AXG - Antipodes Gold [formerly GEL - Glass Earth] [Archive] - Page 4

elZorro

26-11-2012, 02:44 PM

Article from todays ODT:

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/236334/gold-recovery-covering-costs

Yes, thanks SSB, not much new there, except the caption: which is technically wrong. It would appear that the placer work is doing a lot better than covering costs of gold recovery. It's also paying for G&A costs (Admin) and some exploration, if it keeps on trend. This would be after paying installments to Bob Kilgour, wages and repairs on the gear, and landowners royalties. I'll certainly be looking hard at the placer costs versus income, if they are split out.

The GEL price has dropped abruptly today, in a catchup with the TSX price I guess. I cannot explain the volume and drop over there, but there is a possibility some overseas holders have seen the presentation now placed on the GEL website, and have assumed a private placement is forthcoming. Maybe not though.

Brent Cook has brought investors into the share as well. Back a month or three, Brent Cook was live on BTV and said it was a real possibility (or a sensible outcome) that Glass Earth would be bought out by Newmont at some stage. This would have to be one of the reasons why the Neavesville project has been proposed. Let's face it, GEL appears to have a lot of other things going on, for a small company with limited cashflow in the past. They added a new prospect (not a cheap one to maintain in future) under the nose of Newmont, for a reason.

Perhaps the time payment setup for the new project is a way of stalling the need for new capital, in the hope that placer gold can fund a big chunk of it.

gonzo56

26-11-2012, 03:25 PM

Perhaps the time payment setup for the new project is a way of stalling the need for new capital, in the hope that placer gold can fund a big chunk of it.

That would make sense.

Yeah, the SP is just playing catch-up for sure. I do hope it doesn't go lower than 25c though!
..another volume record set today: 260,549

bucko

26-11-2012, 04:47 PM

so much activity today!

thought i'd take advantage of the price drop myself and increase my holding a few thoasand more :) and drop my average purchase price

Once they release the quarterly report i think the price is going to rally somewhat, absolute bargain at the moment in my opinion! 70oz a week they should be clearing at least 100,000USD a week currently and now its an established placer it should be able to icnrease further than that as we come into the summer months and conditions down south improve.

I hope there is no takeover for GEL in the near future, I'm really looking forward to seeing what this could turn into

gonzo56

26-11-2012, 06:02 PM

Nice Yankiwi,

I just noticed that the next ask price is 39c(29 now), so depending on the TSX overnight there could be a massive jump tomorrow.

Update: Today's not the day - TSX down 2.86% - Not bad though.

elZorro

26-11-2012, 09:17 PM

Yankiwi's patience pays off again, fair enough. At least none of us can say the share is illiquid at the moment. My attention is on the placer, because this is an area that GEL could use to maximum advantage during difficult financing periods. I wonder if they'll think about running longer hours, and with more machines. Here's a bit about how placer and gold is formed, from a point of view of finding nuggets.

http://www.nuggetshooter.com/articles/CRGeologyofcoarsegoldformation.html

Drybread only has fine gold placer, which implies that the hardrock deposit it came from was in wider veins, rather than shorter and smaller, distributed ones.

drp

27-11-2012, 06:44 PM

GEL could fit what's been publicised about the RAM 'portfolio' - do you suppose this is the receivers dumping it to fund the process?

elZorro

27-11-2012, 10:35 PM

GEL could fit what's been publicised about the RAM 'portfolio' - do you suppose this is the receivers dumping it to fund the process?

It looks more and more like GEL is going for another PP hard on the heels of the previous ones. The TSX indicates a price.

gonzo56

30-11-2012, 09:20 AM

Come on GEL, what are you up to?

...it's the end of the month.

bucko

01-12-2012, 08:36 AM

you were right Yan

Revenues from placer mining operations increased significantly for the quarter to $1,079,000 (June quarter: $349,000). Gold production in September and October was considerably higher than for the winter period with the December quarter expected to increase further.
The Company had a net loss for the three months ending September 30, 2012 of $456,000 vs $670,000 for the similar period in 2011.

Three months ended

Nine months ended

Notes

September 30,

September 30,

2012
$''s

2011
$''s

2012
$''s

2011
$''s

Revenue
1,079,000

180,000

1,595,000

607,000

Cost of revenue
(1,360,000
)
(114,000
)
(2,408,000
)
(352,000
)

Gross (Loss)/Profit
(281,000
)
66,000

(813,000
)
255,000

1

Administrative expenses

(122,000
)

(334,000
)

(821,000
)

(769,000
)

2

Salaries (net of exploration costs)

(65,000
)

(69,000
)

(190,000
)

(183,000
)

Finance income
12,000

(6,000
)
18,000

31,000

Non-cash items

Stock based compensation

-

-

(556,000
)

-

Write down of mineral properties

-

(327,000
)

(6,590,000
)

(327,000
)

Loss before & after Income Taxes

(456,000
)

(670,000
)

(8,952,000
)

(993,000
)

elZorro

01-12-2012, 08:39 AM

Gonzo, Yankiwi, you were both right, the quarterly report was technically out before the end of the month.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/glass-earth-gold-announces-financial-statements-managements-discussion-analysis-third-tsx-venture-gel-1732154.htm

This link doesn't include the MD&A report, which will become available on SEDAR first I'd guess. As indicated in the latest background pdf posted in the GEL website, gold production has increased significantly. The icy winters in Otago naturally limited output over those three months, the bigger GRU#1 took a fair while to get going properly, and there must have been a lot of setup costs, which the report says were expensed in the quarter. So this is a different treatment from exploration of permits, where the cost is only expensed once the permit has been surrendered.

The gold production was worth over C$1mill, but cost about another $300,000 of cashflow on top of that, in the quarter. That's probably a really good result, all things considered. I'll wait for the MD&A data.

Revenues from mining operations increased significantly for the quarter to $1,079,000 (June quarter: $349,000) but was less than budgeted due to the extended commissioning of the GRU#1 plant and lower 'wash' grades for both sites. Mining and processing costs were higher during this settling down process which coincided with 2 of the 3 months of winter in the South Island. Gold production in September and October was considerably higher than the winter period and the December quarter is expected to increase further.

All commissioning costs have been written off as incurred. The increased production in September - November has resulted in a turnaround to monthly profits. Attention will now focus on costs reduction, which combined with a move to higher grade areas for both sites, should see a marked improvement in cash generation and profitability.

This quarterly report was preceded by another press release - there is another Private Placement happening at the moment. The buy-in is at C16c, with future 1 for 1 warrants at C25c. The aim is to raise C$3mill for Neavesville and WKP exploration work. This should all be completed by December 6th.

It's not immediately good news for current GEL shareholders, but I've followed the story of this company for a few years. Now a fairly useful employer in NZ, has trained and offered employment to geologists, ramping up gold production with its own assets, has big interests in two or three promising mine sites near Newmont's Waihi mine - we could all be looking at a great opportunity for capital gain from this point.

gonzo56

01-12-2012, 09:02 AM

It's good to see the big increase in revenue! But the costs are certainly weighing them down.

So in relation to the PP, if the SP goes below C$0.16, then there wouldn't be an advantage to buying the PP shares, right?

I'm not sure I understand, I thought the PP would be at a bit more of a discount to entice buyers...

Or, is the benefit that if the SP goes above C$0.45, the PP buyers can still exercise their purchase warrant to buy what they are entitled to at C$0.25?

elZorro

01-12-2012, 09:39 AM

Yes Gonzo, the market might take the price of GEL below C16c equiv for a short while, but it won't go very far below that. The warrants could be extremely valuable later, and 1 for 1 is GEL's normal deal, but this is generous compared to other similar companies looking for cash on the TSX. The PP price must have been a compromise, based on what indications were from big investors recently, combined with feedback from current investors. This is a big dilution effect, the Mcap could be in theory held at C$16mill for a while, does that sound cheap for a company with permit assets and an unusual cashflow from placer mining?

Going forward, I'd like to see massive short-term effort in the promising placer business section, as a few million spare cashflow each year will halt the dilution, and give the company time to arrange more structured capital raisings for the longer term important exploration work, if needed.

bucko

01-12-2012, 10:24 AM

elZorro

01-12-2012, 10:42 AM

yeh i agree with ez, if your looking for something long term (lets face it, thats what GEL is) its a very good PP offer. Think of it logically, this is the first time in the companies history where it is generating a fairly decent income and with time the costs of generating that income will reduce once procedures are put in place and the funding required to start this measure isnt listed anymore.

Also im hoping something is going to eventuate from WKP within the next 24 months, all the signs are there its just a waiting game now. But thats just my opinion, I'm a young investor and GEL was one of my first purchases so i think i may be a little attached :p

I haven't been investing in shares for that long either, Bucko. Certainly this company keeps me interested, always something going on. What little I know about private placements could be written on a postage stamp, but it appears there is no minimum subscription amount, and as there is no prospectus and you're buying new shares, there is some kind of a qualification form to fill out. I would expect McDouall Stuart to be able to supply further details, as they handled the IPO.

elZorro

02-12-2012, 11:31 AM

The MD&A report is available on SEDAR. It's 33 pages, quite detailed and covers the last 9 months. Some of the charts from the lastest presentation are included. It states that the CVR permits (Taupo-Rotorua area) were very reluctantly relinquished in Q1,Q2. I remember that the IPO prospectus text (2006) held high hopes for the area. It's so big, every expensive drill has to be in the right place.

A bit of work has occurred at Garibaldi in Otago, drilling in Q1 2013, shallow holes. No extra assay data from WKP, as expected. The finances show a tightening cashflow position, but that has been sorted out with the PPs since.

A mental graph of placer income against time will be one of the most heartening aspects of the report in the short term. There is no rental equipment cost at all, in the placer operation. All costs were expensed, so naturally enough there was a small shortfall over the last quarter. It'll probably be the last one, as September's work made a clear profit, and the gold recovery has jumped up to a stable result near 80oz a week from two GRUs, since. There is a spare GRU on the Drybread site, brought over from the Gunclub permit. The MD&A says it was relocated to find better grade areas. The weather will be a lot better for the next few months too.

http://www.sedar.com/CheckCode.do;jsessionid=0000WUp0YWsxHJGC1D1YxhUokJ g:-1

The Southland Times provides a bit more detail about Drybread. (http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/business/7983111/Mine-doubles-gold-output)

bucko

03-12-2012, 09:41 AM

NZX market announcement made this morning, will be interesting to see how the market reacts, increase income but the PP may dampen any potential gains

delboy

03-12-2012, 10:37 AM

elZorro

03-12-2012, 11:23 AM

Am I right in that these are only for the Canadian shares? Why not both the NZ and Canadian shares? I thought its time I started asking more questions as I really am just learning, so apologies if they seem a bit obvious to others:confused:

Hi Delboy, no, the shares are identical, just the exchange rate changes the price in theory. You can buy shares on the TSX and bring them back to NZ with some paperwork. I'm not sure how the PP would go, most likely you could buy NZ shares if dealing with a NZ broker. The PP work is generally done overseas as the bigger exploration investors are over there.

delboy

03-12-2012, 02:58 PM

Thanks EZ I use directbroking so dont really have a broker to ask...although they do also answer questions when Im really confused as in LME takeover bid! Hopefully I learn faster than my mohlah disappears! Not as easy as it first seemed (beginners or blind luck). Pike blew up, PPP doesnt seem to move (although I appreciated the dosh return), NTL dilute and slack around like HGD and now LME may be takin for a song, but Im learning!! Dont hold all the time, sell when ya gut says sell and buy only what you can afford to lose (not that I wanna lose any any of it!).

bucko

04-12-2012, 07:27 AM

elZorro

04-12-2012, 08:03 AM

Hey Question guys from a noob. How does one become an accredited investor? I emailed GEL in regards to the PP and this is the response i got:

"Thank you for your interest in Glass Earth Gold financing. In order to participate, one needs to be an accredited investor and fill up the subscription agreement, with funds wired to Glass Earth directly.
We are intending to close this financing this week (likely Thursday) and the maximum we want to raise is $3M. There is no minimum purchase.

If you would like to participate and is an accredited investor, do let me know how much you would like to participate and I will send you the subscription agreement to be completed.

I don't know the full details Bucko, but it looks like you need to be not an insider, not a relative of directors etc, earning good money and have some assets behind you, and/or have a history of investing with the company. No harm in asking for the forms to be sent anyway. Try McDouall Stuart or any other broker. They'll be very polite, there's 7% commission and warrants for a bit of paperwork as far as they are concerned. But are you able to deal directly with GEL as you imply in your post?

Delboy, yes it's tough out there in the spec shares. A bit more exciting than established companies though. I'm still learning too.

elZorro

05-12-2012, 07:58 AM

Cash flow strengthens for Kiwi gold explorer

Simon Hartley — 5 December 2012
Small scale gold miner Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL) has tripled revenues from quarterly gold production to beyond more than $1 million and estimated the present quarter will make further gains.
Glass Earth has made at least eight repeated, successful capital raisings to spend almost $40 M in the past half year of exploration and acquisitions around the country.
Achieving revenues from alluvial gold operations in Central Otago have been crucial to boost its wavering cash flows.
Glass Earth, which raised $3.7 M in private Canadian placements last week, said for the quarter to September it had revenues of $1.07 M, compared to $349,000 for the previous quarter.
The company posted an after tax loss of $456,000 for the quarter, compared to a $670,000 loss for the same period last year.
It doubled its gold production from the alluvial gold operations in the Manuherikia Valley in Central Otago to average 70oz-80oz per week from its two recovery units.
Glass Earth chief executive, Simon Henderson, said the higher gold production was achieved in some lower grade areas and both gold recovery units were now working toward higher grade ground where further production increases and efficiencies are anticipated.”
At the end of June, Glass Earth had cash in hand of $1.25 M, which by the end of September stood at $522,000. For the nine-months to September, Glass Earth achieved gold sales of 1,595 oz.
Henderson said the cash flow from operations was covering general and administrative expenses and modestly adding to its exploration budget at the WKP prospect, north of the Martha mine at Waihi in the North Island.
The funds raised last week will be used to further explore gold and silver prospects in the central North Island, beginning with a minimum 5000 metres drilling programme, in a joint venture which holds options to purchase the 30 square km block being acquired from Canadian company Eurasian Minerals Ltd.
To buy-out its former 50% joint venture partner from the Central Otago holdings, Glass Earth made a $500,000 cash payment, issued 2.18 M shares, paid cash of $1.5 M in June and agreed to 25 monthly payments of $80,000.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter for the Otago Daily Times.

I think there is a mistake in this article, as GEL has spent a bit over $40mill since 2006. They don't have the cashflow to spend $40mill in half a year. However the text implies the latest PP has been successful, with approx C$3mill being raised.

The assays for WKP35 have been released. This was the first drill to test the East Graben fault, and the first bit of data released earlier showed a decent, but not spectacular, grade near the fault.

http://www.menafn.com/menafn/f0295746-76bc-4835-9856-22a7d1c43c9b/Glass-Earth-Gold-Intersects-2275m-of-053-gt-Gold-and-1-gt-Silver-Above-New-Epithermal-Gold-ZoneEast-Graben-at-WKP?src=main

While it doesn't sound much, the central part of the drill went through a 220 metre section that was a shade over half a gram of gold a tonne on average. It's a large ore body with the gold being easily recovered, maybe that means heap leaching. At Martha Hill and Macraes, the gold grades they send to the mill may be higher than this, but they have moved ten to thirteen trucks of waste metal to get at one truck load of ore.

WKP36 is a drill in the opposite direction heading into a different structure. WKP37 will be interesting, if it was started in early November it may be completed, and the assays on their way to the lab. No word about where they'll drill next.

Newmont's Correnso hearing has started. No mention of WKP as a backup at all.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8036281/Mining-boss-moves-to-allay-residents-fears

bucko

05-12-2012, 10:14 AM

more great news from the WKP drillings announced on NZX today,

Makes me wonder how much more exploration drills are going to take place before they make the plunge to open a mine site? Simon Henderson has said evrey single drill that has taken place has had amazing results....

bucko

05-12-2012, 11:33 AM

elZorro

06-12-2012, 10:11 PM

totally agree sparky, i think its so undervalued its crazy! and im under the impression this is the lowest the share price has ever been on the NZX so something is going on, why else would someone sell at a loss??????????

Bucko, the price is low, but then there are a lot more shares kicking around, so the MCap is quite a bit bigger than it was during the 2008 low.

I agree the price should kick back up. What does GEL have that other juniors lack? A 35% share in a large resource, WKP, in a relatively easy jurisdiction.

An adviser called Rick Mills has this to say about gold discoveries..

There's a huge increase in exploration spending (more than $8 billion ($8B) in 2011) but a serious lack of new discovery. There have been very few large, high-grade deposits discovered during the past few years. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; ABX:NYSE) (http://www.theaureport.com/pub/co/20) said at the Precious Metals Conference 2012 that of the "super giant" discoveries, those that are more than 20 million ounces (Moz), 18 were discovered in the 1900s. Fast-forward to the 1980s when 14 were discovered. In the 1990s, 11 were discovered. In the 2000s, only five were uncovered.

The number of annual gold discoveries of more than 5 Moz since 2007 is six in 2007, one in 2008, one in 2009, three in 2010 and one in 2011. None is producing yet. A lot of people who think that they're going to produce are in for a disappointment because of resource nationalism, permitting problems, environmental problems, lack of water, labor unrest and protests.

TGR: Assuming gold demand will continue to escalate due to macroeconomic pressures, will the price of gold continue to increase?
RM: Gold demand is still rising. Five-year average quarterly demand is rising, so that's correct.
TGR: What do you forecast for the 2013 gold price?
RM: That's a mug's game, trying to predict gold prices, but it'll be higher.
TGR: You believe the price of gold can only go up.
RM: That's right. Inflation, world events, diversificationgold does offer leverage. So do equities, or at least they will again. I'm not looking at huge mines with billions and billions of dollars in capex. I'm much more comfortable with the smaller mines with lower capex and under-control operating expenditures. I like the lowest-cost producers. That's where the money is going to be made over the next two years.
TGR: Canada, the U.S. and some places in Latin America are the preferred jurisdictions for risk reduction, infrastructure, rule of law and reliability of government.
RM: Absolutely. Look at the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt canceling a nearly 20-year-old license for a mining company. In Madagascar, a DJ gets elected president and the first thing he wants to do is cancel permits and do a review. That's not happening in Canada, the U.S. or politically stable places like Greenland. There is enough risk in this business as it is without intentionally inviting more.
TGR: Given that backdrop, what are some companies you find interesting right now?
RM: Let's stick with soon-to-be producers or companies that are going to be very low-cost producers. They're all in geopolitically acceptable countries with superior management teams.

According to a July 2012 research report by Natural Resource Holdings, there are only 164 undeveloped gold deposits globally, with more than 1 Moz of gold in all categories, that are owned by non-major mining companies. The average grade of all these deposits is 0.66 grams per ton (g/t). Since we're mining +80 Moz a year, that makes these non-major-owned deposits quite valuable.

At various times people have mentioned WKP as possibly holding over 5Moz, maybe up to 10Moz. Current knowledge on deposits implies that having an average-sounding grade of just over 0.66g/tonne is in the ball-park, if it's a big resource.

NZResources today:

Another wide intersection from WKP gold project7 December 2012
A new deep diamond drill hole into the WKP gold-silver prospect near Waihi has produced another wide intersection.
The 35% owner of the prospect, Glass Earth Gold Ltd (NZAX & TSX-V: GEL) reported that hole WKP35 hit 227.5 metres grading 0.53 grams/tonne gold and 1 g/t silver, including a 1.1m section @ 20.1 g/t Au and 10.7 g/t Ag.
This result, said Glass Earth Gold, further demonstrated there is a large permissive gold system with scope to host a significant epithermal gold deposit.
The project is a joint venture with regional gold miner Newmont Waihi Gold through its parent company Newmont Mining.
Managing director of Glass Earth Gold, Simon Henderson said that the upper section of broad low grade gold mineralisation intersected in this drill hole was adjacent to the East Graben gold-bearing zone which exhibits features of Martha–Favona-Golden Cross style epithermal gold mineralisation
“This project continues to surprise with the demonstration of its large scale and coherent gold and silver mineralised widths,” Henderson said.
“Every drill hole completed by the joint venture has intersected significant mineralisation and demonstrated potential for both narrow (3-9m) high grade gold veins and/or broad low grade mineralisation (in excess of 100m of +1 g/t gold).
“The intersection of this broad low grade mineralisation adjacent to the new Eastern Graben structure identifies yet another zone, or additional extensions of the Eastern zone of the WKP project.
“Step-out drill testing is already underway”.
Newmont Waihi Gold’s Martha gold mine is 10 kilometres south of WKP, and is widely regarded as the type-system for epithermal gold deposits. The mine, currently in production has about 10 M oz gold equivalent in historic production and current resources.
The now mature Favona underground mine is a satellite deposit associated with the Martha system.
Glass Earth said WKP is a large, 3 km by 1.5 km mineralised alteration zone.
The current drill programme by the partners is budgeted to cost $C3.3 M ($NZ4.03 M) with Glass Earth bearing 35% of that cost.

elZorro

12-12-2012, 07:27 AM

http://www.ino.com/blog/2012/12/peter-grandich-what-a-turnaround-in-junior-gold-mining-stocks-will-look-like/

Glass Earth has had a bit of a tough time in the market, like many other junior gold explorers. It looks like the trigger for renewed interest in this market could be a gold price of US$2,000 an ounce.

elZorro

13-12-2012, 01:21 PM

The private placement is already oversubscribed by about 20%, and may not even be closed off yet, according to the press release. http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=561448
C$3.656mill already pledged. This is a fair indication that the terms are favourable to the market. Warrants on older private placements have had their terms increased until the end of 2013, which implies that there is at least some chance that the GEL shares will be worth north of CAN 50c by then. http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=561447

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for the WKP drills.

elZorro

15-12-2012, 11:03 AM

The latest GEL presentation allowed me to have a look at the volumes of ore held at Drybread. It looks like the Hecklers area has about 180,000 m3 of placer ore at 0.52g/m3 grade, and GRU#3 will take about 65 weeks to mow through that at the current operation schedule. 3,000 oz total there, which could be contained in a land area of about 220mtrs by 220 mtrs square.

