Paramount Ventures third most active conference
Paramount Ventures & Finance Inc PVF
Shares issued 27,591,374 Sep 3 close $0.42
Tue 7 Sept 99
Week ended Sept. 3rd
by Stockwatch business reporter
Paramount Ventures was reviewed in the last issue of Forum Watch, gaining
another position to claim third place among Canada Stockwatch's most active
conferences. A Canada Stockwatch article on Aug. 30 provided a brief
history of the prospective diamond properties near Wawa, Ontario in which
Paramount has an interest. The article, which reviews some of the diamond
exploration in Ontario, will be appended to this issue of Forum Watch. On
Sept. 2, Paramount announced that following a public hearing at which the
mining plan for the Rio do Sono alluvial diamond project in Brazil was
presented, it was determined that the project is of sufficient scope and
size to require a full environmental impact study (EIS) before a full
mining licence can be issued. It is estimated that this will take
approximately three months. Exploration and preparatory work will continue
while the EIS is being completed. Since Paramount was first reviewed in
Forum Watch on Aug. 20, the company's interests in diamond prospects in
Canada and Brazil have been the principal topic of discussion. Over the
last week, however, oil dominated much of the early discussion. 'Matey'
broached the subject of oil, asking if anyone had any news regarding
Paramax Resources. 'Tippy' responded: "I thought the oil was supposed to be
flowing by now!! I guess it will happen soon and oil prices are great and
we have a bigger percentage!!" 'Matey' followed up with another question
regarding the percentage of Paramax held by Paramount. That brought some
tentative and conflicting replies from 'Tippy' and 'One eye'. 'Matey'
indicated that he would contact the company to obtain the correct
information but the matter was not resolved by the end of the week.
(According to the company literature and as reported in the first review of
Paramount in Forum Watch, Paramount holds a 55-per-cent interest in
Paramax. According to the most recent property update, Paramax has varying
interests in a number of oil prospects: a 2-per-cent interest after payout
in the Devonian and Atoka formations in the Winfield Ranch 17 No. 1-E well
on the South Fort Stockton prospect; a 10-per-cent interest (7.5 per cent
after payout) in the Ellenburger zone in the same well and a 7.5-per-cent
interest in all formations in the remaining lease block acreage; and a
5-per-cent interest (3 per cent after payout) in the West Delta Block 78
No. 1 well located offshore Louisiana.) 'Matey' expressed some impatience
at the dearth of information regarding progress on the company's diamond
prospects in Ontario. After offering the opinion that there had been some
drilling on the properties, he exclaimed: "It is time these companies
started to clean house and get on with the news!!!" 'WillP' briefly joined
the discussion: "Kennecott has never been a 'frequent updater', and it is
not easy to determine exactly what they are up to, as a result. Earlier
news releases did outline the 'spring phase one program', and drilling was
not mentioned. Presumably, drilling would follow later in the summer...a
point in time that we appear to be at." While 'Matey' continued to pursue
the subject with increasing exasperation, 'One eye' seemed to accept the
lack of information philosophically. "Time will tell the story here," he
remarked before going on to suggest that the "boys have taken lessons from
DeBeers or at least read the manual." He was less accepting of the Sept. 2
update regarding the Rio do Sono project: "I would think you would know
before you spent a couple of million dollars that you might need to have to
do an environmental study...This friggen release does not say we are mining
on even a small scale there." Paramount closed out the week at 42 cents. #4
PMT - Plata Mining Ltd (Year High/Low: 0.34/0.05) Plata was last reviewed
in Forum Watch for the week ended Aug. 20, surfacing again to claim fourth
position among Canada Stockwatch's most active conferences. Plata has not
issued any news releases since the last review. In the conference
discussion, 'Ziggy' responded to some earlier concerns raised by 'Jared
Kenwell' regarding Plata's procrastination in filing a business plan as
requested by the Alberta Stock Exchange: "It is indeed very unprofessional
and worrisome that these important company matters are left to the end (if
ever at all attended to). Difficult to believe we are dealing with serious
people. Children have better discipline." Another regular participant,
'kent', directed a question to 'goldberg', who has long been the
pre-eminent source of information regarding Plata: "What requirements does
Plata have to satisfy?" That question went unanswered but 'goldberg' did
provide a brief update: "Plata did file their Business Plan on Friday. It
appears that this was acceptable...Many options are being considered to
make the RMR/Plata marriage work. I really hope that they can sign the
final agreement as RMR's potential seems quite unlimited." That seemed to
satisfy 'kent', who commented, "...nothing but up from here." 'Charlie',
another veteran poster, joined the discussion to respond to a question from
'Ziggy' regarding what circumstance might cause trading in Plata to be
halted: "The ASE, I believe can halt Plata if they didn't file their new
business plan. They can also, I believe, halt if they don't agree with the
new plan...I assume we will get some type of press release from the company
once it is officially accepted." 'JGCL' offered some further comments:
"Just to clarify, I believe the ASE can halt the stock even if the business
plan is acceptable and reasonable. The reason for this is PMT's intentions
to dramatically change their day to day operations (mining to e-commerce).
