Sirius Real Estate Ld Share Discussion Threads

[rambutan2] 09/3/2006 00:57

re drc, worth a read. after all, i look on sre as an investment in a prime piece of drc real estate...

[rambutan2] 21/2/2006 03:22

click on news at...

to gain access to canaccord report of 16/02/06 - says speculative buy and gives no price target. but good list of pros and cons.

[rambutan2] 30/1/2006 03:07

was big volume in canada last week, mkt thinks that it knows something.

re that 4.9% interest in the wo diamond project...


and interview with eric friedland of peregrine...

it's a must listen!

[rambutan2] 27/1/2006 03:25

and another release/update on wo diamond project...

[rambutan2] 19/1/2006 02:01

SouthernEra holds a 4.9% interest in the WO Diamond Project...

[rambutan2] 08/1/2006 16:14

well, bhp are now the largest shareholder and took their stake at c60 ie 30p approx, well above current price. must be some value out there...

[rambutan2] 27/11/2005 03:19

hear the ceo talk...


10 nov presentation...


few other snippets...

[mr ashley james] 25/10/2005 03:24

Well Done Rambutan.

BOL

Cheers

Ash:)

[rambutan2] 25/10/2005 02:49

at last!

TORONTO and LONDON, Oct. 24 /CNW/ - SouthernEra Diamonds Inc. (TSX: SDM;
AIM: SRE): announced today that commencement of the construction of the
Camafuca Diamond Project in Angola has taken a crucial step forward. This
follows meetings with SouthernEra's partners of the Camafuca operating
company, Camafuca Sociedade Mineira, Lda ("CSM"), in August and October this
year.
The mining licence for the Camafuca project has been issued following the
joint Government approval and ratification for the formation of CSM, and the
Angolan Council of Ministers' approval of the project. These approvals
guarantee that no further consent from the Angolan authorities will be
required.
The board of directors (and executive management) of CSM has been
constituted at a General Assembly of CSM and shall consist of the Managing
Director (to be appointed by Endiama, the State owned diamond company,
together with Minex, the financial partner), a Mining Director (appointed by
SouthernEra), a Financial Director (appointed by Minex) and a Human Resources
Director (appointed by the fourth partner in the project, Comica).
All appointments to the board have occurred, with the exception of the
Managing Director appointment, which is to be announced shortly.
The first meeting of the board is expected to be held within the next few
weeks, pending the appointment of the Managing Director, and it will consider
the budgets, for approval, so that orders can be placed for the project to
commence. Minex will provide the funding for Phase 1 of the project.

The shareholding in CSM is as follows:
Minex 38%
Endiama 37%
SouthernEra 18%
Comica 7%

SouthernEra Diamonds is one of Canada's largest fully integrated diamond
companies with extensive diamond exploration in six countries including
Canada, Gabon, the DRC, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The Company maintains an 18
percent free-carried interest in the Camafuca Diamond Project in Angola and
also operates the Klipspringer Diamond Mine in South Africa.

[rambutan2] 20/10/2005 10:06

uk spread/offer is a disgrace.

why bother to be listed if effectively untradeable!

canadians cynical when it comes to sdm. i think plenty who fixed on the past and glad to get out. will take a while for management to persuade long-term holders that they going to create value. imho.

[schober] 20/10/2005 09:47

hmmm.........certainly brought them to life in ca! but 298k sells and 191k buys; vol = 555k avg vol = 87k; closed 44/45c high 53c; in uk 20/26p nms=1000; £1=2.08c$; someone bought 3250 @26p first thing; ami getting interested? possibly but not in uk!

[rambutan2] 20/10/2005 00:02

wakey WAKEY!!!!!!!
when i mentioned elephants yesterday, i wasn't thinking of this type of elephant...

TORONTO and LONDON, UK, Oct. 19 /CNW/ - SouthernEra Diamonds Inc. (TSX:

SDM; AIM: SRE) announced today that BHP Billiton has agreed to complete a

private placement with SouthernEra, at a premium to the prevailing market

price. Part of the funds will be directed towards exploration, evaluation and

potentially the development of SouthernEra's diamond properties in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

BHP Billiton will purchase approximately 15,636,000 shares of SouthernEra

at C$0.60 (29p) for gross proceeds of US$8,000,000, becoming SouthernEra's

largest shareholder with an approximate 12% holding. The placement is subject to

regulatory and stock exchange approval.

[rambutan2] 18/10/2005 17:19

the latest elephant hunting news out...


and a bit of recent background stuff etc...
2005-10-06 15:02 ET - Street Wire

by Will Purcell

SouthernEra Diamonds Inc. has a promising parcel of diamonds from one of its projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The company has rosy expectations for its hunt for kimberlite pipes in the central African country, but the diamond haul comes from an alluvial source. SouthernEra continues to shop its kimberlite hunt to some well-heeled potential partners, but three promotable samples from a riverbed give the company's alluvial play a big boost. The company now hopes to outline a worthwhile resource of alluvial gravels in the area in the coming months.

