North River Share Discussion Threads

[yellowthroat] 06/10/2015 11:44

Hi folks. I thought I had made it clear that the business is working to timetables as that is practical as they have to make clear investment decisions or at least look like they have a sensible timetable.

They say that the first timetable set out on one of the presentations has been delayed around the issues of A. Licence award and B. the voting down of resolution 8.

I agree with Long but we do not know if at some point they decide to 'mothball' Namibia further spending until the licence is made clearer or the commodities market improves.

However it is 95percent that they stick with EPL 2092 for me as there is no obvious alternative and they are in constant dialogue with the authorities and so on.

At some point they are meant to be making a formal investment decision and the latest 'official date' is 31 October, remember internally they have to give some sort of guide to the staffing and procurement teams on when they are likely to need to plan to go-ahead.

As stated I guess this date will change again in a contingency should they decide on 31 Oct that there is no other option but to continue to hang in there for formal approval.

The alternatives discussed were if Greenstone wanted to take the risk of using North as a vehicle to buy some other small bombed out company and get larger investment partners that they tell us in their blurb they work with, and make a go of something else in the meantime ?

Who knows maybe even a firm that already has production and licence in Africa but also needs capital to keep going.

Don't forget North have Mozambique assets and maybe Greenstone in a desperate situation to retain value while we wait in this environment for bureaucracy may just try their luck in another country ?

I don't see this happening but they could theoretically say "Well we'll mothball it for now, and buy with partners something in another jurisdiction that doesn't fart about for months on licence award!".

North with further partners or Greenstone ambition and CEO James from Anglo American should have further ambitions other than Namibia, if the government continues to wobble over their timescales.

We will see.

Just throwing it out there....

YT

[chablard] 05/10/2015 12:19

Your right . Another nominal date!

[donk4] 05/10/2015 10:18

longshanks - well done. I think that you are the first poster to have stated that the 31st is nominal date.

[longshanks] 05/10/2015 08:05

Let's try and keep this bulletin board real. So, before people start getting fixated on dates, I would like to point out that from what I have read, the 31st October is not a "must be done by" date.In the offer blurb, they talk about it as a nominal deadline for the work programme going to plan and budget. Any additional delay could (not will) have an effect on the working capital requirement that necessitates additional funding over and above that planned. That is all they say. Why add it to the document, if it is truly a nominal and not real deadline; possibly to put pressure on the Namibian government, but probably it was just superfluous information that they should probably have left out altogether given the confusion such terms can arouse.13% take-up is much higher than I would have anticipated given you can generally buy stock cheaper in the market if you are patient and don't want to buy huge chunks. The placing will be a different story; if one is cynical, one could say that stock is only available in quantity in the placing because the market price was "allowed" to drop below the open offer price. Hmmm. Liquidity or manipulation??

[yellowthroat] 02/10/2015 14:48

Chablard, interesting comments, are you sure that PIs will hold that weight before and after the extra shares issue ?

If true then impossible for Greenstone to force the sale of the company at 0.20pence or 0.30pence because you need 70percent before you can force the sale and take private a company against all holders wishes.

If the case then this is one thing knocked on the head and we know that Phase Two is likely to be taken up by even rumoured Taurus.

Regards

YT

[chablard] 02/10/2015 13:57

I take your point YT, but would remind you that pi's hold over 30% of the stock with some of us holding by all accounts 50 to a hundred grands worth of shares. Therefore plenty of Pi's not short of a bob or two plus the number of Pi's worldwide that hold shares must be quite substantial. So for a measly 110 grand to be subscribed for speaks volumes mate.

Regarding 31 Oct. Licence. That's why a said 4 weeks and counting.

As you say, "let's hope the new chief finally gets his act together"

Keep well.

(O/T. Managed to make a shilling trading Glencore this week. Makes a bloody change :-)) )

[pinky37] 02/10/2015 13:34

Yt. Take a breather mate till the license arrives..same old story gets boring.I have been waiting 9 years. One clown after another with a great opportunity screws it up. Even Martin French our saviour wasn't a miner and tried to rush things that can't be rushed.... license by the end of this month. Can't see it....

[yellowthroat] 02/10/2015 12:39

1Mack, a lot of this for current holders is that they are already very heavily committed and the Open Offer was more about stopping this being offered only to one main shareholder so as to provide them with the alleged opportunity to purchase all the stock on the cheap and have more than 50percent at a very low price.

As such the buying by PIs is only If they can still afford it or it still remains within their balanced equity portfolio requirements.

