Keras Resources Share Discussion Threads

[tim000] 04/6/2024 15:24

I’ve bought another 30k. I’m still paying less than our largest shareholder’s on-market purchases a year ago, notwithstanding the positive news since then.

[tim000] 03/6/2024 16:39

Added the final 20k.

[jimbl] 03/6/2024 11:10

Here he is again, mentioning me while supposedly having filtered me.

Wrong about me again too. I haven't lost any money in here actually. I'm on a free carry now thanks very much, thanks to 50% of the millions of free CAI shares I previously got having held FRX then KRS long before this stock picking genius knew we existed.

He lost money. I've lost none. There you go.

[tim000] 03/6/2024 10:59

Investing in micro caps is like playing professional poker - no matter how good you are, you’re still dependent on luck in the short term. For example, even a strong business on fundamentals can suffer from poor sentiment, waves of selling and hence the inability to raise working capital by share issues. I lost money on KRS the first time around, just like Jim is currently, it didn’t necessarily mean we made poor investment decisions. I chose to sell up and move on, buying again now because I still think the business has good prospects in the medium term. But there’s no point whingeing about the past. Wins and losses are part and parcel of this game. One needs to be philosophical about setbacks, learn from them and come back stronger. Hopefully KRS will still make money for everyone invested here. Take heart from Chris Grosso’s confidence in his investment.

[apotheki] 03/6/2024 10:50

Keras Resources* (KRS LN) – 3.75p, Mkt cap £2.94m – Keras reports commissioning of its integrated milling and granulator plant, Utah, USA

(Keras holds 100% of the Diamond Creek phosphate mine in Utah, USA)

Keras Resources report substantial progress in the assembly of its new integrated milling and granulator plant at its new Delta processing facilities.

The plant is now energising its motors for start-up sequencing along with the set-up of other instrumentation under no-load conditions.

See video on twitter feed:

All equipment is now installed just four months from the start of the Phosul Utah jv.

Wet commissioning will start in the next two weeks under load conditions with granulator binder fluids.

Commissioning will first test granulation using Falcon Isle rock phosphate before introducing additional material to make Phosul® organic phosphate.

Plant capacity is for 5tph with a 520t/month running a single shift operation.

The plan is for the plant to work towards moving to a double shift operation in Q4 for around 920tpm of saleable bulk Phosul® granules.

Phosul® consists of 80% of 50 mesh ore from Keras’ Falcon Isle Diamond Creek mine.

Falcon Isle currently holds ~4,250tons of 50 mesh product which will cover the operation through 2024 with all mining and crushing costs already expensed.

The Phosul jv should consume ~10,500tpa of 50 mesh phosphate when running at steady state.

Keras’ Diamond Creek can produce ~25,000tpa of rock phosphate.

Keras recently restructured it’s short-term debt of US$900,000 incurred through the acquisition of the remaining 49% of Falcon Isle Resource Corp into a US$1,525,000 four-year loan and convertible loan, with US$1,325,000 of new cash funds and US$200,000 in capitalised Directors outstanding fees. (see RNS on 28/05/24)

Phosul® granules are currently selling for $40 for a 25lb bag or $75 / 50lb bag on Amazon in the US.

Manganese: The Government of Togo are working towards the restart of mining at the Nayega manganese mine in Togo.

Keras has an agreement whereby it should earn a “1.5% royalty advisory fee plus 6.0% of gross revenue generated from the Nayéga mine for the lesser of 3.5 years or 900,000t of beneficiated manganese ore produced and sold from Nayéga”.

The deal with the Togo government should give nearly $0.9m a year at a price of $3.5/dmt for manganese and production of 7,480tpa equating to some $2.6m over three years.

Manganese ore prices for 38%min FOB South Africa are steady at 3.47-3.62/dmtu.

Conclusion: Good to hear of such rapid progress in the assembly and commissioning of the process plant at Delta. We look forward to news on the wet commissioning of the plant and sales of Phosul® organic phosphate going forward.

*SP Angel acts as nomad and broker to Keras

[the skipper] 03/6/2024 10:41

Jimbl, it says a lot about your character when instead of commenting on the company achieving a major milestone in the news it has delivered today you chose to have another pop at me with a comment which is blatantly untrue. The facts of the matter is that at the current bid price I am up by 36% on the stock I hold with Interactive Investor and 2.5% on the stock I hold with Shard, although I could quote higher gains using the prices I am getting for dummy sells.

