Time to wind it up and hope for another company to come along to chuck into the shell? Kim Dotcom is always looking to chuck another monstrosity onto market ;)
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Time to wind it up and hope for another company to come along to chuck into the shell? Kim Dotcom is always looking to chuck another monstrosity onto market ;)
I think Kim will be working on MEGA for a while yet. He has a new CEO looking to convert more freebie customers into paying customers.
A lot of the relinquished GEL/AXG permits in Otago were 10% owned by Mark Gunton, of Westgate fame (as New Zealand Minerals Ltd). He, in turn, has been working on a ten-year project in his area of expertise, and it has started paying off.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=11155295
NZM also has two minerals permits, 100% owned. The emerging pattern is one of previous backers of GEL moving on, still taking a punt on their discrete projects, but not being interested in the AXG offering.
I will keep an eye out for news on AXG, but last year the first official report to SEDAR didn't come out until the annual report on 30th April (closeoff is 31st December). The TSX shares are now trading at 1c, with two NZ bids on the NZX at 1.1c and 1.3c.
Fresh capital was being sought by April 2014, and here is the page from the Rabone presentation showing key shareholders at that point. ACC has sold down some shares since. Not sure about anyone else on the list, but they don't seem to be putting up the new funds. Drilling at WKP was supposed to be restarting in June 2014.
Instead, AXG are pursuing a restructuring with an un-named third party, as announced in November 2014.
Nothing to report, except that after a quick investigation of the Antipodes Gold website, it appears that they've used the FREE version of Weebly website builder, which means no video or audio player, and an ad on the bottom of each screen. I'm not sure if that's how you impress new investors with the required deep pockets.
http://www.websitetooltester.com/en/...weebly-review/
http://www.antipodesgold.com/
I wonder how the restructure is going.
According to this website (Macroaxis), which seems to automatically scrape the web for data and put up charts and predictions for any listed company, AXG is in a bit of trouble. Some of their data is out, but I feel this part of the analysis is accurate.
http://www.macroaxis.com/invest/rati...-Of-Bankruptcy
On 26th January 2015, Antipodes Gold surrendered EP53189 with NZPAM, this was the 6400Ha Sparrowhawk permit in Otago. Maybe it had been for sale, but in any case it could be an opportunity for someone, later on.
Periodically, I update a basic speadsheet on the permits that GEL or AXG hold with NZPAM, the govt permitting outfit.
First note: Antipodes Gold appears to have no permits at all, perhaps they haven't bothered with any name changes since last year.
Second note: Glass Earth is mentioned in only three currently running permit records that I can see.
EP40598: the WKP area and surrounds, above Waihi, up in the bush. Waihi Gold (Newmont) have 65% ownership, GEL have 35%. The operator is listed as Waihi Gold. Not Antipodes Gold, whatever they might say in their press releases.
EP40183: Glamorgan, a permit beside the WKP area. 65% owned by Waihi Gold, they are also the operator.
EP40767: Waihi West area, this is mostly under the south-west part of the Waihi Township. It's right beside the massive Martha Hill mine, that is nearly mined out. The Correnso targeted mining area is across to the east from here. NZPAM show that this permit is 100% owned by Glass Earth Gold, and they are the operator. However under an earn-in, Waihi Gold have done some drilling and exploration here (Not Glass Earth), and Waihi Gold (Newmont) should have 60% of this permit under that agreement. It's likely that they are quite happy at this stage to leave it in Glass Earth's name.
Glass Earth or Antipodes Gold owed Waihi Gold $720,000 for previously agreed exploration work that has been completed. In March 2014 the two parties set out a new agreement where AXG needed to spend that same amount on approved exploration of WKP by October 2015, and some new rules from then on. They are only the project Manager, not the Operator.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?...&qm_symbol=AXG
Of course, at this stage AXG have no funds at all, and don't look like getting any before October.
On 12th Feb 2015, Oceana Gold was granted a 2 year prospecting permit over 10,9764 Ha, immediately southwest of their main mining permit at Macraes. The curious thing is that this permit is called Lot's Wife, and Glass Earth had an Exploration permit for the same area under the same name, also about 11,000 Ha, from July 2005 to July 2010.
Maybe they missed something.
It's not so great across the Tasman, either.
Quote:
18/2/2015 — General
Geoscience jobs continue to fall in Australia
By Ross Louthean
One of the major geosciences bodies in Australia has raised concerning statistics that also impact on professional employment in New Zealand.
The Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) this week released figures showing that unemployment for geoscientists was continuing to rise.
The degree of the problem has been well shown in news reports showing massive cutbacks in the Pilbara iron ore fields and coal fields of Queensland and New South Wales.
There is also the fact that more than 80 listed junior explorers on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) have “zombie” classifications – insufficient funds to last the next six months without considering exploration.
AIG said its latest survey for the December quarter showed that an uptick in jobs in the previous quarter was short lived.
The survey showed the unemployment rate among 666 respondents in the latest survey was 15.5%, a full 2% higher than the rate for the end of the September quarter. The under-employment rate in the latest survey among self employed geoscientists rose to 16.9% from 15.4% in the previous quarter.
The unemployment rate of 15.5% was the second highest recorded since the AIG started this survey in mid 2009.
“The combined unemployment and underemployment rate of 32.4% was also the second highest recorded by this survey,” the AIG said.
Self-employed geoscientists continued to struggle with more than a third unable to secure more than 10% of their desired workload. Were these self-employed geoscientists to be considered to be essentially unemployed, the overall unemployment rate would be a staggering 21.3% - more than one in every five geoscientists in Australia today.
The latest survey showed 12.2% of the geoscientists lost their jobs in the previous three months. Almost 40% had been unemployed for more than a year.
The survey showed more than 66% of unemployed or under-employed geoscientsits were not confident of returning to full time employment in their chosen field within 12 months, and 6% were seeking alternate employment.
“The increase in unemployment amongst Australia’s geoscientists in the final quarter of 2014 will be seen as very disheartening by many in the profession,” commented AIG president, Wayne Spilsbury.
“The employment downturn, since it peaked at the end of 2013, has shown little sign of improvement whereas the GFC in 2008 to 2009 was a short, sharp event.
“The current, continuing downturn appears to be a product of sustained depressed commodity prices which has dampened equity markets, contributing to a marked decrease in exploration funding that is essential to the sustainability of Australia’s minerals and energy resource industries and Australia’s continued economic prosperity,” Spilsbury added.
Western Australia, which had been the boom State that also was a mecca for geoscientists and other mining professionals and skilled workers from New Zealand, has borne the brunt of the downturn.
Spilsbury said that some promised incentives and initiatives from the Federal and some Australian State governments have failed to stop the rot.
Another peak industry body, the AusIMM, has been raising concerns about the massive loss of jobs for its members, which include geoscientists, mining engineers and metallurgists.
In the first bit of news since - well - months ago, Newmont has been officially awarded 50% of the Waihi West permit that was previously recorded as 100% Glass Earth's. No money would have changed hands, this is just a tidyup. Newmont can do a bit more work and gain 60% of the permit.
https://www.nzx.com/companies/AXG/announcements/260911
This is permit EP40767, NZPAM have not updated the records yet.
A followup from the Newmont side: to inform the public what's going on, they have this info in NZResources:
Last I heard, the exploration dept at Newmont Waihi Gold had been severely reduced. They would still be able to use local drilling rig contractors to perform some drills from discreet sites, and this seems to be what they have done.Quote:
25/2/2015 — Gold
Newmont outlines Waihi West role
The North Island’s sole major hard rock gold miner, Newmont Waihi Gold said that with closure of the Martha open pit scheduled to occur next year, and the new Correnso underground mine having a known resource for only a few years, it makes sense for the company to advance a regional joint venture in the area.
Newmont Waihi Gold (NWG) is a subsidiary of global gold miner Newmont Mining Corporation.
