We could not find any results for:
Make sure your spelling is correct or try broadening your search.
Register for real-time alerts, custom portfolio, and market movers
| Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Stock Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solgold Plc | SOLG | London | Ordinary Share |
| Price Change | Price Change % | Share Price | Last Trade
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.59 | -6.03% | 9.20 | 16:35:05 |
| Open Price | Low Price | High Price | Close Price | Previous Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.80 | 9.42 | 9.82 | 9.20 | 9.79 |
| Industry Sector |
|---|
| MINING |
| Top Posts |
|---|
Posted at 27/3/2024 15:16 by hazl 'I have no doubt we will get at least one by May/June, and maybe even a second come August, but beyond that I would be surprised if the data allowed a third. A third cut would likely need to come at the expense of either the equity market or the jobs market, with a material jump in unemployment probably meaning recession. As such, a hawkish repricing at some point this year should be something investors be cautious of as we progress through 2024.If not, having an allocation in one’s portfolio to precious metals ought to serve investors well.' From investing.com |
Posted at 06/3/2024 10:01 by hazl There are always unknowns whatever anyone says.Those who say it will this, or it will that, are suspect I suggest. However, this is concrete news. Politics,will push every share around, austerity, hardship, less investors than there used to be in the pool, these factors will have their influence, but finance was a big concern. We have reason for optimism I feel. Scott is being able to take things forward when previously his hands seemed tied. I think lowtrawler, likely talks how it is, but I am not sure yet. I would say don't worry about other investors, even me, don't overload in any share and make your own judgements . We live in changing times. |
Posted at 26/2/2024 11:50 by loganair Solgold – market cap £204m @ 6.8p – for some time. But its experience also provides a lesson right now for Greatland Gold, which is why it’s timely to update.The shares are still depressed – not only through uncertainty how any funding will affect value for shareholders, but also because Solg has spent most of its remaining cash on the new study, so that investors worry about another fund raise to keep the company running. What happens next? But maybe things can’t go on like this? Even if funded now, it will take ten years before Cascabel is making the $450m annual cash profit the feasibility study estimates for the first 5 years in production. So what lesson for Greatland Gold and its 30% owned Havieron project? It has now been confirmed by Newmont that it will be divesting its 70% Havieron stake, which – with substantial cost to develop (that Newmont seemingly thinks not worthwhile) looks to be much too big a mouthful for GGP to swallow on its own. It means, like Cascabel’s effect on Solgold’s shares, that investors will worry about the effect on GGP’s share price of whatever large new partners might demand to come aboard and help fund Newmont’s 70% Havieron stake. Its why it’s still wise to stand back and watch GGP -instead of assuming that its large project means a large profit for its small shareholders. |
Posted at 24/2/2024 14:02 by hazl Very interesting from Goehring.Whilst it doesn't give any clear answer....everybody' They are hoping people get bored and move on just so they can get last squeeze out of it. Timing is always the most difficult thing but when a share has lost so much I believe what's the pont of selling up,unless you think it's not going to survive. I know that I am in a luckier position having bought just over 9p, compared to some. I can also understand people having to make ends meet and taking something out of it if they bought higher up. 'Copper investors have turned very bearish in the near term due to fears of economic slowdown and Chinese property concerns. At the same time, these same investors remain wildly bullish over the medium and long term due to a shortage of new expected mine supply. Our outlook remains very different: we are increasingly bullish in the near term but are beginning to worry about a possible supply response in the long term' |
Posted at 23/2/2024 19:15 by mirabeau Cornford at MII haven’t mentioned Solgold – market cap £204m @ 6.8p – for some time. But its experience also provides a lesson right now for Greatland Gold, which is why it’s timely to update. Although SOLG is in that dangerous category of miner with project not yet built, it has just published an up-to-date economic study for a drastically revised mining plan at its flagship Cascabel copper/gold project in Ecuador (which we can assume takes account of that frightening cost inflation) which looks so much more easily handled than previous ones, that investors are starting to take more interest. Especially because, as a result of a long recent history of disappointments and problems, Solgold’s valuation has sunk to a level that would have seemed unbelievable only 18 months ago. Now, at 1/5th its then share price, Solgold’s £204m