Beiträge von Tambok

  • TWILIGHT of the Hippo-Gods? WAR, RANGE

    Hippo, willst Du ewig leben?





    aus BUSINESS DAY vom 29-08-05


    29 August 2005


    Western Areas delays announcement again
    ==================================



    Chief Reporter


    FOR the third time, unexpected problems on Friday delayed an announcement expected to confirm that Brett Kebble will resign as CEO of JCI, Western Areas and Randgold & Exploration.


    The announcement was expected on Wednesday, when Western Areas was to release its quarterly results and details of a rights offer to raise R700m for the mine.


    But this was delayed first due to “technical glitches”, then again on Thursday due to legal to-and-froing between the lawyers, and then again on Friday due to a hold-up at the JSE, which has to approve any announcements.


    Late on Friday, Western Areas was able to publish the stripped-out quarterly results, but not the details of the rights offer or any news of a management restructuring.


    Reliable sources indicated that Kebble would step aside as CEO of all three companies and quit the boards of Randgold and JCI, but remain a nonexecutive director at JCI.


    Western Areas financial director Chris Lamprecht is expected to step in as acting CEO of the company, while Tlotlisa Securities CEO Peter Gray is expected to become CEO of Randgold and JCI.


    Western Areas’ quarterly results on Friday showed a R262m loss for the three months to June. This was made up of a R4,3m operating loss, alongside a negative fair value adjustment of R192m and a R56m hedging loss. Because of tax adjustments, the net loss for the quarter was R125m. Despite being deeply in the red, there were some signs of improvement.


    First, there was a 25% improvement in gold production at the company’s main asset, South Deep, which meant Western Areas got R61m in revenue from gold, compared with R32m the previous quarter. Also, the weakening of the rand to the dollar meant that Western Areas was able to fetch a gold price of R87,807/kg, compared with R83,345/kg during the quarter to March.


    But Western Areas warned that a revised estimate of South Deep’s gold reserves was likely to be 10-million ounces lower than an initial estimate of 55-million ounces due to a “redesign of regional pillars”. These estimates will be fully detailed only at the end of the year.

  • Goldminen Fonds Pro/contra

    Wilhelm Busch, Versuchung des Hl. Antonius


    "Laß ab von mir, unsaubrer Geist!
    Sei, wie du bist, wer du auch seist!"



    Posting bei W+O von heute:
    ======================


    am kommenden Mittwoch, den 31.8.2005 führen wir ab 16.00 Uhr auf


    http://www.TerminTrader.com einen Live-Trading-Chat zum Thema


    Commodity-Trading mit Jens Rabe durch.



    Jens Rabe, der bereits seit einigen Jahren an den internationalen


    Warenterminmärkten zu Hause ist, wird in dem Chat Fragen zum


    Commoditiy-Trading im Allgemeinen und zu seiner Vorgehensweise im


    Besonderen beantworten. Das Commodity-Trading, welches oft auch


    als " Königsklasse" des Futurehandels bezeichnet wird, beinhaltet viele


    vom Indexfuturehandel abweichende Aspekte. So wird Jens Rabe unter


    anderem auch auf den sogenannten Commitment of Traders (CoT) -


    Report eingehen, der Auskünfte über die Positionierung der grossen


    Institutionellen Marktteilnehmer (sogenannte Commercials) gibt.




    Ein vorbereitendes Interview mit Jens Rabe können Sie vorab bereits hier lesen:



    http://www.futuresboard.de/tra…st/interv_jensrabe01.p...


    Viele Grüsse,




    Peter
    (PS: das Chat ist natürlich kostenlos;
    Es wird voraussichtlich auch Gold an der CBOT gehandelt)
    ==============================================

  • Goldminen Fonds Pro/contra

    Hallo liebe Goldanleger,


    wir freuen uns, euch einen weiteren Experten-Chat im Bereich Rohstoffe

    präsentieren zu dürfen. Heute, den 25.08.2005 steht euch der


    Chefredakteur Oliver Frank des Goldreports wieder ab 18.00 Uhr eine

    volle Stunde lang Rede und Antwort.


    Dieser Chat findet bei unserem Exklusiv-Partner


    http://www.ConferenceChat.de statt.


    Geht einfach auf die Startseite http://www.ConferenceChat.de und loggt


    euch in der Mitte mit einem Wunschnamen ein. Ein Paßwort ist nicht


    erforderlich.


    Die Themen sind Explorationsaktien wie Moto Goldmines, Titan


    Uranium, Energulf Resources, Tournigan Gold und Rohstoffe allgemein.




    Wir wünschen euch viel Spass bei diesem Experten-Chat !



    Viele Grüsse

  • Batavia Mining Ltd. WKN 813 531 ISIN AU000000BTV7 BTV

    seltsam, daß die in D mit ähnlichem Volumen wie in Australien

    über den Tresen gehen.