The company has now earned a 50% stake in the Waihi West property of Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG).
This property is adjacent to NWG’s Martha open cut which has been the biggest historic gold producer on the North Island, and it is also adjacent to NWG’s recently completed Trio underground mine.
“What this means is that we have been funding and conducting the exploration work on and off since 2006, and this has now earned us a half share of the prospect and formalised the joint venture,” said NWG’s external affairs coordinator Kit Wilson.
Wilson says this type of arrangement was normal in the mining industry where junior exploration companies such as Antipodes may hold a tenement and the right to explore or prospect in the area, but they do not have the financial backing to be able to conduct all the work.
Newmont has the same joint venture agreement with Antipodes Gold at the Wharekirauponga (WKP) tenement on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Kit Wilson said Newmont was currently conducting exploration drilling from the closed Trio mine under residential areas to the south-west in the Antipodes Gold tenement, and from inside the Martha open pit under farmland to the north-west in a tenement held by Newmont.
“We have always said that we would like to be here for the long term. We also have always said that just because we are drilling in an area this does not mean that mining will follow. As an example, in the last three decades we have drilled just over 300 kilometres of core and developed just three mines. That’s enough drill core to stretch from Waihi to Coromandel town three times over.”
Coincidentally, the Antipodes Gold website was unavailable last night, and is still down. Getting a makeover?
Edit: no link to www.antipodesgold.com. Try www.antipodesgold.co.nz (that works). Not a free website anymore..
Now I'm wondering that if Newmont is the third party looking over AXG, although at current share prices it could be anyone, their main interest could be that permit under part of Waihi Town. Yet there has been virtually nothing mentioned about this permit by GEL or AXG for years. Originally there was some mention of the aeromagnetic data in the area suggesting that there could be known gold veins from the east of the site extending into the permit. GEL were never allowed to make much noise about the permit, a directive from their JV partner. It has always been effectively in Newmont's control.
From 2013: Newmont announced they were having a quiet look.
http://www.newmont.com/files/doc_dow...est-200513.pdf
NZResources added some detail in May 2013.
Quote:
22/5/2013 — Gold
Newmont Waihi evaluates South and West Waihi permits
The community conscious miner Newmont Waihi Gold has detailed activity it has been undertaking on areas in Waihi with Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V and NZAS: GEL).
Newmont Waihi said Glass Earth Gold holds exploration permit 40767 which covers a predominantly residential area south and west of the Martha mine.
Newmont Waihi was conducting surveys on part of the permit where it can earn an interest by conducting work to an “agreed specified value.”
Once this value is reached Newmont Waihi can formalise a joint venture agreement.
There have been varying levels of interest in this area over the last 50 years with some drilling undertaken in the 1960s and other exploration since. Nothing of any interest has ever been identified.
Newmont Waihi Gold was currently undertaking gravity surveys in Waihi West that involves a technician with a roving monitor spending about 10 minutes beside the road at each location.
A gravity survey detects variations in the earth’s gravity field that indicate variable density of the rocks beneath the ground.
For example, Newmont Waihi said, the Waihi Basin - the flat land to the south of Waihi - is characterised by a large circular gravity low that indicates that that area was once a large caldera, similar to Lake Taupo. The gravity low indicates that the Waihi Basin is filled to considerable depth with volcanic deposits that have a much lower density than the surrounding hills.
There have been several gravity surveys carried out in the area previously, but they have not been evenly spaced. In some areas the survey points are close together and in other areas there is very little coverage.
Where the stations are closer together more detail is apparent in the resulting processed data. This new survey will ‘fill in the gaps’.
The current survey is attempting to improve the district-wide resolution to make it easier to interpret data. The copany said it was not expected the data will reveal details such as the presence of veins. It is aiming to assess whether some of the larger geological features interpreted from previous drilling can be detected through their gravity response.
“Our work in Waihi West is one part of the exploration programme Newmont Waihi Gold is engaged in as we continue to determine what, if any, areas should be considered for further investigation,” the company said.
“This is all part of the exploration process. It is lengthy and detailed, taking place over years rather than weeks or days. We are very used to acquiring what some may consider ‘discouraging’ results, but that is the nature of the activity.”
Newmont Waihi said that in the Waihi West area of the permit the exploration there was not related to the company’s Correnso discovery closer to the Martha mine.
“It is coincidental that the work in Waihi West was scheduled for this time. There is no connection between the Correnso announcement and the start of work in Waihi West.
“We have not identified an ore body under Waihi West despite conducting exploration activities including drilling since 2006.
“If the current exploration activities suggest there is merit in a closer look at the area we will employ other more precise techniques. At this stage, however, we have nothing to report other than routine investigations over a wide area.”
One of my old 2012 posts from this thread gives some detail on the Waihi West Permit, EP40767, direct from Simon Henderson.
http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthr...l=1#post367744
Its ownership has not been officially changed yet. It is due to expire in December 2015, but there will be an application to extend the duration I'm sure.
Since Newmont are drilling from the Trio Mine, which is just outside the RHS or East of the 40767 permit, it would seem that they are concentrating on the area of the permit closest to the Correnso find. That would make sense from a logistics point of view, and they have done gravity surveys. The Correnso find was also a vertical cone shape, I think.
They are also drilling in a NorthWest direction into a Newmont-held tenement, that would possibly be drilling from the northern side of the Martha pit wall, a different target.
This dewatering report from the local council also shows some of the local faults. They run into the Waihi West permit. Looks like there have been mine shafts/inclines into the area from the Martha Pit, as well. They show up as settlement areas.
http://www.hauraki-dc.govt.nz/Files/...lement2012.pdf
Speaking on General Security Deeds of the type AXG provided to Newmont: if this one from Rabobank is anything to go on, it's not the type of document that you enjoy signing. Newmont are using something like this for security over outstanding obligations by AXG, for both WKP and Waihi West.
http://www.rabobank.co.nz/Global-Con...orm-GSA-NZ.pdf
The local radio station at Waihi (Gold FM) seems to be a font of information about the Newmont operations there. In a recent interview, Kit Wilson was asked for his comments on a range of topics.
In particular for AXG investors, this part about the exploratory drilling isn't quite so hot:
The whole interview is here: http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general-news...-ender-update/Quote:
Question: You are conducting exploration drilling to the northwest of the Martha open pit and to the southwest of the completed Trio mine under Union Hill. What does this involve? Where are you drilling from and to? How do you drill? Is it underground? Is this part of the Martha Project?
Answer: Newmont is drilling out from the Martha pit and from the Trio underground mine which is finished. "What we're doing is having a last look to make sure that we're not leaving anything behind before we move into closure mode. We haven't got anything else at the present time so this is our last look."
Newmont has put out another press release about exploratory drilling. This time there is a bit of detail. It shows one long drill area heading West into the 50% AXG Waihi West permit from the completed Trio mine, and surprisingly another smaller drill from the Martha Pit towards the northern part of the same permit, in the area where it borders on a fully owned Newmont permit.
http://www.nzresources.com/attachmen...oration_lr.pdf
"Just looking, thanks"
Antipodes Gold has just put out a news release, I was googling, not expecting to see anything, it has been out for about an hour. This means that the Canadian market can trade on it, but it's the weekend in NZ. Typical of AXG management. The bigger money gets looked after first.
Newmont has intercepted a sizeable gold vein in Waihi West.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?...&qm_symbol=AXG
Newmont have their own assay lab, or a tame assay lab, so they will have known about these results for a while, as they were being tested. A few weeks ago I posted on this thread that Glass Earth Gold still technically had 100% ownership of the Waihi West permit, and that it was not quite the case. I was surprised to see a flurry of reads of that post, and soon after Newmont had obviously applied a legal document to that permit, and WKP, ensuring their interests were properly noted.