Some cannot take part in any case like you as they don't have any monies to do so and I am in that category. However as and when I have funds then I am intent on trying to buy at levels around 0.20pence to 0.40pence as I think that you will make money in most if not all scenarios at that price.

This Board is a damn sight better than boards that are paying themselves whopping salaries to continually dilute and do nothing and not get to revenues anytime soon. North River have a massive opportunity to achieve and this lot actually seem to want too, unlike on a lot of other AIM allegedly.

Whether they do succeed is the investment risk you take and AIM seems to be more like gambling, though I think this Horse is better than a lot of others !

YT

[1mack] 02/10/2015 11:25

How many of the chaps on this board purchased during the offer? I noticed a lot got in cheaper when stock dropped to 0.18 ish.

I purchased my fill at 0.7 ha. so had no funds left!!!

[rampair] 01/10/2015 22:18

We avoid incurring any debt before we start to charge toward production into any favourable price.

Batten down hatches, except for In country essentials. In country essentials mean boots on licence.

R.

[yellowthroat] 01/10/2015 10:03

Oh and in our favour IMO is that a lot of the rotten stuff is surely priced in now as I don't need reminding the share price is total carp !Bargain entry and let's see what our paid salesmen come up with !Zinc won't be produced until we are told it is amongst a significant deficit.Any further mothballing at this time of huge debts elsewhere will play into our hands even more ! IMOYT

[yellowthroat] 01/10/2015 09:56

So we took £243,500 GBP and my rough calculations say the further requirement is about £1,600,000 GBP.

Therefore this looks like directors and private investors with no significant current holders. Therefore we find out if Mark T was right and we needed more time to market the rest.

One thing is that in the scheme of things larger institutions can easily carry £1.6mn it is a case of if we are too small for big boys and also if institutions are prepared to back commodities placings at this alleged awful juncture on the macro side for prices.

RFC need to do their stuff now and hopefully wave their magic wand at £1.6mill please !!!!

Yep interesting few days to see if we can at least get the bulk of this taken up.

As ever seriously wonder what the heck Taurus are doing ! Still there is always Phase Two!

£1.6mill isn't a lot to institutions but what a rotten time to be after it with Zinc well below. We wait !!!!

YT

[rampair] 01/10/2015 09:38

13% Longshanks isn't too bad from shareholders who have been in our position, admittedly £97k was JBeams.
During a time when the mighty Glencore drops 30% in a day....

Ambrian has had months to put together a group of buyers, let's hope they have the skill to sew it up.
If not, GStone gets it - what I would like to see is a Licence - that would have changed this raise instantly.

Come on Minister, we are doing our best, Namibia has to be part of the solution too.

R.

[longshanks] 01/10/2015 08:57

13% uptake in the OO. RFC now have 4 days to finalise the placing at 0.2p/share.Could be an interesting week ahead.

[yellowthroat] 30/9/2015 21:45

Should find out about the uptake for the Open Offer I assume within the next seven calendar days.

Interesting to find out the proportion of current shareholders taking up the offer and also if and when we get to hear of any extra shareholders discovered and attracted in by RFC Ambrian.

Guess we are about to find out the success or otherwise of the $2.8mnUSD bit.

How much if any will Greenstone have to take ?

When will phase two funding come, we know it is after licence award and presumably during or after the Phase One work ?

Wonder if we will find out the take-up of shareholders tomorrow or when presumably the shares come into the market by October 7 ?

YT

[yellowthroat] 30/9/2015 13:25

Interim Results RNS : Not much we didn't know if at all but interesting for newer readers to see the development in a concise manner.

Highlights:

-- Significant progress made in developing Namib into an economically robust and operationally efficient mining operation

-- Strengthened Board through appointments of James Beams to Chief Executive Officer, and Keith Marshall and Ken Sangster as Non-Executive Directors to support the project through its next stage of development
-- Further metallurgical testwork led to an updated process flow sheet

-- Ongoing and proactive engagement with the Namibian Ministry of Mines, including a Ministerial visit to mine site, in line with goal to receive Mining Licence

-- Phase One Fundraising launched - focused on providing all shareholders with an opportunity to participate

CEO's Statement

North River is focused on developing its flagship Namib Lead Zinc Project in Namibia into an economically robust and operationally efficient mining operation. Our activities during the period have been undertaken with this vision firmly in mind. To this end, we have undertaken supplementary metallurgical studies, overseen by new, highly qualified members of the Board who were appointed in January 2015; engaged regularly and proactively with Namibia's Ministry of Mines to progress our Mining Licence application; and focused on delivering a financing plan to enable us to take the project forward to a point of making an investment decision.