market cap compares with £117bn worth of gold and copper measured and indicated resources ‘in the ground’ at Cascabel alone – regardless of other promising exploration prospects. That is a value only 0.2% % of high quality resources, when in healthier mining markets valuations for most mining projects would be in the 1-2-3% ranges. I first recommended Solgold here in March 2016 at around 3p, and made a healthy packet as I hope readers did – that was at first when the size of its find at Cascabel made it seem destined to be one of the largest in the decade. But then, despite BHP and Newcrest taking key stakes, things started to go pear-shaped – essentially because management did as well. By about 2019, fears Cascabel would be too expensive to develop were confirmed by the first of a series of feasibility studies, which showed an initial cost of $2.5bn, and would be followed by $6.7m of discounted cash profit over an enormously long 55 year mine life subsequently (although most would have been earned in the first 15 years). And although that would have delivered an annual rate of return of 25-26%, it was considered a bit too marginal for such a risky project in a risky-looking Ecuador, quite apart from the cost being too hefty for a small company like Solgold to manage. Allied with that, a key issue was – as I started warning here – that then CEO and founder Nick Mather was following the wrong strategy to monetise his fast growing portfolio of other attractive looking finds. He wanted to create a monster mining conglomerate – whereby all would be kept within one financial group, whatever each project’s different needs and timetables would be for development funding. That meant that coming to shareholders to fund each project as it developed would produce a share price below what the furthest advanced would have attracted on its own. It was that basic strategic mistake stemming from Mather’s ambition that has been playing out up to now, with a series of management clear-outs including Mather, and a share price too low to maintain spending on the 10-12 other exploration projects he was pursuing, and, more seriously, even to maintain development on Cascabel Now, following a long needed merger with key Cascabel shareholder Cornerstone, the latter’s management has taken over, although hadn’t yet been able to lighten the gloom. Since the 2019 feasibility study, Solg has been bending to shareholder demands for a more easily funded plan, if not for a sale of its various projects, so now it has come up with a new Cascabel study for a cut-down plan showing an initial capital cost of only $1.6bn, still (at a higher $1,750/oz gold price) showing a 24% rate of return, but over a mine life half the much-too-long 55 years of the previous plan. At what are fairly conservative copper and gold price assumptions, and with scope to expand production from other nearby resources, Cascabel looks a much more feasible proposition, with a far better chance that some bidder or funder will come along. But the shares are still depressed – not only through uncertainty how any funding will affect value for shareholders, but also because Solg has spent most of its remaining cash on the new study, so that investors worry about another fund raise (which the company has said might have to be) to keep the company running. What happens next I don’t know. But maybe things can’t go on like this? Even if funded now, it will take ten years before Cascabel is making the $450m annual cash profit the feasibility study estimates for the first 5 years in production, before doubling over the next five – at the conservative $1,750/oz gold price it assumes, and $3.85/lb for copper. The current $2,000 gold price would add nearly 20% to those economic returns. But meanwhile could be the sale of one or more of the other projects (to help fund Cascabel – a step Mather was refusing to take) among which Porvenir in southern Equador has already found over 7Moz of gold equivalent (mostly in copper) – a substantial find in its own right So what lesson for Greatland Gold and its 30% owned Havieron project? It has now been confirmed by Newmont that it will be divesting its 70% Havieron stake, which – with substantial cost to develop (that Newmont seemingly thinks not worthwhile) looks to be much too big a mouthful for GGP to swallow on its own. It means, like Cascabel’s effect on Solgold’s shares, that investors will worry about the effect on GGP’s share price of whatever large new partners might demand to come aboard and help fund Newmont’s 70% Havieron stake. Its why it’s still wise to stand back and watch GGP -instead of assuming that its large project means a large profit for its small shareholders. end |