Morans has 3500oz, 0.46g/m3 grade, so 236,000 m3 of ore. If GRU#1 can operate closer to 24/7 and handle more ore, it'll chop out the (approx) 350mtr square area in just 27 weeks. It's NZ$7mill of gold.

All this means that for GEL to replace the depleted placer ore, they'll need to move on to Groundwater nearby (lower grade) and then Vinegar Hill, Waikaia, Matakanui, maybe Pig Burn (not mentioned). Vinegar Hill is meant to be a JV with Placer Gold International, there's an outfit we have not heard much about lately.

I found this news release on their website. The share has continued to trend down, it's a low Mcap now, of around 1mill Euro.

http://www.placercorp.com/index.php?id=51&L=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=25&cHash=7434dd37c68bfad92d2d42efb4f1fa16

PGI looks like a junior explorer that is having a bit of trouble keeping up their finances, and they'll need some, to come to the party with GEL.

Work in the promising alluvial deposits in New Zealand continues unabated, with the objective of producing gold. However, as the projects are in the exploration phase, the Management of Placer Gold International Ltd. cannot yet set a date for the start of production.

Still tantalising for alluvial gold watchers, is the 100,000+ oz of gold possibly contained in the spot called "Southland" on the same GEL chart. That's NZ$200mill worth, but is it spread over the large Southland prospecting permit still to be renewed, or is it at Wakapatu, near Round Hill? Another mining permit has been obtained near there by Golden Bush Mining Ltd, in recent months. No. 52925 (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?permit=52925).

Some history of Round Hill. (http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW19000531.2.59&l=mi&e=-------10--1----2--)The Chinese found Europeans had been checking down to a false bottom, and many Chinese worked profitably here, and retired early to China.

Matakanui, is next on the list after Groundwater at Drybread. A dredge called the Klondyke was put into this area early last century. See the shareholder funding advertisement for background.

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW18980901.2.127.4&l=mi&e=-------10--1----2--

This was in 1898. By February 1901, another company was looking to move the Klondyke and its fittings across to a permit on the West Coast.

I had another look at the latest MD&A report, some interesting answers and unknowns there.

A drill program was completed at Waikaia from the 6th to the 23rd March. A total of 34
holes were drilled. Drill samples were assayed at Glass Earths Alexandra laboratory with
encouraging intersections of gold bearing “wash” were detected including one standoutsample from hole WAI41B recording 15,300mg/m³ of gold between 7-8m. The gold within
this interval was very fine which precludes the result from being an anomaly from coarse
gold, such as a nugget. This gold was recovered from black carbonaceous silt with very little
gravel.

Three other samples returned between 500 – 650 mg/m³.
A second phase drill program was completed at Shepherds Flat with the completion of 45
drill holes and a total of 558m drilled. The average wash grade was 452 mg/m3 at a depth
of 14m with an average thickness of 4.5m.

2012
– Q2 Update
Drilling and pitting efforts on placer have mainly been around grade control at the placer mine sites in Q2
.
2012
– Q3 Update
Placer mining at Gunclub was mothballed in July 2012, allowing machinery and staff to be
better utilized at higher gold grade sites. This quarter, further resource definition drilling has
been completed at Gunclub, outlining a likely 500oz of gold remaining which may be mined
under franchise by a suitable party.
A reconnaissance drill program was completed on GEGL’s highly prospective Southland
Permits in October 2012. This consisted of eight drillholes to provide preliminary geological
and geochemical data for ground geophysics (magnetics) ground truthing and forward drill
planning. Assays are awaited. A further program of 50 drillholes is under preparation.
An initial program of 50 drillholes was completed in June at GEGL’s Matakanui prospect in
the Manuherikia Valley, 5km from the Drybread mine sites. Historical drilling (1980’s and
1990’s) at this site has indicated grades of approximately 500mg/m3. Drill assays are
awaited.

Reading between the lines here, perhaps PGIC has not been doing much to help in Q2 and Q3, but GEL has been doing some drilling with their RC drill rig at their own permits Matakanui and 'Southland'.

Waikaia is in Southland, maybe that's where the 100,000+ oz is. It's an EP, No. 52844 (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?permit=52844) ,but it's shown in the placer table as holding 4000 oz, 232 Ha.

elZorro

16-12-2012, 09:50 AM

To recap GEL's Southland interests, these appear to be:

PP39336, was/is 15140Ha and is in lower Southland. GEL is applying to extend the timeline on this one, ex Bob Kilgour.
EP52700, Wakapatu, is also lower Southland, 204Ha. May contain Platinum as well as gold.
EP52844, Waikaia, 223 Ha, inferred 4000 oz of lower-grade placer.
EP53142, Piano Flat, 349Ha, upper Waikaia River, old gold-sluicing spot.
PP53298, Gore, 3460Ha, lower Otago, unknown

All of GEL's Otago permits have a 10% share allocated to New Zealand Minerals Ltd (NZM), wholly owned by an Auckland property developer. The curious new development is that NZM obtained permit PP 54316 (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?permit=54316)in its own name in August 2012. It's the only one they hold 100% of, and it's fairly large at 243,823 Ha, straddling the border of Otago and Southland, and surrounds two of GEL's permits in the Waikaia River area (52844 and 53142).

Either NZM will use its own contracted team to have a look over this big area, or perhaps GEL is working there under some kind of arrangement in the meantime. At the PP stage there is not much input required, but just 2 years to make decisions on what ground to hold for any EP applications.

The area is below Lake Wakatipu, and might even have been part of the airborne survey that GEL made after the IPO in 2006.

It's perhaps worth noting that GEL dropped quite a few permits in late August and September 2012, including a couple they'd recently been granted. This was to save costs and concentrate on the most prospective areas.

elZorro

16-12-2012, 03:40 PM

Hi Yankiwi, yes, I agree the shareprice shouldn't drop too much from here, although I've said that before when it was at 25c and 35c. I continue to monitor my main share investment (GEL) carefully, but I have other investments.

Have a look at the books for the last 9 months (http://www.sedar.com/CheckCode.do;jsessionid=0000johAVwgCNEIgwW5EZrlXJ_ U:-1), it makes clear that Dunstan Mining might have been short on cash to pay its bills at the time of takeover, that the price GEL paid was made up in permit valuations and fair value of equipment. GEL had to pay those Dunstan bills I guess, then start making monthly payments to Bob Kilgour after the one-off payment. Except it's unclear whether they are up to date, because as at 30th Sept there was a bigger than normal current liabilities amount for the mining company instalments, equal to 12 of the payments.

Don't get me wrong, these are not big amounts compared to the possible returns from a good placer permit. But I'll be breathing easier when the placer returns swamp out these new capital overheads, some of which will not run for too long anyway. Neavesville is another claim on the gold profits if it goes ahead. I'd like to see some strong indications of a focus on gold returns from the placer permits, before GEL hares off on too many exploration fronts again. If the company has the placer cashflow, exploration without shareholder dilution will be easily achieved. Shareholders can then sit back and be fairly comfortable in ticking the shareprice up on any weakness.

But at the moment we're wondering whether there's yet another private placement needed.

elZorro

18-12-2012, 08:39 AM

I found this article about Neavesville, during the depression years around 1930s.

http://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journal/19/mining_venture_neavesville.htm

Balance

18-12-2012, 10:42 AM

Trading all time low after a 5:1 consolidation.

Placement after placement at an ever lower and lower price.

Sorry. elZorro but this looks like yet another mining stock designed by the promoters and management to keep themselves in jobs and clover for as long as they can manage the PR.

Is the Chairman, John Dow, the same Pike River John Dow?

The John Dow who believed that he was being very diligent and did his utmost to ensure the safety of the miners?

GRIFFIN

18-12-2012, 11:51 AM

Then they must have caught the bug from Heritage Gold as they were able to keep themselves in jobs and clover for many years then they split off the good bits and left the share holders with NTL which is going oh so well, shares are up to 1 cent well done HGD.

Balance

18-12-2012, 12:06 PM

bucko

18-12-2012, 02:58 PM

here we go again.....

Balance

18-12-2012, 03:27 PM

here we go again.....

Got my attention.

Let's rumble.

elZorro

18-12-2012, 04:22 PM

Sorry work has been flat out today so I couldn't reply earlier. In all my time observing GEL, I haven't seen any real input from the Chairman John Dow. But he does have strong connections to Newmont. He is the same John Dow caught up in the Pike River debacle, but I figured that wasn't relevant here. GEL doesn't go underground at the moment, and anyway there's no issue with gas in their gold areas.

Do I see the GEL employees and board as just cruising along? No. They have been tight with their funds for years, and have fairly modest salaries and assets. They have done a lot of exploration with $45 mill over 6-7 years, compared with other juior explorers. They'd perhaps be less inclined to dilute the share if they had more holdings themselves, that is a fair comment. I think the issue is that the bigger money they need has been hard to wrestle out of well-heeled investors.

I've invested in this share because they have a strong probability of getting to the mining stage somewhere, or of being bought out. If/when this happens, I'm not looking for 20% p.a. return, but a one-off 1000% return, something in that order. I have other investments that have done a lot better in the last 6 years, outside the sharemarket. But I still think that here's a really interesting company, right under our noses.

elZorro

19-12-2012, 07:54 AM

Private venture re-establishes gold mining at WaikaiaRoss Louthean — 19 December 2012
A new private gold dredging operation is to be developed in northern Southland in the new year.
The Waikaia gold project has completed financing arrangements for what is projected to be a $12 million project.
This follows the granting of resource consents for mining in January this year.
The project’s executive director is well known Kiwi geologist Warren Batt who spent several years on gold and base metal operations in Australia.
Before returning to New Zealand he was the exploration chief for Perilya Ltd which ran gold operations in Western Australia and now is the major operator at the lead-zinc-silver operations at Broken Hill in western New South Wales.
While Batt was with Perilya the company ran the Island Block alluvial gold project near Roxburgh in partnership with contractor March Mining. Some of the old March Mining team are involved in the Waikaia project.
Batt said this week that development of Waikaia was expected to begin by the end of March after delivery of 2,700 tonnes of sheet pile which will be shipped into Bluff from Japan.
The sheet pile will be used to construct a groundwater cut-off wall around the mine site. Excavation of the mine “starter” pit would begin about six weeks later.
Construction of a gold recovery plant will start in January and the 250 tonne plant will be fabricated in kitset form in Nelson and Greymouth and transported to the mine site for assembly inside the completed “starter’ pit.
Commissioning of the gold recovery plant is anticipated during the third quarter of 2013.
Once full production is reached the plant will treat 700,000 cubic metres of gold bearing wash per annum. About 3 M cu m of overburden will be stripped ahead of the mine in the first year of mining operations.
Batt said the mine will advance at the rate of 20m per week with the overburden being replaced behind the mine.
The mined land will be progressively restored to pasture and full farm production.
Under the current mine plan 5 M cu m of gold bearing wash and 17 M cu m of overburden will be mined over the 7.5 year mine life producing about 106,000 oz of gold.
The Waikaia mine, owned by Waikaia Gold Ltd, will employ about 40 people and inject about $115 M per annum into the local economy before Crown royalties and taxes.
It is anticipated that the mine will be among the top 5 gold producers in NZ.
Warren Batt said the Waikaia district has a strong historical association with gold mining and the company was delighted it could make this announcement in the year of the 150th anniversary of the first discovery of gold in the district,.
By coincidence there will be gold mining anniversary celebrations in Waikaia from January 11-13.

GEL has a couple of spots at least, on the Waikaia, as well. I did a few numbers, the average grade for the above permit is about 0.65grams/m3 (similar to Drybread), and assuming they'd try a near 24/7 operation, it's just one (floating trommel?) plant processing about 80-100 m3 of ore per hour. They have to move a fair bit of low-grade gravel too, but it's not too bad.

With one piece of processing gear, they hope to produce twice GEL's target production from 5 trommels, each year. This shows how scaling placer work up doesn't have to be very expensive, GEL should be capable of doing something similar.

gonzo56

19-12-2012, 03:38 PM

Did you see the SSH announcement saying an ACC employee got 250,000 shares on 11 December for $48,370.76? That's 19.35 cents per share. Why is he allowed to purchase GEL at that price?

elZorro

19-12-2012, 07:38 PM

Did you see the SSH announcement saying an ACC employee got 250,000 shares on 11 December for $48,370.76? That's 19.35 cents per share. Why is he allowed to purchase GEL at that price?

I think that'll be to do with the private placement. It's about the right price, C16c equivalent. See a similar transaction from ACC. (https://www.nzx.com/companies/HNZ/announcements/230609) So they're still interested in GEL.

Yankiwi, I assume you have other investments outside the sharemarket, right?

gonzo56

19-12-2012, 08:01 PM

Yeah, it didn't mention it though but it must be to do with the PP.

elZorro

21-12-2012, 10:00 PM

OK Yankiwi, good to hear.

Glass Earth has dropped the latest presentation from its website a couple of days ago. Now this news release:

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=563154

Some fairly tight rules, so will see what happens from here.

I've had a look at the press release and the November 2012 report, and I don't think there's much to be worried about.

Muirs: GEL didn't put in all the cautionary statements. They had already backed away from an historical resource estimate of 390,000 oz at Muirs, to an internal 226,500oz in the report. This is more about retracting data that was published earlier. Even the lower figure will have to be revisited though.

WKP: the global or potential resource figures for WKP are retracted. These had always been understood by the market as being broad indications, not resource tables, IMHO. There was also a need to spell out every detail of the Martha Mine and Golden Cross output to prove these were not figures plucked from the sky. They weren't.

Placer: the latest table in the report provided much better detail than shareholders had ever had. This must have addressed some of the BCSC concerns. But GEL also has to disclose assumptions, parameters and methods used to make the estimates.

From all this, new technical reports are being prepared, and should be completed before 21 January 2013.

stoploss

24-12-2012, 12:07 PM

Dom Post today Terry Hall talks of " shareholders have rushed to accept a takeover offer from founder Geoff Louden " whats that about ???????

gonzo56

24-12-2012, 12:17 PM

Dom Post today Terry Hall talks of " shareholders have rushed to accept a takeover offer from founder Geoff Louden " whats that about ???????

What page is it on? Just saw: B9

There was no takeover this year.. was there. Maybe they mean the private placement..?

stoploss

24-12-2012, 12:35 PM

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8114412/Good-year-for-many-Kiwi-equity-investors

Here is the story in stuff or should that be stuff up .........

elZorro

24-12-2012, 06:09 PM

Hi Yankiwi, Stoploss, Gonzo.. yes, that was a spectacular mistake by the reporter. Geoff Loudon has a big share of GEL, but that's not LME, it's a different animal. Terry Hall must be very confused.

The latest Private Placement was oversubscribed, and still hasn't been officially closed off. From partial records that are on the web, a lot of NZ money went in there this time, including one big new investor. This wasn't elZorro, who has relatively modest means. But it shows we are investing alongside the likes of Geoff Loudon, ACC, Sprott Asset Management, and the new big investor(s).

I picked GEL for the share comp again for 2013. I'm relying on the CEO and his staff to pick up the placer returns. If they don't do anything else but achieve good gold recoveries, it'll be a good year.

stoploss

26-12-2012, 07:21 AM

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8117979/Glass-Earth-Gold-figures-miss-mark-in-Toronto

elZorro

26-12-2012, 09:30 AM

The same article was in the Waikato Times too, Stoploss. This adds no extra data unfortunately, it appears the reporter didn't call GEL management for their side of the story.

I've had another look at the BCSC site: The default is code 1k which is: (http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/DefaultIssuersList.aspx)
The reporting issuer has failed to file the following continuous disclosure prescribed by securities laws:..
(k) ..technical reports for a mineral project prescribed under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

Most other defaulters have a few entries, GEL has just one. It is at the low end of defaults, as there are no impending ABC codes for example.

Since it's not a type 2 code, (the continuous disclosure is deficient..) it could mean that a 43-101 report on one of GEL's projects has not been forthcoming and BCSC says it should be disclosed. This is the first time Glass Earth has had an issue with BCSC, and normal compliance looks to involve a lot of paperwork.

Maybe the other tidyups contained in the press release were just loose ends, and the January report will make interesting reading. For example, there has never been much real technical detail provided on the large WKP area, however this is understandable as there is a lot of new work going on that would change any report. But since it is GEL's biggest permit in terms of possible value to the company, would a report like this end up being helpful in terms of the share valuation? Probably.

elZorro

27-12-2012, 10:00 AM

As a comparison with Glass Earth's smaller issue(s) seen by BCSC, here is an example of a gold mining company in BC itself: Barkerville Gold Mines.

In late June 2012 BGM (TSX) issued this press release, quoting over 10Moz with NI 43-101 status. (http://tmx.quotemedia.com/article.php?newsid=52411123&qm_symbol=BGM)By August the BCSC had issued a cease trading notice, but not before the share had spiked about 400% twice, with up to 10% of the total shares being traded in a short space of time, big volume. To date, the company has not provided a proper report that satisfies the BCSC, as they are still in a cease trading state. What is more eye-popping is that they mentioned a potential of over 60Moz of gold, which would make the area nearly the biggest gold site in the world. Unfortunately BGM used non-standard estimation procedures by the look of it.

All of this is a far cry from GEL's presentations of a far more modest nature, I think in the order of 3Moz potential at WKP. The 43-101 standards will produce a conservative result, but one shareholders can do some numbers with. So I'm looking forward to the January technical report.

Balance

27-12-2012, 10:04 AM

Yawn.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

elZorro

27-12-2012, 05:29 PM

Yawn.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Not at all Balance, I would imagine that the Glass Earth CEO, who is also the company's certified geologist person, will be busy while the rest of us are on holiday. Will this mean that data on WKP, which might have been held back via the Newmont connection in the JV, will be made public? Newmont have a lot more depth in their staff, and should already have a resources chart for WKP.

bucko

07-01-2013, 08:35 AM

BOO! i was hoping for some news from a drill site or something half decent to start my new year back at work....

https://www.nzx.com/companies/GEL/announcements/231822

elZorro

07-01-2013, 02:22 PM

BOO! i was hoping for some news from a drill site or something half decent to start my new year back at work....

https://www.nzx.com/companies/GEL/announcements/231822

Hi Bucko, I doubt we'll get drill results in early January, but the revised 43-101 standard reports are due by 21st January. They will be much more useful for the market. In any case, there has obviously been ongoing interest in the latest private placement. It's possible it's not closed off yet, or that some funds haven't turned up in their bank account, allowing the paperwork to be completed. It's a positive sign that some well-heeled investors think there is plenty of room for upward movement in GEL's share price in 2013.

elZorro

12-01-2013, 10:27 PM

Miner looks at franchising options ALAN WOOD

Last updated 05:00 10/01/2013

Glass Earth Gold is seeking to sell franchises within its Central Otago alluvial gold operations, and to make the venture self-funding for further exploration.

Chief executive Simon Henderson said the listed gold explorer had hit its straps with its alluvial operation before Christmas, producing 70 ounces to 80 ounces of gold a week. However, there was room for improvement.

The operation was cashflow positive for paying staff and meeting other overheads, but it could also pay its own way for further exploration in the area if production was raised to 120 ounces a week, Henderson said.

Glass Earth was operating two alluvial washing plants in the Manuherikia Valley, each employing five to seven people. "If we could get another 50 per cent increase in gold we would probably sustain not just the administrative costs and all the wages and salaries, but we would sustain probably all the exploration [in the area]."
Production could be lifted to the 100-ounces-a-week level by better configuration of machinery and better productivity, he added. "There are two big plants operating. They've been operating at about 65 per cent productivity. If we could get up to 85 per cent, we could get that increase in productivity."

Glass Earth is also looking to add two extra alluvial plant machines either through its own backing or by bringing in partners as franchise operators to process deposits in the Central Otago area.

"We're looking to do that [franchise] in the next two to three months. We have two other mining permits with the resources defined and we have two partners willing to do that work." The other permits were in the Ida Valley and Maniototo regions.

This week, Glass Earth, listed on both Toronto and New Zealand exchanges, said it had closed the second tranche of its previously announced private placement to raise C$3.76 million (NZ$4.56m) of gross proceeds to develop gold and silver prospects in the Hauraki region.
The placement is for 18.75 million shares at C16 cents, as well as an option to buy up to the same number for C25c within two years.
In the second tranche, a total of 3,343,750 units had been sold at C16c each for gross proceeds of C$535,000.
The company anticipated closing a final tranche shortly, with agreements for a further C$274,000 received and being processed.
- © Fairfax NZ News

I like this focus on the gold recovery, after 2-3 months of work the company should be well on track for a stable cashflow at last.

