AXG - Antipodes Gold [formerly GEL - Glass Earth]

[elZorro]

Thanks for that background Aotea. I am not that surprised. From the first time I looked at Glass Earth, I thought that with all those tenements, they must do well at some stage, it was all a matter of time and funds. But they did make a hash of Drybread, no mistake. Their funding vehicle is in tatters, and they used up all the shareholder cash. And now you confirm for us that they probably also missed some easy money on other placer and hardrock permits that they had.

At a guess, Ophir could have been drilled by now, with the money/goods in kind Bob Kilgour got from Glass Earth shareholders for his business assets. Bob now owns the GEL areas around his favourite Ophir spot. Will wait to hear if anything happens. Bob was a bit smarter than Simon.

NZResources still giving GEL the benefit of the doubt, but they'll need to be a different animal before I'd put any cash in there.

Tough year ahead for NZ gold production

Ross Louthean — 13 January 2014 There are a lot of uncertainties as the two large New Zealand hard-rock gold miners and the private and boutique alluvial gold producers wage their war on costs in 2014 – all feeling there won’t be a dramatic increase in the $US-denominated gold price.
The spotlight was shone on the tough year ahead by OceanaGold Corporation (ASX, TSX & NZX: OGC) announcing last week a cutback of at least 106 people, followed suit by mining machinery services supplier Goughs, and union claims since that as many as 200 people will go from the Macraes gold operations.
Prior to this scenario, OceanaGold had said it would mothball the Globe-Progress open cut mine by mid 2015 unless the gold price reached about $NZ2,000/ounce by about now. It is a long way from that target.
Less publicised workforce cutbacks have taken place at the Waihi operations of Newmont Waihi Gold which is part of the Newmont Mining group which has undertaken some slashing and burning on global operations like other international gold majors. However, the Waihi pruning has been less severe than elsewhere, including Newmont’s big Australian operations saddled with high wages and material costs.
The challenge for gold in New Zealand is how much money will go into exploration – because both OceanaGold and Newmont Waihi have been honing this activity. For Newmont, the 2014 driver will be development of the new Correnso underground mine near the Martha open cut. The company’s regional quest in the Hauraki goldfield on the WKP project with Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL) may depend on Glass Earth’s ability to raise fresh capital to pay its way and perhaps also take over management of WKP.
Like many other gold juniors looking at NZ, Glass Earth Gold has been working on narrow funds and may be hoping to raise a lot more capital in 2014.
Glass Earth has dropped or sold most if not all its South Island permits and also has the Neavesville gold project, also in the Hauraki goldfield, with the support of mining identity Geoff Loudon
Loudon’s L&M Group has the Earnscleugh alluvial gold dredge near Alexandra in Otago which had its fair share of headaches in being profitable in 2013, not helped by the gold price heading south and the dredge spending some time at the bottom of its pond.
One new gold miner is the Wakaia Gold syndicate’s new operation on the Wakaia River near Gore and, like many South Island alluvial operations, would undoubtedly be lean and mean.
One of the great hopes for 2014 is MOD Resources Ltd (ASX: MOD) which is earning up to 80% of the Sams Creek gold project near Takaka from OceanaGold and also owns 100% the extended target in that field.
More could be heard from MOD early this week on the level of activity it will undertake to lift the reserves at Sams Creek well above the existing 1 million ounce level, and also what other targets it will drill in the area this year.
New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZP&M) is pushing for new gold exploration areas to be taken up in the Taupo Volcanic Belt and while there are juicy epithermal targets in this region, the climate for grass roots exploration is not looking good right now.
The perception was not be helped by respected Canadian mining newspaper Northern Miner running a headline last week indicating market interest in OceanaGold’s Didpio gold-copper project in the Philippines which, thanks to the copper by-product has low to negative operating costs.
That paper cited North American investors being impressed with the Didipio performance and with the severe cut-back on workers and operating costs in New Zealand – suggesting that NZ may now be a diminishing option for the company.
Such a scenario would be grim for NZ as the Macraes mining operation has for more than two decades been a major mining mainstay for the country, and an economic mainstay for Otago which has been losing industry and employment elsewhere in the past year.
What the gold sector wants to see is an improvement in the gold price, some bold new faces on the scene (also requiring the NZP&M to lift its ponderous permitting process) and for the Kiwi dollar to ease back.
The $A has taken a pounding in the last six months and this has been one of the few bright lights for mineral and metal exports from that country. The Kiwi, on the other hand, has not lost ground against the Greenback and has risen sharply against the $A in recent months.
A general election is on the horizon for New Zealand and the well being of mining and also petroleum exploration will hinge on whether the Nationals retain power. A change to Labour with perhaps a Green Party alliance would help bring the Kiwi dollar down but could make New Zealand a poorer place for resource investment.

