Vane Minerals Share Discussion Threads

[martin c-j] 30/4/2013 08:00

Well for a company that is still generating revenues and has money in the bank, today's news isn't great. David Newton leaving is a body blow. And to announce 20% lower revenues seems unnecessary. Selling Uranium assets make sense, and I would have thought that Energy Fuels would be happy to have an additional portfolio of breccia pipes to feed its White Mesa Mill.

[opaldouglas] 30/4/2013 07:47

Legal update sounds promising, if the US Bureau of Land Management has already acknowledged that the withdrawal deprived VANE of at least one mine, with a net value of approximately $80M!

The DOI has filed a motion to dismiss and the next step would be either to throw out the case or proceed. Should the case proceed I'd expect an out of court settlement.

[charmer1_23] 30/4/2013 07:39

Not invested here but have following this thread, the recent price weakness suggested that next up would not fail to disappointed & today's RNS simply reaffirms that....

[kiwimonk] 30/4/2013 07:36

might get a few bob for the breccia pipe.
Why dont they sell some of the office furniture whilst they're at it, have a carboot sale, sell the chairman also. another few quid lol

[opaldouglas] 30/4/2013 07:30

Well that explains the drop!!!

So an expected 20% drop in revenues, surely this just cancels out the expected 20% increase in production announced last month! All seems very short sighted. From previous rns:

"Revenues for Q4 were in line with management expectations and are substantially higher than in the prior period. All of the revenue generated in Q4 originated from our joint venture with MET-SIN.

VANE has also adapted the crushing and processing facilities attached to its Merrill Crowe plant to increase its day to day processing capability by 20%, such that it is now able to process up to 3,000 tonnes per month and expects production volumes to grow accordingly."

No short term agreement for Copper JV partner, but the sale of Uranium assets which the company is expected to announce soon... What the likely sale cost of uranium assets?!?

Shame to see David leaving as I believe he did a good job in difficult circumstances.

[thinking] 30/4/2013 07:12

VANE Minerals plc (AIM:VML)

("VANE" or the "Company")

Trading Update & Board Change

VANE announces the following update on its activities:

TRADING UPDATE

The income that VANE has received from its gold and silver operations at its joint venture in Mexico in the first quarter of 2013 is expected to be approximately 20% lower than previously expected and lower than the previous quarter due to a combination of declining commodity prices, temporarily lower grades of gold and silver being mined (which have improved since the period end) and the appreciation in the exchange rate of the Mexican Peso against the U.S. dollar. An announcement regarding production in Quarter 4 2012 was made in February 2013.

The Company is taking all necessary steps to reduce its total costs to match its expected future income.

The Quarter 1 financial results for the Mexican operations are expected to be announced in mid-May.

COPPER AND URANIUM PROGRAMMES

As previously announced, the Directors have decided that the Company's U.S. porphyry copper exploration programme is best advanced by seeking to attract external third parties to help finance the proposed programme. This process is underway and discussions continue, but are not expected to conclude in the short term and further information will be announced as it becomes available.

In addition, the Company is now investigating its options with regards to a potential sale of its uranium assets and expects to be able to announce positive developments soon. Any sale would be structured as an asset sale, leaving any favourable outcome from the related legal action solely for the benefit of the Company and its shareholders.

LEGAL UPDATE

As previous announced, VANE has filed a lawsuit, as principal, in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims seeking redress on financial losses as a result of the withdrawal of the lands where VANE held its mining claims on which it had invested substantially. In documents submitted to the Court, VANE represented that it invested US$8.5M in its uranium program and that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management acknowledged that the withdrawal deprived VANE of at least one mine, with a net value of approximately $80M. The DOI has filed a Motion to Dismiss and VANE is still awaiting the outcome of this action.

BOARD CHANGE

The Company announces that David Newton is to leave the Company to pursue new opportunities. David will remain with the Company until 31 July 2013. The Company would like to thank David for his contribution and wish him well for the future.

ANNUAL RESULTS

The Company's annual results for the year ended 31 December 2012 are expected to be announced in June 2013.

[richgit] 29/4/2013 20:44

Surely results will be 3rd May.

Not a Cat in hells chance of taking this private.

With Gold miners seeing no current clarity about this years Gold price,they may be better just continuing to try and build up cash.