The ODT has another article: some more good background on the alluvial work. The good grades are found 5 metres below the surface at Drybread, not too deep, and at least 0.3g/m3 on average. 50% above cutoff.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/242144/glass-earth-looking-despite-tough-environment

It looks like Simon has found a firm who will mine under tribute at the Gunclub permit, which is still valid and consented. This is a lower grade site but with some new hotspots delineated, maybe with the GEL RC drilling truck. Note the photo of GRU#3 running.

The tenor of the two articles implies that Glass Earth is looking around to see who will front up with the capital and work teams quickly, to allow more gold recovery, and of course they'll have to strike a deal on the proportion of gold paid over for that work. As I researched a while back, the core cost for a brand spanking new GRU can be under $200,000, (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-Glass-Earth-IPO&p=376862&viewfull=1#post376862) and there are a lot of diggers and ancilliary equipment lying around in NZ. GEL has been oversubscribed, so they do have an option to buy, lease or finance into some more equipment. That way, they'd be far more in control, if they are certain of the grades and their expertise.

bucko

17-01-2013, 09:00 AM

elZorro

17-01-2013, 09:18 PM

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/242144/glass-earth-looking-despite-tough-environment

100-120 ounces by march this year

I wonder what the buy in is for this franchise they have sold was, must be close to getting a release about WKP soon surely?

Hi Bucko, good point, on closer inspection the franchisee setup is probably well in GELs' favour for once:

Glass Earth had borne all costs of exploration, consenting and permitting of the prospects so far, and the franchisee would take an undisclosed minority share in any profits.

An operator will need to be certain that there is a good profit here for both parties, as that's the only way their labour and equipment costs would be covered. I had a quick look at the NZPAM site today: in the last month or so GEL has surrendered parts of permits 53189 (Sparrowhawk) and 53182. The small amount of land around the Gun Club mining permit was also dropped (51477) on 8th Jan. One other permit extension appears to be 'in progress' with NZPAM.

The date for new reports to NI 43-101 standard is 21st January, Monday next week. There would appear to be three major areas, WKP, Muirs and the Placer permits. So next week could be really interesting for GEL holders.

elZorro

19-01-2013, 09:17 AM

Using the quarterly reports, shareholders can easily see what Simon Henderson and Peter Liddle are earning for their work with GEL. It's not a great deal, and perhaps from shareholders' perspectives, it's fair enough.

Here's a setup that a large company is using to boost their performance:

Senior management have some performance criteria to achieve, in GEL's case it might be to maximise placer returns, thus allowing leftover cash for exploration. It might include minimising dilution of the shares. Another performance criteria: progress benchmarks at the hardrock permits.

The bonus offered could be up to double their normal salary each year, paid half in cash and half in GEL shares.

But those gifted shares will have to be bought on the market by the company, so there is no extra dilution. There would also be a holding time for the shares, as though they were a private placement.

How does that sound? If all this worked out, there would be enough profit left for incremental exploration without selling new shares, senior management would be a bit more interested in the share price holding up, and the rest of us could look at the GEL shares as a non-diluting investment.

gonzo56

20-01-2013, 07:53 AM

I don't know about "up to double their salary", but I very much like the idea of gifted shares that must be bought from the market. Share dilution is never fun. I wish you were on the board of directors. ;)

elZorro

20-01-2013, 10:31 AM

Here are the main salaries and director fees from the 2011 annual report, below. The company is not paying over $200k to any senior staff, no matter what their qualifications are, the workload, or the risks involved. This confirms that GEL is a very lean operation.

Glass Earth has done well with the latest private placement, and some of the interest will be due to the generous warrant options. As previous investors have found, the options are not much use if the share price keeps diluting after funding shortfalls. But surely the tide is turning, and those who have jumped in now (including one or two big investors and NZ's ACC besides) could do extremely well.

There wouldn't need to be a lot of shares purchased on market for performance bonuses (while we're at it, why not suggest the same for the board members, who appear to be underpaid too) - but it would be the principle behind it. Maybe some should be purchased on both the NZAX and the TSX-V, which would also improve liquidity over here.

As for your nomination for the board, Gonzo, thanks.. but I've checked the qualifications of the existing board members, and we're very well placed there. They are streets ahead of any experience a small shareholder like me can offer.

elZorro

23-01-2013, 08:22 AM

Today is the 23rd of January, a quick search reveals no new BCSC reports, but these might not be published to the web just yet.

Technical Reports are being prepared. The company intends to finalize technical reports in relation to Muir's, WKP and Placer on or before 21 January 2013.

Not much else has been happening on the web that relates to GEL. CHFIR have tidied up their client page for GEL, it now mentions the correct set of board members, and the big change in the number of shares on issue. The main Glass Earth website states "current" work as at June 2012, a permit list dated Sept 2012, quite a few pages that could be added or updated. Once the private placement is complete, the issued shares page will need to be updated too.

The private placement has not been mentioned lately, but I'd expect the third tranche will be the final one, and it will close well over the $3mill they were looking for.

I get the feeling that there will be quite a lot of news that could be released in the near future, but the new 43-101 standard reports will be compelling reading.

elZorro

24-01-2013, 07:35 AM

WKP is being explored under the JV with one helicoptered diamond drill rig. It's been a while since the last assays were reported on. Newmont is likely to be focussed on the Correnso hearing, looking for resource consent for their latest mining site.

Here is a timeline and the paperwork generated so far, it's a big job.

http://www.hauraki-dc.govt.nz/news/Mining-issues/GoldenLinkRCAp/app.htm

At the moment Newmont is responding to the submitters, then the submitters get time to consider those replies, and the hearing resumes in mid March 2013.

OGC's report is just out: they spent $4mill on exploration in the last quarter.

bucko

26-01-2013, 09:49 AM

so much for that announcement last monday...and the price continues to drop

elZorro

26-01-2013, 01:06 PM

Hi Bucko, I was hoping to see something as well. Any of us can step in and buy some more shares if we think they are selling too cheaply.

I just had a look at the NZPAM website, the website you look at when you're scratching around for news on mineral exploration in NZ.

Placer Gold International has been granted an EP in Southland. Waikaka. They've put a request in for more area in Southland. I thought they were helping GEL in a JV. Renison Consolidated has been granted all of the space around the outside of the New Talisman Mine (NTL) in Waikino. Last I checked they had a minimal MCap. Glass Earth was the former permit holder for that area.

Waihi Gold Ltd has applied (16-Jan-2013) for a 643.11 Ha extension to permit 40598. The original permit is due to expire on 21/5/2013, but this won't be happening of course.

EP40598 is the permit covering the area from around Golden Cross Mine and up into the WKP JV exploration site. So it's good to see that there is some paperwork being done on the area, and far from dropping back, the JV is wanting to extend the position.

elZorro

27-01-2013, 06:12 PM

Michael Berry had this article about Glass Earth in the Southland Times, over the Christmas period.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/business/8118702/Watchdog-finds-cracks-in-Glass-Earth-data

As I say, the transgressions are relatively minor as far as I can see. And it looks like GEL has been using global estimations for WKP made in 2008. The good thing about that, is there has surely been positive drills in more areas of WKP since then.

elZorro

28-01-2013, 01:06 PM

Sefton Darby, the PR person for Newmont's Waihi Gold, has a new job, at NZPAM.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/8230054/Mining-mans-new-job-concern-for-ratepayers

This sets a bit of a precedent, and perhaps implies the govt is keen on mining initiatives. There have been some big delays in the granting of permits, well over a year in some cases. Sefton Darby states he won't be making any decisions, or be involved for at least a year, in hearings like Correnso. Looks like the final result of that resource consent might take over a year.

This impacts a bit on GEL, as in the meantime will we see increased work on WKP? Is the longer-term plan to be ready for talks about WKP as a mining prospect?

elZorro

29-01-2013, 07:31 AM

The permit list on GEL's website has been updated, yesterday. (http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/Operations.asp?ReportID=540731)This is welcome, except there seem to be some errors and omissions, at least compared with the NZPAM records.

Area of EP53182, Manuherikia, should be 7128.34 Ha, not 6605 Ha.
Area of EP53297 Kakanui, should be 2256.8 km2, not 2335 km2
Another application is 54765, to replace the Moeraki permits above Macraes Mine
GEL has a 35% share of EP40813, a permit above the WKP area.

All sorted by 30th January, thanks. Neavesville permits have been added to the JV section, as there is an option to purchase these.

elZorro

31-01-2013, 07:04 AM

The first of the three required NI 43-101 standard reports has been put out, this one for Muirs. The overall picture (below) is not impressive for this site, it's easy to access but a bit remote from the Newmont powerhouse in Waihi. The amount and grade of gold is not proved continuous yet, and it's still not a feasible hardrock mining site. The fact is GEL dropped the permit area around Muirs itself, a few months ago.

Glass Earth Gold Announces Filing of NI 43-101 Technical Report for its Resources at Muirs Project, Te Puke, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Outlining an inferred resource of 5.24 Mt averaging 1.3 g/t gold, using a 0.5 g/t gold cut off for a total of 219,000 ounces of goldWELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND--(Marketwire - Jan. 30, 2013) - Glass Earth Gold Limited (TSX VENTURE:GEL)(NZAX:GEL)("Glass Earth Gold or GEGL") is pleased to announce that it has filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) its National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on resources at Muir's Project, Te Puke, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
Exploration at the Muir's Project in the Hauraki Goldfield in New Zealand's North Island has outlined an inferred resource of 5.24 Mt averaging 1.3 g/t gold using a 0.5 g/t gold cut off for a total of 219,000 ounces of gold. Gold as electrum occurs in mineralised low sulphidation style epithermal quartz veins. GEGL wholly owns the prospect and has focused on developing greater understanding of the economic potential of the mineralization at the site.
The resource estimate is based on data from GEGL and historical data from BP Minerals and Mineral Resources (New Zealand) Ltd dating back to the 1980's. GEGL executed 24 trenches of 510m total length, 16 diamond drillholes of 3,141.25m combined length, 2 RC drillholes of 463m combined length. The historical drilling comprises 12 diamond drillholes with a combined length of 1,739m and 40 RC drillholes with a combined length of 3,966m. Historical channel sampling includes 7 channel samples taken from surface and underground workings for a total of 253m combined length.
The reader is cautioned that the status of inferred resource reflects the relative confidence of the grade estimates and is based on several factors including sample spacing (both along strike and down dip), lack of quality assured data for historical drilling data, limited bulk density data, uncertainty over structural controls on mineralisation and sample quality. Furthermore, geological continuity has been assumed but not established. The resource has not yet been demonstrated as economically viable. There is also no certainty that it will be converted to a measured and indicated resource category through further drilling, or into a mineral reserve once economic considerations are applied.
The independent technical report, entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources at Muir's Project, Te Puke, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand" was prepared by Mr Peter Grieve, M.Sc., M.A.I.G. of GeoVentures Limited, who is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and has also reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.
The Company's Muirs Reef Gold Prospect lies 65 km southeast of the Martha Gold Mine (Newmont Mining) at the southern end of the Hauraki Goldfield. Two quartz reefs were mined within this epithermal system until the 1930s, with over 43,000 oz of gold extracted from shallow surface and underground workings.
Qualified Person
Mr Simon Henderson, MSc Geology (CODES), an AusIMM Chartered Professional under the Discipline of Geology; is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and an employee of the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical information given in this press release.
About Glass Earth Gold
Glass Earth Gold is one of New Zealand's most active gold exploration companies with landholdings proximal to producing deposits and cash flow from its wholly owned placer projects. With an experienced geological team the Company is exploring promising gold prospects across both the North and South Islands.
In the North Island, exploration efforts are focused on large epithermal gold systems in the Hauraki Region, akin to the operating Martha Hill mine, (Newmont Mining).
In the Hauraki Region, Glass Earth Gold has identified and developed significant ground positions around the active Martha Hill gold mine operations at Waihi. The Newmont-Glass Earth Gold Waihi West JV (Newmont earning in) and Hauraki JV (65/35), including drilling at the WKP discovery, are being actively explored and managed by Newmont in collaboration with Glass Earth Gold.
The recent announcement that Glass Earth Gold has acquired option rights to the Neavesville gold/silver prospect (just north of WKP) will mean an increased exploration focus in the Hauraki region.
In the South Island, exploration efforts are focused on the Otago Region, home to OceanaGold's Macraes Goldfield, for identification of mesothermal "Macraes-style" gold targets and revenue generation through placer (alluvial) gold production.
For more information on Glass Earth Gold, please visit www.glassearthgold.com.
To receive Company news via email, contact erica@chfir.com and mention "Glass Earth news" in the subject line.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor New Zealand Exchange Limited has reviewed this release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information:
Glass Earth Gold Limited
Simon Henderson
President and Chief Executive Officer
+64 4 903 4980
info@glassearthgold.com
www.glassearthgold.com

CHF Investor Relations
Jeanny So
Director of Operations
+1 416 868 1079 x 225
jeanny@chfir.com

The report was prepared by Peter Grieve, checked over by Simon Henderson too. I think there's a good reason for the Muirs report to be first: if there is to be a podium for the three reports, then Muirs was always going to be third in line of importance. It's still $430mill of inferred gold, but it could cost a lot of that cash just getting set up for it with drilling and planning, and mine establishment.

elZorro

31-01-2013, 11:56 AM

The WKP report is out, but it is very disappointing in terms of detail in the summary that we've been shown.

http://www.directbroking.co.nz/DirectTrade/dynamic/announcement.aspx?id=3273574

I've had a look at SEDAR, and its records only date from 29 January backwards at the moment, so the filed reports can't be seen, if they were filed yesterday (30th January).

The summary doesn't mention whether there is enough data on WKP to even give inferred figures (as for Muirs), there is just no quantified data in the summary at all, except for some drill results. One good thing I guess, the report won't contravene the NI 43-101 rules. It also offers nothing new for shareholders, at least in the summary. I'll be watching for the SEDAR report to show up in their database.

Peter Grieve has worked at Macraes as a senior geologist for 10 years, now has his own business, and was a consultant to Newmont for a short stint. He's based in Otago.

The East Graben area is where they're drilling, and the summary includes this promising-sounding paragraph about the 'district-scale' anomaly.

The broad low grade gold mineralisation within the Central Zone and veins

relating to the East Graben structure lie on a major north-north-east

trending structure marking the intersection of rhyolite (west) and more

intermediate andesite pyroclastics (to the east). This is a district-scale

structure, identified on magnetic and resistivity (geophysical) data and may

represent the primary focus of significant coherent mineralisation in the WKP

area.

elZorro

01-02-2013, 12:21 AM

The two big reports are now available on Sedar. As the exploration work is deemed to be at an early stage for WKP (after all these years??) there was no need to fill out any sections dealing with estimations of resources etc.

Still, there's a lot of information about how the various data was gathered, who handled it, and how accurate it was. The description of Martha Hill brings up a lot of similarities. But there is a timeline for a resource estimate for part of the area, mentioned towards the end of the report. Just a few months away.

WKP36 and WKP37 have already been drilled, but no assay results were reported. SGS in Waihi has only 1/3 the capability of SGS elsewhere in Aussie, so that is where the assays are being done. The CSAMT data has been invaluable at WKP, it's the data they've used to find the resistors and then they drill to intercept them.

NZResources has also mentioned the WKP report today.

The JV is going to extend the permit containing WKP, for another 5 year term, as a discovery appraisal. There is no limit on how many times you can do that, but the holding fees are higher to make it a bit difficult.

Technical report on WKP released to exchanges

1 February 2013
A technical report by the junior partner on a major epithermal gold prospect on the North Island of New Zealand has been released to the Canadian and New Zealand stock exchanges.
The report by Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL).is on the Wharekirauponga prospect, thankfully shorted to WKP, in the Hauraki goldfield and is 10 kilometres north of Waihi at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula.
The operating partner Newmont Waihi Gold is a subsidiary of global gold giant Newmont Mining Corporation and it holds 65% stake with Glass Earth holding the balance.
Glass Earth’s technical report said WKP Project is developing as a significant new gold discovery within a large low sulphidation gold-silver epithermal system that is about 1.2 kilometres by 1 km that is capable of hosting a major gold deposit.
Following on from historical exploration on WKP’s Eastern Zone, the joint venture has identified two other significant zones of mineralisation (Central and Western zones), and recently intersected mineralisation on the Eastern Graben structure where drilling continues.
In the Central Zone broad low-grade intercepts are a feature (WKP26 151 metres @ 1.2 ppm Au and WKP27 102.2m @ 1.1 ppm Au) with the margins of a voluminous rhyolite rock-type providing a focus of hydrothermal fluid flow and high-grade mineralisation.
The interior of the competent and homogeneous rhyolite rock has permitted regular fracturing and broad hydrothermal fluid flow with resulting consistent low-grade gold mineralisation.
This, Glass Earth said, contrasts with the East Graben structure, within the Eastern Zone, which is typically dominated by discrete veins. Drill core from 580m down-hole in WKP35 shows episodic high level crustiform banded veins, hydrothermal and tectonic brecciation corresponding with multiple phases of mineralisation, hosted on the juxtaposition of rhyolite and andesite lithologies.
Assays for this interval returned 7.9m @ 5.1 ppm Au, including 3.4m @ 8.3 ppm Au.
This style of mineralization on the Eastern Graben structure was new for this project and important because, there are strong similarities with major gold mines in the vicinity, namely Martha, Favona, and Golden Cross.
The broad low grade gold mineralisation within Central Zone and veins relating to the East Graben structure lie on a major north-north-east trending structure marking the intersection of rhyolite (west) and more intermediate andesite pyroclastics (to the east).
This is a district-scale structure, identified on magnetic and resistivity data and may represent the primary focus of significant coherent mineralisation in the WKP area.
The joint venture plans a significant search programme for 2013; further evaluating the Eastern Graben Structure and including an initial project resource estimate, metallurgical test work, rock engineering study, geophysics and a 2,500m diamond drill programme.
The estimated cost for this programme is NZ$2.7 million (C$2.2 M) and Glass Earth gold’s share would be $C800,000. ($NZ953,370).

elZorro

01-02-2013, 06:58 PM

Here's one new diagram amongst many in the WKP report. This explains the physical features being mentioned through press releases. But it's also a great sign that the geologists are homing in on the monied parts of WKP.

elZorro

03-02-2013, 01:00 PM

Andrew Hamilton from Glass Earth has compiled quite a few good figures and diagrams for the WKP NI 43-101 report. Here's another one attached.

This map from above shows the location and orientation of all the drills undertaken at WKP. Note that some of the drills were started in the early 1980s, many were quite short, there aren't many drills in total (37) and the spacings are well above what would be called infill drills (50 -100 metres apart). So there was a good excuse for Peter Grieve to simply not make any mention of the estimated resources. Not even a guess..

But the last page or so of the report mentions what's ahead. Some more planning, careful inspection of previous results, some more CSAMT work (on the ground with wires and EM fields) to locate more of the resistors that have been near the mineralisation. The area that they're looking at is Central and the Eastern Graben Fault. As the drill patterns into the EG area all seem to have been collared from the Central area, maybe the access is just terrible down there.

Each new drilling area has to be checked for any presence of Archey's frogs, and other flora and fauna, first. Remember the rare and special Archey's Frog is not known to be present on WKP, or anywhere nearer than 20km away, but they still should be looking. I haven't seen any mention of the JV sponsoring any frog research, which I think at this juncture would be a smart move.

The JV will also be preparing an estimate on the resources from the Central and the EG area, while the new lot of 2500mtrs of drilling will also be probing the same space later, once drill directions have been sorted.

Thanks to the helpful charts provided in the report, I added up all the drilling that was done since the 5,500mtrs programme was announced in April 2012. It came to 3,601.5 metres, including an aborted WKP32 drill that seems to have gone haywire, with no data being presented on it.

So actually, the next round of 2,500 metres is only another 601.5 metres of drilling over what was promised last year, about one drill length. Maybe they've just paused while assays come back in. I must admit I was surprised how small-scale the assay labs seem to be. Here's an opportunity for some entrepreneurs in NZ.

elZorro

08-02-2013, 03:31 PM

The Placer report is out (http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=570028), will have to look on Sedar to see it properly.

So far, about $60mill (gross) of placer gold has been identified in all the earlier permits, but Drybread might have more to come, especially near the old diggings. Drybread has about 1/3 of the total, $20mill worth. If that's so, the Drybread spots will be worked through within 12 months.

The sample drills average about 8 metres depth. GEL's gear doesn't suit going lower than that generally, and it starts getting expensive moving overburden.

elZorro

09-02-2013, 10:02 AM

The Sedar report is now viewable. I've spent an hour looking at it, this report is packed with data and goes into great detail. So far, the placer resources look generally good, and at Hecklers, the equipment has been working at the poorer end of the resource, it's getting into better areas. Hecklers will take a bit over a year to complete, the equipment could then be applied to help with Morans, which will take over two years at the current rate. Increasing operational hours and ore handling would change all this. I'll have a more detailed look later.

elZorro

10-02-2013, 07:36 PM

Here are three images that help explain the situation at Drybread. Groundwater is the biggest area, and as the alluvial fan is further away from the Dunstan Range, the average grade has dropped off a bit. See chart above. Groundwater has not been mined yet, and GRU #2 is on the Drybread site somewhere but perhaps won't suit the area because it has a riffle trap, not the jig setup.