Anyway, I'll have a look at the release, it's just the results from one drill, but the grade is up to nearly half an ounce, that's not too shabby for a 10mtr wide vein.
Hi Carpenterjoe, I sold off my AXG shares in 2014 so I wouldn't waste too much time and energy worrying about it. The reason I was involved at all was because with so many permits, surely one of them had to work at some stage. I waited for a few years and didn't see it through. Note that now they just have part ownership in the WKP area and Waihi West, and the latter permit was never mentioned much because Newmont was really in control of it. That's a good thing, because they always have the capital and the proximity to be able to do something. What happens next, when AXG is asked to stump up for some more cash to co-fund drilling at the 40% rate? The cupboard is bare, well, worse than bare. AXG will surely need a cash injection of say $2-4mill just to see them through some more drilling and to stay in the game. At the moment, the TSX says the company is worth about $400k, twice what it was worth three hours ago. That spells even more share dilution, the likes of which the sharemarket doesn't see too often. GEL/AXG had only a brief time when it was valued at more than the cash thrown at it by shareholders. I think it has burned through $35-45mill so far, its a lot anyway.
If AXG rebounds on the market to 15c and holds (instead of falling to 1.5c) just on this press release, that would be a good starting place for capital raising. It's a long way up to there though.
Hence AXG is looking at restructuring with an anonymous third party. Could the third party be Newmont, or one of the many investment vehicles run by Geoff Loudon?
Yes, someone is going to have to be very brave or deep pocketed, that's for sure.
Since Newmont have given the locals a bit of a heads up with the drilling program in a general way, I have taken a wild guess at what the drill 908SP50703 is all about. It may have been collared from underground workings at Trio mine, right on the outer edge of the Waihi West permit. It could be about 360 meters underground at the start point, and went 300 metres or so into the Waihi West permit, horizontally. At that point it intercepted a 10 mtr wide quartz vein, vertical perhaps. That sort of a structure is similar to Correnso, it laid dormant and undiscovered for a long time.
Or the drill might have been collared from the West wall of the Martha pit, in which case I'm wildly off beam.
However, the colourful and plain English "Current Exploration Activity" one-page document of March 12 2015 mentions in three different panels:
Newmont probably has Boart Longyear contractors doing the drilling. They appear to be looking in four different directions around the Martha Pit, two of them heading into the Waihi West permit.Quote:
...vertical vein systems prevalent in this area. Drilling from underground means we can drill shorter holes at right angles to the vein systems to intercept them...(fishing analogy) The nibble doesn't mean that you will get anything, or you may get an undersized fish that you have to throw back. In any case, you don't shout out that you got a bite, you wait until you have landed a decent fish..
(Gardening analogy) It took forty exploration drill holes to "find all the potatoes"and confirm the extent and grade of the main section of the Correnso ore body.
Here is an up to date image of the mine workings at the Correnso Mine in Waihi East, just few hundred metres away from the East edge of the Waihi West permit. You can see the concentrated work on the main cone-shaped ore body is well under way, with drives heading off after smaller veins. Also note how small in area the main body of ore seems to be, in relation to houses. It's quite a rich patch of gold.
Newmont didn't start having a hard look at the Waihi West permit under the joint venture option until the Correnso mine had been approved in about 2012 or 2013, although they had drilled into the area in 2006 and found nothing. They also didn't formally pick up the JV offer until the document was signed earlier this year. In the normal scale of mining exploration, this is a reasonably significant development as far as Antipodes Gold is concerned. The timing as far as AXG is concerned, is not good, they are now paupers and have significant debt.
But not a great deal of debt, in terms of what 40% of a prospective underground mining area would be worth, if it was proved up. You'd have to think that the chances of that happening are at least far higher than any of Glass Earth's other permits, because all the mining infrastructure and expertise is right to hand, and there was a great big pile of gold mined out within a few hundred metres of the area, with more being discovered recently, to the north-east.
There was apparently a press release on 1st April about AXG being able to make a reverse takeover of CRP. The way I see these concepts, CRP is amalgamating with the shell of AXG because it has a dual listing. By the time of the reverse takeover, the core assets of AXG (being their permits and IP), will have been transferred to AOR for just NZ$1mill, under the control of Chris Castle. This is out of left field, I hadn't seen this coming, but Simon Henderson is now on the board of AOR, and the two blokes involved used to work alongside each other in Wellington.
http://www.antipodesgold.co.nz/uploa...-3_(final).pdf
So the offer only became concrete once the Waihi West drill results were out. Now AOR reckons that all things withstanding, the permits (held in GENZL) are worth about $1mill plus the money owing to Newmont, about another $600k. The AOR shares that are part of the deal in lieu of cash, will mostly need to be sold to get enough cash for AXG to first pay off all their ordinary creditors who have been waiting for over 12 months. The $200k cash won't be enough. This goes some way towards explaining why Chris Castle fronted up with a $40k loan deal a few months back.
All this is subject to shareholder approval. Newmont apparently have some right of pre-emption, maybe that means that they can step in first and make a more straightforward offer for AXG in toto, and then delist the company.
This probably wouldn't suit Simon Henderson, who will possibly have a deal going with AOR, and in any case is due a golden handshake of up to about $2mill if AXG (or is that GENZL) ever gets to the point of having a decent mineable resource. The permit part ownerships are held by Glass Earth.
This press release has not been tagged alongside AXG on the NZX, but then neither have the other two press releases this year.
This will be interesting, to see what happens. Correnso is being mined by Newmont (100% owner) because there is at least 570,000 oz of gold there, at low current prices nearly US$700mill worth. They said it'll cost $200 mill to tunnel down and get to it ( labour costs could be over $50mill a year alone), then ongoing extraction costs. In any case, the sort of money being discussed over at AXG, 40% holder of an adjacent permit with one or more recent drills showing something, isn't really in the same league.
I think the AOR offer is a bit cheeky, and might flush out a bigger bet.
The TSX will start trading in AXG shares again, overnight in NZ time. That'll be interesting.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?...&qm_symbol=AXG
Edit: Maybe not, one transaction overnight worth $1350, at 3 cents.
A couple of hours ago, nearly 6% of AXG was traded on the TSX, 630,000 shares from a total of over 10mill, at C 2.5c, valuing the company at C$264,000 odd.
Doesn't look like the market is too impressed with the deal being discussed.
Aorere Resources has a page showing the press releases from CRP, AOR and AXG around 1st April.
http://aorereresources.co.nz/blog/20...s-gold-limited
There have not been any great changes in the share prices of these companies, well not upwards, anyway, since. I like to read between the lines a bit, this is a new habit that I've picked up after having been delivered a few lessons.
AOR will need to hand over $200,000 in cash, which they'll come up with by selling one or more assets. Then they'll also provide $800,000 "worth" of AOR shares to AXG, for the GENZL company assets. I'm fairly sure AXG owes quite a bit more than $200k at the moment, which means they'll sell these shares on market to realise cash, or they'll try and palm off most of the shares in lieu of payment. The last time someone exchanged GEL shares for debts over on the TSX, it caused a major crash in the price. Since AOR is only worth just north of $1.2mill on paper at the moment, guess what will happen to the shareprice. This could all happen around about August 2015, if all goes as they want it to.
It seems to me that all this is being driven by both Simon Henderson and Chris Castle being prepared to take a punt that the Waihi West permit will contain mineable gold, or it being the most likely positive result from all of the current AOR investments. As long as neither of them have to stump up any real initial cash, of course.
It will be the investors in AOR who will need to handle the share dilution and capital raising afterwards, if they have to pay for 40% of the drilling costs, assuming that goes ahead. There was no market frenzy from the Correnso find nearby a few short years ago, as that was all quietly contained within Newmont's offices. They could probably run a few news releases over drilling in Waihi West, or as much as Newmont lets them do.