The alluvial play

SouthernEra's alluvial diamonds come from the Tshikapa region, in the southwestern corner of the country. That places the play about 750 kilometres east-southeast of the capital city of Kinshasa and about 350 kilometres west-southwest of the diamond centre of Mbuji-Mayi. Most of the company's permits are farther to the east, in the heart of the Kasai alluvial diamond district.

SouthernEra's diamond samples come from the western fringes of that region, but there seems little doubt the area is prospective for gems. The company recovered 61.5 carats from three alluvial gravel samples that weighed just 6.45 tonnes. That works out to a grade of nearly 10 carats per tonne. The parcel contained 410 stones, which points to an average of 0.03 carat per stone.

The haul is particularly impressive, as the company processed just the material smaller than four millimetres. Work on the larger size fractions is still progressing, and that could add to the parcel in a big way, with healthy contributions from larger diamonds.

That could potentially boost the average diamond size and the weight of the parcel, if the remaining material delivers diamonds at comparable rates. The three samples weighed about 18.5 tonnes in all, which suggests that barely one-third of the material was smaller than the four-millimetre cut-off. SouthernEra's new president, Alasdair MacPhee, said that they had no idea what was in the larger fractions, although he was cautiously optimistic that the numbers would continue to impress.

SouthernEra is high on its Congo plays, as the area remains rather unexplored. The area did see alluvial diamond production in the 1950s and 1960s on the higher terraces surrounding the riverbed where the company collected its latest samples. That work came to a sudden stop when Congo became independent and kicked out the international mining companies. The active river channels and the bordering alluvial flats remain intact as a result.

SouthernEra got the jump on most of its rivals when Congo revamped its mining code a few years ago, reopening its doors to foreign explorers. Much of its effort is going to the kimberlite search, and SouthernEra is apparently chatting with De Beers, Rio Tinto PLC and BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. about potential deals for that project.

SouthernEra began poking around on its alluvial play earlier this year. The company is working in the active river channel, using a dredge platform and divers to collect its samples of river gravels. The company collected material from 21 sites so far, according to its Toronto-based vice-president of exploration, Howard Bird. The company pulled up about 154 tonnes of gravels from the various sites.

Mr. Bird said some of the first tests produced just barren sands, while others ran into bedrock without encountering gravel. The company is now getting its promotable recoveries from a better area, and that will help SouthernEra refine its hunt.

That variability is typical of alluvial gravels, which Mr. MacPhee described as notoriously difficult to evaluate. The gravel layers may average a few metres thick, but most of the diamonds lie within a 30-centimetre zone near the bottom, just above the bedrock. As well, there could be zones without any gravels, and other sites with thick gravel zones.

SouthernEra's play covers about 34 kilometres of river frontage, and the riverbed and the surrounding alluvial flats might typically be a few hundred metres wide. That might tempt speculators armed with a calculator to tackle a crude resource calculation. That would result in a rosy number, but things are not that simple with alluvial plays. Mr. MacPhee said it would be lovely if the whole plain had a linear grade matching its latest tests, but he added that was unlikely.

The plan

SouthernEra's Tshikapa project is still in the earliest stages, and the company will not have its first resource calculation until mid-2006. That assessment will cover just the active river channel, which is the current focus of SouthernEra's attention. The company will conduct its exploration, assessment and resource calculations in blocks, covering just a portion of its project to start.

There are three areas of interest on the property, according to James Abson, SouthernEra's manager of African exploration. The active river channel is still the current priority, but the company will soon extend its testing to the flat alluvial plains along the river. Most of that work should come next year. As well, SouthernEra has hopes that diamonds will turn up in the higher terraces, which contain river gravels from an earlier age.

As well as the sampling effort, the company plans to complete geophysics over the alluvial flats. That data will help assess the thickness of the gravel layer, as well as providing an outline of the bedrock topography. The information should show depressions or trap zones that could contain significant quantities of diamonds.

SouthernEra will continue with its testing effort, which would logically progress to bulk sampling of the alluvial flats once the company finds some prospective areas. Seismic work and drilling will help SouthernEra zero in on some sites with higher grades along the alluvial plains.

Larger samples should provide substantial diamond parcels and SouthernEra will probably have its alluvial stones appraised. There has been no attempt at assessing the diamond value to date, but the company seems pleased with what it found so far.

Diamonds from other areas in Congo do not fetch a high price, averaging about $20 (U.S.) per carat. Things are better in the area surrounding SouthernEra's play however, where the average runs about $70 (U.S.) per carat. If the company's Tshikapa alluvial diamonds can match that mark, the play would get a good boost.