Morans has the biggest rig, GRU#1. The grade is slightly lower than at Hecklers, but to make up for that they've put it into the hottest spot first. At Hecklers, the tidy GRU#3 has been going well and is only at the cheap end of the area. The two operations could match outputs in the near future.

elZorro

11-02-2013, 12:02 PM

NZResources had an article today.

Glass Earth plans to expand the scope of placer mining in Central Otago and Southland
11 February 2013
A technical report for stock exchanges by Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL) showed alluvial gold deposits in Central Otago - now providing an improved cash flow for the company - had an indicated resource of 945,000 cubic metres for a contained 9,950 ounces of gold.There was also an inferred resource of 1.35 million m3 for a total 22,500 oz of gold (extra).

The detailed technical report covered five placer properties in Central Otago and Southland - Drybread, Matakanui, Vinegar Hill, Waikaia and Pigburn.

The inferred resources are within Matakanui, Vinegar Hill, Pigburn and Waikaia, respectively in the Manuherikia, Maniototo and Waikaia valleys, where the gold is contained within degradational gravels of Tertiary, Quaternary and Recent age, in shallow horizontal fluvial horizons within 1-11m of surface.

The report chronicles the historical mining, generally several campaigns of historical drilling, followed by Glass Earth’s drilling, bulk sampling and - where appropriate metallurgical-engineering data collection - on the five project areas.

The company completed a total of 887 drill-holes totalling 7,200m of drilling, 166 bulk sample/pits for 600m of sampling, and compiled and verified 341 legacy drill-holes for 4,500m of legacy drilling, averaging 8.2m depth of vertical drilling.

Glass Earth established its own Laboratory testing facility in Alexandra and said the prospects in Central Otago and Southland remain relatively underexplored.

At Drybread, where mining operations are currently underway, exploratory mapping and drilling is recommended to target the zone between the current operations, and historical mining activity adjacent to the Dunstan Range.

At Matakanui and Vinegar Hill, further drilling, and bulk sampling are recommended to improve the confidence in existing resources outlined, and examining the gold potential of recent gravel horizons identified to the south of both resources.

At Waikaia, this larger gold resource in the Southland basin requires significantly more drilling, pitting and engineering data to provide confidence to proceed further on what is a deeper and potentially clayey deposit.
Pigburn, whilst relatively modest, has both resource consent and mining permit in place, and is being examined as a small mining operation under franchise arrangement.

The report added that for all five properties, a two-stage programme of drilling, pitting and engineering studies is recommended, for an estimated cost of $NZ195,000.
Attachments

http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/icons/pdf.jpg
125 page technical report on Glass Earth's placer project. (Adobe PDF File) Download (2993KB) (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/attachments/4178/GlassEarthalluvialsreport_lr.pdf)

elZorro

12-02-2013, 07:23 AM

Yesterday, some of the pages on the GEL website were updated by the look of it. All previous gold discoveries and mined amounts have been carefully referenced. The three NI 43-101 reports, which are full of useful data, are all installed on the technical reports page, which is great.

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/TechnicalReports.asp

The WKP drill results table is still waiting for new assays to be reported on, but the page here has been changed a bit and mentions the 2013 drill programme and other work. There wasn't much updating on the Muirs, Garibaldi, Placer pages.

bucko

12-02-2013, 12:09 PM

elZorro

12-02-2013, 01:48 PM

heading south indeed! another 124,000 offered at 16cps and 150,000 at 19cps so theres a lot up for sale at the moment!

I have inreased my stake though at this price it was too good to say no,

I tend to agree with elzorro in terms of the future potential of this company and im leaning towards the 6-12 months before i hopefully see some real gains, Once the placers get up to optimum production and the company starts running a small profit and then again when we see more results from WKP/Muirs drills (more so for WKP as Newmont is the majority holder of the permit and they have the cash to go ahead with a project sooner rather than later)

Bucko and others, yes it's a big change in the price today. This drop started on the TSX overnight, there was no company press release over there, and none here. It hasn't affected other goldie shares. So maybe it's a comment on Glass Earth in a subscription broadsheet or similar. Sabre rattling?

Here's a possibility.

http://www.stockhouse.com/bullboards/messagedetail.aspx?p=0&m=32160565&l=0&r=0&s=GEL&t=LIST

elZorro

12-02-2013, 11:04 PM

The placer report shows just how involved it is, getting gold out of the gravels in Otago.

I wonder if this dewatering machine would be any use in recycling clean water for the Drybread operations? It might be a good way of cleaning up the slimes or clay residues.

http://dewatersludge.com/dewatering-sludge-mining/

Or a clarifier from Rocktec..

http://rocktec.co.nz/file/Brochures/clarifiers-and-thickeners.pdf

elZorro

13-02-2013, 07:57 AM

If it is Brent Cook's adjustment to his subscriber portfolio that has dropped the shareprice, it should only be temporary. Only 1 mill of shares were sold on the TSX yesterday, which is small for over there. As recently as late Sepetember 2012, Brent appeared still happy to be holding.

http://www.stockchase.com/company/view/4217

So it's an opportunity to pick up some cheap shares, for the brave. The GEL TSX shares are holding up today, with a bigger gap showing between buy/sell.

elZorro

13-02-2013, 08:58 PM

Cheers for that elZorro, always onto it with the goldies! Seems a bit ridiculous people should trade out because of one man, especially at a time when a major report has entered the market and shows the direction of the company...

Brent Cook has quite a following in Canada though. When he plucks a small illiquid company like Glass Earth out of obscurity for his subscribers, the share price is bound to move upwards initially. I like to think that because he held the shares for 18 months or so, and actually visited Muirs, Waihi and Otago placer, his enthusiasm was well founded. Since he puts out a report on Sunday once every week or so, with buy/sell/hold and background data on the chosen set of resource shares he runs with, there has always been this temporary threat hanging over the share price, once he brought the new retail shareholders in on his coat-tails. But he also helped put out a good video on Glass Earth, he's great at fronting the camera.

I think GEL will survive without Brent Cook. Brent has given management some indirect advice though, by the sound of it.

(1) Stick to a clear plan, WKP is really important, don't risk GEL's portion of the JV interest.
(2) Don't dilute our shareholding so much, we're getting a bit tired of it.
(3) Placer returns need to be able to fully fund the operation if possible , both G&A and exploration. That will fix both (1) and (2).

While we wait for Newmont to have a think about their next shuffling steps in exploring WKP, the placer returns from Drybread need to be top of the pile in importance. The Placer report mentioned a portable conveyor system now being used at Morans. I've seen these being used in quarry operations - they can be really efficient. GEL should be highlighting these advances, and bringing in more gear like that.

I'm sure Simon will agree with my suggestion for the company motto..below :)

elZorro

15-02-2013, 07:35 PM

No wonder the dont talk grades!! That's a lot of dirt 2+m tonne for mainlyinferred 30k oz. a lot of work for their micro plant. Might take decades to run through that dirt. :)

Lucky they are second board stock they don't need to disclose like main board cos and even then they struggle

Anyone know how their McDonald's gold franchise drive thru plan is going ?

I'm not sure where the figure of 2Mt of ore is from. It's done in cubic metres of wash. Drybread is a reasonable permit for placer work. With two GRUs, they're handling 105 m3 of wash an hour, running for 64 hours a week, 350,000 m3 a year. There's about 6 years of Drybread material at the current rate, but they only have 2 machines going. More can be deployed, and they can increase the hours of operation.

The company info is that 0.2g/m3 is breakeven in ideal circumstances, and certainly grades around 0.4g/m3 and upwards are being worked. It's not hardrock, there is very little processing. Different rules Bullish. Some of the Drybread permit has a grade of 1.5g/m3.

In Canada, where most of the stock trades, the BCSC rules are very tough, and that flows through to press releases here, and the website. They do talk grades, always have. Have a deeper look.

bucko

16-02-2013, 08:43 AM

elZorro

16-02-2013, 09:38 AM

i just got an email this morning...

"Good Afternoon,

Glass Earth Gold (TSXV – GEL; NZAX – GEL) advises that it has closed the third and final tranche of its previously announced non-brokered Private Placement. A further 1,884,500 Units have been sold at a price of $0.16 per Unit for gross proceeds of C$301,520.

Each Unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase Warrant. Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one common share at a price of C$0.25 per share, exercisable for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.

For more information please see the attached release.

Should you have any questions, feel free to e-mail jeanny@chfir.com at anytime."

I guess we should expect the price to drop somewhat over next week given the amount of extra shares that are out there?

Bucko, the market already knew the latest PP was over-subscribed a small amount, so the Brent Cook decision had a lot more impact, but that'll be short term.

Here's a page from Brent Cook's EI website (https://www.explorationinsights.com/pebble.asp?relid=2408)showing the issues with finding a payable resource. However a neat chart I'd forgotten about (a bit out of date) implies that only small grades below 1g/tonne are the cutoff for open cut mining, perhaps with heap leaching. Macraes does a bit of that in Otago. More like 3.5g/tonne for underground mining.

WKP has demonstrated large areas of good opencast grade so far, and now they're looking for underground resources.

Brent Cook appears to have replied to the Stockhouse thread. (http://www.stockhouse.com/bullboards/messagedetail.aspx?p=0&m=32182121&l=0&r=0&s=GEL&t=LIST)

Here's a very recent video from Brent Cook. (http://www.mining.com/web/brent-cook-on-risk-honesty-and-a-cut-throat-vancouver-junior-mining-scene/)Probably done just before GEL and another of his 22 shares was dropped from the list.

It's possible Brent still holds his GEL shares and will wait sometime into 2013 before selling. The mere fact that he held GEL tells us that he thinks the chance of GEL making it to the hardrock mining stage somewhere, is/was 1:25 to 1:50. The odds for average gold exploration juniors is more like 1:1000 according to him.

What does Brent like to see? Honesty, less dilution, focus, a good team, and credible drill results that are scientifically disclosed, without undue bias.

bucko

16-02-2013, 12:50 PM

ElZorro, when are you hoping for positive movement on the share price? in your opinion

elZorro

16-02-2013, 01:19 PM

ElZorro, when are you hoping for positive movement on the share price? in your opinion

That's a good point, Bucko. So IMHO, DYOR etc: here goes..

I'd imagine that a lot of work was required of a small team at GEL HQ over the holiday break, they wouldn't have had much of a holiday. But they've done well, these are good reports. I'd expect the BCSC notification will be lifted soon, if the reports are accepted as up to NI43-101 standard. Maybe it's already lifted, they are not on the default list anymore, I looked. So there's one good press release coming up perhaps.

WKP drills 36 and 37 still have to report fully. Remember one of these was looking for an extension in the EG mineralisation, the money end of WKP hopefully.

Crucial to feel-good sentiment from shareholders at this immediate point, will be placer cash in the bank, and more of it. Maybe Simon and others will be able to give us some more background on what's happening over at Drybread, for instance what does the new conveyor look like? Any ideas to increase production further?

You also have an option to wander into the GEL head office for a chat Bucko, I've never visited any of the three locations they've had in Wellington.

I see the current shareprice dip as temporary, in fact investor interest seems to be good at these prices, here and on the TSX. Keep looking at the MCap, does it look logical for a company with a quickly increasing gold turnover that might exceed $10mill p.a. soon, with the exploration assets they have?

Short answer: I reckon the price will be back over NZ20c soon.

elZorro

16-02-2013, 06:28 PM

I see no reason why the share price should be under NZ20c in the first place, other than the words Brent Cook wrote in his newsletter. From what I can tell, they wern't strong words at all. He had just suggested that he'd be selling his stake sometime during this year, then the obvious happened, his TSX followers jumped ship at any expence.

We'll find out soon who was the silly one, but I bought a few more this week @ .16 and don't regret a thing about it. I'll probably end up regreting I didn't buy more at these fire sale prices.

Yep, makes sense Yankiwi. No-one's saying this share is the best one in the world, but GEL's making the right sort of moves at the moment, on the whole. Brent might be able to see even better explorers out there, it doesn't mean we are going to do badly.

I wonder if this conveyor is anything like the one they're using at Drybread. On sale on Trademe.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-farming-industry/industrial/earthmoving-machinery/other-machines/auction-554414643.htm

bucko

16-02-2013, 07:54 PM

elZorro

17-02-2013, 10:20 AM

wow the things you can find on trademe! haha

yeh i increased my holdings this week as well, i just couldnt say no to 16c and from what i've read so far about the company im flabergastered as to why it was so low anyway!

so as a shareholder i can just head into one of the GEL offices here in wellington and get a tour??? (still a noob investor, i dont know these things)

Bucko, visiting the office has to be fine, you might want to call first to make a time, as per any business. It's in a cluster around Straterra, an industry lobby group. The "tour" might not be a very big tour, as don't forget the company is on the whole, frugal.

I wouldn't mind being given the opportunity to go on a tour around the Otago permits though. They could set up an open day at Drybread sometime. While they might think it's boring, for shareholders it would be a real eyeopener.

I had a look at some of the other gear that is being sold alongside the 30mtr conveyor. Some of it is located in Central Otago. If I'm right, GEL management will already know all about this surplus mining equipment, it's not too far away from Drybread. Still, it's interesting to see the prices. And that crawler with a boom attached to it, from a Trademe photo, could that be the mobile cross-pit conveyor?

elZorro

23-02-2013, 02:59 PM

GEL shares have picked up a bit, since the collapse started by Brent Cook's broadsheet recently. They are still resting well below the price set in the latest PP (CD16c, NZ20c), and I thought that would be rock bottom.

Here's Brent Cook talking to the Gold Report in late 2012, and Glass Earth is not mentioned. Although he does say that some shares held by him for longer than a year hadn't performed well, and were pulling down his average returns. CTG, another TSX-V longer-term share he held, is mentioned and in a neutral (to positive) way. Both were dropped in the same week, with explanations.

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/2013/01/07/brent-cook-how-to-turn-rock-into-money?t=precious-metals

As usual though, great informative background here. Basically he thinks the market should still be tough on juniors in 2013, but that there are still some bargains to be had. The market is not at a peak, may be near a bottom, and maybe some of the poorer juniors are finally being valued fairly. Finance is going to be hard to find, leading to dilution for many.

Let's assume Brent didn't pick GEL 18 months ago so that he'd get a trip to NZ out of it eventually. It had well above average prospects, and I would think that still applies. Dilution and delays at WKP are behind this decision on his part.

Delays on the WKP drill core assays can be explained by the SGS lab in Waihi having one major customer: Newmont. And Newmont will be prepared to pay only a fair price for each assay, most of which will be for urgent grade control data for their mines. SGS will be looking after the 100% Newmont owned jobs first, because that's the breadwinner. They already do 12hour, 4 days on, 4 off shifts, meaning (I think) they are open for 84 hours a week, every day. There is a job going as a sample preparer for that lab, right now. No major qualifications needed (a good sense of humour?) The WKP report showed that the lab in Waihi has a limited number of fire assay pots, and the premises don't look too large or overly staffed. Maybe 10 staff in total. (Footnote, SGS looks like a very profitable company, only 8mill shares and each one costs a fair bit).

The WKP report explained some core samples are being sent to Australia now. What a shame explorers have to do this sort of thing to get a sensible turnaround.

The other aspect is dilution. The Placer report makes interesting reading, and there is clearly potential for much improved profit from the alluvial mining at Drybread. GEL is not using large-scale gear yet, compared to L&M for example. Some overheads and costs look like they could be pruned back, now that the team has decided what gear is needed for the longer-term work. The mobile conveyor looks particularly useful, and I'll be keen to see the details on this in future. The efficiency of something like that wasn't factored into the older data.

It's up to GEL management to prove Brent's decision on the share might have been a bit hasty. Good clear profit cashflow from the placer should increase the MCap of the company by about 5x the profit per annum, so say $6mill profit p.a. would add $30mill to the MCap. A quarterly target to achieve that is just $1.5mill of clear profit from placer returns. On current data, the return before scheduled payments on the equipment is about $2mill p.a.

elZorro

28-02-2013, 12:32 PM

Some increasing volume in GEL shares here lately, and the price is moving up steadily.

Looked at the NZPAM records just now. Renison Consolidated (Aussie minnow MCap $4mill, now called Lane Resources, LNY) has put in an application for 31,000Ha of exploration starting from below the Talisman Mine (they have the area around it, or want it) and way down into the Waikato. It's called Waiorongomai. I went up the valley on a school trip once, it's near Te Aroha, and there was a limited amount of gold taken out of there.

http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?application=55213

elZorro

01-03-2013, 08:03 PM

Glass Earth has booth 2706 at PDAC conference in Toronto, early March. They'll join a lot of other miners and explorers.

Maybe Simon will be over there, which explains the quiet information stream lately. They usually put out a press release about PDAC.

http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/conv/2013/pdf/2013-ie-exhibitor-list.pdf

elZorro

02-03-2013, 11:06 AM

CHFIR has just put out a booklet for PDAC. GEL gets a page (14). Neavesville seems to be an important new initiative, because a good half of the page covers it. Trig Bluffs is the area they'll be looking at first. Historic 1999 drill results must have been good.

http://www.actonsoftware.com/acton/attachment/1646/1646:f-0433/0/s-0094-1303/-/l-0001/l-0001:52c9/

Here is the news release from November last year, confirming it's all old news. But Trig Bluffs might need fleshing out a bit.

http://glassearthgold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=558357

The Neavesville area had some gold mining presence from 1875, and is located in the bush, serviced by tracks that might be part forestry tracks, part there to look after the power pylons running through. It's 1-2 km south of the Kopu-Hikuai Road which heads across towards Onemana etc, from Thames. The area has Maori ownership apparently, and has been cleared of some pine forestry recently.

Coromandel Watchdog shows three Neavesville area permits. Hauraki Gold is owned by Eurasian, the outfit that GEL has an agreement with. Newmont owns a small part of Eurasian. Eurasion was able to get hold of these two permits by staking, at minimal cost.

http://watchdog.org.nz/action/neavesville-kopu-hikuai/

Here's a video complete with great soundtrack, on the recent rediscovery of a stamper battery setup as marked on the topo map. 10 stamper batteries were erected there, and never got used because the gas powered motor wouldn't work properly at that altitude. Some of the stampers were removed and are on show in Thames somewhere.

Sounds a bit like WKP. Remember, back then the gear was crude, and you needed 1oz/ton grades to make good money. These are now called bonanza grades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0rTmzvsPqw

elZorro

03-03-2013, 09:36 AM

PDAC starts today and runs until Wednesday. The Investors Exchange area (booths) is sold out. Looks like 1250 companies will be represented there, of various sizes. Most booths are the same size as GEL's (they are #2706).

http://www.pdac.ca/pdac/conv/2013/ie-exhibitor.aspx

The annual books will be due out at the end of March, last year they were signed off on 27th March and released by the required date, I assume the end of March.

elZorro

04-03-2013, 09:14 PM

Waihi Gold Company (Newmont) has applied for a 12 month extension to their 100% owned prospecting permit 52910. It's adjacent and above the Trig Bluffs area in Neavesville. So they do have some interest in the region then..

http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?permit=52910

elZorro

06-03-2013, 09:11 PM

Yesterday, GEL relinquished permit 51706, which was Star Trek, in Otago. This has not had much of a mention for years. I liked the name though. Pity.

Renison Consolidated changed its name to Lane Resources, converted a loan to equity from its founder/chair Stephen Bizzell, and is poised to develop its coal mines etc in Aussie and do work on its exploration permits - their only NZ permits happen to be in the same area as GEL is working, lower Coromandel. Their new stock ticker is LNY on the ASX. MCap is $4mill, but I might have been hasty here, because Stephen Bizzell was involved in a billion dollar sale of a company he founded. He would have received nearly $23mill in 2010.

CORPORATE
On 31 August Mr Ben Harrison was appointed as a Director of the Company replacing Mr David
Vincent.
In early October Renison advised it intends to undertake a restructure and recapitalisation of the
Company.
As an initial step in the process, Renison is currently completing an interim capital raising to fund
general and administrative costs until the restructure and recapitalisation is finalised.
Following the interim capital raising, Renison will then embark on obtaining the required shareholder
approvals necessary to complete the restructure. These approvals will include a share consolidation
and the cancellation of the forfeited partly paid shares currently on issue, together with a proposal to
change the Company's name to Laneway Resources. A larger capital raising will then be undertaken
primarily by way of a pro-rata entitlement issue to existing shareholders to provide sufficient capital to
recommence exploration activities across its project portfolio, continue feasibility studies on the Agate
Creek Gold Project and extinguish the existing loan facility (via conversion to equity) that has been
provided by the Chairman of the Company, Mr Stephen Bizzell.
Further details of the proposed restructure and recapitalisation will be provided to shareholders in an
Explanatory Memorandum that will accompany the Notice of Meeting for the Company's Annual
General Meeting to be held in November.
Following the restructure and recapitalisation, Renison will be well positioned to capitalise on its two
advanced assets namely the Agate Creek Gold Project and the Ashford Coking Coal Project, as well as
a promising portfolio of exploration projects and to investigate new project opportunities that are
being actively pursued.
For further information contact:
Ben Harrison or Scott Hall
Phone: (07) 3108 3500
E-Mail: admin@rcm.com.au
Website: www.rcm.com.au (http://www.rcm.com.au)
Competent Persons Statement
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by
Mr Scott Hall who is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Hall is a full-time employee of
Renison Consolidated Mines NL and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of
deposit under consideration and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the
2004 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.’ Mr Hall
consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

elZorro

07-03-2013, 09:15 PM

Upon updating my GEL permits spreadsheet today, I see that some of GEL's permit applications have been let go. These were all quite large prospecting permit applications started in 2011, all in the Otago region.