Now who’s the dummy, and a very bitter one at that?

[apotheki] 03/6/2024 08:25

Graham Stacey, CEO of Keras, commented, "Having made the decision to migrate operations from Spanish Fork, acquiring the Delta Property and achieving C1 commissioning on schedule in the space of four months has been an outstanding achievement from both our project team but also with the support of our funding partners.

As we now move into C2 commissioning and build up to steady-state commercial production of Phosul® granules, the value add of the Phosul Utah LLC JV will underpin our traditional PhosAgri markets and significantly increase the footprint of our sales in North America. Having the Phosul LLC team as partners, who have five years of both producing and importantly marketing Phosul® from their Sugar City, Idaho facility is key to achieving our growth strategy and we look forward to working with their team going forward.

As always, I encourage shareholders and potential investors to view our social media posts to get a sense of the physical progress achieved in Delta to date. I look forward to updating shareholders on progress as we now move towards the final commissioning and ramp-up phase of the integrated Granulator Plant."

[apotheki] 03/6/2024 08:20

Commissioning of Integrated Delta Processing Plant

Keras Resources plc (AIM: KRS) ("Keras") is pleased to announce that dry commissioning ("C1"), of its Integrated Granulator Plant ("Granulator Plant") at its newly acquired Delta processing facility ("Delta") has commenced on schedule. C1 involves energisation of motors for directional checking, start-up sequencing, instrument set-up and confirmation that all installed items meet design requirements under no-load conditions without dry feed materials or binding and dust control liquids. With all equipment installed, C1 is a significant milestone for Keras's 100% owned Falcon Isle Resources Corp ("Falcon Isle").

Given the scale of what was required to transition from an outsourced production and ownership model operating from three rental facilities to the Company's wholly owned, fully integrated production facility at Delta in just four months, which was underpinned by the conclusion of the Phosul Utah LLC joint venture ("JV") as announced on 22 January 2024, has been an outstanding achievement by the project team as well as the Company's supportive funding partners.

The project team will now work towards wet commissioning under load conditions with granulator binder fluids ("C2") during the first half of June 2024 which will initially comprise test granulation of Falcon Isle's rock phosphate before introducing the additional constituents of the Phosul® final product. The Granulator Plant has a nameplate capacity of 5 tonnes per hour of finished product. At steady-state single shift operation, the Granulator Plant is planned to produce approximately 520 tons per month ("tpm"), working towards upgrading to double shift operations during the fourth quarter of 2024 to produce approximately 920tpm of saleable bulk Phosul® granules. The Phosul® formula comprises 80% of 50 mesh PhosAgri feed produced from ore mined at the Diamond Creek mine, Falcon Isle's wholly owned, high grade organic phosphate mine. Falcon Isle currently holds inventory of approximately 4,250tons of 50# PhosAgri product, sufficient to cover Granulator Plant operations for the rest of 2024 which, importantly, will have a positive impact on cashflow with all mining and crushing costs already expensed.

[tim000] 03/6/2024 07:05

Very good news today, not many companies of our scale meet tight deadlines on commissioning new plant. I certainly didn’t think they were going to do so, having seen the video of how much work still needed doing on the site. Of course the commissioning is not complete yet but it’s going to schedule.

[jimbl] 03/6/2024 07:01

Ah, there you go. Another genius. What I (and other LTH's) have or haven't done is none of you business and certainly not something you (or tim) know of.

I'm certainly not going to listen to someone who also comes on here trying to inform us about his newly found knowledge of CAI when plenty of us were here when we received our many millions of free shares in it. My remaining holdings in both companies are now a free carry, which is a whole lot more than you or tim can say, lol!

And by the way, you must be a coconut by your own qualification on the matter. You're sitting on a loss and genius tim has already sold out once before according to himself.

Have a nice day you two. Your mutual fantasisation will continue to keep you both amused and rampy, no doubt.

[the skipper] 02/6/2024 22:05

Well one thing’s for sure jimbl, and that is that you’d have to be a complete coconut to have held this stock since 2011 without trading it. There have been plenty of opportunities to make money out of it by trading the spikes, and if you haven’t done that it would explain your bitterness.

[jimbl] 02/6/2024 10:31

If you need any more evdience of just how sanctimonious tim000 is then just keep reading his never ending diatribe of naive rampy nonsense.