[elZorro]

In 2009 Bob Kilgour struck a deal with Glass Earth on Ophir, but there is no recent evidence that they are on the share register of Ophir Gold Ltd. Bob owns 39% of it at least. I think the deal was more about a 50% share in the tenement proceeds, with GEL providing the equipment. Ophir Gold had already spent a fair bit on drilling before then. Any new drilling could be on the new areas GEL used to own near Ophir.

Being a private company, they don't need to place any press releases unless it suits them, to attract new investors. There are quite a few small shareholders on the register already.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/7...50-stake-ophir

GEL press release: In August 2009, Glass Earth entered into an option agreement to acquire a 50% equity interest in the Ophir project with Ophir Gold Ltd, a private Company based in New Zealand, which will allow Glass Earth to be hard rock mining by the end of 2009.

So GEL never had that much of a foot in the door, and any work that they did near Ophir will end up the property of Ophir Gold Ltd. They set up a very small test rig for separation testing, but never got around to doing proper hard rock mining, because they had no gear for that.

Interestingly, the Ophir Gold website has not been touched since April 2009, before the non-completed option deal with Glass Earth. But Bob Kilgour should be in a better financial position to do something now.

http://www.ophirgold.co.nz/index.html

[elZorro]

I have been watching as Glass Earth Gold appears to fade into oblivion, as far as the public shares go. C0.5c will buy you a share now, on the TSX. But it also makes the company look cheap, if there was any resource left of interest, and/or the possibility of enough capital being provided to actually do something in either WKP or Neavesville.

The GEL website may have received a small tickle-up, as the old expired permits still show, and most references are back to 2013 or earlier, but there is more detail on Neavesville including a cross-section. It has had about twice as many drills as WKP.

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/Proj...eportID=587121

Also there is direct mention that Geoff Loudon is a major shareholder of GEL, has half of the Neavesville interest, and actively supports gold mine development in NZ.

Mr Loudon already has a gold mine, the Earnscleugh alluivial project. In 2013, after a small setback, some numbers were provided. It was (still is?) employing 35 staff, but not all of the costs are mentioned here, just the wages I think.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/2...at-gold-dredge

If the shareprice needs to move to C20c to interest new Canadian investors, there is going to be some serious amalgamation of shares, at the moment 1 for 40 shares. If the price moved back to C2c in the future by itself, then it's more like the proposed 1 for 10, acceptable but still bad enough. This is a 400% gain on the current price though. Current MCap is below C$1mill. Some investors from the last capital raising put in more than that (not Geoff Loudon on that occasion) and they have very little to show for it.

No-one seems to be making much of a move at the moment, not enough to trigger a change in interest notice anyway.

[elZorro]

More of GEL's permits have been transferred to another company involved in mining, as at 18th Feb 2014. This time it's R.J. Stewart Ltd from Mosgiel, who now own 55162 (was an applied for permit) in Southland, 39336, a PP in Southland, and 52700, Wakapatu Southland. These will all be alluvial permits, and it's probably a part payment for services rendered.