55345, Murray (Poolburn-McAdies)
55347 Lammerlaw (Fruidburn)
55349, Omakau (Lauder-Becks)
55350 Black Rock (Lee Stream)
55351 Greenland (Serpentine outer)

All now missing from the spacial register, they added up to 1080km2 or 10,801.6 Ha.

This means that 'under application' and permitted spaces for GEL add up to a shade under 3,000km2.

Note that application 55109 is GEL's, to the side of Newmont's permit at Neavesville and above the Eurasian permits.

The picture is that Glass Earth is serious in its statement: they appear to be moving away from the permit prospector model and are going to concentrate on fewer permit areas. The upper Waikato is certainly one area of interest. Ophir is one older Otago permit that they've refused to let go. We haven't heard much about Garibaldi lately.

Research note: Brent Cook's newsletter EI was a renamed version of Paul van Eeden's newsletter, resumed in 2008. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Junior+mining+stock+picks+from+Brent+Cook%3A+Part+ two-a01611715826

Ophir Gold Ltd, a company with multiple shareholders but over 39% owned by Bob Kilgour's family, has applied to extend the time (5 yrs) exploring permit 40427 at Ophir, just South of the township. GEL has JV areas to the south of that, and around it.

bucko

12-03-2013, 09:31 AM

and the price continues its decent, elZ is it end of march for the next announcements??

elZorro

12-03-2013, 01:46 PM

and the price continues its descent, elZ is it end of march for the next announcements??

I had a look, last year it was March 28 for the annual set of books. It's only a year since the placer JV partner was bought out. So could be some good results to show.

PDAC sounded like hard work in general for the exhibitors. However soon after the end year books, the Q1 report will be due. By now the field work at WKP should be under way, finding the best resistors to drill. And where are those drill assays? I'd expect some press releases soon. I'm sure there will have been good developing profit from the placer work. That's something most junior explorers don't have, an income and a solid asset base with staff. It's time the shareprice reflected that.

elZorro

12-03-2013, 09:13 PM

The website was updated today, with a new permit application added that I've missed picking up on. This is (appl) EP 55162, called Okato. It's in Colac Bay, Southland. Right beside an existing smaller permit, Wakapatu (the one that looks like a begging dog). They are just looking for gold, and it'll be a placer operation. 100% owner would be Goldmines NZ, GEL the operator. GEL owns Goldmines NZ 100%.

791.58Ha. (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?application=55162)Colac Bay is mentioned in the 2012 Newsletter that I also missed.

http://www.glassearthgold.com/i/newsletters/GEGL_newsletter14.pdf

There are some great comments and photos here. None of the cross-pit conveyor, but the GRU running full bore looks fairly impressive.

Round Hill, the area is known for very fine gold. Floats in water. Sounds familiar. This story is about the Golden Bush permit, no. MP 52925 in the middle of GEL's permit application.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/6792105/Landowner-leaving-place-of-golden-opportunity

The other mining permit is inside there is 41145, Coastal Minerals Corp Ltd.

elZorro

13-03-2013, 10:12 PM

There is still only one big story for GEL at the moment, it is WKP. The new technical report and the website mention the generation of a "Project First Resource Estimate" for the Eastern Graben-Central area of WKP. This will happen sometime in 2013, with various interpretations of the timing being possible. Is there nearly enough data there now, or do they need to do the rest of the 2012 drilling program first?

Remember that Newmont would probably require an underground resource of sensible grade with a total in the region of 3Moz to 5Moz. There is already a vast but broken area of low grade near surface, which looks more like an opencast proposition, elsewhere on the permit.

Here is what can happen to a share when a resource estimate comes out at 3Moz, in this case the grade was only about 1g/tonne. Alkane Resources in Aussie (ALK). About an 8 bagger within a few months.

ynot

14-03-2013, 04:07 PM

Love your optimism EZ.

elZorro

15-03-2013, 07:03 PM

Love your optimism EZ.

You are too kind ynot..it's a bit of an up and down share, is GEL. Mostly down so far. None of us are here for the dividends, it has to be interesting as a capital gain stock.

That example of Alkane Resource's shareprice is not so unusual, and follows a pattern that Brent Cook mentions. When a junior explorer finds a mine prospect, the share often peaks and then drops back for a bit as investors see the reality of the costs involved in a mine.

Alkane had to reply to the ASK at least twice about the unusual volume and price for their shares leading up to the peak. They also raised $21mill during the run-up. Their recent books and the records show that they have yet to provide any income streams - three years on they are still exploring and spending investor funds.

Getting back to Glass Earth, this company has an income stream that will be at least $15mill a year soon. It has staff and overheads, but should be able to make a profit. Maybe quite a big profit, if it finds the right placer permits. And then they have serious hard-rock permits like WKP, Muirs and Neavesville, with Ophir and Garibaldi in the South Island.

I think they've done well to get themselves into this position, although they could do better at explaining it to the market. Maybe next week, they'll have had time to prepare something. It's been a month since any news was offered up.

ynot

16-03-2013, 12:23 AM

I hear ya EZ. To be honest i reckon the only thing holding them back now is the fact i'm shareholder.
My record is not that hot.

elZorro

16-03-2013, 08:55 AM

I hear ya EZ. To be honest i reckon the only thing holding them back now is the fact i'm shareholder.
My record is not that hot.

Mine's not that good either (no pun intended). But shares are only a part of my investments.

GEL has been a bit up and down all right. On the Canadian market, many have come to put a strong link for that to Brent Cook's paid newsletter. The comments inside it are fiercely guarded on the internet. Brent has recently put a sell notice on GEL and CTG, and in GEL's case he held the share for 18 months, and helped out with some PR work over here.

Some on Stockhouse argue that Mr Cook is in a prime position to profit from picking up (and then dropping) small-cap shares in advance of the newsletter, and perhaps buying after the havoc that resulted from a sell recommendation. He has some kind of a policy in place about that, but it is far from clear.

Oceansun on Stockhouse, the CTG thread:

I for one very much welcome and enjoy Sams posts on this and the GEL board. I don't think you can discuss CTG or GEL stocks at this point without including in the discussion the huge impact Brent Cook and his readers have had on both stocks. If you own shares in any of the stocks in his portfolio you darn well better be prepared for the day the share price is cut in half or worse as a direct result of comments made in the letter. So yes, Brent Cook has to be a large part of the conversation when discussing these stocks. In the cases of CTG and GEL shareholders can actually rest a little easier knowing that the Cook factor has now been removed from the situation (at least for now) .
Read more at http://www.stockhouse.com/bullboards/messagedetail.aspx?s=CTG&t=LIST&m=32262310&l=0&pd=2&r=0#7rWfjzlCW7ZOMqrJ.99

A poster kbCook (who I'd expect is Brent Cook), put up a rare post on Stockhouse on 14th February explaining what he'd said in the subscriber newsletter about GEL and another share (CTG).

http://www.stockhouse.com/bullboards/messagedetail.aspx?p=0&m=32182121&l=0&r=0&s=GEL&t=LIST

The EI Newsletter comes out on Sundays apparently, so 10th February, and the first trading day would have been 11th February. You can see the effect on the shares. It was much worse for CTG percentage-wise, because GEL had just announced another PP, and the shareprice had already dropped down to its lower level.

In September 2012 Brent was already saying that Glass Earth was their poorest performer.
http://juniorgoldminerseeker.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/brent-cook-interview-with-ellis-martin.html

elZorro

16-03-2013, 07:28 PM

I thought it might be interesting to go back and see what happened when Brent Cook first reported both CTG and GEL as buys for his own investments. Both shares are fairly small Mcaps, under about $40mill generally. You can see from the charts that in both cases there was an uncanny boost in the share price at the time. I didn't have a clue what caused it for GEL back then. For CTG it was on March 11 2011, and for GEL it was around July 2011. The pattern from then on was the same: a great price increase on the share, a peak and a drop, followed by some bursts as good press results came out, and then a drift back below the start point, followed by a sell result. Some of Brent's other picks had great results in the interim, some gains over 300% p.a, giving him a good average for the year.

I bet there is one thing in common with his junior picks: a price ramp on the first buy mention.

elZorro

17-03-2013, 03:57 PM

Two of the shares that Brent has been mentioning in interviews lately (http://www.stocksandspeculations.com/i/pdf/181a_Jul2_Brent_Cook_INTRO.pdf)are Goldquest (GQC) and Almaden Minerals (AMM). The chart below shows what happened with these two. Brent mentioned he was buying GQC on May 23 2012. Within a few days the price was helped along further with a press release that they'd drilled a fairly good intercept. It became well over a 25-bagger before dropping back. It had started out as a fairly smallcap company at the buy date, so Brent's picking had a bigger effect.

On Almaden, the point at which Brent went public was harder to see (sometime August 2012?), and the best result was not even a doubling of the price. But this share had a bigger starting capital, not so illiquid.

In the case of Goldquest, anyone following Brent's picks here would have had a life-changing experience if they sold near the peak. That's great news for the subscribers. The only issue someone like myself has (who happens to be interested in one of the smaller shares Brent got involved in) is whether he is happy enough to win some, lose some, or is he trying to make a dollar on every single share? Would we then have to second-guess that GEL would have made a good shorting option a few weeks back, and even that its current buy price is a bit of a bargain?

Edit: Brent Cook said he was buying or holding Almaden on 2 Nov 2010, 7 March 2011, 15 Sept 2011, 7 March 2012, 2nd May 2012, 27 Sept 2012, 6 March 2013, according to a site which follows picks by the best commentators.

Another site had this to say:

Another item of interest for market participants: The Drill Play is Back! Remember the good old times of the mid-2000′s and then again during QE1 and QE2 when stocks would move up dramatically on drill assay results and trenching figures? Well, those times are starting to come back except this time around a Company has to have better than average management, iron-clad results and having a tout by Brent Cook helps.Some of the recent examples include:

GoldQuest Mining (TSXV: GQC) – in May the shares were trading below 5 cents and last month they hit $2.03. They have announced 6 closely space drill holes and closed on $21.57M in equity financings.
Reservoir Minerals (TSXV: RMC) – in July the shares were hovering around the mid-50 cent level and just yesterday they traded to a high of $3.48. They have announced 2 drill holes and have a very generous JV with Freeport.

Brent has RMC on his list too. GQC may have been dropped recently, on 6 March 2013 he said it failed to meet their criteria but it was still rated a hold by the site repeating the finding.

I hope I haven't wasted my time on this research. It looks to me like Brent Cook is capable of picking some useful companies, and when he does, there is always a following with him, into the share. In GEL's case they did have some good drills that came out afterwards, but they weren't huge. Ongoing capital raisings through PPs have clipped back the share, despite any of the enthusiasm Brent and others brought to it.

It is now up to Glass Earth management to prove to shareholders that the placer investment will solve any cash requirements for G&A, staff and modest exploration costs. If they can get the cashflow issue sorted, like any business, then they can have a go at all the more exciting stuff. Shareholders have been tapped on the shoulder enough, already.

elZorro

18-03-2013, 10:33 AM

Looks like my research on Almaden Minerals (AMM) was a bit out, I missed the spectacular increase when they first found the big scale Ixtaca deposit, mentioned in July-August 2010.

This interview shows that Brent was quickly onto it, and bought the share near that time (2.5 years before January 2013). Again, a big increase in the share price followed, although it has drifted down a bit since. It might still be a great buy at the moment.

They have sold off six other prospects to concentrate on this one, and another copper/gold prospect. Three drills working at Ixtaca, March 2013.

http://www.juniorminingnews.com/?p=1052

ynot

18-03-2013, 01:53 PM

Good work EZ. It appears easy gains could be made by moving on Brents announcements, as suggested he may be doing ok from it also!

elZorro

18-03-2013, 08:54 PM

Good work EZ. It appears easy gains could be made by moving on Brents announcements, as suggested he may be doing ok from it also!

Hi ynot, I wonder how many subscribers Brent has. Some of them appear to have deep pockets. By the time others jump in with a me-too following, it takes a month or two for the euphoria to drop back on most of these picks. Of course, if you don't subscribe, you don't get to have the earlier start on the market.

GEL had their time in the sun. It was a bit short-lived. The share only doubled with no obvious news, and later drill intercepts were OK but not internationally exciting. The share dropped away, and then it kept dropping. Looking back, GEL could have done more with the opportunity to benefit shareholders, and I don't mean try more private placements. On that score, they did well .:(

CHFIR didn't keep their data tidy, the website fell into disrepair, and cashflow was tight with all the deals that were being made all over the place.

That is all past news. I have big expectations of the next few months - in particular the placer returns need to be positive and well worth the effort and capital invested. Overheads there should be reduced, efficiency increased, and an eye kept out for new areas with higher and easier grades. These are obvious areas that I'm sure the GEL crew are working on.

And I hope they'll tell us all about it in the next few weeks.

Brent Cook being perhaps a bit too candid about the junior explorers and how to play them in 2011. And he has been touting Eurasian (of Neavesville fame).

http://avidinvestorgroup.com/2011/11/brent-cook-how-to-improve-your-odds/

elZorro

20-03-2013, 07:47 AM

Pity GEL doesn't have a large permit on the West Coast.
Grey River dredge on auction block20 March 2013
The largest gold dredge in the southern hemisphere, the Grey River dredge, is for sale.
The Greymouth Star reported that Birchfield Minerals’ 3,500 tonne dredge, parked at Ngahere, has been placed on the global online auction site E-bay.
The asking price, according to the posting, is $3 million.
The company’s managing director Allan Birchfield mothballed the giant Grey River dredge late last year, declaring at the time that council bureaucracy was making it impossible to operate.
He had recommissioned the dredge in 2009 after a six-year absence and ferried it across the Grey River to mine land on the Blackball side. However, the paper said plans to extend the life of the Blackball operation for a further 10 years were later abandoned.
Birchfield blamed the West Coast Regional Council and Grey District Council rules for the closure, but the councils said the demands they had made of the operation were simply requirements of the Resource Management Act.
When he shut down the operation, Birchfield reportedly said 200,000 ounces of gold remained untouched in the licence area.
He had gained the dredge which was built to operate on the Grey River after the joint venture of Australian company Giant Resources and an engineering company from Spokane, Washington, failed to make it function property.
Birchfield made significant alterations to get the dredge performing.
Source: greystar.co.nz

elZorro

24-03-2013, 08:37 PM

The Correnso hearings for Newmont are ongoing. Waiting for more data at the moment. This will affect the timing for WKP perhaps.
Commissioners want more information on Golden Link22 March 2013
The commissioners hearing Newmont Waihi Gold’s application for the Golden Link mine development in Waihi have adjourned the hearing to await new evidence from all parties.
Newmont Waihi Gold said the reconvened hearing operated for two days this month before commissioners decided they would need more time in dealing with evidence.
Before the hearing was adjourned the commissioners had put 26 questions to the mining company.
The Golden Link project takes in the planned Correnso mine development near the Martha open cut mine.
Newmont has explained to the Waihi community that once the hearing process is formally closed the commissioners will set a time for when they will provide a decision which usually can be three weeks but potentially six weeks.
This would be followed by a 15 working day appeal period and all parties can decide to appeal part or all of the decision to the Environment Court.
Newmont said the 26 questions from commissioners ranged from supplementary matieral on vibration, the property and community investment policy and ground movement on Gladstone Road.
Investigations were continuing to determine the cause of ground settlement on Gladstone Rd, and this includes re-drilling the original piezometer borehole and probing the area with ground penetration radar and geophones which use sound from defined sources to determine subsurface composition.
Investigations have shown that groundwater levels at Gladstone Rd were lowered due to seepage through an ungrouted section of a piezometer borehole drilled by the company. That borehole had been grouted but this was insufficient to fully seal the hole.
Newmont said this time of incident had not happened before with 30 years of drilling in and around Waihi. In future, all drill holes will be grouted to a depth below the top of the hard andesite rock where the orebodies are found.

elZorro

26-03-2013, 09:10 PM

NZPAM announced today that there will likely be a competitive tender over the CVR area. GEL has dropped most of its permits here. The area was subject to an intensive aerial scan by GEL, and the IPO made much of the possible outcomes. Just a few drills were put down, and there is the risk, it's a big area. GEL chose to drill nearer to known goldmining areas after a year or two.

http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/pdf-library/minerals/competitive-tender/Proposed-Epithermal-2013 (http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/pdf-library/minerals/competitive-tender/Proposed-Epithermal-2013)

GEL holders like me will be watching intently for the annual report, which has to be released soon, before the end of the month.

bucko

27-03-2013, 07:27 AM

found this on stuff this morning

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8476115/Off-limits-land-opened-to-prospectors

again will be waiting for this report this week sometime to see if they have set anything aside for this

bucko

27-03-2013, 09:47 AM

also just looking back at a story in the ODT from december about what Simon was aiming for by this time of the year.

"Mr Henderson said he hoped productivity of the gold recovery units could be raised by 20% to 85% by the end of March, which should boost weekly production to 100 to 120 ounces."

which from the current spot price would be around NZD$9.9m per year.... I WANT A PRESS RELEASE!

bucko

28-03-2013, 01:19 PM

elZorro

28-03-2013, 01:23 PM

no announcement today...and break for the long weekend so hopefully we hear something on tuesday next week when the market reopens...unless elzorro would you know if they would release it on the canadian exchange first? so overnight tonight our time?

I don't know. Last year they met the end of March, but I'd commented then that this was up to a month earlier than usual. Maybe they're allowed until sometime in April to complete the reports. It's a long time between info points, when that is exactly what they said they'll be doing better at in 2013.. how about throwing us some crumbs Simon? ;)

elZorro

02-04-2013, 07:57 AM

Interesting comment from Newmont about them having no interest in exploring outside their existing tenements at Waihi and in the Coromandel. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8495553/Vast-North-Is-area-opened-for-prospecting

elZorro

07-04-2013, 12:33 PM

An interesting aside: CGA Gold has been bought out by B2Gold in January 2013. I think both of these have been in comparison tables with OGC. B2Gold (BTO trading on the TSX) is worth nearly $2bill. They're producing about 365,000oz annually, will be up over 500,000oz in 2-3 years with their new mine acquisitions coming online.

One of these is Otjikoto in Namibia. It's going to be a big opencast mine, with leaching and carbon pulp being used after the crushing and milling processes. It can produce about 110,000 oz annually. To do this they'll need to process a lot of ore, and they're committed already to buying the crushing/milling gear. The grade? Only 1.4 to 1.6 grams/tonne. The mine only has a bit over 1Moz of resources noted at the moment.

http://b2gold.mwnewsroom.com/Files/f7/f79fe830-16ec-4437-b9d1-376a46ce2570.pdf

elZorro

08-04-2013, 10:55 PM

Bucko, I have carried out a small bit of research on the filing dates for TSX-V companies. I don't know what the NZ rules are, but for annual reports on TSX-V, they have 120 days from the EOY. 60 days for the Q1,Q2, Q3 reports. This is awkward, as it means we could wait until the end of April for the annual report. On the other hand, last year there was a notice of meeting record date of 26/03/2012, and the annual report was out very soon after. This year that same date is 9th April 2013.

bucko

09-04-2013, 07:34 AM

yeh on the NZX they made this announcement on 31st may 2012

https://www.nzx.com/companies/GEL/announcements/223452

soooooo much waiting, anticipating... although they haven't even released an update on the weekly placer production, they said they would be hoping to break to 200 oz barrier by this time, wonder how thats going????

Can I ask what other holdings you have elz? is it mainly mining? natural resource companies?

elZorro

09-04-2013, 07:51 AM

Hi Bucko, I think they were talking about 7500oz p.a. target from 4 placer setups, and of course they only have two running at the moment. We haven't heard about any franchisees picking up the offer to run one of two sites (maybe Gunclub and Pigburn) so I'm more interested in how well they're going at Drybread. They could be getting closer to 100oz a week there by now. This would mean a positive bank balance in theory.

Other shares: I can't deny I'm looking for capital gains mostly at this stage - I've also invested in NTL, and so April could be a great month. If I'm feeling conservative I'll buy some OGC, but I'd like to see the PoG moving strongly upwards first. OGC is always keen on plundering shareholders for their new project, but then we don't have to look far to see that being done on a smaller scale here.

elZorro

10-04-2013, 02:54 PM

Waihi Gold Co (Newmont) and Glass Earth have been granted a 640Ha (+20%) extension of the land area in permit 40598, on 22nd March. This is of course, the area that includes the WKP area of interest, which I would think is being drilled again at the moment. The whole permit is due to expire in May 2013 as an extended EP type (5 + 5yrs), but it can be extended further by various means. I think the next easy step is to call it a Discovery Appraisal. The fees go up a bit.

http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?permit=40598

Note that all the area hard around Golden Cross Mine is held, and I think the new area is out to the East.