Posted at 09/2/2024 12:14 by rougepierre Between mid September and late October the share price almost halved, from 14+ to sub 8...No-one who has been here for any length of time could be unaware of Berry Street Capital's animosity towards SOLG's Board of Directors, culminating in an Open Letter to shareholders. OK so some of what they said was fair enough but this was a fund with only c1% of the shares which eventually went bust due to apparent incompetence. It was a fund set up primarily for very wealthy investors but eventually it had to be liquidated. The key thing is, howver, that in any normal cisrcumstances the fund managers or a reciver would contact Solgold and, working with one or two MMs, work the sale carefully through the market to minimise damage to the share price Instead BSC dumoed their SOLG shares directly into the market, creating a protracted overhang in what looks suspiciously like a fit of pique. IMO the share price would have been much lower if Scott hadn't stepped in to buy shares and stabilise the price. But one thing that these two 'events' have in common is that private investors almost certainly panicked and sold as the share price was dropping, thereby exacerbating the fall. That might have been a smart move for some if they are back in at a much lower cost, but I'm sure MMs will have gleefully hit one Stop Loss after another on the way down... The final 'event' is the share price rise from 20 to 27 December. I've already written about that yesterday and I believe it was triggered by the very positive AGM results after investors had feared the worst. So what conclusions can we draw. PIs often invest in shares based on hype, a tip, seeing a share price rise rapidly, rumour of such as takeovers, mates recommendations or whatever. But when those things don't materialise they have to ask themselves two questions: Do I sell or hold And if I hold, what do I actually KNOW about this company. And the fact is that we only really know what is in the public domain. The rest is speculation and rumour. But what a PI should ALWAYS do BEFORE they buy a share is to research in detail and be absolutely clear why they are buying a share and what their expectations are. If those expectations are unrealised and or do not materialise they have one of three decisions to make: Do I sell Do I hold Do I buy more Instead many shareholders are driven by one or both of FOMO or FOLO. And then when things go wrong they are afflicted by the 'British disease'...look for anyone to blame except themselves. And of course the Company has let them down... But why have I linked these events? |
Posted at 09/2/2024 12:13 by rougepierre So finally lets consider our won position as ordinary investor. And OK I understand that our holding at 2.2 million may be much more than most 'ordinary investors' can afford, but SOLG at pur average cost represents 35% of our total investments and I increased our holding by almost 30% on Tuesday.I'm sure most investors on here are sensible. Occasionally we might get carried away by hype, or a tip we've read somewhere...and sometimes we get lucky with a multibagger, but others we sell and write off a significant loss. I did this with EVR and POLY and several others over the last 40 years. But we've also had big wins such as SOLG twice before and ATYM. Those gains are more than funding our commitment to SOLG now. And believe me I am every bit as frustrated as you. But there is no point being angry, because I am responsible for my own decisions. Every morning I wake up and check for the RNS that could be life changing. Because I have been so bullish about Solgold since Scott and Sangha took over, I have been sucked in by such as the media articles. I believed the merger could and should have been completed quicker and that a quick takeover would happen early in 2023. I was wrong. And then Lasso announced his intention to step down. As you know I am a great believer in macro factors and although at first I had bought more, I slashed our holding to 200k because markets hate uncertainty. I've steadily rebuilt it since to a 10p average but that's still a 33% loss. I believe very strongly in taking responsibility for my own decisions and, wher necessary, cutting and running. But not here...and not now...when we are so close... Markets especdially in the US are driven by FOMO...Fear of Missing Out...(I would add a variant...FOLO...Fea So just reflect on what happened between mid June and late September 2022; mid September and late October 2023; and 20/27 December 2023. Those three 'events' show me very clear lessons: |
Posted at 22/12/2023 13:29 by richgit HazlI have only posted to establish that I have bought,so in time others can know whether I was wrong or right. Without getting into conspiracy theories,there is truly something very strange going on with with stocks like SOLG etc etc-whether UK or Canada,considering (in particular) Gold has been so Strong I have never in 30 years witnessed such total apathy,and wonder if it is more sinister of outside forces using shorts/naked shorts-Margin Investors and Spreadbet investors somehow being forced to sell at every turn,or Paid for BB`rs given insider information posting "SELL a fund raising is coming" ! How can you grow a £10 Million Gold Exploration stock into a £500 Million stock without raising funds !!? yet maybe as the world and its Private Investors are just living like a Bunji-Jumper-,on Margin and run for for the Hills,then such Tactics would work in keeping valuations on the floor. I have Multiple stocks in the UK and Canada,and most Juniors in Canada are down 50-90%,and note that Landore just had to pull a placing in Canada,as I call Canada the real Graveyards for Juniors. Hence I have bought more of most,as I consider many Skeletons will jump out of their graves- at some point PS> Someone mentioned Shants Gold -Where I have been an Investors for several Years and the shennanigans going on there seem extraordinary (unless I have missed something ) GLA and all the best for Xmas |