The average grade is the other important ingredient in the value equation. Mr. Bird said it was too early to speculate, although he seemed willing to take a crack at a hint, postulating that the grades would be "quite good." Mr. MacPhee also stressed the preliminary state of its program, but he expressed "cautious optimism" that areas with promising grades would continue to turn up.

The players

Mr. MacPhee now has some hope of tenure in his role as president and chief executive officer of SouthernEra. He replaced Patrick Evans in the top job on an interim basis in mid-July, and the company made the appointment permanent in mid-September. Mr. Evans lasted over four years as the company's top dog, much longer than his predecessor, Steven Banning, who lasted a mere four months.

The Scottish Mr. MacPhee followed degrees in mechanical engineering and business administration by a move to South Africa and a job with De Beers in 1981. He worked with the diamond giant for nearly 17 years, concentrating on operations and mine development, rather than the exploration side of things.

In 1997, Mr. MacPhee moved over to SouthernEra to help the company with its Marsfontein project. Its M1 pipe produced some promotable diamond grades through 1997, prodding the company's shares to a peak of $20.80 that fall. Mr. MacPhee's former employer had a nasty surprise for his new company early in 1998, when it signed a deal with the heirs of the original owners of the Marsfontein farm. That triggered a series of spats and negotiations that ended with De Beers wresting a 60-per-cent share of the small but profitable pipe.

Mr. MacPhee stayed with SouthernEra, but he moved over to platinum when the company bought a majority stake in the Messina platinum deposit. The company eventually got the play into production. Last year, it spun the project off into a new company, Southern Platinum Corp., which Lonmin Investments Canada Inc. took over earlier this year.

Mr. MacPhee returned to diamonds by then, staying with SouthernEra. Already a SouthernEra vice-president, he moved a bit farther up the management chain late in 2003, when he added the corporate development role to his expanding job description. A year later, Mr. MacPhee became vice-president in charge of all things African for the company.

The Johannesburg-based Mr. MacPhee remains firmly rooted in South Africa, a long haul from the company's head office in Toronto. Despite the lengthy commute, he has no plans to move either himself or his head office. That may well be wise, as a plan to move SouthernEra's home base to Colorado proved to be Mr. Banning's undoing in the spring of 2000.

Mr. MacPhee's plan to maintain two offices does seem logical. The TSX-listed company still has several active exploration projects on the go in Canada, but its main effort is again going to plays in Africa. The company has projects in Gabon, Zimbabwe, Angola and South Africa, and its Congo gem hunts now rank at the top of the list. Continued alluvial promise and a deal with a diamond major on the kimberlite hunt seem the company's best bet to give Mr. MacPhee some promotable news.

SouthernEra added one-half cent to 38 cents Wednesday, on 32,000 shares.

[rambutan2] 26/8/2005 02:32

SouthernEra Diamonds Closes Private Placement Through Haywood Securities

Shares Issued and Outstanding: 112,279,101
TSX: SDM
AIM: SRE

TORONTO, ON and LONDON, UK, Aug. 25 /CNW/ - SouthernEra Diamonds Inc.
(the "Company") (TSX: SDM, AIM: SRE) announced today that it has closed the
previously announced private placement led by Haywood Securities Inc. for the
sale of 8,782,500 Flow-through Common Shares and 1,430,000 Units for gross
proceeds of approx. C$4.1 million.
The Flow-through Common Shares were sold at C$0.40 per Flow-through
Common Share for gross proceeds of approx. C$3.5 million. The Units were sold
at C$0.40 per Unit for gross proceeds of approx. C$0.6 million. Each Unit
consists of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase
warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable to acquire one common share at an
exercise price of C$0.65 for a period of 24 months from today.
The proceeds of the Flow-through private placement will be used to
support the Company's Canadian exploration program and the Units proceeds will
be used to support the Company's global exploration program and for general
corporate purposes.

[schober] 17/8/2005 20:18

from camfuca update 8aug


* ....feasibility study completed in 2000 SouthernEra defined an inferred mineral resource from surface to a depth of 145 meters of 209.5 million cubic meters at an average grade of 0.111 carats per cubic meter, for a total resource of 23.25 million carats. An independent valuation in 2000 attributed an average value to the Camafuca diamonds of $109 per carat. Since then, global rough diamond prices have increased by more than 35 percent. The Company holds an 18% free-carried interest in the project.


*Angola's civil war ended in 2002 and many of the cost parameters of the feasibility study will consequently have changed materially. The 2000 feasibility study is the most recent report on the property and will now be updated to reflect current operating conditions.

