Yes Ed, I believe Mr. Cochrane is the tight lipped type. I believe that he will not say anything at all --until he is absolutely certain that it is 100% correct.
A few of my recollections from the meeting...
-The properties in Madigascar are really in two separate camps.
The first location is the gold property and (I think) on the north part of the island.
The second properties are the gem properties, and are on the southern part of the island. (I hope I haven't turned the locations around).
The gem properties that the company has, were originally in the hands of an old Malagasy family, that are in their 4th generation of gem mining. Through various political events several years ago, the old family lost the mineral rights to this property and shortly after that Massey Mercantile picked up the properties. This is the same family that we have now entered into business with with the new properties. Yes, the properties are adjacent or adjoining to the existing properties that we have. There is a working mine on the new properties. Charles told us that what WE think of as a mine, and what the old Malagasy call a mine might be quite different things. We are in a different part of the world here, and artisanal(I think thats how it is spelled) techniques prevail.This old family have put up $500,000 Cdn. (actually US Funds converted to Cdn, Charles said) to join ranks with the Canadian company, and who knows the property better?
The face of mining is changing in Madagascar, and the government there is taking strong measures to clean up what has been a largely unmonitored and unregulated business. I think that our company is presently the only legitimate export mining company operating in Madigascar. Our Company has taken quite a beating just getting this far, but in doing so we have won the respect of the Government.In support of activities like ours, the Madigascar Government has begun shipping hundreds of unscrupulous individuals out of the Country.
Through other improprieties, a fair amount was lost through the bad business activities of the companies previous Madagascar manager. The board of directors proposed the appointment of the most prestigious auditing firm to review the company operations, and I think it was unanimously passed at the AGM.
The company is presently engaging a Malagasy film production company to do a video for the shareholders and prospective shareholders. Most people do not understand how difficult it is just to get diesel fuel to the site!
After the meeting and Q and A session, we got to look at samples of gems taken from the site, in both the raw and finished state.
We are in the summer doldrums and mining stocks seem to do poorly here.
Hope this answers some of your questions.
Doran. |
