Thursday by the La Republica newspaper.
Full report here and it's brilliant stuff real reporting that ruffles feathers of the rich and influential. Imagine if this were going on in some Anti Imperialist Anti USA stronghold country.
Glencore's effect on the price of zinc, in context
Betting on Glencore to save your crappy bull call on zinc, anal yst?
Stop the stupid.
A Minera IRL chatroom worth a look
This link was pointed out to me tonight. It's the LSE chatroom on IRL and gets posts quite regularly. It also includes one poster who seems to know a lot about the company, one "ibwaiting2", who copypastes things from this humble corner but adds his/her own stuff. I don't know who it is, but I'd bet dollars to donuts from the way the poster writes and certain little things in the syntax that it's a Peruvian with excellent English.
PS: Dear IBwaiting2, if you want to make contact you know my mail address. Discretion guaranteed.
Somebody, somewhere, is making money by front-running the Louis Lobito Little Wolf stock picks
Take for example what happened to Alterra Power (AXY.to) between Thursday late afternoon and today Monday, all on the back of Lobito's pick of AXY.to in the increasingly silly International Speculator, now under the auspices of megapump artist Porter Stansberry.
Here are a couple of bets:
1) I bet you weren't the person who "luckily" managed to buy AXY.to just before the reco was published.
2) I bet the person who was "lucky" enough to do so reads these words. He comes over quite regularly, in fact.
Labels: porter stansberry
A letter from the Concened Shareholders of Minera IRL (MIRL.L) (IRL.to)
Word on the streets of Peru is that the usurpers being marionetted by Daryl Hodges want to delay the EGM until December 4th, practically the last possible date. With that in mind, the concerned shareholders who have called the EGM sent this to the necessary authorities yesterday:
Lima, October 18 2015
Sirs:
Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores - Perú
Board of Minera IRL Limited
Cannacord-Genuity Limited
Point of Business: Convocation of Extraordinary General Meeting
In accordance with the official announcement by Minera IRL Limited in the press release dated 9 October 2015, a group of over 10% of company shareholders have solicited from Minera IRL Limited ("the Company"), the convocation of an Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM"), with the aim of presenting special resolutions for the consideration and if agreed upon by shareholders, the approval and application of said special resolutions. This solicited EGM requires up front that the Company and its subsidiaries not enter into any agreements or arrangements to directly or indirectly dispose of or affect any of its businesses, assets or operations until the realization of said EGM. The proposed resolutions are to vote in the EGM for the removal of the current Board of Minera IRL Limited and to replace it with a Board comprising six new directors.
To conform with Article 89 of the Law of Companies, Jersey, 1991, and with the statutes of the Company, we hope that the EGM will be called and held within the briefest time frame, and previous to the maximum of two months stipulated by law, as we shareholders hold grave concerns regarding the conduct of the Company.
We consider that a prompt holding of the requested EGM will resolve the current restrictions that face shareholders, unable to buy or sell shares of the Company due to the trading suspension since 21 September 2015. As it stands, the value of our shares is zero.
It is also necessary to consider that delays to the execution of the EGM will increase the impact on fundamental aspects of the Company, such as the relationship with the Community of Ollachea, where the flagship gold project is located, and with COFIDE, the Peruvian state organization with which Minera IRL SA entered into an agreement in June 2015 for bridging finance for US$70 million and which maintains a mandate to allow financing for US$240 million.
We trust that all associated market institutions will comply with their responsibilities in terms of the law and transparency in order to protect the rights of the shareholders, the Community of Ollachea and finally the Company and its subsidiaries.
Awaiting your kind response,
Today's edition of our occasional series features the NR out just a few minutes ago from Duran Ventures (DRV.v). This one's an easy translation so we'll get straight to it.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 19, 2015) - Duran Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DRV)(DRV.V) ("Duran" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has finalized the budget and construction schedule for the Aguila Norte Plant near the city of Trujillo in Northern Peru (see news release dated September 11, 2015).
Highlights of the proposed mineral processing plant construction are:
On-site earthmoving for equipment mounting is scheduled to commence during the last week of October, 2015 and it is expected that construction will be complete by the end of March, 2016
An all-in construction cost of US$1.3 million that is inclusive of fully tested crushing, milling and flotation circuits, tailings dams, closed circuit security system, camp construction for a local workforce of 25 and onsite logistical overheads
Mineral processing will be via flotation circuits designed to produce up to three distinct concentrates enabling processing of a wider spectrum of multi and poly-metallic sulphide ores. Initial plant throughput is rated at 100 tonnes per day ("TPD")
Initial ground preparations and plant layout will allow for the sequential addition of a carbon-in-pulp ("CIP") gold leaching circuit and incremental expansion to a 350 TPD throughput
Requisite permitting is in place under the Peruvian government's formalization mandate to operate up to 100 TPD. The Company is well advanced to receive full permits and licenses which will enable the expansion of the Aguila Norte Plant
The Company's management spent several months evaluating various investment scenarios and operating parameters for its Aguila Norte Plant which included processing methodologies, working capital optimization, ore supply reliability, metallurgical consistency, transporting logistics and security of both transported ore and processed product. The conclusion was that the best risk/reward profile on existing cash reserves could be obtained by constructing a 100 TPD floatation circuit, rather than a CIP gold leaching circuit as previously announced. The principal advantages of the former as determined by the Company's assessments are:
more secure long term suppliers with larger tonnage shipments
reduced dependence on small scale artesanal mining as a supply source resulting in lower administrative and legal costs
reduced working capital (less onerous ore payments)
improved metallurgical consistencies
During the same period the Company interviewed several engineering firms for overseeing construction of the project. Duran is pleased to announce that it has secured the services of JPC Estructuras y Concreto SAC, a Lima-based contractor headed by mechanical engineer Mr. Jorge Peña. In particular Mr. Peña has a long association with Fundicion Callao ("FUNCAL") which will be supplying most of the plant components, including the ball mill and cone crusher. FUNCAL has been operating its foundry and metal machining business in Peru since the1930's and is renowned for its high quality milling and grinding equipment.
Jeffrey Reeder, P.Geo., and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has prepared and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.
About Duran
"We do not have any money"
electronic writing and calculations machine problems
Hello everyone, your humble scribe coming to you direct from a tablet to say that due to a computer problem, this morning will involve light blogging and a visit to the nice lady that fixes things in her shop.
And copper's down again.
IKN's best ever sports prediction
This was one of the ten IKN predictions for 2015, as published on December 29th 2014:
10) Argentina to beat Ireland in the Quarter Finals stage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, held in the UK in October. How about that for a specific forecast?
It's just come in. Right two teams, right stage of the Rugby World Cup, right result. Take that, Avery :-)
Third Place: "Keith Barron's blog has come back to life" and I'm happy to spread the word on this one. Go visit, Barron is somebody any junior mining company investor should read.
Second Place: "A free offer from IKN" which turned out to be popular. The offer's now closed, by the way.
First Place: "Brent Cook's analysis of Rubicon Minerals (RMX.to) (RBY)" which shouldn't come as a great surprise. Brent's stuff is always good and his piece on Rubicon is a great example.
Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): This thing isn't lik...
The Friday OT: Four Tet; Gillie Amma I Love You (L...
Hycroft Mining (ex-Allied Nevada) and that cartoon...
Minera IRL(MIRL.L) (IRL.to): Insight on the perver...
UPDATED: Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L): Oh my stars...
The San Juan gold mine in Peru and Deloitte Canada...
Glencore's effect on the price of zinc, in context...
Somebody, somewhere, is making money by front-runn...
A letter from the Concened Shareholders of Minera ...
electronic writing and calculations machine proble...