    Etwas substantiell Neues kann erst kommen nachdem

    mit den Geldern aus der KapErhöhung gedrillt worden ist.

    Da kommt dann was, weil Menzies da schon vorher aktiv

    war und Hallmark mitgewirkt hatte.


    Aber einige Wochen dauert das mindestens noch.


    Dafür daß wir die Ruhe vor dem Sturm haben,

    weht schön was (ASX 0,053 bei 7 Mio Stück und

    in D 0,036 € bis 16.00 Uhr Stück 6 Mio.)

    [Blockierte Grafik: http://www.ciudadaniasexual.org/images/mel_ramos.gif]

    MEL RAMOS (irgendwo zwischen Kitsch und Pop Art)

  • DRDGold Ltd. / DRD (NYSE, JNB) und die Derivate

    DRDGold looks to Africa
    ===================



    Thu, 25 Aug 2005
    [miningmx.com] --



    Despite having restored its remaining South African operations to profitability DRDGold will be looking to the rest of Africa for the future growth of its "local" operations.



    That was spelt out at today’s presentation of DRDGold’s financial results for the year to end-June by DRDGold chairman Paseka Ncholo.


    Ncholo heads up Khumo Bathong Holdings which is DRDGold’s BEE partner. Khumo Bathong signed a memorandum of understanding at the end of July to take a 15% stake in DRDGold’s South African operations with an option to raise that to 26%.


    Ncholo said that DRDGold’s South African assets provide the group with "optionality" to the gold price but these operations were predominantly high-cost, deep-level mines.


    He said it was essential to get access to "cheap" gold which was available elsewhere in Africa and could be mined for cash operating costs close to US$100/oz.


    By comparison, the average cost for DRDGold’s SA operations for the year to June was $453/oz although this drops to US$407/oz for the six months to June reflecting in part the closure of the group’s unprofitable North West Operations (NWO).


    Ncholo said DRDGold had identified a number of opportunities in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Mali, Ivory Coast and Mocambique.
    Essential to gain access to 'cheap' goldHe added it would be another four months or so before the group’s plans were finalised but the intention was to acquire small, existing gold operations to gain the exposure that DRDGold wanted.


    So the good news is that the group’s SA operations have been restored to profitability. The bad news is that profits are dropping at DRDGold’s Australian operations.


    The group also had to write down the value of its stake in Emperor Mines to a value of A$0,28c a share from the average of A$0,60 a share that DRDGold paid to buy its 45% stake in Emperor.


    Result was a R127,4m loss from associates. That helped convert DRDGold’s net operating profit of R41,2m for the six months into a headline loss of R127,1m. For the year to June DRDGold shows a net loss of R502,5m compared with a net loss of R716,4m for financial 2004.


    The worst seems to be over but DRDGold still has plenty to sort out which is why CEO Mark Wellesley-Wood sounds distinctly cautious on future prospects. He says; "from past events we have learned never to be sanguine, but the 2006 financial year is at least starting on a better base."


    Requiring attention in South Africa is the Crown Mines dump retreatment operation where profits have crumbled to R7,4m in the six months to June 2004 from R20,5m in the previous comparable period. Costs reached $412/oz in the six months to June from $351/oz in the previous comparable period.


    Reasons include a change in feedstock sources resulting in lower grades and lower volumes. Both volumes and grades are forecast to rise in the year ahead.


    In Australasia, the 100% owned Tolukuma mine in Papua New Guinea shows a worrying declining trend in operating profits caused by rapidly rising costs. These reached $367/oz in the six months to June from $253/oz in the previous comparable period.


    DRDGold owns a 20% stake in the Porgera mine - managed by Placer Dome - where costs are also rising sharply while production has been affected by instability in the west wall of the open pit. An update on Porgera’s mining plan is due from Placer Dome in September.


    Still to be resolved is the insurance claim lodged by DRDGold as a result of the earthquake at NWO in March which damaged shaft infrastructure and led to the decision to put NWO into liquidation.


    The claim is believed to be for more than R500m although the final settlement may be below that. While this money will be paid over to the NWO liquidators, DRDGold is entitled to claim back R43m which it has spent after the date of liquidation in assisting the liquidators to meet certain of NWO’s obligations including pumping costs.

  • Juniors aus Kanada

    Mein Broker für Kanada muß heute sturzbesoffen sein.

    Weil ich ja lernfähig bin, sind Eure Juniors auf

    der Abwatschliste eingestellt.

    Bis auf St. Jude knall-rot.

    Der Broker muß den Malt-Whiskey nur so runtergekippt haben.


    Mein Koala frißt nur Eukalyptus


    Morgen könnt ihr denn über meine Investments

    ähnliches schreiben. Vielleicht.