Someone is looking to buy 200,000 GEL shares for a bargain price of NZ12c, and the sell prices aren't very high either. But not much happening, while we wait for some company information.

elZorro

10-04-2013, 06:34 PM

Waikaia Gold Ltd must be starting up their operation in Southland by now. They are digging down 15 metres to an untouched gold layer, held in a 220 metre wide strip to the side of the current Waikaia River bed. I covered this operation without any real detail in post 830 (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-Glass-Earth-IPO&p=388019&viewfull=1#post388019).

Southland District Council now has this very detailed report (http://www.southlanddc.govt.nz/assets/Waikaia-Gold-Ltd/297-10-Mining-Methodology-Mine-Development-and-Mobile-Plant-Selection.pdf)on how the mine site will work. It's using gear very similar to that used by GEL at Drybread, but on a bigger scale. Their proposed output from one big pontoon trommel is only twice that of GEL's target, 15,000oz a year, 106,000oz total.

elZorro

11-04-2013, 12:23 PM

Over a couple of months after the PP has been closed off, Glass Earth has produced no press releases, the market is in the dark. Today 200,000 shares traded for NZ 12c, and for those who bought into the PP at NZ 20c, presumably at a discount to market, that would be a bitter pill to swallow.

Is it too much to ask for, a bit of feedback and info on how the various permits are going?

When will the annual report be produced?
Is Drybread meeting the target production?
What does the new cross-pit conveyor look like and is it useful?
Has drilling resumed at WKP?
Are there any drill assays due, can we complete some old drill logs?
Garibaldi, Ophir, Southland, Placer JVs, Muirs - updates on these?
Website updates?
Comment on Brent Cooks' dropping of GEL and the effect on the share price
Why was WKP extended, and what is the next step in the permit.

Obviously none of the above bits of info, if divulged, would have any material effect on the share price. Really?

Whoever bought those shares, that's got to be smart buying. Divide it by 5 and that's as low as the share has ever gone, yet we have Newmont dangling beside GEL on the WKP permit, and a couple of other sites near Waihi.

bucko

12-04-2013, 08:52 PM

elZorro

13-04-2013, 07:55 AM

hey elZ, got a response from an email I sent through We are awaiting two drill results on WKP (WKP 36 & WKP 37); no drilling is currently ongoing as they are awaiting results to come back before proceeding drilling (the budget for 2013 has already been year-marked so drilling is planned for this year – targets have been defined but results from WKP 37 will dictate which target to drill first); and year-end financials is scheduled to come out before the end of this week.

We will await information from management from placer, Neavesville and other projects as I am not as up to speed on these projects.

Thanks for the work there Bucko. The news release on the annual report came out overnight, and it is just a very short version of the results and discussion. The full filed reports will be shown on Sedar in a day or two, based on previous experience.

http://www.sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=8&issuerNo=00009207&fileName=/csfsprod/data141/filings/02044121/00000001/s%3A%5CToronto%5CRandy_Massiah%5Cgel412pr.pdf

The guts of it is (forget the big exploration permit losses which are on paper, not cashflow) - the placer lost a shade over $1mill in the 12 months because of hireage costs, refurb costs, learning to use the gear, fine-tuning etc. Plus the payments had to be made for the purchase of Dunstan Mining. In the great scheme of things, the results for the next quarter will be more interesting, as it's possible a placer profit of about $1mill has been made there already.

Drilling not restarted on WKP: that's a bit painful, as these assays just don't seem to be popping out of the lab. If we're so far down the queue, then the partners should see about setting up their own contracted lab in a container on site.

elZorro

14-04-2013, 08:54 AM

SEDAR now has the full annual report and the MD&A. These are big documents, about 40 pages each.

Annual report to 31 December 2012: http://www.sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=5&issuerNo=00009207&fileName=/csfsprod/data141/filings/02044526/00000001/s%3A%5CToronto%5CRandy_Massiah%5Cgel412fs.pdf

The MD&A report to 31 December 2012: http://www.sedar.com/GetFile.do?lang=EN&docClass=7&issuerNo=00009207&fileName=/csfsprod/data141/filings/02044505/00000001/s%3A%5CToronto%5CRandy_Massiah%5Cgel412mda.pdf

I've had a read through these. Some of the data in the MD&A has been recovered from the NI 43-101 reports, but they are still interesting.

The placer income was much higher in the second six months of the year. Of course the setup costs were in there too. There is a statement that lower grade areas of Drybread were used for the commissioning stages, and that sounds sensible. No mention about how the next three months panned out in the placer areas. I think the first quarter report will have to come out before the end of May.

Muirs: they're thinking about it, along with Ophir in Otago. Doesn't sound too promising there.

Writeoffs on permits during the year - Simon has provided some detail on the thought processes and the reasons for dropping some permits in 2012, and as I've kept up a permit spreadsheet with costs, I can quite understand. The GFC has restricted funding, so GEL has to be very choosy about held permits.

WKP: not much new detail here, but thinking about it all, GEL probably had to pay the costs incurred with the NI 43-101 report, as Newmont were not required to do anything.

One thing I certainly found heartening was the statement that Glass Earth is going to concentrate on just a few areas: (WKP, Neavesville, Garibaldi are most of it), helped along with positive funding from the placer areas. They aim to bring the hard-rock areas of WKP and Neavesville through to some kind of completion (deliver) within 2-3 years.

Some work has been done at Garibaldi, it's shaping up well. It's obviously near-surface.

elZorro

14-04-2013, 09:37 PM

Some of the questions I posed above, remain unanswered by the annual report. One we can answer ourselves: the next WKP drills will be concentrating on the area near the Eastern Graben. This is a fault area very close to the eastern extreme of the older permit area. The permit extension gives a lot more room around that, as shown by the changing outline.

bucko

15-04-2013, 12:33 PM

am i the only one who thinks this price is hugely under valued????

elZorro

15-04-2013, 12:43 PM

am i the only one who thinks this price is hugely under valued????

Maybe some of us know it's undervalued Bucko, but having spare capital is an issue. I was just thinking this morning that once the annual report and some of its negative data is out of the way, some new press releases can only improve the shareprice from here.

For instance, we should be able to hear a bit about some drills at Garabaldi soon. From page 23 of the MD&A report (which last time I looked, hadn't made it to the public web or to GEL's website):

Garibaldi Prospect

(Glass Earth 100%)
Glass Earth announced the discovery of the gold mineralised Garibaldi Vein System on 23 April 2012, showing ore grade gold and related tungsten and arsenic mineralisation within vein sets striking over a 900m length and 300m width in outcrop and trenching.Geological mapping, detailed soil/gold sampling, and trenching have scraped the surface of a significant gold and related tungsten and arsenic mineralisation associated with multiple east-west and northeastsouthwesttrending epizonal-style quartz + sericite/illite + Fe-sulphide vein altered and sheared mafic schist in the Omnibus Stream catchment, North Rough Ridge, Central Otago.Channel/panel sampling from trenching (individual samples of 1mx1m) demonstrate consistent mineralised E-W orientated quartz veins with individual grades between 1 – 16.1 gm/t gold and importantly interfingered mafic schist with grades between 0.5 – 2.65 gm/t gold. This is an important development in early stage prospect delineation where the potential for significant widths of mineralised quartz and host mafic schist offer potential for a significant size mesothermal gold discovery. 168 line kms of ground magnetic surveying was completed in a 12 day period, to delineate the structureof the mafic schist, data has now been post processed and interpreted. After data consolidation and review, a shallow reconnaissance drill program of ten drillholes will be undertaken at Garibaldi in Q1 2013, to test the down-dip and along-strike widths and grade of potential gold mineralization.

On the Stuff website, a bit of a report about the annual results (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1304/S00456/glass-earth-exploration-writedowns-push-fy-loss-to-111m.htm). I was wondering about the increase in stock-based compensation ($620,000) too. It is mentioned in the full annual report on page 33, it's a total of 2,730,000 shares as an option to purchase before Feb 9, 2017, a five year period, but at C35c a share. I wouldn't think these have been picked up yet. Over a million dollars worth of share purchase warrants expired in the 2012 year.

elZorro

15-04-2013, 08:09 PM

There's been a bit of press repeated on the web about the placer costs:
A fourfold increase in production from its small-scale placer mining (mining by washing or dredging) saw total revenue rise to $2.98 million from $752,000 a year before. However, capital costs associated with ramping up mining activities saw the cost of sales rise to $4.12 million ($523,000 the previous year) to produce an operating loss of $1.15 million for the year.

This is technically incorrect, from what I've seen in the NI 43-101 report. Glass Earth has hired a lot of equipment like diesel generators, spent a lot on repairs for the older gear, and this has all been brought into the books for the financial year. This is how a normal business likes to operate, because it reduces the tax for the year, if all the costs are immediately expensed.

These were not capital costs then, they were running costs. If they could have been treated a capital costs, only about 10-20% of the costs would have been shown as depreciation, and the rest would show up as assets in the books. For a listed company like Glass Earth, with ongoing tax losses that accrue every year, there is no need to minimise taxes. In fact, shareholders like myself are waiting for the day when they can post a profit, and even a dividend!

I contend that the picture looks worse than it really is. Glass Earth should be buying the ancilliary placer equipment (like gensets) as it needs it, reducing all running costs, and figuring out how to turn a solid trading profit from the placer. If they're using contractors to repair the gear, they either need newer gear, or the ability to repair the gear themselves with the minimum downtime. There are a few great looking positives tucked away in the annual report data, and these would be interesting to have expanded, in the coming weeks.

bucko

16-04-2013, 07:24 AM

after watching the first season of Gold Rush: Alaska Im essentially a pro miner now so if GEL would like to hire me to make repairs I guess i'd have to put my hand up!

yeh i think next quarters results are going to see a rally in the share price hopeuflly there would be minimal write offs as if they continue generating 1.4m quarter on quarter the company value is seriously undervalued

bucko

16-04-2013, 10:23 AM

yeh just reading on huff post about the decline of the price of gold, aparently cyprus is looking at a possible sell off of its bullion...not good if that happens!

may as well increase my take at this price (and lower my average purchase price because all this red is making me depressed)

Balance

16-04-2013, 10:34 AM

I'd wait a day or two mate, gold isn't done declining yet as this was the single biggest trading day on record. You're looking for a steep decline followed by sharp rally late in the day on the NY Comex. I believe $1295 (50% Fibonnacii retracement) may be tested and possibly broken through. Buying right now is not the smartest idea, wait until sanity returns to the market!

Looks like Warren Buffetf is proven right again - gold has no real economic value beyond its emotional appeal?

1. “Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.”

2. “The problem with commodities is that you are betting on what someone else would pay for them in six months. The commodity itself isn’t going to do anything for you….it is an entirely different game to buy a lump of something and hope that somebody else pays you more for that lump two years from now than it is to buy something that you expect to produce income for you over time.”

3. “Gold is a way of going long on fear, and it has been a pretty good way of going long on fear from time to time. But you really have to hope people become more afraid in a year or two years than they are now. And if they become more afraid you make money, if they become less afraid you lose money, but the gold itself doesn’t produce anything."

digger

16-04-2013, 11:37 AM

Looks like Warren Buffetf is proven right again - gold has no real economic value beyond its emotional appeal?

1. “Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.”

2. “The problem with commodities is that you are betting on what someone else would pay for them in six months. The commodity itself isn’t going to do anything for you….it is an entirely different game to buy a lump of something and hope that somebody else pays you more for that lump two years from now than it is to buy something that you expect to produce income for you over time.”

3. “Gold is a way of going long on fear, and it has been a pretty good way of going long on fear from time to time. But you really have to hope people become more afraid in a year or two years than they are now. And if they become more afraid you make money, if they become less afraid you lose money, but the gold itself doesn’t produce anything."

Balance you are a person of two personalities.Generally you produce junk about NZO but just in the last two days are coming across as a well balanced poster [pun intended]. This above quote is in every way correct and it would be hard to put up a case against it. It does however not cover the human side enought. Sure gold is mostly useless and produces almost nothing and cost a lot to produce and guard.Humans are strange animals and for about ten thousand years we have decided gold is valuable so no Balance arguement no matter how reasonable is going to change that.Fortunes have been made and lost on gold since we invented the need for a means of exchange and that stays the same into whatever future humans made for themselves. Surely Balance you are not suggesting we entirely embrace the fait paper currencies we exchange goods with today.I am not in any way suggesting you are but by saying it that way it does show the problem we humans have to find some way to agree of value in our exchange. To me gold is certainly as good as any other means of exchange. Can you imagine a QE3 on gold????

elZorro

16-04-2013, 12:10 PM

Balance

16-04-2013, 02:01 PM

These are points that you might make on a GOLD thread Balance, and the answers will be a bit different there.

Gold does have a lot of use as a near-perfect conductor that doesn't tarnish, and of course another big use in jewelry. Gold is often mined in association with other metals like Mercury, Silver, Copper, Tin, and so while it's a most valuable byproduct, the bulk of the minerals mined in a gold mine could easily be the more commonly used copper, for wiring etc. The mines themselves, the exploration, the funding, are all big employers worldwide, so that's another positive.

No-one can deny that the basic purchase of some gold 10-12 years ago wouldn't have been a great investment, compared to many so-called productive investments and financial instruments. Gold isn't getting any cheaper to recover either. It's a proxy for the cost of energy, and also related to the the amount of foreign investments in US Treasuries. Maybe the Chinese have found a way to increase their gold holdings at a special rate, good on them. But I can't see that gold will stay down and out for long, and it's always recovered to make new US$ highs.

More from Warren :

“I will say this about gold. If you took all the gold in the world, it would roughly make a cube 67 feet on a side…Now for that same cube of gold, it would be worth at today’s market prices about $7 trillion – that’s probably about a third of the value of all the stocks in the United States…For $7 trillion…you could have all the farmland in the United States, you could have about seven Exxon Mobils (NYSE:XOM) and you could have a trillion dollars of walking-around money…And if you offered me the choice of looking at some 67 foot cube of gold and looking at it all day, and you know me touching it and fondling it occasionally…Call me crazy, but I’ll take the farmland and the Exxon Mobils.”

“The major asset in this category is gold, currently a huge favorite of investors who fear almost all other assets, especially paper money (of whose value, as noted, they are right to be fearful). Gold, however, has two significant shortcomings, being neither of much use nor procreative. True, gold has some industrial and decorative utility, but the demand for these purposes is both limited and incapable of soaking up new production. Meanwhile, if you own one ounce of gold for an eternity, you will still own one ounce at its end.”

bucko

16-04-2013, 02:08 PM

elZorro

16-04-2013, 07:52 PM

Probably not..although Digger is.

I can report that the Glass earth website now has the annual report and MD&A locked in as pdfs (http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/AnnualReport.asp). Here is part of the MD&A relating to WKP.

Exploration on the WKP project demonstrates that it is a very large permissive low sulphidation
epithermal gold system (approximately 1.2km by 1km). Following on from historical exploration of the
Eastern Zone evaluated by various parties in the 1980’s and 1990’s the Hauraki Joint Venture work has
identified two other significant zones of mineralisation (Central and Western Zones), and recently
intersected mineralisation on the Eastern Graben structure where the current focus of drilling activity
continues.
In the Central Zone broad low grade intercepts are a feature (WKP26 151m at 1.2ppm Au, and WKP27
102.2m at 1.1 ppm Au) with the margins of a voluminous rhyolite rock type providing a focus of
hydrothermal fluid flow and high grade gold mineralisation. The interior of the competent and
homogeneous rhyolite rock has permitted regular fracturing and broad hydrothermal fluid flow with
resulting consistent large-tonnage low-grade gold mineralisation.

This contrasts with the East Graben structure within the Eastern Zone which is typically dominated by
discrete veins. Drill core from 580m down-hole in WKP35 shows episodic high level crustiform banded
veins, hydrothermal and tectonic brecciation corresponding with multiple phases of mineralisation,
hosted on the position of rhyolite and andesite lithologies. Assay results for this interval returned 7.9m
grading 5.1 ppm Au, including 3.4m grading 8.3 ppm Au. This style of mineralization on the Eastern
Graben structure was new for this project and important because there are strong similarities with major
gold mines in the vicinity, namely Martha, Favona, and Golden Cross.

The broad low grade gold mineralisation within the Central Zone and veins relating to the East Graben
structure lie on a major north-north–east trending structure marking the intersection of rhyolite (west)
and more intermediate andesite pyroclastics (to the east). This is a district scale structure, identified on
magnetic and resistivity (geophysical) data, and may represent the primary focus of significant coherent
mineralisation in the WKP area.

The HJV plans a significant exploration programme for 2013, focussing initially on the evaluation of the
Eastern Graben Structure and to include a project first resource estimate, metallurgical test work, rock
engineering study, geophysics and a 2,500m diamond drill programme. The estimated cost for this
programme is NZ$2.7 million.

None of this text is entirely new, it's been around for a few weeks/months. It's just great to read and hold in view. It's the second to last sentence I'm having trouble with. What does it mean? I think that being realistic, all the test work and the drilling programme will have to be completed before the Project First Resource Estimate can be published. Clarification from head office would be helpful here. If that is the case, the drilling needs to get underway pronto, before the winter season hits. Although perhaps the lone helicoptered drilling rig doesn't have such an issue with access. WKP36 and 37 assays are needed first.

What does it take to get those core samples assayed? You'd think that with geologists and lab/chemical engineers being produced by our universities every year, someone would step into any gap in the NZ mineral reporting market. In the Waikato, a big and profitable lapse in speedy agricultural soil/grass/water/crop data analysis was filled by Hills Laboratories.

How are ore and waste defined?
Samples of rock from within the pit or from underground are sent to the SGS laboratory in Waihi to determine gold content.
The data generated from assaying is used to map out which areas are suitable to process as ore and which areas are waste material to be used to build the waste rock embankment or to be used as backfill underground.

In process testing - double checking
Throughout the extraction process at the Newmont Waihi Gold mill, samples of solution, solids and activated carbon are removed for analysis to determine the efficiency of the process. The solids and the carbon samples are analysed by the fire assay technique for gold and aqua regia for silver. The solutions are aspirated (turned into a fine mist) into an AA Spectrophotometer.

Fire assay
Fire assay involves adding a ground portion of the solid (or carbon) to a crucible containing a flux. Flux is used to lower the melting point of the samples to ensure the entire sample becomes liquid during firing. The flux contains borax, soda ash, silica flour, litharge (lead oxide) and silver nitrate in various quantities. In the firing stage everything turns liquid and the lead oxide forms into small globules of metallic lead. The globules fall through the liquid and form an amalgam with any other metals it comes into contact with, including gold and silver. This all collects in the bottom of the crucible. After about an hour at 1,000 degrees Celsius the contents of the crucible are poured into a conical mould to cool. Again the lead, being more dense than other material, quickly settles to the tip of the conical mould and solidifies along with the glass-like rock remains.
When cooled, the lead is separated from the glass and then cupelled. Cupellation involves placing the lead ‘button’ into a pre-heated cupel at 1,000 degrees C. A cupel is a small cup made of magnesium sulphate which is a material that is capable of absorbing the lead. At this temperature the metals liquefy and lead is absorbed into the cupel. Gold and silver having a higher surface tension than lead, are not absorbed and remain as a small ‘prill’ in the bottom of the cupel. The cupel and prill are removed from the furnace and allowed to cool. The prill is then dissolved in aqua regia. The resulting solution is aspirated into an AA Spectrophotometer to determine the gold content.

Aqua regia
Silver in the solids and carbons is determined by dissolving the sample in aqua regia, a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids. The sample has specific volumes of each acid added, then is placed on a heating block to digest. When completed the resulting solution is diluted and then aspirated into an AA Spectrophotometer.
References and acknowledgements

The information on this page was kindly supplied by SGS NZ Ltd.

AA Spectrophotometers sell new for about US$12,500 to $20,000. (http://www.bucksci.com/atomic-absorption-spectrophotometers/details/4/1/atomic-absorption-spectrophotometers/210vgp-atomic-absorption-spectrophotometer.html) Guess you'd need a diamond rock sample cutter, a furnace, a small rock crusher, some crucibles and some chemicals and reagents. And a quality certification, maybe the tricky part.

elZorro

19-04-2013, 07:35 AM

The events of just the last few days have (nearly) swapped the MCAP positions of GEL and NTL. The former is now trading at an MCAP not far above the private placements that were put into the company in the last financial year, while NTL yesterday was at one stage up by 45%. NTL also appear to have some more immediate prospects for hardrock mining, and that will take some of the focus off GEL.

However, the last time GEL shares were this low, large numbers of shares were sold at a bargain and the price recovered very well. Back then, WKP had not been looked at. Garibaldi was not discovered, Neavesville was not under investigation for mining, and GEL had no rapidly increasing placer income stream or mining equipment assets.

So this time around, Glass Earth is at some risk of a takeover, IMHO. By whom - that would be another question - but I can think of two parties who would be interested.

I conclude that it might be a good time to accumulate GEL shares. Those who took part in the private placement earlier this year will not be too worried, as they have an option to purchase more GEL shares for no more than C25c, for up to two years. This is almost within the new timeframe that GEL put out in the annual report, of being in a position to "deliver" on WKP and Neavesville within 2-3 years. Delivery of either permit to the mining stage would turn GEL share ownership into a life-changing experience.

Balance

19-04-2013, 08:12 AM

well fella's its a good job this forum thread isn't about purchasing Gold its about purchasing shares in a gold exploration/production company. while i agree wtih some of Mr Buffets comments about investment in gold i can still understand its historical importance to the global economy...and i also understand (and hope) that if GEL mines lots and lots of gold ill end up with lots and lots of moolah!

are you a holder in GEL Balance?

