Medusa Share Discussion Threads

[chipperfrd] 29/1/2016 13:11

speedsgh,

It is far from unusual to find Officers of mining companies who are paid through their own management companies. Also, it is fairly common that they are paid on a contractual basis. I guess there are good tax breaks for setting up such arrangements.

It really does not make any difference!

The company will eventually find fair value based on it's results. I would like to see RG remain as he is obviously a good mining man. But at the moment I have no idea how the staffing will work out - and there is nothing I can do to influence anything.

What I do know is that the company is on a very low market valuation and effectively getting cheaper every quarter. So that is my focus.
Chip

[stevea171] 29/1/2016 13:04

Speedsgh.

Yes, RG was appointed to a management position as COO in November 2014 (with share options).
It seems likely to me that he has left employment at Medusa, effective from 31/12. It's likely he wanted the CEO position to replace Geoff but the BoD's didn't want that so they advertised and rather than RG accept appointment of someone else over his head he did the honorable thing and left.

A Teo is a complete snake in the grass imo. NOT TO BE TRUSTED FOR A MINUTE! And on a par with PHB.

This Q2 report should report the loss of both CEO and COO but Teo is trying to cover the fact up and instead, put a gloss on the search for a new CEO. By not including RG's name on the report he thinks it's a clever way of announcing that RG has gone.

Also missing from the report is any mention of the mill. A Teo mislead the AGM and shareholders via an RNS about the real reason for the reduced production in Q2 ie reline of the ball mill. Instead of correcting the record here in the Q2 report he leaves out mention of the mill completely as well as the catch up effect of when it came back into service, presumably some time in the new year.

PHB was CEO and COO from what I can recall, so now that is what they are looking for - 1 man, not 2 and as like A Teo and PHB as possible which may be why Weinberg resigned on 1/12 as he'd had enough by that point ....

[speedsgh] 29/1/2016 12:11

Chip

RG was originally brought in on a consultancy basis on 1/9/2014 -

He was then soon appointed to COO on 19/11/2014 -

Surely RG would have become a salaried employee upon appointment as COO? Wouldn't it be unusual to appoint a contractor as COO?

EDIT - According to the last Annual Report, RG earned a salary of USD 336,042 + other rights/options to Y/E 30/6/15. See pg63 of the pdf -

[chipperfrd] 29/1/2016 11:50

RG was brought in on a consultancy basis by GD. Perhaps, both he and the directors, have only viewed it on a short term basis.

Presumably SEA management is RG's own company and his time is charged to MML on a contract basis.

We will have to see what the hunt for a new CEO turns up and whether it is RG, if not, whether he will stay on in a more permanent capacity, or whether he has (or will) move on to other consultancies elsewhere.

We just don't know. However, the company is now on a far better footing thanks to his work on the mine for which we should be thankful.
Chip

[speedsgh] 29/1/2016 10:05

deka - I'd be absolutely amazed if the omission of Rob Gregory on the latest quarterly report is an oversight. They have made other changes i.e. removed Geoff Davis + added Andrew Teo to the Management list + on the Board of Directors list they have added Roy Daniel as NED + removed Robert Weinberg as NED, so I would be very surprised if Robert Gregory's omission is a slip. My fairer side is saying "await confirmation; innocent until proven guilty" but past experience here with MML does not fill me with confidence!

[speedsgh] 29/1/2016 09:58

Bizarrely there is no mention of Medusa Mining on Rob Gregory's linkedin page. It merely lists him as a director at SEA Management since 2012 to present + as located in the Philippines. I haven't looked before so don't know whether Medusa has been listed against his profile previously.

[speedsgh] 29/1/2016 09:54

I note that the MML website still shows Geoff Davis as CEO. Roy Daniel is also not listed as a NED. They are not exactly giving the impression of being on top of their game.

[deka1] 29/1/2016 09:01

Hi speedy, I will email them , well spotted , no COO on the list, I hope its just a typo .

[speedsgh] 29/1/2016 08:45

Has nobody else noticed that Rob Gregory's name does not feature under the list of Management on the latest quarterly report (unlike previous reports)?!!

The obvious assumption is that, as per my fears, Rob Gregory is no longer with MML. Assuming this assumption is correct, my initial reaction is one of outright despondency. One can only assume that the Board does not feel that his exit is worthy of sharing with shareholders.

Quarterly Report September 2015 -

Quarterly Report December 2015 -

[chipperfrd] 29/1/2016 07:46

Currently away from home so difficult to do an in-depth analysis of these numbers.