Posted at 02/10/2023 10:10 by kinggeorgevii Luck turnsNewcrest has had less luck with its second investment in Solgold; it paid $US40 million in June 2017 to grow its stake from 10 per cent to 14.54 per cent. Since then, Solgold shares (which trade in London and Toronto) have slumped by 44 per cent despite the most bullish market conditions for junior resources stocks in at least six years. So what has gone wrong? "Solgold had a very good run, it has given back a lot of ground like a lot of other top-quality, junior resource stocks, but it is important to remember this is a tremendous discovery and it really is just the beginning, they have tremendous targets left to drill," said Warren Irwin, president of Rosseau Asset Management, which owns just over 3 per cent of Solgold. "The market is fickle, in Canada people have sold some of their winners in the resources stocks and have moved into cannabis and blockchain stocks, so they have lost interest in some of these new discoveries." Early and enthusiastic assessments of Solgold's Cascabel project suggested it could be as prospective as Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia. But as 2017 dragged on, rumours began to spread that the company's maiden resource estimate (which focused on the Alpala cluster within the broader Cascabel project) might not live up to the hype. When it was published on January 3, 2018, the resource estimate was described as only "mildly encouraging" by Minex Consulting geologist Richard Schodde. "I thought the grades were a little bit low; they would want to get the grades closer to 1 per cent copper equivalent to make it exciting as a tier one project. What they have reported so far doesn't make it a tier one deposit," he told The Australian Financial Review last month. Perhaps a victim of high expectations, Solgold shares lost 30 per cent of their value in the month after the resource statement was published. The stock traded as low as 20.2 pence in London in recent days, only marginally higher than it was trading when Newcrest took its initial 10 per cent stake. Solgold would not be the first exploration stock to lose momentum on the long journey between discovery and development, and Mr Irwin says there is plenty of time for drilling results at Cascabel to improve. "The first resource estimate out of Solgold barely scratches the surface of what they have there, there are so many more targets in the immediate vicinity that have yet to be tested, that I doubt that they hit the best target at the beginning ... there is a lot of room for growth here over the next few years of drilling," he said. Those comments echo the sentiments expressed by Mr Schodde. "This is the maiden resource statement for this deposit so it can only get bigger and better ... I would imagine there is going to be a camp of porphyry targets there," he said. Regulator strikes Adding to its rough start to 2018, Solgold has in recent days been forced to delete investor presentations published in August, September and November 2017 because they did not meet the standards required by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The presentations contained "preliminary economic information" that was "not supported" by the necessary technical reports, and the OSC also raised issue with the way Solgold combined the "indicated" and "inferred" categories in its January 3 resource estimate. "The company retracts the preliminary economic information contained therein and cautions investors that it should not be relied on," said Solgold in a clarification on Friday. Mr Irwin hinted that the OSC had made a mountain out of a molehill. "Solgold got tripped up on a stupid regulation that most sophisticated Canadian investors are embarrassed even exists," he told The Australian Financial Review this week. Newcrest chief executive Sandeep Biswas is scheduled to front investors later this week, and his assessment of Solgold's progress and its maiden resource estimate will be keenly watched. All up, Newcrest has spent about $US63 million buying a stake in Solgold that is today worth about $US72.5 million. Analysts consensus suggests Newcrest will report a $US444 million underlying profit in fiscal 2018, which coincidentally, is almost the exact sum that would be required to take out the 85.46 per cent of Solgold that Newcrest does not own. "As the Newcrest chairman has previously commented, Newcrest likes Cascabel. That was when we were trading in the 40s (pence per share range). Since then the project has grown, and we are confident that it will get bigger and that we will find extensions and those discoveries will further enhance the grade. I'm sure they still do like us," said Solgold chief executive Nick Mather, who independently owns 2.5 per cent of Solgold, and also owns about 7 per cent