The following letter was sent to Bill Murphy of GATA and was posted on GATA's LeMetropole Cafe web site. Sounds like some MDN stockholders are scared and nervous and are blaming Pangea as well as Barrick. They certainly have a right to be scared and nervous but what I would like to know is; why are they blaming Pangea? Does anybody know anything about this visit to the MDN board meeting by Claude Britt, Pangea's VP of Exploration? Also, can anyone confirm the statement he made at the MDN meeting that Pangea had rejected a C$7.00 offer and that nothing under C$12.00 would be considered? If Mr. Britt made such a statement at MDN's annual stockholder's meeting, the actions of PGD's Board in accepting Barrick's low-ball C$7.00 offer are truly unbelievable.
To paraphrase 'Alice in Wonderland'; this is getting curiouser and curiouser.
Dear Bill:
I have noticed that Barrick figures prominently in accusations of gold manipulation. Being a
Canadian, and having had to endure many years of corrupt government under the direction of
Brian Mulroney, it is no surprise that he should be a valued director of that company.
I am a shareholder in a junior gold mining company, based in Quebec, called Exploration
Miniere du Nord (MDN-Toronto). MDN has one principal property, Tulawaka in Tanzania,
which it owns jointly with Pangea Goldfields of Toronto (PGD-Toronto) in a 30/70 split.
Tulawaka is very rich in surface gold and has released information estimating reserves in the
region from 0 to 50 metres of 1.1 million oz. A further resource calculation refined this
estimate to about 3 million oz., based on the concentration of the gold and the ease of
extraction (or something like that). Pangea has been drilling to 300 metres with three diamond
drill rigs, round the clock since the beginning of the year. The company released some positive
drill results in early April but nothing since. This, in itself is strange, as the drill program is
ongoing. MDN, as the junior partner, has demanded more current results without success.
"On June 30th., Pangea announced that the company had received a cash offer of CAN$7.00 a
share from Barrick. The same press release stated that the board of directors of Pangea and
its executive had agreed to tender their shares in the deal and that they were recommending it
to shareholders. All of this came on the Friday before the long July 1st. (Canada Day)
weekend, when I am told no one ever makes an announcement. No offer has yet been made to
MDN. No overbid has been made.
"In late May, Claude Britt, VP of Exploration at Pangea, made a surprise appearance at the
MDN Annual General Meeting in Montreal. He told those attending that Pangea believed that
there were huge amounts of gold at depth at Tulawaka and that Pangea had refused an offer of
CAN$7.00 in December. He also said that no offer under CAN$12.00 would be considered.
"Earlier this year, following a gold show in Africa, Claude Britt invited several mining analysts
to the Tulawaka site so they could see for themselves the "visible gold" in the core samples.
Pangea issued the press release which follows this letter, using words such as "spectacular
intercepts" and "visible gold."
"So, if all this is true and there is spectacular gold with very low costs of extraction, why
suddenly sell out to Barrick at a ridiculously low price? Is there some hanky panky going on
behind the scenes, beyond the view of the shareholders? Is this sort of thing in character with
what one expects from corporate citizens like Barrick?
"You have often said that the press in North America is not interested in the manipulation of
gold by the central and bullion banks and the major producers like Barrick. It seems that the
Canadian press do not share GATA's dim view of Barrick's integrity. If there is actually
malfeasance at work in this deal, exposing it should do some harm to Barrick's credibility, and
that is why I am sending you this letter.
"The shareholders of MDN are angry and nervous. They feel that they have been screwed by
both Pangea and Barrick. I, for one, am royally pissed off, but I know many others who own
very substantial holdings who have a lot to lose if MDN is sold for CAN$2.00. We must expose
this deal for what it is. Can you assist?
"Thank you for reading this letter and please, keep up your courageous work for GATA."
"A"
HMMMMMMMMMMM
MIDAS |