The increased depth of the service shaft may appear to be a mixed blessing. Actually I think it is a good idea to improve it's longevity at a time when gold is at depressed levels. Hopefully, by the time they get it all finished their underground inventory will be selling at better prices.
Chip

[deka1] 29/1/2016 06:56

I agree Justin, all makes sense to me ,but at the rate the search for new CEO is going , the possibility could be a bit down the line yet lol.Some chunky drilling grades in the report ,and full year targets of 120-130kozs still on track.
Thanks for your posts.

[justinjjbuk] 29/1/2016 06:36

If I were the new CEO, I would negotiate a big, fat options package with a 50 cent strike price and then on my first day in office announce a $5 million dividend payment (about one quarter's worth of cash generation) for FY16/17 (roughly 4 cents a share). Would still allow plenty of cash for any exploration plans but would put the stock on a 10% dividend yield. Stock price would double overnight and the options would go deep into the money. Stock holders would be happy and CEO could make a killing on his first day in office.

[deka1] 29/1/2016 06:35

The Company produced 29,674 ounces of gold for the quarter, at an average head grade of 6.79 g/t gold. All-In-Sustaining-Costs (“AISC”) for the quarter was US$950 per ounce of gold and includes discretionary exploration expenditure of US$2.7 million. (September 2015 Quarter: AISC of US$953 per ounce, including discretionary exploration expenditure of US$2.0 million). Production Guidance The Co-O Mine production guidance for 2015-16 financial year remains at 120,000 to 130,000 ounces, subject to a review of operations currently underway. The AISC guidance at US$900 to 1,000 per ounce (Announcement 5 October, 2015) will remain at an elevated level until such time as all mine medium term waste infrastructure projects are completed and the cost efficiencies they produce materialise.
Co-O OPERATIONS Shaft Haulage The L8 Shaft continues to operate satisfactorily since it was upgraded. However, the increased movement of materials required for greater production from the lower levels competes with skip ore hoisting time. This will continue until the construction of the Service Shaft is completed, commissioned and operational. On 9 April 2015 the Company announced approval of the Service Shaft by the Board and a subsequent update was announced on 7 July 2015. In early January 2016, under recommendations from its consultants, the Board decided to revise the final depth of the Service Shaft from Level 8 to Level 10. The construction of the Service Shaft, originally planned from surface to Level 8, and due for completion in September 2016 is now scheduled to be completed in June 2017 as a result of the decision to deepen the shaft to Level 10 (Figure 2).

[justinjjbuk] 29/1/2016 06:21

In addition (and unless they go off and do something completely barking mad) by the end of FY16/17 they will have cash on their balance sheet of around $45 million, which is just short of the company's current market cap. So, at the current stock price of 38 cents, you are buying a 'cash on balance sheet' equivalent worth around 35 cents per share (as of the end of FY16/17 and assuming a flat gold price) and you get a gold mine thrown in for free. Such a valuation is astounding.

[justinjjbuk] 29/1/2016 05:44

Q2 cash build of $4.4 million to $16 million at average gold price of $1096. At last we are seeing the balance sheet solidly improving. Delay in service shaft is a mixed blessing: we have to wait one more year for another major AISC drop, but we get a better mine at the end of it. However, pending completion of the service shaft, stock is still trading at 2.5x FY16/17 cash generation assuming average gold price of $1100. Stock is still ridiculously cheap.

[chipperfrd] 28/1/2016 14:27

It appears that the LBMA is setting up to copy ABX - for goodness sake!!!

[speedsgh] 27/1/2016 11:17

steve - pls don't tempt fate!

[stevea171] 27/1/2016 10:40

Strong volume here over night on the ASX. A lot of the timing brigade trying to get stock just ahead of results such that at one point there was a million more buys showing on the order book than sells ie 1,400,000 buys to 400,000 sells

The holiday, Tuesday, plus the continued move up in gold also contributed.

It's likely now results will be tonight, with I suspect a lot of investors still out waiting to see the production numbers and the commentary. Probably the worst has been assumed by the market so the share price can only go one way .... ?!

[nielsc] 27/1/2016 07:11

Chipperfrd,They don't default on their digital deliveries!What a nonsense. I feel this charade will end in some way this year.Cheers,Niels

[deka1] 27/1/2016 07:04

OH nearly forgot, MML up 15%

[deka1] 27/1/2016 07:03

Mornin Chip, it was only about 6-8 months ago that we were talking on here about how the ratio was 100/1, and what would happen if the ratio went up to 4 or 5 hundred to one, wel it didn't take long to get here, what now will the ratio get up to 1000-1, MADNESS .