of ASX-listed DGR Global, which in turn owns 12 per cent of Solgold. Newcrest has anti-dilutionary rights to 14.54 per cent of Solgold that expire in four months, and anti-dilutionary rights to 10 per cent of Solgold until August next year. But Mr Mather said those rights would not be enough to stymie a rival bid for the company. "Newcrest can't under the terms of the agreement block a deal with anybody else and they don't control us now," he said. With copper prices firming over the past 10 months and a host of companies, including BHP and Rio, keen to add to the copper assets they own in nearby Chile and Peru, Mr Irwin believes a gold-focused Australian company like Newcrest is not the natural owner of Solgold. "I believe Newcrest wants the asset, but I believe there is a lot bigger and more powerful fish out there that want Solgold, and I don't think there is a very good chance this will end up in Newcrest's hands at the end of the day," he said. "I believe there would be two types of buyers, the large mining conglomerates that are playing the copper cycle and secondly the large [North American] gold producers that want large gold assets with copper credits." Despite Solgold shares more than halving in recent months, Mr Mather insists he won't allow the company to be taken cheaply. "It won't be cheap because we can paddle our own canoe. We are resourced with plenty of cash, a project which has not yet revealed its riches and a globally acclaimed team to deliver a world-class result for this project," he said. Luck turns Newcrest has had less luck with its second investment in Solgold; it paid $US40 million in June 2017 to grow its stake from 10 per cent to 14.54 per cent. Since then, Solgold shares (which trade in London and Toronto) have slumped by 44 per cent despite the most bullish market conditions for junior resources stocks in at least six years. So what has gone wrong? "Solgold had a very good run, it has given back a lot of ground like a lot of other top-quality, junior resource stocks, but it is important to remember this is a tremendous discovery and it really is just the beginning, they have tremendous targets left to drill," said Warren Irwin, president of Rosseau Asset Management, which owns just over 3 per cent of Solgold. "The market is fickle, in Canada people have sold some of their winners in the resources stocks and have moved into cannabis and blockchain stocks, so they have lost interest in some of these new discoveries." Early and enthusiastic assessments of Solgold's Cascabel project suggested it could be as prospective as Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia. But as 2017 dragged on, rumours began to spread that the company's maiden resource estimate (which focused on the Alpala cluster within the broader Cascabel project) might not live up to the hype. When it was published on January 3, 2018, the resource estimate was described as only "mildly encouraging" by Minex Consulting geologist Richard Schodde. "I thought the grades were a little bit low; they would want to get the grades closer to 1 per cent copper equivalent to make it exciting as a tier one project. What they have reported so far doesn't make it a tier one deposit," he told The Australian Financial Review last month. Perhaps a victim of high expectations, Solgold shares lost 30 per cent of their value in the month after the resource statement was published. The stock traded as low as 20.2 pence in London in recent days, only marginally higher than it was trading when Newcrest took its initial 10 per cent stake. Solgold would not be the first exploration stock to lose momentum on the long journey between discovery and development, and Mr Irwin says there is plenty of time for drilling results at Cascabel to improve. "The first resource estimate out of Solgold barely scratches the surface of what they have there, there are so many more targets in the immediate vicinity that have yet to be tested, that I doubt that they hit the best target at the beginning ... there is a lot of room for growth here over the next few years of drilling," he said. Those comments echo the sentiments expressed by Mr Schodde. "This is the maiden resource statement for this deposit so it can only get bigger and better ... I would imagine there is going to be a camp of porphyry targets there," he said. Regulator strikes Adding to its rough start to 2018, Solgold has in recent days been forced to delete investor presentations published in August, September and November 2017 because they did not meet the standards required by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The presentations contained "preliminary economic information" that was "not supported" by the necessary technical reports, and the OSC also raised issue with the way Solgold combined the "indicated" and "inferred" categories in its January 3 resource estimate. "The company retracts the preliminary economic information contained therein and cautions investors that it should not be relied on," said Solgold in a clarification on Friday. Mr Irwin hinted that the OSC had made a mountain out of a molehill. "Solgold got tripped up on a stupid regulation that most