| The stock took a hit today on today's 3rd quarter financial statements. There is much discussion on Stockhouse worth reading. Unfortunately, although there was a big increase in mine output in October, to 83,000 tonnes, up from a fairly constant average of about 54,500 tonnes for the previous eight months, the grade was down for the month due to mining through a fault area during the month, and it did not do much to improve figures from the previous statements. There is still an operating loss, although this occurs during a period when a lot of improvements have been put in to increase profitability in the future. The recent certification of a new union at the mine in another news release out today (www.southplats.com/News/nr041116.pdf) indicates to me that perhaps some of the unexpectedly low worker productivity earlier in the year was due to more than just inexperience and training issues, but also some degree of labour unrest, with management now saying that the working relationship has become normalized. Unfortunately, the debt relative to current assets is much higher than I thought and made a mention of in an earlier post. My earlier post was based on the 2003 year end figures, and it looks like net debt after subtracting current assets is now about $50 million, with a lot of cash on hand having been spent since the end of last year. I continue to hold my shares at current prices. The next financial statements out should spell a big improvement in tonnage and cash flow. |