    Gruss

    Tambok

  • Batavia Mining Ltd. WKN 813 531 ISIN AU000000BTV7 BTV

    zu schade um in der Pfeife zu rauchen.

    Der Kurs dümpelt in Australien zwar "nur" bei

    0,051 und die Umsätze bei gut 2 Mio Stück.


    Wer weiß, daß die vor wenigen Wochen für 0,020 eine

    Kapitalerhöhung 1 . 2 hatten, dürfte damit zufrieden sein.


    Ulfur hatte in dem Zusammenhang das Gepushe um

    Tennant Creek (TNG:ASX) kritisiert. TNG hält 17%

    an Batavia.

    Die Pusherei ist tatsächlich auf Klippschul-Niveau.

    Hatte mir den Laden aber trotzdem mal zu Gemüte geführt.

    Zu meiner Überraschung ist TNG die auf "sexy" getrimmte

    alte Halmark. Viel Puder und Camouflage.


    Würde mich nicht wundern, sollte TNG eine Erfolgsstory

    werden. Habe mir eine kleine Portion zugelegt.

  • TWILIGHT of the Hippo-Gods? WAR, RANGE

    Froneman guns for Kebble
    =====================


    Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2005


    Aus [miningmx.com] -
    ==================


    - Aflease Gold and Uranium CEO Neal Froneman today took a leaf out of Randgold Resources CEO Mark Bristow's book and publicly took on Brett Kebble.



    Like Bristow before him, Froneman has finally lost patience with Kebble's stalling strategy when it comes to answering key questions concerning the activities of Randgold & Exploration (Randgold) - in particular the whereabouts of R1,3bn worth of shares in Randgold Resources that Randgold is supposed to own.


    Kebble maintains Randgold still does own them beneficially. Bristow is adamant Randgold does not and has filed documentation with the SEC to that effect.


    Froneman's actions stand in stark contrast to the "behind the scenes" approach being followed by financial institutions Investec Bank and Allan Gray.


    These continue to refuse to comment on the state of play regarding Kebble's embattled mining empire which it is understood they are in the process of restructuring and refinancing.


    Details may be announced on Wednesday when Western Areas is due to release its June quarterly results as well as details of its proposed rights issue to raise R730m.


    Froneman was speaking to financial media at a presentation on the group's merger with gold exploration company Sub Nigel but he readily answered questions raised about Randgold in which Aflease holds a 12% stake.


    Aflease got those shares in August last year through a share swap which saw Randgold take a 33% stake in Aflease. Intention was that Aflease would sell the Randgold shares as required to fund development of its Bonanza gold mine.


    Kebble got effective control over Aflease working in conjunction with then-ally Trinity Holdings, a Cape Town institution which held 13% of Aflease.


    In the event, Aflease did not need to sell the shares but Randgold sold its stake in Aflease down as the company's share price soared on the back of renewed investor interest in uranium. Froneman says that, as far as he can ascertain, Randgold no longer has any shares in Aflease.


    Irony of the current situation is that Trinity Holdings is now supporting Aflease in its action against Randgold. Clearly, you can add Trinity CEO Quinton George to the long list of people that Kebble has fallen out with in recent months.


    But George's position must be a tricky one. Trinity stood as co-surety with JCI over the R70m- R80m owed by Kabusha Mining to Peter Skeat. George is counting on JCI settling that claim rather than Trinity.
    There's no point in half measuresFroneman - who worked for Kebble for a year - says he has spent months trying to get answers out of Kebble on a number of key issues but without success.


    Aflease has now requisitioned a Randgold shareholders meeting to gain information on a number of issues. These include; the Randgold holding of shares in Randgold Resources; the Western Areas transaction; the Phikoloso transaction; the 2003 annual financial statements and any other statements which may be released before the shareholders' meeting; related party transactions; interests of directors in contracts; Angolan mining operations and the Orlyfunt transaction.


    Froneman also wants to ensure a fair vote by preventing the Randgold board voting on behalf of American Depositary Receipt (ADR) shareholders who do not provide proxies for the resolutions put to the meeting.


    Froneman says Aflease is acting to protect its investment. He estimates there's a gap of between R40m and R50m between the current value of Aflease's Randgold stake and what it should be worth.


    He adds the subsequent actions to be taken will depend on Randgold's answers to the questions asked. But he makes it clear that, in the event of an unsatisfactory outcome, then Aflease wants an independent management put in place at Randgold and Kebble removed from the board.


    Froneman comments; "there's no point in half measures" adding he is worried the concerns of Randgold shareholders may not be addressed by whatever actions are being taken by Investec Bank and Allan Gray.


    He believes those institutions have different agendas linked to their respective exposures to the Kebble group and that they are more focussed on developments at JCI and Western Areas than Randgold.