sophisticated Canadian investors are embarrassed even exists," he told The Australian Financial Review this week. Newcrest chief executive Sandeep Biswas is scheduled to front investors later this week, and his assessment of Solgold's progress and its maiden resource estimate will be keenly watched. All up, Newcrest has spent about $US63 million buying a stake in Solgold that is today worth about $US72.5 million. Analysts consensus suggests Newcrest will report a $US444 million underlying profit in fiscal 2018, which coincidentally, is almost the exact sum that would be required to take out the 85.46 per cent of Solgold that Newcrest does not own. "As the Newcrest chairman has previously commented, Newcrest likes Cascabel. That was when we were trading in the 40s (pence per share range). Since then the project has grown, and we are confident that it will get bigger and that we will find extensions and those discoveries will further enhance the grade. I'm sure they still do like us," said Solgold chief executive Nick Mather, who independently owns 2.5 per cent of Solgold, and also owns about 7 per cent of ASX-listed DGR Global, which in turn owns 12 per cent of Solgold. Newcrest has anti-dilutionary rights to 14.54 per cent of Solgold that expire in four months, and anti-dilutionary rights to 10 per cent of Solgold until August next year. But Mr Mather said those rights would not be enough to stymie a rival bid for the company. "Newcrest can't under the terms of the agreement block a deal with anybody else and they don't control us now," he said. With copper prices firming over the past 10 months and a host of companies, including BHP and Rio, keen to add to the copper assets they own in nearby Chile and Peru, Mr Irwin believes a gold-focused Australian company like Newcrest is not the natural owner of Solgold. "I believe Newcrest wants the asset, but I believe there is a lot bigger and more powerful fish out there that want Solgold, and I don't think there is a very good chance this will end up in Newcrest's hands at the end of the day," he said. "I believe there would be two types of buyers, the large mining conglomerates that are playing the copper cycle and secondly the large [North American] gold producers that want large gold assets with copper credits." Despite Solgold shares more than halving in recent months, Mr Mather insists he won't allow the company to be taken cheaply. "It won't be cheap because we can paddle our own canoe. We are resourced with plenty of cash, a project which has not yet revealed its riches and a globally acclaimed team to deliver a world-class result for this project," he said. |
Posted at 28/9/2023 11:34 by kinggeorgevii Luck turnsNewcrest has had less luck with its second investment in Solgold; it paid $US40 million in June 2017 to grow its stake from 10 per cent to 14.54 per cent. Since then, Solgold shares (which trade in London and Toronto) have slumped by 44 per cent despite the most bullish market conditions for junior resources stocks in at least six years. So what has gone wrong? "Solgold had a very good run, it has given back a lot of ground like a lot of other top-quality, junior resource stocks, but it is important to remember this is a tremendous discovery and it really is just the beginning, they have tremendous targets left to drill," said Warren Irwin, president of Rosseau Asset Management, which owns just over 3 per cent of Solgold. "The market is fickle, in Canada people have sold some of their winners in the resources stocks and have moved into cannabis and blockchain stocks, so they have lost interest in some of these new discoveries." Early and enthusiastic assessments of Solgold's Cascabel project suggested it could be as prospective as Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia. But as 2017 dragged on, rumours began to spread that the company's maiden resource estimate (which focused on the Alpala cluster within the broader Cascabel project) might not live up to the hype. When it was published on January 3, 2018, the resource estimate was described as only "mildly encouraging" by Minex Consulting geologist Richard Schodde. "I thought the grades were a little bit low; they would want to get the grades closer to 1 per cent copper equivalent to make it exciting as a tier one project. What they have reported so far doesn't make it a tier one deposit," he told The Australian Financial Review last month. Perhaps a victim of high expectations, Solgold shares lost 30 per cent of their value in the month after the resource statement was published. The stock traded as low as 20.2 pence in London in recent days, only marginally higher than it was trading when Newcrest took its initial 10 per cent stake. Solgold would not be the first exploration stock to lose momentum on the long journey between discovery and development, and Mr Irwin says there is plenty of time for drilling results at Cascabel to improve. "The first resource estimate out of Solgold barely scratches the surface of what they have there, there are so many more targets in the immediate vicinity that have yet to be tested, that I doubt that they hit the best target at the beginning ... there is a lot