Boring but safe- until either they are so flush with cash or do find A.N.Other
to look at the Copper.

[tyranosaurus] 29/4/2013 18:57

VML seem to have reached the cliff and gone off the edge.

All time low reached and looking to go even lower unless they do something positive.
Some news would be a start.

[gazza102] 29/4/2013 14:54

lets hope they have 2.5m in the bank!!!!!!!

[opaldouglas] 29/4/2013 14:26

Ouch! Lack of news is really starting to hurt VML now, I've emailed David for clarification regarding results. I can't see VML going private either.

Martin, fyi – results can be released up to 6 months after financial year end, so VML have another month if need be.

"An AIM company must publish annual audited accounts which must be sent to its shareholders without delay and in any event not later than six months after the end of the financial year to which they relate."

I also think things are obviously ongoing behind the scenes, previous information releases alludes to this. I'm not concerned about current revs and production, only last month VML announced an increase in production of 20%.

The question for me is have any JV partners been forthcoming and have Vane progressed further with "additional opportunities" and how will these be funded.

Given the negativity around aim mining stocks, VML could just continue Mexican operations and bank the cash until the tide starts to turn! With a market cap of 2.5m this could be equal to cash shortly.

[thinking] 29/4/2013 14:05

Surely to take this private they would need shareholder approval? As currently the shareholders own the company?

[kemche] 29/4/2013 13:52

I don't see it being taken private - then they really will have to work!
It goes against their statement to someone on this board that they were getting old and this was their final chance at making some real money - which presumably they haven't over the last 10 odd years!

[gazza102] 29/4/2013 12:44

Martin - How does taking it private work. How will it affect existing shareholders?

[martin c-j] 29/4/2013 10:56

Well, tomorrow is 120 days after year end, which I think is the cut off date for announcing results. So they have left it as late as possible. There's doesn't seem to be any secret buying going on, and there is just a bit of drift continuing on lack of news. Singer and Friedlander dropped their bid at 9:20am in the hope of triggering some business or in response to £797 worth of sells.

The fact they have left it so late is more due, in my opinion, to what is going on behind the scenes, than for any accounting reasons. I am guessing David Newton is still trying to put something together re financing the copper exploration program, but with a current market cap of £2.55 million, if McGhee Peak really was worth something I think we would have seen a bid for the company by now.

My biggest worry is still management taking this private for less than peanuts. There really is a lack of news flow and progress. And that something has clearly changed regarding planned exploration and we are still not informed as to why, does make me worry a little. Unfortunately that leaves me hoping again for good news and fearing the worst.

[gazza102] 29/4/2013 10:56

what new strategy!!!!!! Can the BOD let us know!!!!

[kemche] 29/4/2013 10:29

Presumably the "new" strategy is not finding many takers.

[martin c-j] 19/4/2013 12:20

While the chinese and indians still want to buy physical gold, I don't see gold selling off much further. I still feel most of the sell off was triggered by margin call and the belief that the euro crisis was over. Well the world economy and europe specifically are still in trouble, and we are bound to get more scares in the coming months. Gold may have lost some of its lustre, but I still think it will settle around $1500, which is plenty high enough for VML.

The gold price is not VML's problem. Their problem is that they are no longer working to last years business plan. Something has changed that they have not been able to tell us about. Maybe we will get a better heads up in the finals. I am hoping they have improved cash levels back up to £2 million. If that is the case, then I will be very happy. My suspicion is they are still hovering around £1 million and that doesn't give them much margin for success.

[gazza102] 18/4/2013 21:23

my thoughts exactly Kemche. the last announcement on a friday was not great. Hope its next week now.

[kemche] 18/4/2013 19:02

Oh the dreaded Friday announcements. Let's see what "new" strategy is pedalled this time.

[opaldouglas] 18/4/2013 17:20

Martin, hope you're right about gold prices. Results out tomorrow I expect which I'm rather optimistic about.

[martin c-j] 16/4/2013 16:42

Well if I remember rightly, they were doing fine when gold was at a much lower price a few years ago, so it shouldn't be as big an impact as you would think. And I really don't see gold staying this low for long. A 10% sell off in a day is somewhat extreme, and mostly triggered by margin calls. I think gold will settle back around $1500 fairly soon.