GLass Earth don't have many permits left, almost all are in the area around Waihi. The huge PP up above Macraes still shows, but we were told in December 2013 that it will be going. Maybe it'll help pay some bills.

The GEL website permit list hasn't been updated for about a year. Nothing too unusual about that. Par for the course.

[elZorro]

Within a few weeks, we'll see the annual report. Last year it popped out on 11th April. At that stage PPs had been completed, which were snapped up for a bargain C16c a share. You can now buy those shares for C0.5c, if you are feeling adventurous.

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/News...eportID=580979

[elZorro]

Simon Hartley at NZResources (and ODT) has this info for Glass Earth holders:

Major changes for Glass Earth

Simon Hartley — 14 March 2014 Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL) is revamping the company, with sweeping management changes, a share consolidation and a renaming.
As one of New Zealand's largest gold explorers, Glass Earth's initial emphasis was North Island epithermal targets and seven years of exploration around Otago where it spent the bulk of $40 million, before resetting its sights to gold prospects in the North Island’s Hauraki goldfield two years ago, and quitting Otago.
Glass Earth Gold will shortly be rebranded as Antipodes Gold Ltd.
Glass Earth shareholders had approved a consolidation of share capital late last year, to swap 10 old shares for one new; leaving the company with 10.56 million ordinary shares on issue.
New chief executive Thomas Rabone said Glass Earth will focus exploration in the Hauraki region, its priority being a joint venture with Newmont at the WKP prospect, which Glass Earth will manage.
Glass Earth has dropped the adjacent Neavesville prospect, after being unable to complete access negotiations with some of the land owners.
Leaving Glass Earth's board, is John Dow, Paul Jones and Peter Liddle, with chief executive Simon Henderson becoming exploration manager; replaced by Rabone, with Adrian Fleming appointed chairman and Justin Cochrane appointed a director.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter for the Otago Daily Times and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.

I'm going to need some time to digest this properly. It was never made quite so obvious to shareholders two years ago, that WKP was the focus, if it was, then maybe the name change wouldn't be needed. Millions of dollars of shareholders funds were lost in the Otago gravels, when shareholders were being told that this should be a nice little money earner. Thomas Rabone was down there with Simon Henderson looking after shareholders interests. The money was mainly lost in 2013, after a sizeable dollop of new funds went in.

Neavesville dropped, that'll be showing less of a loss in the books than usual, because for once not a lot of cash was thrown at it. Just a lot of time no doubt. Is Peter Liddle, the company's bookkeeper, staying on? Would this be a good thing? Is the whole deal more of a rearranging of chairs? Adrian Fleming could be more interesting as a Chairman, and we'd probably hear more from him than we got from Mr. Dow. What is the status of Geoff Loudon in the company now? I assume he's still a major shareholder.

Here is the press release that was put on the TSX on 12th March. The same detail has not made it to the NZX yet. That's possibly because we do not count in the scheme of things. It's a dual listing, but NZ'ers don't bring in enough funds.

Looks like GEL/Antipodes will fund all the future drills, who knows if they have to pay Newmont for the outstanding bills there, and in turn can obtain up to 51% of WKP. WKP has not had many drills. It's a big area, so to get better infill data is going to take a few million plus. Maybe they intend to use the handheld XRAY scanner to reduce timeframes on results, and maybe they could afford their own drilling rig, and just hire a helicopter when needed. You can even set up a lab in a container on-site.

They'd probably have been a lot better off putting this sort of effort in at WKP, rather than burrowing around at Drybread for the last two years, in gravels that had too low a grade.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?...&qm_symbol=GEL

Earlier press release about the WKP deal with Newmont.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?...&qm_symbol=GEL

[elZorro]

In a bid to track down the new physical location of the Antipodes Head Office, new investors might like to note that the current phone number on the redirected website is 09-360-8211, which has been used by Peter Liddle as CFO for the last two years or more. The phone number was one of the lines being directed to 300 Richmond Road, Auckland, which is an older two-level serviced office complex. The financial and governance paperwork has been handled there since the company listed.