The Namib Project entails re-opening a previously producing mine and construction of a new plant to process 250,000 tonnes of ore per annum over an initial 3.5 year mine life and we are confident that this can be extended considerably by increasing the resource through drilling. The Namib Project currently has reserves of 585,000 tonnes @ 6.2% zinc, 2.9% lead and 46 g/t silver and total underground resources of 1,250,000 tonnes @ 6.5% zinc, 2.5% lead and 43.7 g/t silver. Located 20km inland from Swakopmund in Namibia, the project is very well situated, with excellent surrounding infrastructure. Namibia has a well established mining industry and good access to local mining suppliers and support services.

I joined North River in January 2015, shortly after the publication of the Definitive Feasibility Study ('DFS'). At the same time, North River welcomed Keith Marshall, a mining engineer who has previously held senior mine leadership roles with Rio Tinto PLC, and Ken Sangster, a metallurgist with 49 years' experience in the mining industry, as Non-Executive Directors. These senior appointments were designed to support the next phase of development at Namib and we have benefited greatly from their expertise during our work in the period to refine both the mine plan and the process flow sheet.

The Board identified where additional technical evaluation work was required to define a mine plan and processing plant design to a level of confidence to support a project investment decision. Supplementary metallurgical testwork was undertaken which identified the optimised grind size and new reagent regime, and from this a robust processing methodology was developed which can operate with consistent results with a wide range of mineral composition. This significantly strengthens the bankability of the Namib Project.

With this process now complete, we are now positioned to undertake initial Front End Engineering & Design ('FEED'). While these additional activities will lead to a stronger and more robust project they have, together with the fact that the Mining Licence has not yet been received, led to a revised development timeframe for the Namib Project.

In light of the revised development timeframe, the Independent Directors concluded that a number of project milestones required under the July 2014 Investment Agreement with Greenstone Resources L.P. ('Greenstone') were no longer achievable before the long-stop date in that agreement of 4 October 2015. As a result, the Company and Greenstone agreed in July 2015 to terminate the July 2014 Investment Agreement. Greenstone remains a committed shareholder and supportive of the Company's revised plans for the Namib Project.

The Company estimates that a total of US$25 - US$30 million in funding will be required to bring the Namib Project into production. In August, we announced an initial near term financing plan to raise US$4 million ('Phase One Fundraising') to progress the Namib Project to a construction decision. The Phase One Financing consists of US$1.2 million of Convertible Loan Notes issued to Greenstone followed, on 15 September 2015, by the launch of an Open Offer and Placing for the remaining US$2.8 million. This was fully underwritten by Greenstone, subject to certain conditions. This structure provides all our valued shareholders with an opportunity to participate in the future of our Company's development, and we look forward to providing shareholders with an update when this process is complete.

The Phase One Fundraising will enable us to undertake the FEED; early development of the Namib Project's North decline; sourcing of plant and equipment; on-going underground development programme required to establish access for the next phase of resource expansion drilling; and early stage recruitment of technical and operational staff. We acquired the first loader in the period after bringing the underground development activities in-house and are now focusing on mining development productivity.

Full construction financing ('Phase Two Fundraising') will follow the receipt of the Mining Licence and completion of the FEED, with its related updated cost estimates for the Namib Project.

Our commitment to bringing the Namib Project into production is clear. During the period we hosted a site visit for the Minister of Mines and Energy in Namibia, the Honorable Obeth Kandjoze, the Governor of the Erongo Region, the Honorable Cleophas Mutjavikua and a large delegation from the Mining Ministry. The visit included very constructive discussions on the development plans for the Namib Project.

Financial Review:

North River is reporting a loss before taxation of GBP1,377,787 (30 June 2014: loss of GBP1,726,901). The Company's cash position at the end of the period was GBP602,093 (30 June 2014: GBP528,796).

Outlook:

I would like to thank our shareholders for their support and patience during what has been a period of adjustment for North River. The Company's goal of bringing the Namib Project into production in the most economically and operationally efficient way possible has been further facilitated by our work during the period. The coming months will see us secure the remaining US$2.8 million of the Phase One Fundraising to support the next steps towards taking the project into construction.

I would like to reiterate that shareholder engagement is important to us, and I look forward to holding our next Investor Call on Thursday 3 November 2015.