    Investec Bank is believed to have a R1bn exposure to the Western Areas hedge book which is deeply underwater. Allan Gray holds 25% stakes across all three Kebble mining companies but the most valuable by far is the stake in Western Areas which holds a 50% stake in the South Deep gold mine.

  • Sitz u. Pits in Australia (Goldminen)

    In den letzten Wochen (August 05) kleine Positionen Australier (ASX) gekauft:

    HIG -Highland Pacific Gold
    produziert in Neu-Guinea, hat relativ hohes KGV, ist also nicht billig

    PPD - Pan Palladium, Explorer für Platin in Südafrika,
    war extrem billig geworden, sowas wie Los bei der Lotterie

  • Thistle Mining

    Werde demnächst etwas zu THISTLE (THT) posten.


    Ist aber noch nicht dringend.

    Wahr wohl keine gute idee gleich mehrere

    ehemalige insolvente Minen in den Thread packen zu wollen.

    Die Sons of Gwalia (SGW) Goldminen jetzt bei Santta Barbara (SBM)

    beispielsweise. Ist zu speziell.

    Gruss

    Tambok

  • TWILIGHT of the Hippo-Gods? WAR, RANGE

    WAR gestern +5% und bis jetzt heute +3%,


    ein neuer 2. Schacht strapaziert die Finanzen,


    eine der tiefsten Minen mit 3.300 m untertage,


    ein etwas konfuser journalistischer Artikel, trotzdem lesenswert



    Aus BUSINESS DAY


    23 August 2005



    Profit still down below at tardy South Deep
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Resources Editor


    PROFIT from developing gold mine South Deep has become an elusive, tantalising goal for JCI and Western Areas, after 11 years of development and costs of about about R5,6bn.


    South Deep is owned by a 50-50 joint venture partnership between Western Areas and Canadian group Placer Dome. JCI owns 38% of Western Areas.



    An analyst, who asked not to be named, says new funders for JCI and Western Areas will be taking a negligible capital risk on the project, despite the potential difficulties in mining the orebody, because a large portion of the development costs have already been incurred and there is no doubt that technical difficulties would be overcome.


    The project is running more than two years behind schedule due to many delays and hitches, including restructuring and retrenchments, wage strikes, management disputes and infrastructural difficulties.


    South Deep, situated about 45km southwest of Johannesburg, has an estimated 55,6-million ounces of gold reserves and an estimated life of about 65 years, according to the latest information from Western Areas.



    Western Areas is expected to call on shareholders for about R800m to fund its share of the next phase of the mine.


    In 1995 South Deep was projected to cost R2,95bn and to take seven years to develop towards producing 800000 ounces of gold a year by 2003. At the commissioning of its twin shafts complex in February, its CE John Bredenham said the mine was expected to produce about 800000 ounces of gold a year by 2009.


    The joint venture partners started to tap into the South Deep orebody last November, when the twin shafts came into operation. Until then, they mined out the old Western Areas mine, which is more than 40 years old — so its production and costs were no guide to what could be expected from the new mine.


    At its deepest, the mine will reach more than 3300m below surface and it has an unusually wide reef, which requires special skills and experience because of the technical problems it presents. Its twin shaft complex is the deepest of its kind in the world.


    The mine is now moving from the development phase into phase one and two, which will involve building horizontal and vertical shafts and installing equipment.


    Western Areas CEO Brett Kebble said earlier this year that the 25-year mine plan, to be released later this year, could include accelerated development to increase production to 320000 tons a month by 2010.



    The joint venture partnership between Western Areas and Placer Dome was entered into in March 1999 with great fanfare, as it heralded a substantial foreign investment — R1,34bn plus royalties.


    The addition to its total reserves moved Placer Dome into the same league as its main rivals.


    But the relationship between the partners has soured over the past two years, with both now stating they may resort to arbitration proceedings to recover money owed.


    This year, Placer Dome says it expected to spend $15m on the mine, mainly on underground development and infrastructure.


    The other $15m will have to come from Western Areas. Placer Dome says Western Areas has not fully contributed its 50% of cash calls at the mine. But Kebble says the $13m it says it is owed will form part of arbitration proceedings.


    Earlier this year, Western Areas said it would claim R500m or more from Placer Dome because of the company’s insistence on certain management appointments when it was in charge of the mine, which delayed commissioning. An independent CEO was appointed a year ago.


    For the past five years, there has been speculation financial pressures could force Western Areas to sell its share in South Deep, with Gold Fields the likeliest buyer due to the proximity of its Kloof mine to the South Deep orebody. But Placer Dome has a pre-emptive right to Western Areas’ 50% stake.


    Kebble said in November 2001 Placer Dome’s bid had assumed Western Areas was under pressure to sell, but he was not prepared to sell for less than $330m net present value. “They tried to low-ball us.”