[rambutan2] 09/8/2005 09:02

piece from last week...
2005-08-04 16:02 ET - Street Wire
by Will Purcell
SouthernEra Diamonds Inc. is again a grassroots diamond hunter in Canada's North, but several African gem projects remain the company's best shot at producing quick cash flow. A focus on those projects seems likely, as the company's interim president, Alasdair MacPhee, spent most of his career hunting African diamonds. One of its grassroots hunts now has the attention of some potential partners, while SouthernEra hopes to profit from two advanced projects over the next year or two.

The Congo hunt
Late last year, SouthernEra flew a large geophysical survey over about half of its permits, covering what it now calls its Kito, Nyota and Akiki blocks. The three groups of permits produced 34 priority targets that are up to 750 metres in diameter. As well, several of the targets on the Kito block lie encouragingly close to sites with proven alluvial reserves.

That has SouthernEra's founder, Dr. Chris Jennings, willing to list his company's Congo play as its top African gem project. He said that SouthernEra had three diamond majors knocking hard on its door, looking to do a joint venture deal with the far smaller company. With De Beers, Rio Tinto Plc. and BHP Billiton Diamonds Inc. all looking for a piece of SouthernEra's Congo play, a deal may not be far off.

Dr. Jennings said any arrangement would "have the guys taking us right through feasibility." As well, SouthernEra expects any partner would spend at least $5-million (U.S.) per year on the project, "to prove up what could be some really big kimberlites."

Any arrangement with a major would presumably leave SouthernEra with just a minority stake in the play, but without a large drain on its limited treasury. That would be good news for the company's long-term shareholders, who saw their company throw large sums of cash at some other African plays, with little return so far.

Camafuca
SouthernEra thinks it can turn a tidy profit out of the mammoth pipe, which contains over 400 million tonnes of kimberlite. The grade is modest, at 0.05 carat per tonne, but the diamond value is well above $110 (U.S.) per carat. That adds up to about 23 million carats and a gross value approaching $3-billion (U.S.) at current prices.

SouthernEra's four-year-old feasibility study called for a first phase that would see a dredging operation scoop up about 6.13 million cubic metres of kimberlite over a five-year stretch. That would deliver about 220,000 carats yearly, worth about $26-million (U.S.). The company pegged capital costs at $16-million (U.S.) and operating costs at just $12-million (U.S.) per year. Those numbers suggested a quick payback and a hefty rate of return.

Since then it has been a case of hurry up and wait at Camafuca. Dr. Jennings said SouthernEra was hoping to get the final approval on Camafuca, which would give the company cash flow within a year. The project has been sitting for more than three years, with SouthernEra insisting it would not commit any more cash. "We have spent enough; we will take the 18-per-cent interest," said Dr. Jennings. Finding a partner to foot the remaining bill remains a challenge, but the company is optimistic that Camafuca will soon get its chance to deliver on the earlier promise.

Klipspringer
Those hopes outran SouthernEra's own hype. By mid-2000, Dr. Jennings was still expecting a profit from Klipspringer, but he cautioned the mine would not be "any great hell." The company delivered a feasibility study based on production of about 400,000 tonnes of kimberlite per year.

With a grade of 0.47 carat per tonne and a diamond value of $100 (U.S.) per carat, SouthernEra expected revenues of about $8-million (U.S.) yearly. With operating costs below $30 (U.S.) per tonne and the modest capital needs covered by De Beers, Klipspringer seemed poised to deliver a steady stream of cash to SouthernEra.

With the rand finally starting a new slide, SouthernEra hopes to revive Klipspringer, although with a more modest plan. The company thinks that scaling back its mine to 200,000 tonnes per year will create some big savings and allow the company to make a profit at the current exchange rate. Dr. Jennings said Klipspringer could clear $2-million (U.S.) a year at seven rand to the U.S. dollar. If so, that would be good news for weary shareholders.

View the whole article at site:

[rambutan2] 09/8/2005 08:22

camafuca go ahead - at last!

[rambutan2] 01/7/2005 15:19

a yes for klips - they say going to take it out of mothballs but seeing is believing.

re camafuca. from what ive been able to gather seems that endiama not able to afford its part of the deal, and generally just a horror to deal with. however, things starting to look up a bit in angola and sre might be able to help things out. would surely be worth it.

[schober] 01/7/2005 13:39

am i right in thinking that sre have 56% of klips?

anyone know what the problem is here?
"No progress occurred during the year at the Company's Camafuca Project as final authorisation for the formation of the operating company, Camafuca Limited, is still awaited from the Angolan government."

[rambutan2] 30/6/2005 00:50

and 50k and 20k today!

[rambutan2] 28/6/2005 22:42

someone must have read it and bought the 13k today.

[rambutan2] 28/6/2005 22:41

FT Africa: Diamonds supplement in today's FT.
has an upbeat profile of sre.

[rambutan2] 24/6/2005 00:03

more joint ventures...