But this all seems a lot of mucking about, when Newmont could just take over the whole permit and WKP for a sensible amount, let AXG sort out its horrible debts, and then maybe AXG could help CRP with a reverse takeover, only this time AXG would have a bit more of an interest in the final concern.
Note: this leaves AOR out of the picture. But as Chris Castle said, this whole deal is being set up to help CRP. Yeah right.
Here's a part of the Eastender update from Newmont posted on GoldFM by 8th April.
Kit Wilson was asked:
The Waihi Central School is directly opposite the main offices of Newmont, and while Newmont have the permit under their building 100%, AXG has a share in 40767 going down Moresby Ave around there. What the questioner referred to was probably the changes for the school if the West Layback was proceeded with. Newmont would have extended the reach of the Martha pit right beside the school, following some known veins from the pit. In view of Correnso, they've changed their ideas since then, they're keener on underground mining at depth. Savage Road joins Moresby Ave just north of there, and heads roughly northwards.Quote:
*Is more information available about exploration permit 40767? What has been found? What does the joint venture refer to? People are saying it’s well known that plenty of gold is there because there was a proposal to move Waihi Central School and change the road. It would be good if we can get some clarification.*Kit Wilson said there's not much he can say other than Newmont is drilling from Trio out towards the West into that permit area. The permit is owned by Antipodes Gold and Newmont is paying for the drilling. They have had one hit and Kit Wilson said it's like fishing, they have had one nibble, so there is nothing to clarify in terms of that.
There is one drill rig on the surface north of Savage Road at the moment and Kit Wilson said they are having a look around to see if there is something they should be taking a closer look at before they leave. Newmont is drilling underground because it is less of a hassle. "As soon as we find something, people will know."
Here's what they were talking about in 2007.
http://www.waihigold.co.nz/assets/up...02-10-2007.pdf
Permit 40767 is notched out roughly where those veins come through, Newmont has that immediate area already.
AXG will have to produce the last quarter and annual report by 30th April, or earlier.
The end of year report is out, will have a look at this later. The big news for today is OGC's offer for the Newmont Waihi assets, at $101mill. They have played this very quietly. I did get the impression that Newmont have better areas elsewhere, and OGC said they were looking for acquisitions in low labour countries. It could be that the latest find in Waihi West helped galvanise an offer, but note the scale of the offer, $280 an ounce for known reserves at the end of an existing tunnel. That's fairly cheap I'd have thought. Good news for the labour force in Waihi, as OGC are talking 10-20 years out, long enough to find some more underground resources.
What will this mean for AXG? OCG have deep pockets just like Newmont, so the $1mill AOR is talking about ($200k cash), might not be enough to stave off OGC taking AXG's share out of the picture in Waihi West, long before shares have to change hands. I don't think AXG has any kind of a relationship with OGC, there was certainly something with Newmont. GEL had that big permit right beside Macraes mine in Otago, but had to drop it before anything was done about it (nothing that was reported).
Again, this is a big surprise.
I had a quick look at the annual report. Uninspiring, as I'd thought it would be. The auditors didn't feel that they could pass an opinion on the books, not enough questions answered. No funds raised, but the directors did see fit to stump up $10,000 each (all in, lads!) for which they'll receive shares. One of the Drybread/Gunclub/McAdies landowners has sued for $300k damages to his property, in December 2014. We hear about this now? Typical.
Another comment towards the rear of the MDA:
Can a publicly listed company go belly-up? $400k odd has been dropped off the overdue debt loading somehow, maybe some creditors have written their debts off. No detail about if Newmont/OGC can just take over the JV permit shares in exchange for payment.Quote:
On 1 April 2015, the Company announced an intention to restructure the Company by means of two transactions, being the sale of the Company's gold assets and a change of business by means of a Reverse Takeover of a phosphate company. The planning of these transactions is at an early stage and subject to a number of conditions. There is no certainty that these transactions will be concluded.Company.
The failure to conclude these transactions could result in the collapse and/or bankruptcy of the
NZ Resources story for today, mentions AXG at the bottom. I think the reporter got the 30% a bit wrong, on paper AXG owns 50% of Waihi West permit for the moment, and 35% of WKP. But Newmont, and then OGC, hold first right of refusal to allow AXG to transfer these assets to AOR.
OGC say they'll spend about $5mill p.a. on exploration including near-pit veins (like those at Waihi West). I don't think that sort of spending would stretch to much WKP work, it must be on the back-burner in their current plans. But miners do seem to change their minds often.
AXG shares untouched overnight, OGC shares held about even, bigger than normal volume.
Mind you, the official Newmont story is that the net smelter royalty applies to a recent discovery north of the current Waihi operations. The amount of gold (300,000oz) also lines up with the 43-101 report on WKP for about the same, defined within the few closely spaced drills. It would defray some of Newmont's costs there. Note: OGC say the permit is in fact Waihi North, wholly Newmont owned at the moment, probably exploration drilled into, from the Martha pit. No detail.Quote:
1/5/2015 — Gold
OceanaGold to acquire Newmont’s Waihi operations
By Simon Hartley
New Zealand’s premier gold miner OceanaGold Corporation (ASX, NZX & TSX: OGC) plans to purchase its only hard rock gold mining competitor in New Zealand – the North Island operations of Newmont Mining Corporation at Waihi at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula.
The agreement is for OceanaGold to purchase the Waihi leases for $US101 million ($NZ132.3 M) which may prove to be a lifeline for OceanaGold’s operations to continue at Macraes for several years.
The combined operations will this year employ about 1,000 staff in NZ, with overall gold production next calendar year potentially well beyond 400,000 ounces; including OceanaGold’s Philippines contributions.
In the face of rising costs and gold price volatility, OceanaGold recently shed almost 300 staff and contracting jobs from Macraes in Otago, and at Reefton on the West Coast, as part of a $100 M efficiency drive following the gold price nosedive.
OceanaGold’s chief executive Mick Wilkes said Waihi represented a unique opportunity to acquire a high-quality asset which had demonstrated an ability to repeatedly extend its mine life in the past 27 years “in what is still a very prospective, high-quality goldfield.”
“We've long believed that Waihi represents a strong strategic fit within OceanaGold. We're excited about the prospect of acquiring it and welcoming its experienced workforce to our team,” he said.
Wilkes said there would be several synergies from the acquisition, including underground mine management, expertise and experience, equipment and procurement from suppliers.
The purchase is subject to gaining regulatory approvals and will be paid for from a mix of cash reserves and drawing down of existing debt facilities - the acquisition to contribute to OceanaGold's balance sheet from July 1.
The Frasers underground mine in East Otago recently got a mine life reprieve, being extended out to 2016 and the open pit operations may also yet be extended beyond 2017, but a cloud still hangs over Reefton operations.
When asked, Wilkes said the Waihi acquisition would not offset the planned mothballing of the Reefton open pit operations, at the end of 2015.
Each mine in OceanaGold's expanding portfolio had to justify its production costs, Wilkes noting he “didn't expect any significant long term recovery,'' in the price of gold, which has undermined Reefton's viability for the past two years.
All operations at Waihi were expected to continue as “business as usual,” with its gold continuing to be smelted into rough “dore” bars, for export and minting.
Wilkes said a review of operations would take place after the June, with expectations the workforce would be unchanged and capital expenditure, such as that on developing the underground Correnso mine, would be financially backed by OceanaGold.
Exploration spending above and below ground would continue at Waihi, at around $5 M per annum, which would include gold veins near the old, at present closed, Martha pit.
Wilkes had set a “cut off” selling price of about $US1,250/oz for New Zealand operations in March, and said yesterday that this rule of thumb was unchanged. However, he believed Waihi's overall cost of production could reduce overall NZ operation costs in the future.
Newmont operating subsidiary Newmont Waihi Gold has a staff of 340 from operations that were acquired early in 2002 when the American gold giant acquired Australia’s then biggest gold miner Normandy Mining Ltd, beating South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti to the punch.
