Circassia Share Discussion Threads

[thecynical1] 29/3/2005 14:08

afternoon guys....sharecropper - you either completely off the wall, you know something or you are a member of GA ? : )

[miamigo] 29/3/2005 14:06

Well Sharecropper, with no news, and no confirmed deal on the table, you've sure got some balls, I have to say that.

I've still got 40K of these and that keeps me awake at nights.

Unless of course you know something we don't?

[sharecropper] 29/3/2005 13:33

Yeah - I hoped he could better 5.25p for me, but that's OK. I have deffo got a lot of money in these boys now (like 30,000 quid, at 3.15, 5.25 and 7.75) so I am hoping for some positive action in the near future, and do you know what? I think we'll get it! Best regards, Sharecropper.

[wolstenhulme] 29/3/2005 13:17

There's your trade.

[sharecropper] 29/3/2005 12:33

I saw this dip and have just bought MORE - about 190,000 (@10,000 quid), but the trade is not yet showing. I am happy to wait for a while with these babies.

[miamigo] 29/3/2005 10:34

Looks like all the day traders who jumped onboard last week are bailing now- causing the drop.

Some solid news would be nice.

[pork belly] 29/3/2005 00:59

Superflyer

thanks

[superflyer] 29/3/2005 00:05

Thanks to Superflyer heres the article in Full. Not very exciting and does not mention 50 million! But Stuff will be out soon!!


CAPRICORN SEARCHES FOR AN 'OPPORTUNITY'
By Rebecca Bream
Published: March 26 2005 02:00 | Last updated: March 26 2005 02:00

Capricorn Resources, one of Phil Edmonds' stable of exploration vehicles, was listed on Aim in 2003 and has a market capitalisation of about £3.8m, writes Rebecca Bream.


So far, though, it has no assets, except for a small cash balance. According to a statement last September, Capricorn's aim is to "locate resource-based opportunities and mining projects at or beyond early-stage development in the area north of the Tropic of Capricorn in Southern Africa, with an emphasis on countries including Angola, the Congo, Mozambique and Zambia".

The group said "finding the right deal has taken significantly more time than previously anticipated" and it would step up its efforts to secure assets. The lack of progress had caused Capricorn's share price to drift down last year to a level of about 2p, but at the start of February the shares jumped almost fourfold to 7¾p on the back of rumours that an acquisition was imminent.

On February 7, the company said it was "in discussions that may or may not lead to an acquisition that would constitute a substantial and a related party transaction, but not a reverse transaction under the Aim rules". That was the last the market heard. The shares have dropped back to 5¾p - still valuing Capricorn at nearly three times higher than it was in January.

[me me] 28/3/2005 20:40

Sorry no i don't

[pork belly] 28/3/2005 20:39

me me,

thanks, do you still have that edition to re-check ? it does imply there is more to the article and the £50m is clearly rather important !

[me me] 28/3/2005 20:35

pork belly
read the article on Sat no mention of the 50 mill

[pork belly] 28/3/2005 20:31

here is a link to the article



it says you have to subscribe to read the rest of the article so i presume the rest is also correct re: £50m acquisition.

is this correct ???

[me me] 28/3/2005 20:15

The following bit was in the FT

in the papers this week about CAPRICORN.IT GOES CAPRICORN SEARCHES FOR AN OPPORTUNITY.so far,though,it has no assets,except for a small cash balance.according to a statement last september,capricorn's aim is to "locate resource-based opportunities and mining projects at or beyond early-stage development in the area north of the tropic of capricorn in southern africa,with the emphasis on countries including angola,the congo,mozambique and zambia".

[pork belly] 28/3/2005 20:13

dwelshmafia

where is that story from ? do you have a link please ?

[superflyer] 28/3/2005 19:53

dwelshmafia -

nice to hear that.. We would want a link to substanciate it matey!

[dwelshmafia] 28/3/2005 18:05

in the papers this week about CAPRICORN.IT GOES CAPRICORN SEARCHES FOR AN OPPORTUNITY.so far,though,it has no assets,except for a small cash balance.according to a statement last september,capricorn's aim is to "locate resource-based opportunities and mining projects at or beyond early-stage development in the area north of the tropic of capricorn in southern africa,with the emphasis on countries including angola,the congo,mozambique and zambia".RUMOURS OF AN ACQUISITION IS A MATTER OF WEEKS AWAY,AND WOULD VALUE CAPRICORN AT OVER £50M,BUT THIS HAS NOT BACKED BY SUBSTANTIAL PROOF.IF NEWS OF ANY ACQUISITION WOULD SEND CAPRICORN'S SHARE PRICE TO NEW HIGHTS.it just goes on and on ,hey but bloody good news share price should rocket after this prees news.