As for VML, they are still meant to be a copper/uranium explorer, and I am sure we will get an update very soon on their plans. They probably would have released their results today had the markets been a little more positive.

[gazza102] 16/4/2013 12:56

Well they won't struggle because they are not exploring. But granted the POG falling is not good. However this seems to be priced to go bust now!!!!

[combo83] 16/4/2013 10:57

If the price of gold remains this low ($1350ish) then there could be trouble for VML. Production costs are very low so their operations should remain profitable, but if they struggled to fund an exploration program at $1650 gold, where does that leave them at $1350 gold?

The planned increase in production is probably going to be offset by the combination of reduced profit share (50/50) and reduced gold prices. Hopefully the full-year statement will provide some optimism, but my sentiment has sadly gone south on this one. Good luck all.

[opaldouglas] 10/4/2013 22:29

Gazza, what is the current wage bill for Vanes Geologists?

FYI - an article I posted on the BMZ thread a few days back highlighting the optimism in the US market.



THE US is fast becoming a resources frontier Australia's junior miners are keen to explore as they chase early production projects to counter the waning investor appetite hurting the smaller end of the sector.

While previous pushes into new regions, such as Africa and South America, have not always paid off for the junior sector, many believe the US will reap early rewards because of its stable political environment, existing infrastructure and the many previously operating mines that are worth a second look.

The North American mining space also lacks a competitive junior market, making it ripe for Australian companies struggling to get ahead in the domestic domain.

DJ Carmichael analyst Paul Adams said that when he looked at future trends and examined which junior companies would get into development over the next few years, it was the exploration companies with an interest in the US that stood out.
Digital Pass $1 for first 28 Days

"Over the years we've seen progression from Australia through to Africa and through to South America, which is now becoming crowded, so where are companies going to go? Where is the next unexplored region?" he said.

"I think it's the US, and the US is the next big thing for ASX-listed juniors."

Black Mountain Resources, which has silver projects in Idaho and Montana, is hoping to cash in on the opportunities in the US. All three of its projects host previously operating mines and are located in two of the world's most developed and proven silver mining regions.

The company sees the opportunity for juniors to quickly jump to developers, without the years taken by start-ups in regions such as Australia. Chairman Peter Landau said the US did not have a junior resource market and mothballed mines or historic deposits were now starting to gain attention.

In the 1990s, Australian juniors in the oil and gas space entered the North American space.

Mr Landau said he could see that now happening in the mining space and he expected more to follow once success stories emerged. "We need to get into production and when people see what we can do that will be a trigger point for the sector," he said.

"The US is a third of the cost of Australia, while they have the same health and safety regulations.

"It is a qualified mining district and the states are hungry for business."

DJ Carmichael's Mr Adams said investors no longer wanted to hear about juniors heading off to find and develop "world-class" assets, saying he would be retired by the time any such project reached production.

"There are prospects in the US that may not be the 1 billion tonnes of copper or 10 million ounces of gold deposit, but I'm more interested in companies that say they have a tier-two, or three, asset and they think they can get it into production and do that in four years," he said.

"If a company comes to me with that mantra, with a proven management team, then I'll take notice."

He said that when looking at what the US had to offer, it was hard to pass it by, but many companies had not really thought about it as an exploration destination, as they focused on Africa or South America.

"Domestically, there isn't much of an exploration industry in the US. It's been a forgotten industry for 30 years and it's just not on their radar," Mr Adams said.

"You can still pick up projects just by going out there and banging a piece of steel in the ground and putting the claim in. It's open ground."

Another attractive feature of the US was that it lacked the "use it or lose it" policy companies struggled with in Australia, where they had to commit to a minimum spend on mining tenements to maintain the rights to the project.

Aus American Mining, which is focused in Arizona, is another Australian-listed junior that is punting its fortunes on the US and is comfortable being one of the "first-movers" in that space.

Executive director Jim Malone said Australian investors were slow to adopt the idea and were very "parochial" with their investments.

He added that the recent focus from juniors looking to expand into Africa and South America had meant investors were not yet following the North American story.

"One of the juniors needs to get a project developed for the region to gain momentum," he said. "Once people can see that you can get projects permitted and into production, the interest will come."