Soon after that acquisition, Newmont courted at least two Canadian junior gold miners interested in buying the Waihi operation, considered by some Newmont executives then as too small to retain.
However, Newmont had a change of mind and retained the operations and invested strongly in maintaining the community relations that Normandy had fostered in Waihi.
The flagship remained the Martha open cut mine which had been developed in 1988 over the historic Martha underground workings which had closed in the early 1950s. Newmont Waihi Gold went on to develop the Favona and Trio underground mines and, with these now closed, is developing the Correnso underground mine from near the Martha pit, which suffered a wall slip recently and has been temporarily closed.
Waihi has been producing up to 100,000 oz of gold and about three times more silver through in 2014 output was reportedly about 131,500 oz gold and 482,000 oz silver.
The acquisition may queer the pitch for struggling junior explorer Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) which has two joint ventures with Newmont in the Waihi district and is planning to undergo a restructuring linked to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR).
The plan is for Antipodes to undertake a reverse takeover of AOR associated company Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) and an attraction for that company is that the Antipodes link (nominally to change its name to Antipodes Phosphate) would provide a Toronto venture exchange listing.
Antipodes plans to sell its Waihi assets – 30% of Waihi West near the Correnso development and the WPK joint venture prospect further away where a large epithermal system has been outlined by Newmont to Aorere.
Antipodes still owes for some of the recent exploration commitments to Newmont which would have a first right of refusal should Antipodes change its colours. That then brings OceanaGold into the corporate chess game.
- additional reporting by Ross Louthean
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?..._symbol=NEM:US
Maybe OGC is having a think about WKP longer term.
http://www.oceanagold.com/assets/doc...tion-FINAL.pdf
AXG's MD&A for end of 2014. https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/212120.pdf
See the financial report and the auditor's statements: I don't think they are impressed with the hoops AOR and CRP would need to go though to make the deal work. Maybe AXG is destined to be in the CRaPor.
https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/212121.pdf
There has been a bit of work on the Antipodes website too: the annual report has been posted to the financial page.Quote:
25/5/2015 — Gold
Antipodes advances deal with Chatham Rock
By Ross Louthean
A formal loan agreement between troubled gold explorer Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: ASG) and Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) has progressed.
Subject to approval of shareholders of both companies and regulatory authorities, the companies plan a corporate merry-go-round.
Under this agreement, CRP will make an interest-free, unsecured loan to Antipodes for it to meet its share of the transaction costs, and to cover interim general expenditure.
Antipodes was now preparing to lodge relevant initial documents with the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V). The dual listed company plans to sell its New Zealand subsidiary, containing its business assets, to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) – a company associated with Chatham Rock Phosphate.
Antipodes is a partner with Newmont Mining Corporation’s subsidiary Newmont Waihi Gold in the Waihi West and WKP gold prospecting joint ventures in the Waihi district.
While Newmont Waihi Gold has a pre-emptive rights relating to these joint ventures there is a new chapter to this exercise as OceanaGold Corporation (TSX, ASX & NZX: OGC) is advancing the purchase of the Newmont Waihi Gold mining assets at Waihi.
So, it becomes a question as to whether the pre-emptive right also moves to OceanaGold. Certainly, Newmont Waihi Gold was patient with cash-tight Antipodes in meeting its financial commitments for drilling on the two joint ventures.
“Unable to raise capital for development of these assets, AXG’s financial position has demanded a restructure to realise the current value of its business assets and remaining company structure,” CRP said late last week.
Should the Waihi joint venture assets be transferred to Aorere, then Antipodes, now a listed shell, would propose undertaking a reverse takeover of CRP by offering new shares to CRP shareholders, winch includes Aorere.
This, CRP said, would leave Antipodes current shareholders with a residual stake in the post-transaction company.
Under the blueprint the Antipodes company may be rebranded Antipodes Phosphate Ltd as it would hold the Chatham Rise seabed phosphate project - recently having its mining consent rejected by the Environmental Protection Authority - and also seabed phosphate deposits off the Namibian coast.
The fact a loan has been made at all, implies there is real value in the TSX listing, perhaps not as a junior gold explorer at the moment, but undersea resources could become increasingly interesting to Canadian investors.
Now the big question is, what value is likely to be involved in the WKP and Waihi West permits, and what are OGC intending to do on this front?
The Antipodes Gold website now has the first quarter report to March 31st. I had a quick look, nothing major seems to have changed except Newmont has now technically earned into 60% of Waihi West, as provided under the current agreement. Meanwhile OGC is going for it with the takeover of Newmont's assets at Waihi, holding the economic benefit from 1st July 2015, and looking to formally complete sometime in the third quarter, which is fast approaching.
http://www.antipodesgold.co.nz/uploa...15_-_final.pdf
From NZResources: Aorere is still hoping that Newmont won't exercise their pre-emptive rights over WKP or Waihi West permits, but OGC has been implying already that they are part of the deal at Waihi.
Quote:
24/6/2015 — Gold
Aorere awaits Newmont on pre-emptive rights issue
Shareholders in Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) have been told that directors are awaiting to see if Newmont Corporation will use its pre-emptive right on two joint ventures it holds in the Waihi region of the North Island.
Aorere has just released its 2015 annual report in which managing director Chris Castle said that it had made an offer to acquire the two Waihi project interests Antipodes Gold Ltd (TVX-V & NZAX: AXG) holds with Newmont.
Castle said in the report that Newmont was yet to advise whether or not these rights would be exercised.
A corporate roundabout being planned by Aoerere and associated company Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) is for Aorere to buy Antipodes interest in the Waihi West and WKP joint ventures it holds with Newmont and for Antipodes to be involved in a reverse takeover of Chatham Rock and to be renamed Antipodes Phosphate.
CRP currently holds the Chatham Rise seabed phosphate project which had its resource consents rejected recently by the NZ Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and also seabed phosphate permits in Namibia.
Chris Castle said that if Newmont does not exercise a pre-emptive right on Antipodes two Waihi district permits then Aorere “will hold interests in two very interesting, strategically located exploration tenements within shouting distance of the existing mining operation.
“While there will be associated work programme commitments we believe that these should be able to be financed by further equity raises,” he added.
One other interesting piece in this chess game is the fact that OceanaGold Corporation (TSX, ASX & NZX: OGC) has now confirmed it will be taking over Newmont’s Waihi operations and that will include the two exploration joint ventures.
In his report in the annual report, Aorere chairman Dene Biddlecombe said that originally it was hoped this would be a year of investment opportunities for the company.
The company is a major shareholder in Chatham Rock Phosphate but that company’s share price was eroded first by an EPA staff negative report and then by the EPA later rejecting the Chatham Rise resource consents.
He said the impact these had on CRP’s share price significantly reduced the net tangible assets position of Aorere at March 31.
Biddlecombe said the company was also disappointed with the company’s other major investments in Mosman Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM: MSMN).
“Some upside in this investment remains but the current conditions for a petroleum exploration company anywhere in the world are very difficult,” he said.
Aorere’s other investments have mostly remained stable in the past 12 months with Asian Mineral Resources (TSX: AMR) becoming profitable with development of its Ban Phuc nickel project in Vietnam.
Biddlecombe said that should the Antipodes deals go through then the CRP vehicle would have dual listing in Toronto.
I missed the press release, but Newmont, on behalf of OGC, has put in an offer to AXG's board for the exploration assets, that cannot be refused.
This is much more like it: the Glass Earth - Antipodes Gold company that promised so much and worked hard trying to make it, will have its remaining permit assets bought out by a larger player, effectively for about NZ$2mill, after C$32mill or more has been spent by investors on mainly exploration and some admin costs since 2006.Quote:
22/7/2015 — Gold
Antipodes on new tack with Newmont-pre-emptive right
By Ross Louthean
The series of events that were to lead to a new life for a struggling gold company and two associated companies was somewhat unravelled this week but there is still a path ahead.
