I do not consider it a "hang-up", Ali, but here is my concern about Flag, Murdo and their effect on the industry. Your Canadian securities regulators, after the Bre-x fiasco, have agreed on a national policy regarding the definition of and the reporting of, mineral reserves. They are to be commended for this, so that terms like reserves are not loosely thrown around to the detriment of the investing public. People who, post on chat boards, and use the term reserves, should read this national policy so that every one is talking about the same thing!
About 9 months ago Murdo issued a NR that was posted on the Montreal exchange and held back by the Alberta/BC authorities. The NR claimed great reserves of magnesium, worth vast sums per tonne but did not mention it could not be mined at a profit (hence by definition, no reserve whatsoever). An acquaintance of mine, on the recommendation of Murdo that he had made a vast ore discovery, invested a considerable sum into Flag securities and lost most of it when the truth came out. Needless to say, this episode has not enhanced Flag's reputation, nor the reputation of the industry in general. If I remember correctly, you were one of the leading cheerleaders at the time. I posted the following when it became known that the vast discovery was only magnesium.
To:Nathanc who wrote (3409)From: hank2010 Thursday, Jul 13, 2000 10:26 PMRespond to of 3753
Re: Magnesium. There is a write up in the CIM bulletin for June 2000 that I was just given, on Noranda's Magnola Plant. www.cim.org then go to bulletin, and then I get stymied as I can not open the article. From the hard copy. Tailings are from former Johns Manville site at Asbestos, Quebec. "are directly adjacent to the plant, and contain 23% magnesium, above ground and already mined. The new plant will allow for the lowest cost of magnesium in the world." Plant has initial annual rated capacity of 63,000 tons, with an infrastructure designed to allow doubling of the capacity, capital cost was $733 million, will produce 16% of world supply. "Magnesium is the eight most abundant element in the earth's crust, and third among metals" "There are two processes for producing magnesium: the most common is electrolysis, and the other is a batch process using silicothermal reduction." "At Magnola, the technology used is a hydrometallurgical process followed by electrolysis. One of main competitors is Norsk Hydro who import magnesite from China, and I would assume use electrolysis. I hope Murdo concentrates on the PGMs.
Now, I understand that Noranda is one of your largest natural resource companies, that they had spent $733 million on a plant, that they were going to mine from a pile of tailings (no drill/blast/crush)that had a grade of 23%, and they had access to cheap power in a province (Quebec) which is a large exporter of power. Yet you felt Flag, with no money could compete, mining a grade of 7% Mg, in some of the hardest rock in the world. You still supported Murdo's magnesium dream days after I posted the above. Here is your post.
Hi RJ2,
the hole presently drilling is #28 and is below 700 feet still in gabro.there is talk of another drill coming on to the scene as murdo wants a vertical hole drilled at the site of #15 hole.They have PGM values there which we may hear about this coming week.The magnesium is still an open question (assayed to yield 143 pounds per ton) until there is a judgement if it can be separated at a reasonable cost from the ore.This deposit is huge and rich and on surface and would change things in a hurry if a positive way could be found to process it.
If Flag really believes that about magnesium, go to some of those vast limestone (some of which are actually dolomite)beds in Southern Ontario. The grades are many times higher than your 7% which you consider rich.
I think you are the one with the hang-up, pardner! |