"I understand these kinds of stocks." And what does he think every other KRS investor since 2011 is - a complete coconut? Does he think LTH's - some who have held since FRX floated in 2011 - understand LESS about this company than he does? Clearly he thinks the answer to that is yes!

He seems to think the previous egg on our faces is no indicator of the possibility of a further splattering.

Ah well. Don't say I didn't try to temper aspirations.

[tim000] 02/6/2024 10:21

Skipper, Togo has spent $1.7mn of precious hard foreign currency, has announced a target of doubling the mining sector’s GDP contribution over the next 18 months (not years mind you) and announced an imminent deadline for contractors to tender on a highly profitable new venture. Meanwhile KRS has publicised the latter event itself. There are going to be an awful lot of eggy faces if this is all just a fantasy.

[tim000] 02/6/2024 10:06

Hopefully one puts on the glasses before entering the sand. I’ll take the risk of missing out on Jim’s pearls of wisdom. I understand these kinds of stocks.

[the skipper] 02/6/2024 09:59

Jimbl, the President is going to look pretty stupid if he doesn't meet that target of doubling the sector's contribution to GDP by 2025, so my money's on a swift appointment of a contractor following the closing of tenders. We'll soon find out who is right or wrong here, and maybe, just maybe, you could summon up an ounce of positivity when things get moving in Togo.

[tim000] 02/6/2024 09:58

Togo provides risk-free upside; investing in a portfolio of stocks with similar “kickers”;, one or two at least are likely to prove transformational in terms of capital gains.

[tim000] 02/6/2024 09:54

That’s fair looking backwards, but things change. One’s perspective is governed by one’s entry price; at recent price levels and with a succession of positive news items the risk/reward equation has moved in favour of investment. I agree completely the company is not yet out of the woods, but that is in the nature of investing in micro caps. A portfolio of these kind of turnaround stocks trading at rock-bottom prices should negate the risk of the occasional failure. That’s Grosso’s approach too, judging by his website.

[jimbl] 02/6/2024 09:50

Cheers Mark.
Let him filter away. We've read plenty of them during the 13 years we've held this
;-p
Simple message really. Cool your jets. Don't get rampy. Accept there's people holding this who know factually far more about the company than they do.
And of course, if you are going to actually filter someone then don't continue making comments about them to which they can't respond and/or put you right.

[markyess] 02/6/2024 09:35

Jim may sometimes come across as grumpy, but given realities since 2011, he's been found right more than he's been found wrong.

Filtering him is akin to putting your head in the sand and popping on rose tinted glasses.

I've had plenty of ding dongs with Jim over the years, but he's been right about this one FAR more than I have.

It does *look* better/promising, but it's still in a corrupt, slow West African regime.

[tim000] 02/6/2024 08:15

I’ve read some of the posts on the thread going back to 2021. Many of them comment on Jim’s grumpiness. He’s quite a character! On another thread of one my holdings, we have a poster called NY Boy (likewise filtered). Jim is not quite in his class, but I’m sure in the fullness of time he too will attain cult status wherever people talk of ADVFN. Sorry, that may have been a typo!

[jimbl] 02/6/2024 07:48

Curmedgeon eh? Well that's probably because of listening to folks like you and tim000 and having to re-read regurgitated and factually incorrect nonsense.

Wherever you copied and pasted your lenghty post from (Togo First?) most of it is of course pure BS. I'll explain simply, via this paragraph of yours:

"According to Agence Ecofin, production at Nayéga was initially expected to start in 2020 at a nominal monthly capacity of 6,500 tons of marketable ore but these milestones were not met, and works were suspended to allow the State to negotiate better terms for the project."

KRS of course, then as FRX, had been trying and expecting to get Nayega licensed since 2014. Indeed, we even received a ministerial decree in 2019 that suggested the extraction license was finally to be granted. Alas, once again it was not forthcoming.

'Milestones' were not met because they couldn't be met as the Togo Gov wouldn't bloody license us! Works were not therefore suspended as no works were taking place. The site was on care and maintenance following a succesful bulk sample. Succesful in the meaning that it seemed to only confirm to the Togo Gov that they should have our asset for themselves.

