WGX, RIO x 2, TUO, IAU
I have no idea why West Australian gold miner Westgold Resources aka WGX is currently trading down over 10% after the release of preliminary Q4 results. (The company calls it Q2 because for some reason their fiscal year runs from July to June.) The numbers came in as expected with production of 80866 oz Au, consistent with guidance, while their cash increased markedly to $152M on Dec. 31st. In addition Greater Fingal will begin production as planned in Q2.
I will continue to poke around in the hope of understanding what is going on with the stock price.
Message 34973162
Rio2 aka RIO brought us an update on the construction of the Fenix gold mine in northern Chile. To recall, RIO concluded a successful appeal to get permits for the construction and then completed a financing package last October, while carrying out various pre-construction activities as allowed.
The first bit of news is not ideal. They are expecting construction to be completed by November and the first gold pour to be in January, not late this year as originally expected. That said, given all they have been through already thanks to the permit problems, a few more months delay will have little impact.
Fortunately the rest of the news is better. Construction and hiring are proceeding apace, and they will begin grade control drilling in the first areas to be mined next month, as well as a programme of geophysics to identify now ore sources. And intriguingly, they are studying the economics of increasing processing of ore from 20k tpd to 80k tpd, thereby increasing gold production from 100k oz per year to 250-350k oz Au.
Overall, in spite of the slight delay, this is a very positive update.
Message 34978726
The INK newsletter, which tracks insider purchases, , this morning featured RIO because of the amount of insider buying the last while by officers and directors, particularly the CFO. As a result, RIO now has above median insider ownership for the small cap basic material sector.
Teuton Resources aka TUO's JV partner on the Treaty Creek project in BC's Golden Triangle TUD issued an update about preparations for the upcoming exploration season It also contains some new graphics which are worth checking out if you are interested in the property.
They announced they have begun permitting and planning to construct a 3000m underground ramp to access SuperCell One. It has become increasingly clear that these recently discovered gold-rich supercells are becoming the key to positive economics for this large project, so this is a welcome development. Completion of the ramp will enable faster lower cost drilling and, importantly, allow year round drilling. In addition the tunnel could be used to extract a bulk sample and as a ventilation raise.
It is not clear to me right now whether they will continue with surface drilling as the raise is constructed. Stay tuned for updates.
Message 34979044
Nevada gold miner i-80 Gold aka IAU announced a series of amendments to its convertible debentures as part of the second phase of its recapitalization plan. You can find the complicated details at the link below. IAU says they help provide financial flexibility.
The financial crisis at IAU has been a chastening experience for me. I clearly paid too much attention to management's track record and not even attention to their financial machinations, something I will work harder to avoid in future.
finance.yahoo.com |