[wolstenhulme] 27/3/2005 16:31

Edmonds explains: "Things always seem to take longer than anticipated. But in eight to twelve weeks we should have something interesting to say."

[pork belly] 27/3/2005 16:06

Edmonds is at it again

By: Ken Gooding


Posted: 2004/02/04 Wed 19:09 | © Mineweb 1997-2004


LONDON (Mineweb.com) – Not content with being chairman and chief executive of no fewer than three AIM listed companies – one of them still a cash shell nearly a year after it started trading - Phil Edmonds is about to launch yet another on London’s Alternative Market.
And once again it seems that Thomas Kaplan will be providing some of the cash to get the new company, Central African Gold, up and running.

(While we are name-dropping, Roy Pitchford, chief executive of Zimbabwe Platinum, Bruce Rowan, the UK based Australian serial investor in resource stocks, and Brian Moritz, head of Grant Thornton’s capital markets group, will get a mention later because they all figure in the Edmonds’ story).

Kaplan first contacted Edmonds by telephone, apparently out of the blue, towards the end of last year and then put money into two of Edmonds’ companies in September. Since that time shares in both of them, Capricorn Resources (LSE:CIR) and Southern African Resources (LSE:SFU), have rocketed in price for no other apparent reason.

For those who don’t recognise the name, Kaplan is not your average mining man. He is an American with a doctor of philosophy degree in history from England’s Oxford University who made his first big bucks by using strategic forecasting in US fund management. His speciality is an analytical method that attempts to identify and assess global trends in politics and economics and the way these trends relate to the international financial markets.

One trend he thought he had identified in the early 1990s was a coming shortage of silver. He looked round for a suitable company to invest in and, when he couldn’t find one, set up his own – Apex Silver (ASE:SIL). George Soros, who has accumulated a fortune from international investment and is well known for his forays in the international currency markets, and his brother Paul, put their personal money into Apex. Paul Soros is still a director of that company and Kaplan remains chairman.

Kaplan brought together some of the best people in silver exploration and it was not long before Apex identified the huge San Cristobal deposit in Bolivia (the obvious country to look for silver). But several years later Apex has not started development because Kaplan is waiting for the silver price to go up to what he considers to be a reasonable level. Detractors suggest San Cristobal is really a zinc deposit with silver as a by-product and that transporting metal to the coast would be very expensive. Apex is not short of cash, it had US$42m in the bank and recently raised another $165.6m by issuing more equity. So something might happen soon.

Edmonds has also been around the mining scene for many years. His cv mentions first of all that he once played cricket for England and he seems to have been more successful with bat and ball than with his early choice of mining vehicles. Philippine Gold, in particular, had a disastrous time when he was in charge.

While cynics suggest that he and his fellow directors probably want four companies because that means more fees and options for all involved, Edmonds says there is logic to it. The first company he launched on AIM, Central African Mining (known colloquially as CAMEC), exports copper and cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo and tantalum from Namibia and Mozambique.

CAMEC, through its contacts, also got the opportunity to become involved in a platinum project on South Africa’s Bushveld. But it was thought better to put that project into a separate company – so Southern African Resources was set up. It is very early days, but using inferred resource figures, the Snowden Group suggests SAR’s Leeuwkop project on the western limb of the Bushveld, might produce 300,000 ounces of platinum a year for 24 years.

This estimate apparently attracted Kaplan’s attention. Edmonds believes Kaplan had been tracking potential platinum investments via the internet. After the out-of-the-blue telephone call from Kaplan, Edmonds flew to meet the American in Saint Tropez in the south of France and they began what seems set to be a long term relationship.

Edmonds says he wants to build CAMEC into a substantial mining business with copper, cobalt and tantalum operations of its own and investments in other entities. CAMEC already has a 10 percent stake in SAR, received in exchange for the platinum project.

After CAMEC and SAR came Capricorn. Edmonds says the objective is for Capricorn to invest in late-development, single commodity, natural resources projects – he mentions diamonds and oil but the former seems more likely. Capricorn raised £400,000 at 1p a share in February last year before listing on AIM but so far no projects have materialised. Edmonds explains: “Things always seem to take longer than anticipated. But in eight to twelve weeks we should have something interesting to say.”