Gold/production company = even more high risk than investing in gold!

Not a holder and after following the comments on this thread, will never be.

What a disastrous investment for anyone, save for the traders who are able to move ahead of the market peaks and troughs.

elZorro

19-04-2013, 12:07 PM

Balance, I think the only other time you've given your thoughts on GEL, it was to pop up with an equally light-weight denouncement.

Yes, timing in this share appears important at the moment, and over the last few years since the IPO in 2006. But the MCAP of the company has always been less than say $60mill over the entire time. Longer-term holders are well aware of the massive value for the company, of any hard-rock mining feasibility studies, or movements towards mining. A quantified report on WKP for just part of its resource, is due out sometime this year.

You appear to be more interested in shorter-term dividend paying shares, and that's fine. Other investors like me are taking a calculated longer-term play with a local business that appears to be moving in all the right directions, with management that are working hard to achieve longer-term results.

I'm sure the likes of Newmont Mining, L&M Mining /millionaire Geoff Loudon, ACC's share fund, and some old family interests, who are all investors or JV partners with Glass Earth, don't share your opinion of the longer-term prospects.

Balance

19-04-2013, 02:58 PM

elZorro

19-04-2013, 03:26 PM

No need to be so touchy over a stock which has so far made losses only for everyone save the management.

My reply is in response to bucko stating that there is a difference in investing in gold versus investing in a gold exploration company, as if the latter is lesser risk!

Balance - I'm not touchy, I'm just saying that you should be sure of your research before making grand claims. The salary package for the CEO of Glass Earth wouldn't get me too excited. It looks like a lot of work and stress for that sort of a tax-paid return. Members of the board are paid a very small amount, although that looks like being improved a bit in the next AGM. Glass Earth has been a frugal operation all the way through, and they've been out there doing it, just like they promised.

I agree that it would have been less risky investing in gold from that great runup from $300 an ounce to $1800, in hindsight. But GEL and some other junior explorers have the clear potential to be 10-30 baggers in the medium term.

Balance

19-04-2013, 09:27 PM

Balance - I'm not touchy, I'm just saying that you should be sure of your research before making grand claims. The salary package for the CEO of Glass Earth wouldn't get me too excited. It looks like a lot of work and stress for that sort of a tax-paid return. Members of the board are paid a very small amount, although that looks like being improved a bit in the next AGM. Glass Earth has been a frugal operation all the way through, and they've been out there doing it, just like they promised.

I agree that it would have been less risky investing in gold from that great runup from $300 an ounce to $1800, in hindsight. But GEL and some other junior explorers have the clear potential to be 10-30 baggers in the medium term.

So let's see.

Shares were listed in October 2006 at 25 cents per share.

Now they are trading at 10.9c per share but that's after a 5:1 consolidation in Mar 2010.

So it's equivalent of 2.18c per share - 92.8% loss over 6.5 years for those who got in at the IPO level.

Rather hard to get excited about a stock with that kind of loss track record, wouldn't you agree?

All junior explorers in my observation raise funds by holding up the promise of 50 to 100 baggers.

Most go the other way however and deliver massive negative returns. Become shell companies for backdoor listings.

elZorro

20-04-2013, 06:53 AM

Balance, I've already pointed out the dilution you mention in a post a few months ago, with a caution.

But I also mentioned what can happen when a junior explorer produces a Project First Estimate, as GEL will, for WKP, in 2013.

http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-Glass-Earth-IPO&p=397622&viewfull=1#post397622 (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-Glass-Earth-IPO&p=397622&viewfull=1#post397622)

Glass Earth has needed to expend $50-$60mill on exploration over the last 7 years, much with external contractors, and a good portion was spent up front with the airborne surveys. This has provided a wealth of data covering a big part of NZ, and some has been used to track down water supplies in Otago, or to help spot an unknown large lava area near Taupo. It also highlighted WKP, and many other sites, only some of which were drilled after further ground-level investigation. This data will be there to help future mineral exploration in NZ.

While the risks for junior explorers are high on individual new projects, GEL has looked at multiple permits, on a scale never seen in NZ before. This mitigates the overall risk of finding nothing. Brent Cook chose GEL as one of the shares he held for about 2 years, while we waited for more drill assays from the big WKP prospect. If you look at the chart, investors had some opportunity to recover any losses during that period, in Sept 2011 when the share reached well over NZ70c, and in Oct 2012 there was a moderate peak near 50c. But many investors will chose to stay for the end game. Glass Earth is now focusing on their best prospects, after doing the hard yards.

bucko

22-04-2013, 12:38 PM

and the slump continues...from one of the articles on the NTL thread theres an NZ company forcasting the Gold price to rally and hit up to $2750 an ounce by the end of the year

elZorro

24-04-2013, 08:33 PM

I've had a bit of a look at the NZPAM site, some developments there for GEL. Permit PP39336 (Southland) has been extended until 5th May 2014. This is a large permit area of 15,140 Ha, surrounding some other permits including one or two of GEL's. There is platinum in the general area.

Also, EP54765 has been granted, this is Moeraki. It had a mention in the February report. From the ODT:

Aside from ongoing drill testing and sampling around the Ophir gold project in Otago and nearby Garibaldi prospect, Mr Henderson delivered a technical report in February looking at four other Otago and Southland projects, in the valleys of Manuherikia, Maniototo and Waikaia, where alluvial gold lies in shallow gravels, 1m-11m below the surface.
Glass Earth has also been granted prospecting permits around North Otago, in the Kakanui and Hawkdun ranges, with stream and soil sampling under way, including at a permit near Moeraki.
simon.hartley@odt.co.nz

Moeraki is a wide skinny permit stretching from Northwest to Southeast across part of the South Island. The other very interesting feature is that it shares a southern border with OGC's Macraes Mine permits. Moeraki is valid until 18th May 2018.

elZorro

30-04-2013, 07:29 AM

A strengthening of buying interest shown for Glass Earth after the overnight press release on the TSX. Some of the WKP36 and 37 drill assays have been divulged, and these would probably have been from the more obvious parts of the drills, or we are being shown the best parts. WKP drilling is resumed, and a lack of water for drilling use (drought) has been offered as one reason for the delay.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=59788645&qm_symbol=GEL

The grades are not great, but the point is that once again, it doesn't seem to matter where they drill at WKP, they find gold and silver at the sort of grades a large-scale opencast would work with, on top of some much higher grade intersections suitable for underground work. The proposed drilling areas for the next 2400mtrs of drilling (and this only really makes up for the 2012 drilling campaign not completed) shows some economy being used, three drills from one collar. The area of interest has changed, they're heading roughly North-east from WKP37 and drilling back near some legacy holes.

The planned 2,400m drilling programme focusses on testing the under-explored EG structure (first discussed in a Glass Earth Gold press release, 31st October 2012), both along strike and up and down dip. See Figure 1. The 2013 work program is budgeted to cost approximately $C2.3M (Glass Earth Gold's share ~$C0.8M), and is to include project-first resource estimates.

elZorro

30-04-2013, 12:48 PM

Further to the new EP above Macraes: GEL also have the large PP above that (PP53297), although some of it seems to be earmarked for a competitive tender in 2013.

elZorro

02-05-2013, 10:01 AM

Just thought I'd point out that SEDAR is holding the file of an amended MD&A report dated 26 April 2013. As far as I've been able to see, one change is on page 27, where a Selected Annual Information table has been added.

This shows total revenue up nearly 400% over the previous year to nearly C$3mill, but paper writeoffs of older mineral properties in 2012 resulted in a loss per share of C15c. Previous two years it was 3c each year. Total assets remain unchanged basically, at around C$17mill (mostly exploration and equipment). So book assets are well above the MCap, a fairly safe situation compared to some growth shares I could name.

The financial statements don't seem to have been changed, so this is some sort of a regulation criteria. As the MD&A document size hasn't changed much, and it's still 40 pages long, that should be all that was changed. Glass Earth's website still holds the original superceded document at the moment.

Based on the placer data we have, and gold at US$1450 an ounce, GEL should be able to take $7mill of gold revenue out of Drybread in the next year. That's revenue, not net profit..:cool:

elZorro

05-05-2013, 08:45 PM

Vicarage Capital UK, who represent Glass Earth over there, produced a newssheet in February 2013.

http://www.vicaragecapital.com/reports/2012/2013/feb/GEL.pdf

Interesting comment, that there is potential for a project first resource estimate for WKP in Q2 of 2013, also referred to as "later in the year". But I have learnt to be careful with their data, after some wonderful bogus grades were reported once before.

WKP is on JV permit EP40598. This permit expires on 21st May 2013. It's already an extended permit, has run for 10 years, and the next stage to hold it might be to call it a discovery appraisal (http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/pdf-library/forms/application-to-extend-duration-of-exploration-permit-for-discovery-appraisal).

Here's the list of work that needs to be completed and into NZPAM by the 120 month stage. So the estimate we're waiting for, has to be produced fairly soon, along with some more drilling results, unless they're ahead on that front.

elZorro

07-05-2013, 12:46 AM

I've spent a bit of time looking back at the documentation for the WKP permit.

It turns out that a London-based firm, HPD Investments Ltd, had a wholly owned subsidiary that used some UK-raised funds to have a look over here for prospective gold permits. They used a contractor (Kenex) (http://kenex.co.nz/Predictive/past_successes.asp) to help with that. One of HPD's directors, Marc Sale, was also a technical manager. In late 2005, a deal was struck where Glass Earth Ltd bought out all of these NZ permits (HPD NZ Ltd) for NZ$4mill.

HPD:
HPD,who were acquired by Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited, used prospectivity modelling to acquire and manage exploration on projects throughout Otago,Marlborough, and in the North Island of New Zealand. They used the prospectivity modelling to identify areas that lacked specific geological and geochemical data that could enhance the prospectivity of their targets.

This allowed HPD to design cost-effective exploration programs, prioritise their project expenditure, and rapidly identify those prospects that had the best chance of being developed.The tenement package acquired by HPD was considered highly prospective by other exploration companies, who then offered HPD a variety of investment and joint venture proposals.

HPD NZ recently merged with Glass Earth, a new NZ exploration company, in a deal worth $4M to HPD NZ shareholders. Glass Earth acquired the prospects developed through the modelling work done by Kenex. This valuable exploration land assembled by HPD is today undergoing drilling and aggressive exploration by Glass Earth. [top] (http://kenex.co.nz/Predictive/past_successes.asp#top)

Some of the HPD permits were in the CVR area above Taupo, and others were around Waihi. Earlier research papers may have highlighted some of the areas for the HPD team. WKP was one of the areas, and it received an early mention in the IPO prospectus for Glass Earth, later on in 2006.

As an aside, Marc Sale was at one stage going to be a director of Glass Earth according to NZPAM (http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/news_media/2006/26-january-2006-glass-earth-buys-hpd-gold-interests-and-is-granted-six-exploration-permits), but that didn't happen, and he is still linked with the parent of HPD, Patagonia Gold PLC, as a technical director. Patagonia are exploring for gold in Argentina.

During the 10 years from 2003 when the WKP area's permit was first started as no. EP40598 (http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/services-drm-web/RetrieveDocumentServlet.svt?documentId=AA34F0B4BED B48D9E951A2EFBE65EB35&p_access_no=23FDD5484BDDBDB79E180A9285639A0A)(3650 Ha), the area was expanded by GEL and then reduced by the normal rules, but has more recently been added to by petition, so that it is 30% bigger than when it was first approved (now 4751Ha).

This has also preserved most of the exploration data with the JV, it cannot be divulged by NZPAM until the permit is cancelled, or surrendered. Successive permit types preserve the IP too. While Glass Earth took over the rights to the WKP permit area effectively in late 2005, Waihi Gold (Newmont) was brought in as a farm-in partner in an agreement dated 26 February 2007, 3-4 months after the IPO. I've mentioned before the strong links that Glass Earth has with Newmont, particularly through their chairman, John Dow. Newmont had earned a 65% share in the permit by 23 August 2010.

It looks like May 2013 could be an interesting point in the timeline for the WKP permit.

A discovery appraisal application doesn't appear to have been lodged yet, but they have some time left.

Today, the extension of area in GEL's permit EP40767 has been granted, which I think restores some ground that was lost near the Waihi pit due to the normal reduction in permit area. They have until 20 December 2015 (end of 10 years) to complete another 1000mtrs of drilling, but no preliminary resource estimate is required, according to the paperwork loaded up at the moment.

These permit areas that are being added, signal an ongoing interest in resources sited near Newmont's mill and ore/tailings handling facilities at Waihi.

elZorro

07-05-2013, 02:36 PM

Permit EP40767 is still 100% Glass Earth's (http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/news_media/2006/4-may-2006-glass-earth-joint-ventures-with-newmont-to-explore-waihi-permit)-and is 280.4 Ha. Looking to see who else is crowding around in the fully taken up permit space around the Martha pit is Laneway Resources (55213 applied, and permit 53469). They are listed on the ASX as LNY (were Renison).

But also great to see, Dr Stuart Rabone (wrote a good research paper on WKP) has a permit just outside Waihi, no. 52566. All the best with the exploration.

In 2007 some more mention was made of EP40767, the aerial survey flagging possible continuation of a vein into the permit.

Newmont and Glass Earth made their first joint venture agreement in April 2005, on the 280 hectare Waihi West EP 40767 adjacent to the Martha mine after Glass Earth's aerial geophysical surveys indicated good evidence of gold mineralisation from the Martha mine extending into the permit. Newmont was to spend $400,000 in the first year and after a decision point could spend a further $1.1 million within the next two years to earn 60% rights in the permit.

It would seem that Newmont had not spent the full capital on the exploration in Waihi West in the three year timeframe allowed, and so there is no mention of a farm-in yet, in the NZPAM documents. It's 100% Glass Earth's at this stage. But by 2013 there was a bit more info about that from Glass Earth:

In the Hauraki Region, Glass Earth Gold has identified and developed significant ground positions around the active Martha Hill gold mine operations at Waihi. The Newmont-Glass Earth Gold Waihi West JV (Newmont earning in) and Hauraki JV (65/35), including drilling at the WKP discovery, are being actively explored and managed by Newmont in collaboration with Glass Earth Gold.

In the 2012 annual report:

Separately, at
Waihi West (adjacent to the Martha gold/silver mine owned by Newmont, pursuant to a
2006 Joint Venture agreement, Newmont has undertaken preparatory exploration and drilled 4 holes
into this permit area, with modest results. Glass Earth agreed to extend the term in which Newmont can
expend the remaining funds out to 31 March 2013. As at December 2012, Newmont had expended
approximately 71% of the funds required for it to earn an initial 60% equity in this permit.

Modest results - but by now the decision will perhaps have been made about a JV in this permit.

I've only just seen this: Newmont's Correnso application has been approved today.

http://www.waihigold.co.nz/assets/media-releases/Correnso-mediastatement070513.pdf

Here's the full report on the findings (http://www.waihigold.co.nz/assets/media-releases/NWG-Commissioners-Decision-full-version.pdf). This mine will employ hundreds of workers, just as the other Newmont mines are running down. They'll be starting by the middle of 2013.

elZorro

08-05-2013, 06:50 AM

From NZ Resources, a bit of background on Correnso.

Green light for Correnso mine but protestors may appeal to put it back on amberRoss Louthean — 8 May 2013
The future of gold mining in the medium to long term in Waihi now appears assured with resource consents granted for Newmont Waihi Gold’s (NWG) underground mine in the Waihi East area – on the outskirts of the North Island town.
Correnso is the next major step by Newmont Waihi Gold, the operating New Zealand subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation.
Without Correnso gold mining in Waihi could cease when reserves are depleted on the new Trio underground mine - within four to five years.
The decision comes after the project was put through the arduous consents process and public scrutiny, including the Green Party and others who oppose anything that sniffs of mining.
NWG announced yesterday a positive decision by the independent commissioners’ hearings panel considering the mine application under NZ’s Resource Management Act.
The panel granted consent for Correnso subject to a range of conditions, but has not granted consent for the wider Golden Link Project Area that was originally sought by Newmont Waihi Gold.
The commissioners said: “‘We are satisfied that the development of the Correnso underground mine will, subject to appropriate conditions, enable people and communities to provide for their social, economic and cultural wellbeing.
“The potential of natural and physical resources to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations will be achieved, while the life-supporting capacity of the local environment will be appropriately safeguarded.
“The adverse effects of the proposal will be avoided, remedied or mitigated, subject to the imposition of appropriate conditions.”
NWG’s general manager Glen Grindlay said the commissioners’ decision must be considered in tandem with Newmont’s assessment of the viability of the project given the conditions set.
“We anticipate that some objectors may wish to appeal the decision or seek alternative conditions through the Environment Court, and it is highly likely that we will also lodge an appeal to address some conditions,” he said.
Grindlay says that Newmont is committed to the process and is ‘in this for the long haul’, stating that the company has committed several million dollars to the Waihi East Community.
“We have funded the Waihi Community Forum which appointed an Independent Review Panel that has just recommended that the company purchase seven residential properties in the Correnso area at a cost of about $NZ2 million with the same amount again yet to be spent.
NWG has, he added, also contributed significant funds to the Waihi East community through the ‘Top Up’ programme for property purchases; the ‘Healthy Home’s programme will see 270 homes insulated for free; the ‘Streets Ahead’ programme has committed $400,000 for Waihi East residents to spend on community amenities and committed funds to the local primary school and pre-school facilities.
NWG’s big Martha open cut and Favona underground mines have either finite or no reserves left and because the company was too coy to embrace the media, the arch anti-mining Green MP Catherine Delahunty, also a member of the Coromandel Watchdog group, did so with relish.
She told Radio New Zealand that while the decision would suit miners it was disastrous news for the townsfolk devastated that mining would continue with Waihi now a “man-made Christchurch” through the constant noise and disruption caused by mining.
Also, she said it was providing a short term economic solution due to the fluctuating gold price, whereas the upper Coromandel was travelling fine through no mining and other industries.
Perhaps Delahunty should take off her large blinkers because Waihi has been transformed from being a subsistence community through the revival of gold mining at Martha in the 1990s, and continued ever since.
This could not be said for most of the Coromandel where factories like the one that operated in Waihi decades ago, are either closed or struggling.
Newmont’s Waihi operations have been put up in the global mining industry as an example of the importance of community relations, and that includes the fact that current operations are on restricted time, excluding weekends, and drills operating near the town are encased in steel containers to mute the noise.
As for painting a picture of a disenchanted town, a recent poll on maintaining gold mining showed that opposition like the Greens would have as much chance of winning the public heart as a Labor candidate in a marginal Queensland seat in the coming Australian federal election.
One of the concerns for mining gold in Waihi, stemming from when the operations were taken over as part of Normandy Mining by Newmont in 2001, was that the Waihi operates were a small fish in Normandy’s big pond.
While it was put on the auction block it was withdrawn after some Canadian suitors became shy with the extent of environmental and resource consents involved.
Newmont, like other global mining giants, has been cutting exploration, marginal projects and even chief executives in the past year due to dwindling profit margins but it appears – based on Newmont’s presentation at Diggers & Dealers in Kalgoorlie last year – that Correnso is seen as a great discovery.
The project may operate seven days a week, round-the-clock and employ about 400 and is expected to be a $US200 M development.
Based on known reserves Correnso will begin construction on the eastern side of the Martha pit mid year and could ramp up to annual production of 100,000 ounces of gold and 750,000 oz silver. The target zones underneath 45 homes – some occupied by company people – is about 130 metres deep and extends to 350m.

elZorro

11-05-2013, 06:47 AM

Glass Earth has applied for a large mining permit at Waikaia, (55389) (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?application=55389), (http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/nzpam-web/asset/nz/govt/med/crownminerals/web/wdk/assets/img/nzicon2.gif)on 8th May 2013. The duration is for 10 years. Gold is the only mineral they're after, it's a placer mining site. This is a welcome development, I've covered a lot of detail about the area in posts from 5th July 2012 (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-Glass-Earth-IPO&p=376818&viewfull=1#post376818), after the covering EP52844 (http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/services-drm-web/RetrieveDocumentServlet.svt?documentId=4F021C0A8EE 71F904849D6251EF21442&p_access_no=823F55D6ABF96BBCEB72DFD1312006E6) was established.

It's a promising area, very high grades compared to Drybread have been measured here, see the Q1 2012 report. The size of the permit is about a quarter of the overall one at Drybread. Good results depend on how deep the gold is, how much clay, etc. In the past, quite big equipment like dredges have been used in the area. GEL has one floating GRU, being GRU#1.

elZorro

11-05-2013, 07:59 PM

The NI 43-101 report for WKP in February answers the issue I saw looming for the permit:

EP40-598 (Figure 2) was granted to HPD NZ Ltd on 22 May 2003 for a period of 5 years covering 5497 hectares and was later transferred to GENZL. A Farm-in and Operating Agreement between GENZL and NWG dated 26 February, 2007, was approved by the Minister of Energy under Section 41 of the Crown Minerals Act 1991 on 10 October 2007. On the 30th June 2010 the Hauraki Joint Venture (HJV) was formalised between the two companies. An Extension of Duration on a reduced area of 2747 hectares was granted for five years from 13 June 2008, and two subsequent Extension of Land applications (granted 22 January 2009 and 22 August 2011) brings the current permit area to 4108.4 ha. The permit will expire on the 21 May 2013 and will be subject to an appraisal extension for a further five years. There is no limit on the number of appraisal extensions required for appraisal based activities.

elZorro

12-05-2013, 10:34 AM

The NI 43-101 report that was produced earlier this year has 12 pages of great detail on the Waikaia permit. Starting at page 89 (the report is on the GEL website, technical data pages).