The short version of the planned corporate merry-go-round was for the gold company to sell its interest in two gold prospects in the Waihi district to a mining investment company and then to become a reverse takeover vehicle for another company holding marine phosphate projects in New Zealand and Namibia.
It was a tight schedule, with one of the tightest factors being available capital in the three companies.
Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) informed the market yesterday that Newmont Corporation, owner of Newmont Waihi Gold, had decided to take up its pre-emptive right for Antipodes’ equity in the Waihi West and WKP exploration permits near Waihi.
Linked to this decision by Newmont was Oceana Gold Holdings (Waihi) Ltd, the company set up by OceanaGold for its separate $US101 million takeover of Newmont’s mining and exploration permits in and around Waihi.
Antipodes minority equity in the two joint ventures was held by its subsidiary Glass Earth (NZ) Ltd (GENZL). Had the pre-emptive right not been taken up by Newmont, then Antipodes was to sell its equity in the two properties to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) for $1 million in shares and cash, and for it to then become a reverse takeover vehicle for Aorere’s associated company Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP).
A fundamental for Chatham Rock, which was hard hit by the rejection of its mining consents for seabed phosphate on Chatham Rise by NZ’s Environmental Protection Agency, was to be able to utilise Antipodes dual listing on the venture exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Antipodes said the proposal for the takeover of CRP was still being contemplated but terms were likely to be modified.
“A separate announcement in this regard will be made in the near future,” said Antipodes chief executive Thomas Rabone.
Newmont, with the knowledge and participation of OceanaGold, will pay Antipodes for the pre-emptive right:
- Waihi Gold will assume responsibility for all unpaid cash calls owed by GENZL from exploration carried out by Newmont for the joint venture.
- GENZL will transfer and Waihi Gold will assume responsibility for all GENZL’s royalty obligations associated with the permits.
- Waihi Gold will pay to GENZL $NZ1 million (plus NZ goods and services tax of 15%) together with up to $NZ525,000 to settle GENZL’s debt to other creditors.
Subject to all conditions being ratified, including approval from Energy & Resources Minister Simon Bridges, then the new Waihi Gold Agreement will be concluded on or before December 8.
Meanwhile, Aorere’s chief executive Chris Castle said that CRP, in which Aorere is a major shareholder, was in discussion with Antipodes on the proposal for a reverse takeover of Chatham Rock.
In another announcement Aorere chairman Dene Biddlecombe said a purpose of Antipodes reverse takeover proposal of CRP was for CRP under a new guise to assume Antipodes’ listing on the TSX-V.
“Pleasingly the intention to undertake this takeover remains and the CRP and Antipodes boards are now in discussions directly to progress this transaction further,” Biddlecombe said.
Antipodes Press Release. (55.2 kilobytes)
Importantly, all of the old debts are covered, a clean slate for suppliers, so in the circumstances not a bad result. The WKP and Waihi West areas are also more likely to get the necessary proving work done on them (by OGC), so if there's enough resources there to make it worthwhile, maybe some jobs and wealth will be created in the area.
And, CRP might still get their reverse takeover listing on the TSX.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?...&qm_symbol=AXG
Looks like the AXG TSX listing is valued at $300,000. Bargain.
https://www.nzx.com/companies/CRP/announcements/267322
https://www.nzx.com/companies/AXG/announcements/267321
Quote:
NZResources:
24/7/2015 — Other Minerals and Metals
New agreement for Antipodes reverse takeover of CRP
A revised agreement has now been reached between Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) and Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) to look at a corporate marriage.
The original plan was halted when Newmont Waihi Gold Ltd exercised a pre-emptive right for Antipodes Gold’s minority interest in two gold exploration targets in the Waihi district.
That action saw Antipodes gain a payment of $NZ1 million, and financial cover for outstanding payments for drilling on the two properties and funds to also eliminate other outstanding debts.
The original blueprint was for Antipodes to sell its equity in the two properties to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) and then become the vehicle for a reverse takeover of Aorere associated company Chatham Rock (CRP).
Yesterday both Antipodes and CRP said the two companies had reached agreement on Antipodes taking up all the issued shares in CRP, subject to approval of shareholders in both companies and the Venture Exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The existing CRP would see this passage to the TSX-V as being valuable for market exposure and for future capital raisings to get a new submission before the NZ Environmental Protection Authority for the recently rejected mining consents for the company’s Chatham Rise marine phosphate project. CRP also has marine phosphate tenements in Namibia.
The new blueprint also sees Antipodes, as the reverse takeover vehicle, being renamed Antipodes Rock Phosphate Ltd.
Antipodes’ chief executive Thomas Rabone said that the transaction with CRP or the Waihi Gold Agreement will be completed as proposed or at all. There was due diligence by both companies and full board decisions to be taken into account.
At this stage Antipodes Gold could be valued at about $NZ600,000 and CRP at $2.4 million. Assuming completion of the takeover, this would result in CRP shareholders holding about 80% of Antipodes Gold.
Further transaction update. (56.8 kilobytes)
No news has been reported on the ASX or the NZX about AXG to my knowledge recently, but SEDAR has the mandatory 6 monthly report for a listed company, and the MD&A etc. These are unaudited, dated 25th August 2015.
http://www.sedar.com/DisplayCompanyD...uerNo=00009207
Nothing much has happened since OGC formalised the idea of gazumping AOR for any gold there might be in GEL's permits near Waihi. AXG will be sending out a circular to shareholders sometime soon, for a meeting to discuss the proposal in October. Almost tempted to buy a few shares, to go to the meeting, although it might be in Canada.
AXG shareholders will be pleased to note that despite the slow progress in unwinding a bankrupt listed company to extricate what little value is left, some semblance of an office is surely running at full bore. Simon Henderson has accrued another $77,000 odd in salary due to him for the six months, while living in the Wellington region, with the shared services office (one room) being in Auckland. The inspired accountant Peter Liddle is also accruing a salary, as is CEO Thomas Rabone. No doubt these gentlemen will be paid for their vocal and obvious services in the washup, with OGC money. All three were heavily involved in the debacle played out in the Otago dustbowl of Drybread, where GEL lost its last few million dollars very quickly, because of some bad decisions and poor management.
In hindsight GEL should never have gone there, and the major person helping the share price along, overseas greenfield mining consultant and tipster Brent Cook, should have been asked for his opinion first. Without his big collection of Canadian investors alongside GEL, there wasn't any backup plan for more investors.
No more free cash to play with, no workable exploration JVs, game over.
Quote:
ANTIPODES GOLD LIMITED
(A Development Stage Company)
Notes to Financial Statements
(Tabular amounts in thousands of Canadian dollars)
For the six months ended June 30, 2015
Page 22 of 28
a) Salaries of $77,182 have been accrued for Simon Henderson (Director) for the
six months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014: accrued
$18,774).
b) Salaries of $36,262 have been accrued for Peter Liddle (CFO) for the six
months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014: accrued
$16,427).
c) Salaries of $45,205 have been accrued for Thomas Rabone (CEO) for the six
months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014: Nil).
d) No further loans have been received from directors and management for the
six months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014:
- Adrian
Fleming $10,000, Justin Cochrane $10,000, Simon Henderson $10,000, Peter
Liddle $10,000).
These loans are interest free and repayable by September 30, 2015 or, at the
election of the director, convertible into shares in the Company.
Why has there been a change in my opinion of the executive of this company in the last post? Because I had been led to believe that they were prepared to clean this mess up for a token salary amount, considering that they had been well paid by shareholders earlier on, two of them since 2007. The shareholders got kept out of the information loop far too often, so any major issues weren't of the shareholders making.
