Peter:
I can certainly tell you that this is the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a while. Thank you. Now if you were to get to know me...?
I'd also like to attach a couple of other notes, including a reply to Jason:
Jason:
Re: Higher 1st Q G&A, IR etc costs: We can go into this in more detail at the AGM but briefly, first quarter costs this year are a lot higher than last year's for a number of reasons. The first is that I have built up an Investor Relations and Corporate Development department which is far busier than was the case a year ago. That is, we now have a multimedia show (created in-house), a professional looking booth for
trade and investment shows (created primarily in house), we are attending more of these shows, we now have an up-to-date internet presence (in-house), we've done an analyst tour, we now have a workable database which is growing daily ( above now minimal database maintanence costs, this means we have to pay for the fact that more people are receiving our press releases) and our information kit
costs are higher with a new brochure, more press releases, higher mailing costs etc.) The increase in G&A reflects the fact that, as a growing company, we are in more projects and administration costs are appropriately somewhat higher. Yes, these must be watched closely regardless.
Re: Executive compensation: It's a good point to raise face to face at the AGM. My only comments would be that a) they are very much in line with the industry; b) all compensation is recommended by the independent committee on the board and the last time they reassessed happened to be in early March when our share price had topped up (ie. before anyone had heard about the Bre-X bombshell; c) as significant shareholders in YRI stock, senior management has a very large stake in seeing the share price go back up. (Far larger a stake than is reflected in their direct compensation.) Beyond that, everyone here knows that we are in this for the shareholders. Still, this set-back in our market cap / share price has cost us all dearly -- most painfully because it was through no fault of our own. But we are coming back. Sooner, I hope, rather than later.
Re: Rio Algom. As I think I've said before, we are in serious discussions with several groups, a few of which have very, very deep pockets. Site visits are being scheduled. The interest is definitely there. Personally, I'd give us about an 85% chance of signing someone up before we are too much into this new season.
Re: Barrick and Indonesia -- Their commitment to our COW application blocks and our partnership remains firm. We do not believe that they have become anything more than appropriately cautious about the mixed signals we are getting from the Indonesian government. That is, the geology is good and we are learning more about it on a steady basis.
I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing you at the AGM.
To anyone interested:
We've just received another Strong Buy from Chris Bunka in his August "Bunka's Outsider's Overature" and, from Sudhir Khanna of The Resource Indicator: "I continue to have an aggressive approach towards Yamana with the expectation of profits by the first quarter of 1998. The buying strategy remains unchanged: Accumulate the common stock near current levels and the warrants below $0.55."
Paul Sarnoff, Doug Casey and a few others also continue to put out nice verbal and/or written reports about us.
Cheers to all and keep the ("Is it hot in here or is it just me?") faith.
Greg |