of room for growth here over the next few years of drilling," he said. Those comments echo the sentiments expressed by Mr Schodde. "This is the maiden resource statement for this deposit so it can only get bigger and better ... I would imagine there is going to be a camp of porphyry targets there," he said. Regulator strikes Adding to its rough start to 2018, Solgold has in recent days been forced to delete investor presentations published in August, September and November 2017 because they did not meet the standards required by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The presentations contained "preliminary economic information" that was "not supported" by the necessary technical reports, and the OSC also raised issue with the way Solgold combined the "indicated" and "inferred" categories in its January 3 resource estimate. "The company retracts the preliminary economic information contained therein and cautions investors that it should not be relied on," said Solgold in a clarification on Friday. Mr Irwin hinted that the OSC had made a mountain out of a molehill. "Solgold got tripped up on a stupid regulation that most sophisticated Canadian investors are embarrassed even exists," he told The Australian Financial Review this week. Newcrest chief executive Sandeep Biswas is scheduled to front investors later this week, and his assessment of Solgold's progress and its maiden resource estimate will be keenly watched. All up, Newcrest has spent about $US63 million buying a stake in Solgold that is today worth about $US72.5 million. Analysts consensus suggests Newcrest will report a $US444 million underlying profit in fiscal 2018, which coincidentally, is almost the exact sum that would be required to take out the 85.46 per cent of Solgold that Newcrest does not own. "As the Newcrest chairman has previously commented, Newcrest likes Cascabel. That was when we were trading in the 40s (pence per share range). Since then the project has grown, and we are confident that it will get bigger and that we will find extensions and those discoveries will further enhance the grade. I'm sure they still do like us," said Solgold chief executive Nick Mather, who independently owns 2.5 per cent of Solgold, and also owns about 7 per cent of ASX-listed DGR Global, which in turn owns 12 per cent of Solgold. Newcrest has anti-dilutionary rights to 14.54 per cent of Solgold that expire in four months, and anti-dilutionary rights to 10 per cent of Solgold until August next year. But Mr Mather said those rights would not be enough to stymie a rival bid for the company. "Newcrest can't under the terms of the agreement block a deal with anybody else and they don't control us now," he said. With copper prices firming over the past 10 months and a host of companies, including BHP and Rio, keen to add to the copper assets they own in nearby Chile and Peru, Mr Irwin believes a gold-focused Australian company like Newcrest is not the natural owner of Solgold. "I believe Newcrest wants the asset, but I believe there is a lot bigger and more powerful fish out there that want Solgold, and I don't think there is a very good chance this will end up in Newcrest's hands at the end of the day," he said. "I believe there would be two types of buyers, the large mining conglomerates that are playing the copper cycle and secondly the large [North American] gold producers that want large gold assets with copper credits." Despite Solgold shares more than halving in recent months, Mr Mather insists he won't allow the company to be taken cheaply. "It won't be cheap because we can paddle our own canoe. We are resourced with plenty of cash, a project which has not yet revealed its riches and a globally acclaimed team to deliver a world-class result for this project," he said. Luck turns Newcrest has had less luck with its second investment in Solgold; it paid $US40 million in June 2017 to grow its stake from 10 per cent to 14.54 per cent. Since then, Solgold shares (which trade in London and Toronto) have slumped by 44 per cent despite the most bullish market conditions for junior resources stocks in at least six years. So what has gone wrong? "Solgold had a very good run, it has given back a lot of ground like a lot of other top-quality, junior resource stocks, but it is important to remember this is a tremendous discovery and it really is just the beginning, they have tremendous targets left to drill," said Warren Irwin, president of Rosseau Asset Management, which owns just over 3 per cent of Solgold. "The market is fickle, in Canada people have sold some of their winners in the resources stocks and have moved into cannabis and blockchain stocks, so they have lost interest in some of these new discoveries." Early and enthusiastic assessments of Solgold's Cascabel project suggested it could be as prospective as Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia. But as 2017 dragged on, rumours began to spread that the company's maiden resource estimate (which focused on the Alpala cluster within the broader Cascabel project) might not live up to the hype. When it was published on January 3, 2018, the resource estimate was described as only "mildly