It would seem that the Wellington office in the Straterra block has been vacated, as there is no mention of it.

And now here is a curious situation, the Post Office Box is either being shared with this outfit: or someone who might be slightly dyslexic has labelled all the new website pages with P.O.Box 46-108 Herne Bay, when they really meant P.O. Box 46-018 Herne Bay, which is the central post office box for 300 Richmond Road. (Now fixed, 16/3/2014).

The new website mentions that corporate governance rules are being amended at the current time to reflect the new company name. One set of rules that needs the name change is the corporate disclosure policy. These look like a great set of guidelines.

However my personal experience was that these rules appeared at times to be forgotten, or worse, ignored. News took months to filter out to shareholders, if it was bad news. A lot of other bad information that shareholders needed to hear under disclosure rules was never publicly divulged, but has made its way out via hearsay, and sometimes via direct email communication to some shareholders who were interested enough to ask.

I see nothing in the two press releases so far, that imply this situation is going to be corrected along with the name change. If the chances of WKP being a mining proposition are not 100% (and the fact that Messrs Loudon and Fleming are not making much noise about funding the next stages themselves, says volumes) then the existing and prospective shareholders need to know every detail about the proposition.

[elZorro]

The WKP 43-101 report is still on the new website, it's full of detail and it looks like the next lot of exploration drilling needed $3.5mill in total. That's some dilution at the current MCap, and dilution is something we have all learnt about when we held GEL shares.

But as far as Antipodes is concerned, it needs to have a fresh start with its MCap, a new perception. What is a realistic valuation on their IP and the permits, at this point in time? I don't think they'll have much cash kicking around yet, but operating costs are much lower now, and big looming costs like Neavesville payments and equipment leases, permit fees, are not there anymore. A few million dollars is a very small investment amount for the TSX. It's a big ask in NZ for this type of investment, but they're not looking very hard in our direction.

I'm pleased to see that the TSX press releases have made it to the NZX in the last hour or so. GEL obtained an MCap of over $30mill at times, now it's at $1mill (nearly 1% of the company was traded overnight on the TSX, mostly at C1c a share).

Here's a link to some charts I compiled covering MCap and the funds paid into GEL. Some lessons that I don't want to forget. The main point is that the situation wasn't always a hiding to nothing for investors, and the best spot to be in, is investing at the bottom of a cycle. http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthr...l=1#post427314

[elZorro]

Whoa! Four press releases in one day for GEL, that has to be a record!

Shortly to be known as AXG, GEL is going through with the 1:10 share consolidation now. Back in trading operation on Tuesday next week.

I'm a bit surprised by this, but perhaps the strenuous trading on the TSX last night meant that action had to be taken, or there would have been an embarrassing "what's going on?" email from the TSX to answer. There's certainly some interest out there, that would be the take-home message.

GEL

19/03/2014 16:20

HALT

REL: 1620 HRS Glass Earth Gold Limited

HALT: GEL: MEMO: GEL - Share Consolidation and Trading Halt

MEMORANDUM

To: Market Participants

From: NZX Client and Market Services

Date: 19 March 2014

Subject: Glass Earth Gold Limited ("GEL") - Share Consolidation and Trading

Halt

Message:

NZX Regulation ("NZXR") advises that, further to the announcement released

today by Glass Earth Gold Limited ("GEL") regarding a 10:1 consolidation of

GEL ordinary shares, GEL will be placed in a trading halt from close of

business today, Wednesday, 19 March 2014.

The trading halt will be put in place to allow clearing and settlement to be

completed before the consolidation.

Trading will resume from market open on Tuesday, 25 March 2014 under the new

ticker code of "AXG" (as advised in the memo released earlier today).

Please contact Client and Market Services on +64 4 496 2853 or cms@nzx.com

with any queries.

ENDS

[elZorro]

Someone has renamed the GEL thread to AXG, cheers.