Let's have a look at the EOY 2014 report: the bit about related transactions. Here are the salaries they were prepared to accept last year, and the settlement date for the loans. Very low salaries, but understandable in terms of the massive losses that the company had suffered under their watch. About then, I figured they were running the company much more like an ordinary business. If things go bad, everyone feels the pain.
By August 25th 2015, the executive and the board must have decided to roll out the repayment terms of the small loans, but also to boost the salaries of the three company employees back to fairly close to their historical level. Then, shareholders have to ask, with little or no exploration going on (no point anyway) just a few crusty old bills - that can't be paid yet- to look at, and perhaps a few meetings to chew the fat, what are they going to be paid for? How does anyone justify over $150,000 of salaries being accrued in six months when the company is effectively not trading?
These golden handshake salary payments to three staff will be made at the cost of the remaining shareholders, people who have seen almost all of their investment squandered in short order. Even in the last big capital raising, there was one NZ party who could have lost over a million dollars. I put it to the executive members, this is not funny money.
Further to the post above, I had a bit of a look at the Q1 report, and in this one the salaries for the three executives were well screwed down, and that report was put out around the end of June 2015. See below. At this point the possibility of the company being able to easily settle its old debts wasn't looking good at all.
By July 20th, however, Newmont/OGC had ridden to the rescue, and the far better real offer was announced. By 25th August there had been a rather miraculous improvement in the pay scales of the three executives for the previous six months, which appeared in part to be backdated. Well, I noticed it, I wonder if any existing shareholders did? They should make some noise at the next meeting.
The date and place of the next meeting will be advised on SEDAR no doubt.
There is an Annual General and Special Meeting on Oct 1st, in Vancouver.
http://www.sedar.com/DisplayProfile....uerNo=00009207
Meanwhile, the ODT has some background on the permitting regime as it applies to Otago and NZ, noting that GEL/AXG has exited Otago. They have left behind plenty of data at NZPAM, hopefully some new operations will make use of it.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/3...re-prospecting
SEDAR says the special meeting is now a month later, on Nov 03 at the same venue. Unsure what time the meeting is, that's not spelt out.
All of the proposed motions at the AGM were passed, which means Antipodes Gold will provide a back-door listing on the TSX-V for CRP, while at the value end of the deal Oceana Gold will pay the old Glass Earth bills, and obtain 100% of what's left of the permits. These are under part of Waihi township, and to the Northeast of Waihi, up in the hills at and around WKP.
I also saw this snippet in the management information circular sent out before the AGM.
Quote:
ANTIPODES GOLDLIMITED
Of course at this juncture, the three people concerned are the most likely to know what's going on with the company business. But they also helped put the company in a very bad position, and lost a whole lot of shareholder cash. Some of this capital was apparently lost through a minority of untrained or unsupported staff who were being paid only around $25 an hour. Even then the staff did a lot better out of the deal than the shareholders, who actually paid good money to watch all of this unfold. Our return =NIL.Quote:
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL AND SPECIAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
To be held on November 24, 2015
Management Information Circular
(Dated October 23, 2015)
The Company had employment contracts with Messrs. Henderson and Liddle but these have been cancelled by mutual agreement and replaced with a time based contractor rate of NZ$700/day (C$600/day). Mr. Rabone is also on a time based contractor rate of NZ$800/day (C$680/day) since his appointment as CEO in February 2014. Other management services for the Company are not, to any material degree, performed by persons other than the senior officers of the Company. No pension plan or retirement benefit plans have been instituted by the Company and none are proposed at this time.
Oceana Gold is firing ahead with drilling into the Waihi West permit, where they have a new vein discovery called Quattro. Note that this didn't get 'discovered' while Glass Earth had any money or ability to do anything about it. It just sat there, while GEL shareholders helped cover the permit holding and overall mapping costs.
http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general/new-...called-quattro
NTL also seems to demonstrate a similar lack of action... Perhaps, as one poster mentioned, they also may not know how to drill.
Yes, it all goes to show how goldmining is certainly a game for the big guys. Newmont just stalled Glass Earth on Waihi West (surely always a good bet), waited for them to run out of money. They were outfoxed in Otago by an older operator, but they were well and truly done up in Waihi. Drilling costs a heap, you have to drill a lot of holes to get good data reliable enough for mining. GEL only had to pay a smaller percentage, but that was always too much for their budget at WKP, and Waihi West was not really started. Then they lost the new capital Brent Cook brought along (or the potential for it) at Drybread, and they were sunk. Lots of the SI permits were probably never adequately checked out, they had too many permits for the funds available.
I still think that they were unlucky not to find a rich spot in their few contracted drills, but when it came to alluvial mining, they were inept compared to people who had been doing it for a living. That's what finished off the game as far as shareholders were concerned.
No problem Carpenterjoe, guess you were as optimistic as me for a long time. If I'd been a bit more informed by the company as to the true state of affairs, I'd have posted a lot less. Their carefully worded press releases remind me of that slug gun and motorcycle brand, BSA.
One outfit I will be keeping a good eye on is OGC, they could do very well around Waihi, as the gold grade appears to be close to 1 oz/tonne in parts of the Quattro vein alone.
http://www.oceanagold.com/assets/Upl...elease-ASX.pdf
CRP put out a press release yesterday, in which AXG is carefully posed as a "cashed up" entity, ready to help CRP achieve all of its long-term goals.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU160...9+January+2016
All the best for that - looks like Simon will be going to another PDAC conference overseas.
Nothing to report, except that an old November 2015 press release puts a new perception on the Quattro Vein in Waihi West. Remember GEL had a big chunk of that in the beginning, at the IPO. While they hooned all over the country looking for a pot of gold, it was probably sitting there under Waihi township all along. But I bet Newmont wouldn't allow them to drill it for several years.
http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general/pros...-for-oceanagolQuote:
The newly identified Quattro vein located west of the old Trio workings may be a potential strike extension of the Martha system. Its estimated to have a strike length in excess of 500m with thick vein widths up to 7.6m.
That's one way of spinning it..Quote:
14/3/2016 — Gold
OceanaGold to acquire Antipodes tenements
By Simon Hartley
OceanaGold Corporation (TSX, ASX & NZX: OGC) has purchased the gold exploration assets of Toronto-listed Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) in the central North Island, with the latter still headed for its reverse takeover of Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP).
Antipodes, formerly gold exploration company Glass Earth Gold which operated mainly around Otago, announced completion of the sale on Friday to OceanaGold, which separately last year purchased the adjacent Newmont Waihi Gold production mine and exploration permits.
Antipodes chairman Adrian Fleming, who did not reveal the sale price, said the company could now focus on the reverse takeover of Chatham Rock.
Because of TSX Venture Exchange regulations, Antipodes, with Chatham as its subsidiary, must have sufficient working capital to meets administration and budgeted operating costs for the 12 months after the reverse takeover.
To achieve that, Chatham has boosted its cash position by entering into a conditional subscription agreement for up to $NZ600,000 of new shares from a private investor, Fleming said.
“The divestment of the [central North Island] gold assets provided an opportunity for shareholders to invest in a company with exciting prospects in the marine and terrestrial phosphate industry,” he said.
Chatham Rock holds a mining permit over a significant phosphate deposit on the Chatham Rise seabed, about 400 kilometres east of Christchurch. However, Chatham's initial marine consent application was declined in February 2015 by the the Environmental Protection Authority, but Chatham is planning to submit a new application, subject to improvements to the consenting process.
Chatham intends to raise further funds of up to $NZ900,000, Fleming said.