If you think President Gnassingbe and the Togo Gov do anything that's remotely logical, then simply compare us to the other debacle which is their approach to phosophate and cement. The Gov entered another agreement, with Dangote, to build cement and phospate plants (for fertiliser) which involved Dangote raising $2 billion in investment. Dangote ended up with no licenses, the investment didnlt take place and the Gov took it over instead.

While tim000 has stumbled upon the fact that DR used to be our CEO and is now running CAI instead (clearly wasn't here when us LTH's received our CAI in-species free shares) I simply reiterate my point. I'll now believe something good comes from Nayega and Togo only when I actually see it happening.

[tim000] 01/6/2024 23:47

I see that Dave Reeves - CEO in the early days of the company and now CEO of ASX listed Calidus Resources (which was spun out of KRS) - is still a significant shareholder in KRS. Like KRS, in my view CAI is currently an excellent turnaround play and I have a decent holding there too. For those that invest in the ASX, they should definitely give it a look. And JMS too!

[tim000] 01/6/2024 23:31

Skipper, thanks for your posts. I can’t understand why anyone would pay KRS $1.7mn cash and then sit back and do nothing while the Manganese ore price hits record highs. I don’t care who the President is, they would have to be a lunatic to procrastinate on appointing a contractor at Nayega. The fact that they have announced a competition to tender, with a quick deadline, suggests that isn’t so. I understand this is Africa and that has to be taken into account, but if the contract is awarded to a competent firm then there is a chance that KRS might get some payment at a time when it has real value. But in any case, having the backstop of a committed and supportive investor in the business is a major plus. As has already been pointed out, they don’t demand death spiral terms either. And the phosphate resource is substantial. This all suggests the share price still has a long way to go - as Grosso believes too.

[the skipper] 01/6/2024 22:38

Link won’t post so here’s the transcript from Togo First:

“ Togo First) - Togo wants to double the contribution of mining to its GDP by 2025. To do so the country relies on the recovery of its phosphate industry, and its manganese-rich subsoil.

Togo’s government inked with the British firm Keras Resources a deal that will double the mining sector’s share in the country's GDP by 2025. Under the deal, Keras gave up on its operating permit for the manganese-rich Nayéga project. Now, the permit is exclusively held by Société Togolaise de Manganèse, a 100%-State owned company established in April 2023.

According to the agreement, Keras will transfer “its intellectual knowledge on Nayéga to the State, and provide consulting and brokerage services to accelerate Nayéga’s development”. The British firm, which ran the project for many years, will also start selling its participation in SGM, the subsidiary through which it held a stake in the project.

In return for the participation, the State will pay Keras $1.7 million in cash on July 17, 2023. Additionally, Keras will receive 1.5% of the gross revenues from the mine for its consulting services for three years, and 6% of the gross revenues from the asset for its brokerage services for three years or 900,000 tons of enriched manganese ore produced and sold from the mine.

“This Agreement is a reflection of the constructive relationship we have with the State and sets a very clear picture of how the asset will now be developed to the benefit all stakeholders and reward Keras for its investment to date,” said Graham Stacey, CEO of Keras. He added that the company would begin a transition to focus on its Northern American projects.

A good formula for Togo?

The deal aligns with the objectives that Togo announced when it created the Société Togolaise de Manganèse in April. Indeed, the company was tasked with enhancing the country's manganese reserves in a bid to “double the mining sector’s contribution to GDP by 2025”.

The first hurdle the public company will have to overcome is to realize Nayéga’s potential. A project which hosts mineral resources of 13.97 million tonnes grading 12.4% manganese and ore reserves of 8.48 million tonnes grading 14% manganese.

According to Agence Ecofin, production at Nayéga was initially expected to start in 2020 at a nominal monthly capacity of 6,500 tons of marketable ore but these milestones were not met, and works were suspended to allow the State to negotiate better terms for the project.

Though the new deal could be the right formula to restart the project, only the following developments will tell more about the plans of Sociéte Togolaise de Manganèse. Will the firm stand by Keras’ initial plans and when will production begin?

While these questions remain unanswered, the manganese sector continues to face new challenges, with increased needs in steelmaking and growing demand for electric batteries. The ore, according to a report that Ecofin Pro released earlier this year, is “an additional asset for the African continent in the industry of tomorrow.” Africa, let’s emphasize, produces more than 60% of the world’s manganese output, and several African countries, such as Togo, South Africa, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Botswana, are positioning themselves to take advantage of new opportunities in this market.”

Louis-Nino Kansoun