Meanwhile, gold is very much in favour at present so the fourth single-commodity company, Central African Gold, was to be launched on AIM today (February 4). But there has been a delay because, according to Edmonds, potential American investors want changes to the structure and that means a new prospectus must be produced.

Also, he says it has been difficult to satisfy demand for Central African Gold stock, so the cash to be raised ahead of the listing has been increased from £700,000 to £1m.

Thanks to the Kaplan connection, Edmunds’ companies are riding high at present. Shares in CAMEC were drifting along at 1.5p less than a year ago. It raised £2.48m on January 19 at 4p a share. In the following ten days the shares peaked at 13.25p, giving CAMEC a market value of £43m.

Shares in SAR and Capricorn have been motoring since September 12 when it was announced that Kaplan’s Bermuda based family trusts had put cash into them. He paid 1.5p a share for 16 percent of Capricorn, a total cost of $150,000. Last week the shares reached 13p. His investment in SAR totalled £400,000, giving him 6.1 percent of that company, at 4p a share. Last week the price went up to 33p.

By an amazing coincidence, shares in all three of the Edmonds’ AIM companies reached their peak prices almost exactly at the same time, on January 27 and 28. At that time he was in the US talking to potential investors in Central African Gold.

The Australian Stock Exchange would almost certainly have asked for an explanation but AIM leaves supervision of its listed companies to the nominated advisers (nomads). Grant Thornton is nomad to SAR and Capricorn, as well as to Central African Gold. And Brian Moritz, head of Grant Thornton’s capital markets group, is also a director of all three companies. Some say this represents a big conflict of interest, but Edmonds disagrees and so, we must assume, does the AIM team.

Bruce Rowan is also on the boards of SAR and Capricorn and previously was probably the biggest single investor. He is on the board or an investor in several other natural resources stocks as well as manager of Tiger Resource Finance (LSE:TIR) which, of course, invests in mining/exploration stocks. Rowan is not on the CAMEC board but he owned 26 percent when it listed on AIM in October 2002 and there has been no record of any sale since. Rowan is also expected to put some cash into Central African Gold.

Apart from Edmonds, one other person is on all four of his boards, a 34 year old Zimbabwean, Andrew Groves, who is described as development director. Groves, who was born in Harare and educated in South Africa as well as Zimbabwe, obviously played a key role in finding the African assets. According to his cv he
has significant experience in operations management in Southern and Central Africa, and has extensive knowledge of the mining industry in Namibia and Mozambique

He also played some part in introducing Roy Pitchford, chief executive of Zimbabwe Platinum, now part of Impala Platinum, who joined the SAR board last month and is also a director of Central African Gold. The SAR appointment met with Kaplan’s approval, says Edmonds, because the American was one of the biggest private investors in Zimplats.

Edmonds hopes Pitchford eventually will take over as chief executive of SAR. That company expanded in January by paying A$4.7m for 52 percent of Tau Mining, owner of the Molopo Farms platinum project in southern Botswana.

This is all part on a plan to introduce key professional management to the Edmonds’ companies so that he can relinquish the chief executive’s role in all but CAMEC.

Meanwhile, further work on the AIM launch of Central African Mining as another Edmonds cash shell will probably have to wait until he returns from Cape Town on February 14. Like many others in London he is off to the Indaba at the weekend.

[superflyer] 27/3/2005 15:57

Thank you Share Cropper.

Indeed I do know what im talking about. Shame that people like to put their fingers in their ears. What people dont like is that I said a lot on the COP BB. The fact is that the mamagement were aware what people were posting on there..

I dont think its all too good to shout off on BBs that much, it will only go against you in the end. Im long and Strong on CIR!!! Lets wait and see who is right!

[smyth2] 25/3/2005 05:02

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[sharecropper] 25/3/2005 00:41

Superfly, I take my hat off to you. You mentioned something on this BB which I did not know (about AIM listings), but followed up with my contacts, and sure enough, even though one of the two things you mentioned hasn't been announced, you are indeed correct. So I will be even more interested in your posts from now on!

Best regards,

Sharecropper.

[trevor1959] 24/3/2005 22:19

dwelshmafia

hope you're right- but it could be arthritis.

[dwelshmafia] 24/3/2005 22:14

every one know's me by now,so when i say i've got a funny feeling in my bones thinks just happen.so cir will rocket on a BIG deal soon,when it breaks the 13p and it will 21p next level.if you think i am mad wait and see,if you dont buy miss out on big gains.

[r33skyline] 24/3/2005 18:03

buys 0

sells 300344

Unknown 69109 All acording to ADVFN