He cautioned completion of the reverse takeover was subject to a number of conditions, including final acceptance by the TSX-V, so he could give no assurance the transaction would be completed as proposed.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.
http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/img/icons/pdf.jpg ANTIPODES GOLD NEWS RELEASE 16-1 10 March 2016 (194.6 kilobytes)
Latest update from NZResources:
This is all about using the Antipodes TSX-V listing and a bit of leftover cash to help give CRP some leverage, when needed for their next fundraising. It's the last bit of tidy-up work for Glass Earth-Antipodes. However untidy it may look, some Glass Earth key staff will be thankful that they were working in a listed company. If they'd tried the same operation with their own private money, they'd have lost the lot.Quote:
13/7/2016 — Other Minerals and Metals
Reverse takeover for CRP is nigh
The planned reverse takeover of Chatham Rock Phosphate (NZAX: CRP) by Antipodes Gold continues to work through the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Last year the two companies agreed to come together, with Antipodes Gold having to shed some gold assets to remain afloat and CRP seeing this as an opportunity to use Antipodes listing on the Venture Exchange of the TSX.
The reverse takeover was said now to be 95% down the track.
Chatham Rock’s chief executive Chris Castle said that with the Antipodes shell CRP would inherit some funds associated with the merger, a Toronto director, 1,003 resources-sector shareholders in a number of countries, and a Canadian corporate support structure.
“This merger will strengthen Chatham, complement our New Zealand listing and provide new opportunities for existing Antipodes shareholders,” he said.
Chatham Rock said in its June quarter report it has been able to raise $3.7 million since its share price was “slaughtered by the Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) refusal of a mining consent for seafloor phosphate nodules on Chatham Rise.
Castle said the company’s present share price of 0.9 cents values Chatham at $7.24 million - a sixth of its market value in February last year.
“We believe Chatham is now in a stronger position than it’s ever been due to the knowledge gained during the marine consent application process,” Castle said.
CRP will be reapplying for a marine consent following further consultation with stakeholders, a potential revision of the project and further research on some scientific issues.
Castle said both the company and the EPA have learned a lot from the initial consent application.
“We’re confident this will result in improved application and hearing processes and we’ll resubmit an even better application to robustly deal with the issues on which we were rejected.
Castle said that CRP remains puzzled by environmental groups which, through opposing our Chatham project, condone New Zealand importing all its phosphate needs, “so exporting our environmental footprint to countries mining phosphate where it involves severe social and environmental distress.”
CRP will be holding its annual general meeting in Wellington at Chartered Accountants’ House, 50 Customhouse Quay, on July 26.
At least the Govt seems to have figured out that a few million spent on surveys and then made available to exploration companies, would be a good investment.
Quote:
12/10/2016 — Gold
Surveys to hold up prospecting permits
By Simon Hartley
Prospecting permits will not be issued for metallic minerals across much of Otago and the South Island until mid-2018, as permit agency New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZP&M) completes its $8 million aeromagnetic and soil geochemical surveys.
Under the prospecting permit exclusion, just put in place by Minister of Energy and Resources Simon Bridges, permits can still be applied for mineral exploration and mining.
The aeromagnetic data helps identify mineral deposits and information on faults, aquifers, and soils, measuring the earth's magnetism and naturally occurring radiation.
Of the total $8 M being spent on new data, about $6.4 M is being spent on the aeromagnetic and soil sampling.
NZP&M manager-commercial, analysis and investment David Darby said in his latest update that the Murchison survey will create a link between the Nelson and Marlborough surveys, and the Government's 2013 survey of the West Coast.
“Once complete we will have a seamless data-set linking Nelson and Marlborough with the West Coast.
“It will mean aeromagnetic data has been gathered over more than 30% of the country,” Darby said.
He said the data gathered is available, free, to the resource's industry and provided valuable information for potential investors which could help sway investment decisions.
NZP&M similarly also undertakes seaborne hydrographic surveys of the seabed, also to entice oil and gas explorers to New Zealand.
The exclusion of applying for prospecting permits runs from last September to July 2018, with the reservations in total covering more than 17,626 square kilometres.
Simon Bridges said prospecting permits for metallic minerals would not be granted or extended in relation to three separate areas of land around the South Island, including the reserve areas in Otago and Murchison.
Under the wider aeromagnetic survey, undertaken by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, areas being covered included east Nelson, Murchison, North and Central Otago and South Otago and Southland.
The Otago-Southland survey started in January and was now more than 45% complete and will restart again in the summer of 2016-17.
The North Otago part of the survey restarted in mid-September and was expected to be completed by November.
“So far this part of the survey has acquired approximately 53,000 line km of geophysical data,'' NZP&M said.
The Marlborough District Council and Venture Southland; representing Environment Southland, Southland District Council, Invercargill City Council and Gore District Council had partnered with NZP&M on the project, which would provide them with information on geological hazards, including fault lines, regional water resources and information on climate, soil and geology.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.
The Toronto stock exchange has approved the reverse takeover of CRP by AXG, which means CRP will have all AXG's assets, being a small amount of cash and the TSX-V listing. In the big document they filed on Sedar, it looks like Simon Henderson isn't a big part of the new operation.
http://www.nzresources.com/attachmen...atemen_lrt.pdf
An Australian company is looking to raise cash to develop Neavesville, just above the WKP area. Glass Earth /Antipodes couldn't raise the cash or access for their attempt a few years ago, even when they were backed 50% by Geoff Loudon.
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6/3/2017 — Gold
Neavesville the focus for Australian float
By Ross Louthean
One of the identified gold regions in the Hauraki Goldfield is to be the prime asset in a new Australian float.
A company called E2 Metals Ltd has released a placement prospectus for the issue of 40 million A20 cent shares to raise $A8 M for an IPO that hopes to list on the Australian Securities Exchange in early April.
The principal target is the Neavesville prospect, a known target for epithermal gold-silver in the Hauraki goldfield, and the 51% owned Mount Hope project in the Cobar copper-gold field in New South Wales. E2 plans to acquire the other 49% equity in the Australian project.
Under the proposal the company plans to offer a loyalty option for every three shares issued in parcels greater than $A2,000 in the IPO.
E2 said the Trig’s Bluff prospect at Neavesville has a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 1,489,500 tonnes grading 2.58 g/t gold and 9.69 g/t silver. The prospectus said Trig’s Bluff was open at depth, up dip and down dip.
The prospectus shows E2 already has 30.37 M shares on issue.
The non-executive chairman Martin Donohue was founder of listed ASX company Kidman Resources, and managing director Simon Peters is a mining engineer and executive director Christopher Spurway a geologist who has worked on the Neavesville project for five years.
Neavesville is 15 km south-east of the historic Thames goldfield and 20 km north-west of Golden Cross which was a recent mining operation for US company Couer d’Alene.
There are three principal targets at Neavesville – Neavesville, Oneura and Chelmsford and the most advanced being Trig’s Bluff at Neavesville and the Ajax prospect.
Neavesville is on land owned by Trustees of the Pakirarahi Number One B Trust and Trustees of the Pakirarahi Number Two Trust. A joint venture and access agreement has been with the Number One B Trust covering 1,409.5 hectares and this contains Oneura, Chelmsford and the Ajax prospect.
When the now disappearing Antipodes Gold (by going into a reverse takeover with Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd) was operating in the Hauraki goldfield as Glass Earth Gold it attempted to acquire Neavesville, but the quest failed undoubtedly due to Glass Earth’s diminishing cash.
Update: E2 Metals raised $6mill, they have recently listed on the ASX, and they are ready to drill immediately at Neavesville.
http://e2metals.com.au/new-zealand/t...ville-project/
GEL/AXG had a right to hold this permit, but relinquished it in March 2014 as part of their meltdown in the South Island.
Oceana Gold is putting two new tunnels into an area near the existing Martha pit, around the bottom level. This is for grade checking.
But also, a presentation included a page on drilling and mapping programmes on the Coromandel, with the majority of the expensive work going in at the WKP permit. 6,000mtrs of drilling is underway. That could produce say 30 new drills at 200mtrs each. It's a scale well above what Glass Earth achieved, and with costs in the region of $1,000 a metre at WKP, it'll cost them $6mill for those drills.