James Beams

Chief Executive Officer

30 September 2015

[rampair] 29/9/2015 15:08

I wrote a mail to a couple of friends outlining what I would do were I to be in the position of CEO.
Firstly, the Namibian economy is very close to S.Africa, it makes so much more sense to try to raise capital
on their market, this would eliminate any currency shock.
Second, with Labour effectively half the cost in £ than it was in 2011 - why not get 50 workers to comb our licences - taking rock chips, soil sampling etc & analysing it with a niton hand held fluoroscope - their accuracy
is great & any near mine targets would then be properly tested and assayed - this would cost tens of thousands of £ - really cheap, but, very visible both to shareholders and the Namibians too.
What I expect we Will get is some ex pats - or worse, more London based heads at London pay grades.



As an expatriate I can definitely assure the company that there is more to building a company than briefings & presentations to the London lifestyle circuit. Let's hope a sensible strategy has been followed and this capital raise doesn't end up with Gstone & us having paid for it. I hope they hit their targets, but my bank didn't noti.fy me - obviously I was aware - but I wonder how many others received no notification?

Rant air !

[rampair] 28/9/2015 21:57

Well, good for you Longshanks.!

On a day when Glencore implodes over debt - 30% at one point!
then with Zinc falling to 1635 a ton we all think - darn it, our profit is going - I realise we have a lot of costs
that are fixed in $ - but there may be a better way of getting Namib going if we think a bit differently.
Our costs of staff are in Namibian dollars - so we should utilise more workers, we will mine using hand tools
( drillers, jackhammers etc) so, if we look at our $ vs Namibia $ - we see it is pegged to the rand, why not try to raise debt in S.Africa? - they are still open for business in Joberg last time I looked.
Currently $1= Nam.$ 14 back in 2011 it was half that & Zinc was $3000 - in Namibia & South Africa
nothing's changed...one tonne of Zinc is worth exactly the same in their currency as it was in the boom time
- it's just better for those in £$€.
hxxp://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=ZAR&view=5Y

So, we need to make Namib much more ...er Namibian, we could do well to re invest locally if there is literally no profit in re patriating the money, buy local business assets - mining obviously!
Why not get a local partner who could turn steel sheet into Galvanised steel sheet, Lead for car batteries
made in South Africa, Silver for the jewellery trade in Southern Africa - I know it's difficult but with some clever thinking Namib could still be a success, - but, as usual we always make the mistake of looking at today
Me included, there will be a different mood in 2017.
If Namibia want to issue licences under their proposed 2016 mining laws ( posted link few days ago)
Maybe we should agree to do it now, or, with our Mcap being actual tax loss, this is all irrelevant because the Mine is free.....

In 2017 who's to say there won't be a proposed Chinese car plant in Namibia, or a Nuclear station to solve the power
problems - we can have white as well as black swan events...

Just pondering on our little company.

R.

[longshanks] 28/9/2015 10:41

Another 1m for me

[donk4] 26/9/2015 23:34

Chablard - did you attend either the AGM or the GM meetings?

[chablard] 26/9/2015 15:43

DD

"Chablard - I feel sure that James Beams is well aware of the feelings of private shareholders. Most if not all of us, including the board, know that logic determines that the licence should be granted."
_________
Your point is ?


"You ought to research how much aid the GB government gives to the various donee countries to whom our taxpayers money goes. It is available on the internet if you and others want to research it."
______
What this has to do with the licence for Namib I don't know. Unless you are suggesting it should be used as a bribe to further our wee mine?

"If the Namibian government do not consider that Greenstone's and our investment in NRR and thus Namib (mine) and Namibia is not good enough to assist the unemployment that Namibia has (circa 27% [2104] if you research it), its weak economy and its collapsing currency, then the Namibian economy and the Namibian government and people do not need the aid that we, as UK taxpayers give them."
____
Once again, your point being?

"Put bluntly we have supported NRR and thus Namibia and also by us being taxpayers we have contributed to the aid programme via a slice of the taxes we pay. In short that aid should be withdrawn. Maybe the hypothetical fancy car that you talk of may turn into a dream but I hasten to add that I would urge you not talk in those terms."
_______
So far you have called me unintelligent for suggesting that questions to JB's phone in should be emailed before hand. Something that turned out to be the case.
That pi's that are unhappy with the situation should "stop whinging and sell up". There is a lot to be unhappy about, and not just the lack of licence so let's air those thoughts.
So we may hope and believe that the minister has our future aligned with his, but this may turn out not to be the case. Indeed when we had our initial substantial backing by GS some considerable time ago we didn't see him using his powers to create jobs or wealth for the people he represents then. Hence my point