encouraging" by Minex Consulting geologist Richard Schodde. "I thought the grades were a little bit low; they would want to get the grades closer to 1 per cent copper equivalent to make it exciting as a tier one project. What they have reported so far doesn't make it a tier one deposit," he told The Australian Financial Review last month. Perhaps a victim of high expectations, Solgold shares lost 30 per cent of their value in the month after the resource statement was published. The stock traded as low as 20.2 pence in London in recent days, only marginally higher than it was trading when Newcrest took its initial 10 per cent stake. Solgold would not be the first exploration stock to lose momentum on the long journey between discovery and development, and Mr Irwin says there is plenty of time for drilling results at Cascabel to improve. "The first resource estimate out of Solgold barely scratches the surface of what they have there, there are so many more targets in the immediate vicinity that have yet to be tested, that I doubt that they hit the best target at the beginning ... there is a lot of room for growth here over the next few years of drilling," he said. Those comments echo the sentiments expressed by Mr Schodde. "This is the maiden resource statement for this deposit so it can only get bigger and better ... I would imagine there is going to be a camp of porphyry targets there," he said. Regulator strikes Adding to its rough start to 2018, Solgold has in recent days been forced to delete investor presentations published in August, September and November 2017 because they did not meet the standards required by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). The presentations contained "preliminary economic information" that was "not supported" by the necessary technical reports, and the OSC also raised issue with the way Solgold combined the "indicated" and "inferred" categories in its January 3 resource estimate. "The company retracts the preliminary economic information contained therein and cautions investors that it should not be relied on," said Solgold in a clarification on Friday. Mr Irwin hinted that the OSC had made a mountain out of a molehill. "Solgold got tripped up on a stupid regulation that most sophisticated Canadian investors are embarrassed even exists," he told The Australian Financial Review this week. Newcrest chief executive Sandeep Biswas is scheduled to front investors later this week, and his assessment of Solgold's progress and its maiden resource estimate will be keenly watched. All up, Newcrest has spent about $US63 million buying a stake in Solgold that is today worth about $US72.5 million. Analysts consensus suggests Newcrest will report a $US444 million underlying profit in fiscal 2018, which coincidentally, is almost the exact sum that would be required to take out the 85.46 per cent of Solgold that Newcrest does not own. "As the Newcrest chairman has previously commented, Newcrest likes Cascabel. That was when we were trading in the 40s (pence per share range). Since then the project has grown, and we are confident that it will get bigger and that we will find extensions and those discoveries will further enhance the grade. I'm sure they still do like us," said Solgold chief executive Nick Mather, who independently owns 2.5 per cent of Solgold, and also owns about 7 per cent of ASX-listed DGR Global, which in turn owns 12 per cent of Solgold. Newcrest has anti-dilutionary rights to 14.54 per cent of Solgold that expire in four months, and anti-dilutionary rights to 10 per cent of Solgold until August next year. But Mr Mather said those rights would not be enough to stymie a rival bid for the company. "Newcrest can't under the terms of the agreement block a deal with anybody else and they don't control us now," he said. With copper prices firming over the past 10 months and a host of companies, including BHP and Rio, keen to add to the copper assets they own in nearby Chile and Peru, Mr Irwin believes a gold-focused Australian company like Newcrest is not the natural owner of Solgold. "I believe Newcrest wants the asset, but I believe there is a lot bigger and more powerful fish out there that want Solgold, and I don't think there is a very good chance this will end up in Newcrest's hands at the end of the day," he said. "I believe there would be two types of buyers, the large mining conglomerates that are playing the copper cycle and secondly the large [North American] gold producers that want large gold assets with copper credits." Despite Solgold shares more than halving in recent months, Mr Mather insists he won't allow the company to be taken cheaply. "It won't be cheap because we can paddle our own canoe. We are resourced with plenty of cash, a project which has not yet revealed its riches and a globally acclaimed team to deliver a world-class result for this project," he said. |
It looks like you are not logged in. Click the button below to log in and keep track of your recent history.
Support: +44 (0) 203 8794 460 | support@advfn.com
By accessing the services available at ADVFN you are agreeing to be bound by ADVFN's Terms & Conditions
Hot Features
Premium