A halt would give time for shareholder approval of this new business path."
After setting a new 52-week low, Plata ended the week at seven cents. #5
TPIL - Tropika International Ltd (Year High/Low: 2.00/0.03) Tropika
International was last reviewed in Forum Watch for the week ended May 14,
returning to claim fifth position among Canada Stockwatch's most active
conferences. There have been a number of developments since the last
review, many of them related to the company's planned move into the
financial services sector. On May 20, Tropika announced the appointment of
Dale Williams as vice-president, technology and information services.
According to the release, Mr. Williams "has been involved in the on-line
provision of financial services as well as pioneering the sale of mutual
funds on-line in South Africa." On June 1, the company announced that it
had submitted a Form 20-F with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission to satisfy the eligibility requirements for securities quoted on
the NASD OTC Bulletin Board. On June 10, Tropika announced that it was
implementing a new intranet "intended to act as the backbone of Tropika's
on-line financial services offerings, now in development." One week later,
Tropika acquired the remaining 49-per-cent ownership of RC Securities in
exchange for five million shares. On June 25, the company announced that it
had expanded on the basic features of its on-line shopping agent, known
internally as Zorro. Zorro will also be used in support of RC Securities,
sourcing stock quotes and monitoring foreign exchange fluctuations,
interest rate posting, and debt-instrument returns. On July 29, the company
announced that the prototype screens of its on-line brokerage software had
been demonstrated. The company also advanced its on-line casino operations,
announcing the launch of two new casinos on June 15 and a further two on
July 13, completing its program of building and launching 12 casinos. On
July 22, Tropika released its financial statements for the year ended May
31, 1999, showing sales of $20,360,558 and net earnings of $361,765. In
other news, Tropika announced on Aug. 23 that it had entered into an
agreement with the Investor Relations Group (IRG) for investor and public
relations consulting services. Under the terms of the one-year agreement,
Tropika will pay IRG a monthly consulting fee of $35,000 plus
disbursements. In connection with the agreement, Tropika has agreed to
grant an option to purchase six million common shares at 37 cents per
share, expiring on Aug. 17, 2000. The option agreement is subject to the
approval of shareholders and the regulatory authorities. Finally, the
company disclosed on Aug. 30 that it had received a draft statement of
claim seeking $400-million in damages and other relief. The claims arise
out of the purchase of a 70-per-cent interest in Arlequin 2000, CA, a
Venezuelan company, by Playwave On-Line Inc., a subsidiary of Tropika. The
draft statement of claim alleges that Tropika and Playwave failed to
finance Arlequin, with the result that Arlequin was unable to start up its
Venezuelan land-based lottery business, and that misrepresentations were
made to the plaintiffs. According to Tropika, the allegations in the draft
statement of claim are without merit and the company intends to vigorously
defend the action. Conference discussion was led off by 'RAIZ', who
enthusiastically suggested that the stock would hit $1 or perhaps more on
Monday. A more restrained post came from 'wingspan': "At some point a slew
of profit taking had to kick in and it did...It's unlikely to see a buck
until some time in Sept. when the new IR group orchestrates their big
campaign surrounding the AGM and the release of Zorro." The market reaction
to the disclosure of the possibility of a $400-million suit prompted 'RAIZ'
to remark: "I personally feel these claims are a load of bunk and Tropika
will more than likely profit from all this, in one way or another...Great
drama though..." The trading action also brought some comments from
'wingspan': "I've never been involved in a stock that seems so determined
to go up or one that's been so manipulated by Market Makers." He went on to
offer several more comments, raising concerns about the Canadian Dealing
Network (CDN) and expanding on his suggestion of manipulation. "I think
it's important to know that management aren't the angels that some are
assuming," he remarked. In spite of his concerns, he seemed optimistic that
the stock would trade in the $1 to $2 range this month. The discussion of
the CDN and possible manipulation continued, prompting 'kidl' to join in:
"Funny thing is, no one is arguing your point and yet you keep harping on
it. Why? Fact is, TPIL is working on other listings but these things do
take time. My suggestion to anyone who dislikes the CDN as much as you do,
pass on TPIL for now and buy it once it's off this 'evil' exchange." In
response, 'wingspan' wrote: "I'm just trying to elicit a discussion where
more can be learned, like perhaps a broker/MM might say something,
enlighten us. I'm extremely curious about how MM's operate and the rules
and how far rules can be bent etc...Also, kidl, don't you notice how
everyone just wants to hear how wonderful their favourite company is, well
I also want to hear the bad, get the balance." Toward the end of the week,
'RAIZ' seemed overcome once again with enthusiasm for Tropika, drawing some
comment from 'wingspan': "Are you trying to hype this stock? You don't need
to, it's unstoppable...If there are no serious skeletons left to come out
of the closet, I think these guys (will) eventually be up to $10." Tropika
finished the week at 78 cents.
(c) Copyright 1999 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com
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