While being low key at that stage, it simply reported on the drill campaigns from two other companies, plus its own work. The grades GEL achieved got as high as 3g/m3 in one of the drills. The average wash grade for the resource area they refined was a shade under 0.5g/m3, which is still good for placer. It had a very high standard deviation, meaning there are some real hot-spots. The work defined about NZ$27million worth of gold, and when it's looked at using the existing gear at Drybread, it would take about 2 years to recover all of it.

The gold is only about 5-7 metres down, in a wash layer about 1 metre thick. This sounds similar to Drybread. Eureka Mining Ltd did some of the earlier drills in 2004, and located a richer area just to the East of GEL's permit, which is now being mined under permit MP41875. Some well-heeled interests are involved there.

NZResources reported in February that some more ground and engineering work would be needed at Waikaia before making a decision to mine there (potentially clayey deposit). Looks like that went all OK. Using the placer resource table, Waikaia is the biggest spot, and has the best average grade apart from the small Vinegar Hill permit.

elZorro

12-05-2013, 10:43 PM

I have had a look through Google Earth to see if the mining permit to the immediate east of GEL's Waikaia permit shows any action. It was reported as being underway in February this year. The satellite image must be old, as it shows no disturbance to the paddocks there at all.

The GEL report says that there appeared to be no disturbance to the gravel and sediment layers wherever they drilled on the east side of their permit. The Kaipara/Solway drill research concentrated in a narrow strip heading North to South right beside McDonald Road. Where GEL's permit tucked into the bottom end of this channel, they have spent a fair bit of effort getting drills done there, and they have been relatively high grade. One cross-section that was provided implies that there are two wash layers a small distance apart, which merge as you get closer to the Garvie Burn (stream). However the Garvie Burn stream must have been heavily dredged years ago, and the hills to the east of there look to have been sluiced in many places.

Glass Earth has a permit over an unworked area.

Travelling a bit further northwards, Google Earth has been updated in the Drybread area. A bit of cloud there on the day in question, but take a look at the earthworks. They really are mining over there!

elZorro

13-05-2013, 09:45 PM

Thanks for that elZorro, always good to see these updates. You appear rather dead-set on this company. Hope it works out for you if you're holding!

Interesting to see that shares are trading at 7 cents CAD which means they should be trading at 8.4 cents NZD here with the exchange rate. Although this is pretty small volume and I can understand why people would not want to lock in losses now. Low volume declines will continue until some good news eh?

Yes Moosie, I've held GEL shares in various amounts since the IPO. I noted the different pricing too, the TSX can be the volatile side of the share though, and where a lot of the volume is seen. There could be a fair bit of news coming soon, as the Q1 report is due by the end of the month, and the crucially important WKP permit needs to be held by a permit extension soon. The share might be illiquid, but behind the scenes the company is doing a lot of work. They need to tell us about it more often.

Here is a bit more data from the NI43-101 report on Waikaia. Very interesting section from across the middle of the proposed mining permit. Looks like there is a false bottom, but GEL might only be looking at the top layer, if the other one is down too deep.

I think I found three diggers in the Moran photo from the satellite. Based on the data from the report showing Moran's status at 1st Jan 2013, this is a photo of sometime in late 2012. The digger at top of the photo is taking a top-bottom trench of gold wash and loading it onto a truck.

elZorro

14-05-2013, 09:06 AM

Did you used to be a spy satellite analyst elZorro? Some mighty eye you must have there, along the lines of Cuban Missile Crisis spotting!

Well, I couldn't spot the staff facilities, so they must be very small! If you use Omakau Lauder Creek Otago as keywords and then zoom right in on the 5-way intersection, you can have a look yourself via Google Earth, straight off the web (satellite view of maps).

I think Drybread is good practice for the GEL team, it's safe in that some profit is being made, it's getting better over time, and if they take that positive experience and apply it to some easier ground with higher grades, shareholders won't be shelling out for the hard-rock exploration costs any more. Certainly these shots from above show that they are looking very organised and professional.

bucko

15-05-2013, 10:34 AM

the end of the month cannot come soon enough! 9c...

so am i right in assuming that the EoY report that last came out had all of the expenditure write offs for the equipment needed for the placer mine down south....therefore on this end of quarter report that is coming out it should state that the company is self sufficient even possibly in a state of profit as there shouldnt really be any write offs for the placer op on exploration and staff costs?

also im looking forward to seeing how they are measuring up to their own targets they set out in terms of Oz per week production.

I emailed them last week about organising a site visit to the placer production just to have a look and see how well its running, I got a reply from simons assistant saying he should contact me some time next week to discuss the visit for later on in the year!

elZorro

15-05-2013, 11:56 AM

Bucko, I'm not an accountant, so don't take any of this as gospel. From memory on the financial reports I read, the writeoffs in the annual books were mostly exploration properties let go from their permit holdings. At that point all the exploration costs have to be written off, previously they were held as an asset (non-depreciated). But this also means that on the books, WKP is not held at a very high capital valuation, because they've not spent much on exploration, a few million (35% share). Of course if it really does hold in the region of at least 3Moz of gold as we've been advised indirectly, it's worth a lot more than that, once serious talk of mining it starts. A preliminary estimate of the resource has to be provided to NZPAM within about a week. This is the first time one has been prepared on the permit.

The placer operation and equipment is different. Dunstan Mining (Bob Kilgour) is being paid for the purchased older plant in instalments that come off the gold production profits. This remainder owing would be a liability, and the full asset cost of the equipment GEL owns will be on the books as assets, but it can be depreciated each year. However some of the NZ$5mill purchase price was for exploration permits in the South Island, and quite a few of these have been let go, so would be part of last year's writeoffs.

At 9c, GEL is worth NZ$9.5mill on paper, so that is a silly price IMHO. The underrated NTA is plus 16.5c per share, last year losses were 18.5c a share, but that's a paper figure too, a catchup on some exploration that didn't make it in the end. Quite a bit of the other exploration is looking very promising.

What NZ company do we know that has an NTA of 32c a share, losses last year of 11c a share, faces global competitors for market share, and yet sells for $13.50 a share, with an MCap of NZ$1.578 billion?

Why the difference in valuation? It's an easier company to understand, more connections to the life of investors, and the company knows how to dress up their proposition.

In Q1, Drybread production should have improved, and for most of it there was a good gold price. I'm expecting to see a good paper profit there, maybe a few details about new equipment being used, what new steps are being taken with the lower PoG to keep the profits flowing.

A site visit would be a great PR exercise for the company, I'm just surprised they haven't organised one earlier. I would think that larger investors have already been shown around the permits. I'd be interested in having a look too.

elZorro

18-05-2013, 07:32 PM

No extension for the WKP permit has been filed yet, not as far as the NZPAM records show anyway. I'm picking it'll show up on Monday.

GEL is looking for some more excavator operators.

http://jobs.odt.co.nz/displayjob.php?JobID=305252&occupation%5B%5D=18

bucko

20-05-2013, 10:33 AM

The next report is due out at the end of the month so im forcasting a small rally after its release based off of the income they will be making off of the placer mine down south, reducing the need for further dillution to the stock.

Also I think we are coming up soon to a pre-feasability report in the next 3-6 months with the way these drill results keep striking

elZorro

20-05-2013, 10:42 AM

Down to 5 cents CAD on higher than usual volume on Friday on the TSX. Looks like we might have another NTL on our hands here, gold is really falling out of favour!

At current exchange rates the shares should be at 6 cents NZ.

Any clue how low it can go elZorro?

Bucko's probably right here, Moosie, the Q1 news should be fairly good. Even big miners like ABX have been pounded, so nil desperandum. Considering they've just had a PP at C16c, with some big investors involved, and the amount of cash that came in was about half the current MCap, it must be very close to the sensible limit downwards. It's more likely the best buying opportunity we've seen for a long time, but you'd need to be braver than most. I keep an eye on what the Canadian retail investors are saying about GEL, and over the weekend a poster had this to say:

http://www.stockhouse.com/bullboards/messagedetail.aspx?p=0&m=32583821&l=0&r=0&s=GEL&t=LIST

So far, NZPAM has not posted an EP permit extension application for WKP. I reckon we'll see it on their website today or tomorrow (The WKP permit area was enlarged and accepted in March 2013). The Q1 report will also be out anytime between now and the end of the month.

bucko

21-05-2013, 11:21 AM

elZorro

21-05-2013, 12:11 PM

http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/goldmining-giant-explore-more-waihi-5443376

As elz said, the permit has doubled in size and the media has paid attention to it, some activity that should be good for the company, im suprised there was no NZX release about this this morning?

Thanks Bucko, I hadn't seen that. The permit at Waihi West has been extended back out to the initial area I think. Because it's under the town, everyone treads fairly lightly on the prospects. It would need to be a surgical extraction, well under the ground level, and have high grades to be worth bothering with. I forget what portion Newmont/Waihi Gold can hold under a JV after paying for exploration, but they have already gone over two deadlines. Lucky for them, Glass Earth doesn't have a lot of spare cash at the moment, so the deal has been kept open.

Meanwhile, of huge importance, the WKP permit 40598 has had its extension filed, for a Discovery Appraisal. The paperwork must have gone in yesterday, it's up on the website now, under Recent Applications. It's only been there an hour or so.

http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/online-services/current-permits-minerals-and-coal/banner_template/CMINPSMINL

The latest set of drilling is also probably underway on WKP.

As you say Bucko, where are the GEL news releases? Why are we always digging stuff out of obscure places to keep ourselves informed? Last I heard, we invested in a publicly listed company.

bucko

21-05-2013, 12:31 PM

did you get your own permit?

bucko

21-05-2013, 12:48 PM

thats awesome, me and a friend have been looking at doing the same. how did you go about doing that? you wouldnt be able to message me the costs/process would you?

bucko

21-05-2013, 01:28 PM

blonde....haha im so disapointed!

yeh Elz hopefully GEL pull their finger out soon and start giving us some regular updates...this price is killing my portfolio:t_down:

elZorro

21-05-2013, 02:55 PM

blonde....haha im so disapointed!

yeh Elz hopefully GEL pull their finger out soon and start giving us some regular updates...this price is killing my portfolio:t_down:

Well, we could average down, although that doesn't often work for me. 9 days to the end of the month and the Q1 report has to be out, look back over this share and the price has never been so low. I did average down last time GEL was like this, that did work.

I still have a lot of faith in the company, they need someone like Rod Drury running the PR, as Moosie noted recently. Show us the mining, the hardware, tactile proof we're going places. And do this in small bites, regularly. Otherwise we're all wondering what's going on.

Bucko and Moosie, there are some mining gurus on ST: try talking to JBMurc, Aotea and Miner, for a start.

elZorro

21-05-2013, 09:11 PM

Ah I've had my fair share of miners the past year or so (made some, lost some). The tech scene is all me right now, but may return one day when gold bottoms out. Everything works in cycles and all, happy sitting on the sidelines right now ;)

I thought gold had bottomed out? Well I hope so, or a lot of mining companies will be dropping staff.

I looked up the fine details on NZPAM's Form 8 for a discovery appraisal (WKP extension).

3. Appraisal Extensions will only be granted where the permit holder has made a discovery (refer to the Act and relevant minerals programme for more information on the meaning of “discovery”), the remaining duration of the permit is insufficient to carry out the appraisal work for the discovery, the permit holder is not entitled to extend the duration of the permit under section 37(1) of the Act for a period sufficient to carry out the appraisal work for the discovery or for all land to which the discovery relates, the Minister is satisfied that reasonable efforts are being made to carry out the appraisal and that the proposed work programme is sufficient to carry out the appraisal work (refer section 37(2) of the Act).
4. Applications for Appraisal Extensions must be made while the permit is still in force (prior to expiry). A permit that is the subject of an application for an Appraisal Extension continues in force until the Minister determines the application.
5. The Minister’s general approach will be to not grant an Appraisal Extension beyond four years.
6. Appraisal Extensions are restricted to that land comprised in the permit to which the Minister determines it is likely that the discovery relates and is necessary to reasonably appraise the discovery and enable subsequent mining operations.
UNDER SECTION 37(2),
CROWN MINERALS ACT 1991

So the JV has asked for the maximum time allowed, and until this is granted, which could be at least 6 months, the permit continues on as before. They'll need to show the Minister that a reasonable attempt has been made to explore the permit up until now, and a resource estimate is due, according to those terms.

elZorro

22-05-2013, 06:53 AM

I wish I knew for certain when it had bottomed. I would be sure to let you know first elzorro! the fact is shorts have maxed out and american finances are coming to the fore again. might see some sideways action for awhile as new support/resistance levels are set. overall though, we are still well into a bear market

OK, cheers for that Moosie.

NZResources has some more detail on Waihi explorations, Glass Earth is right in the thick of it.

Newmont Waihi evaluates South and West Waihi permits22 May 2013
The community conscious miner Newmont Waihi Gold has detailed activity it has been undertaking on areas in Waihi with Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V and NZAS: GEL).
Newmont Waihi said Glass Earth Gold holds exploration permit 40767 which covers a predominantly residential area south and west of the Martha mine.
Newmont Waihi was conducting surveys on part of the permit where it can earn an interest by conducting work to an “agreed specified value.”
Once this value is reached Newmont Waihi can formalise a joint venture agreement.
There have been varying levels of interest in this area over the last 50 years with some drilling undertaken in the 1960s and other exploration since. Nothing of any interest has ever been identified.
Newmont Waihi Gold was currently undertaking gravity surveys in Waihi West that involves a technician with a roving monitor spending about 10 minutes beside the road at each location.
A gravity survey detects variations in the earth’s gravity field that indicate variable density of the rocks beneath the ground.
For example, Newmont Waihi said, the Waihi Basin - the flat land to the south of Waihi - is characterised by a large circular gravity low that indicates that that area was once a large caldera, similar to Lake Taupo. The gravity low indicates that the Waihi Basin is filled to considerable depth with volcanic deposits that have a much lower density than the surrounding hills.
There have been several gravity surveys carried out in the area previously, but they have not been evenly spaced. In some areas the survey points are close together and in other areas there is very little coverage.
Where the stations are closer together more detail is apparent in the resulting processed data. This new survey will ‘fill in the gaps’.
The current survey is attempting to improve the district-wide resolution to make it easier to interpret data. The copany said it was not expected the data will reveal details such as the presence of veins. It is aiming to assess whether some of the larger geological features interpreted from previous drilling can be detected through their gravity response.
“Our work in Waihi West is one part of the exploration programme Newmont Waihi Gold is engaged in as we continue to determine what, if any, areas should be considered for further investigation,” the company said.
“This is all part of the exploration process. It is lengthy and detailed, taking place over years rather than weeks or days. We are very used to acquiring what some may consider ‘discouraging’ results, but that is the nature of the activity.”
Newmont Waihi said that in the Waihi West area of the permit the exploration there was not related to the company’s Correnso discovery closer to the Martha mine.
“It is coincidental that the work in Waihi West was scheduled for this time. There is no connection between the Correnso announcement and the start of work in Waihi West.
“We have not identified an ore body under Waihi West despite conducting exploration activities including drilling since 2006.
“If the current exploration activities suggest there is merit in a closer look at the area we will employ other more precise techniques. At this stage, however, we have nothing to report other than routine investigations over a wide area.”

Newmont is hoping to use a non-invasive gravity technique to pick up the same anomalies that they've already drilled, and with enough data to fill in the gaps they have, they might be able to spot other areas that should be drilled next. Correnso is a deposit that was missed for many years, I just hope there is something similar to that, under an area GEL has a portion of :).

Minerbarejet

22-05-2013, 07:50 AM

I believe NTL backs onto this permit further to the east - as well as having the Talisman to the west at Karangahake. We have them surrounded!! :t_up:

elZorro

22-05-2013, 06:11 PM

I believe NTL backs onto this permit further to the east - as well as having the Talisman to the west at Karangahake. We have them surrounded!! :t_up:

Yep, although the nearby permits seem to have been held onto the longest. A caldera beside Waihi, interesting. It's this epithermal activity that resulted in some major gold in veins nearby. Waihi's thermal activity is mostly gone, Taupo/Rotorua is much more recent. Effectively the North Island has slowly drifted north on its plate, over the top of a rift down through the Earth's core. So now that spot shows up between Taupo and Rotorua. Driving all this activity - the heat from deep-seated fission or radioactive decay.

Glass Earth had a hold on this area (Waihi West) in early 2006. They set the JV deal up before the IPO. Newmont has dragged the chain a bit, but now they might feel the timing is getting better.

http://www.nzpam.govt.nz/cms/news_media/2006/4-may-2006-glass-earth-joint-ventures-with-newmont-to-explore-waihi-permit

Minerbarejet

22-05-2013, 06:49 PM

Really interesting area of the country round here geologically - and otherwise -never know what might turn up. Up towards the golden cross road all of a sudden what looked like a university campus sprang up out of nowhere. buildings all over the show. Maybe Moosie might like to further his education there and dig for gold in the weekends - he will need a permit though. :)

elZorro

22-05-2013, 07:47 PM

Minerbarejet

23-05-2013, 06:59 AM

What do you mean Major?
sorry -been studying too many charts lately- meant to say the golden VALLEY road which cuts off from the Waihi-Whangamata road and heads down towards Athenree.:blush:

elZorro

23-05-2013, 08:38 PM

4540
sorry -been studying too many charts lately- meant to say the golden VALLEY road which cuts off from the Waihi-Whangamata road and heads down towards Athenree.:blush:

Ok, I see the Golden Valley Road heads East from Waihi township, and would pass over the top of the Correnso mining area roughly. I spotted this submission from Laurie Richards, a geotechnical engineer, for the hearings on Correnso. He's under contract to Newmont, but has provided compelling arguments for the safety of the mining that will be done. The ore is within andesite, and if you've ever picked some up, it's incredibly dense. The cavities are only about 9m x 8m, way smaller than the cavity Manapouri power station sits in, and the rock down there is poorer quality.

At the end of the report are some maps (not always the clearest) which show that to the west of this area, i.e. where Glass Earth has a permit, there are historic stopes, some of which had not been backfilled (hence the previous subsidence locals are worried about). But south and west of this area again, also I'd guess within GEL's space, not much historic exploration has been carried out. Using the same techniques and reasoning as applied at Correnso, with rigorous backfilling, there is no obvious impediment to mining at a safe distance from the old workings, if a resource is found. IMHO.

http://www.hauraki-dc.govt.nz/news/Mining-issues/GoldenLinkRCAp/Hearing/07-LaurieRichards.pdf

elZorro

24-05-2013, 10:16 PM

Here is a link to a pdf of the Correnso gold area superimposed on the surface at different heights.

http://www.hauraki-dc.govt.nz/news/Mining-issues/GoldenLink/correnso-brochure.pdf

The area of that find is very small compared to the available exploration space in the Waihi West JV area. Correnso is relatively tiny, but it contains US$1billion of gold, maybe a net profit of $200mill or better. That's because the underground ore grade is about 20g/tonne on average.

The part labelled yellow in horizontal crossections is up to 500mtrs north-south, but only 50mtrs east-west, at best. Easy to miss if it was drilled without good pinpointing by other techniques.

elZorro

26-05-2013, 03:07 PM

The 20 May press release by Newmont Waihi to explain the gravity measurements in Waihi West. All fairly low key.

http://www.waihigold.co.nz/assets/media-releases/NWG-Media-Statement-Waihi-West-200513.pdf

We have not heard any more about Placer Gold International. Their website is still running, and here is a page giving good background on the placer technique. GRU#1 from Glass Earth is shown at Earnscleugh a couple of years ago. It's now up on the hard at Drybread, working at Morans. GRU#1 was replaced by a much bigger machine with about 4-6x the capacity, by L&M Mining, after an evaluation period. I figured out that the grade at Earnscleugh is about 0.2 g/tonne (0.3 to 0.4 g/m3), and there's a lot of gravel to get through.

http://placercorp.com/index.php?id=58&L=1

Flugenbear

26-05-2013, 06:09 PM

elZorro

26-05-2013, 10:03 PM

My first post on this forum.
Firstly thanks to elZorro for all his posts and research into Glass Earth....very interesting reading. Thought it about time I contributed something!
First quarter financial statements released in Canada Friday afternoon. Unfortunately it didn't make the most pleasing reading, particularly for the placer mining showing a loss of $246,000, and anticipated loss in Q2 as well before they hope to go profitable in the 2nd half. Grades (0.33g/tonne) and price less than forecast. Currently have a shade over 1 million cash on hand.
Lets hope they can sort out the placer mining by doing 24/7 mining on one site (not sure which, maybe EZ will know)
Unfortunately I see more dilution coming before years end, and with the current share price which is unlikely to climb, this won't be nice.
Here is the link to the announcement in Canada

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/glass-earth-gold-limited-financial-203000940.html

Welcome to Sharetrader, Flugenbear. It's a good debut, no-one else seems to have spotted that the Q1 report was out. GEL don't often release it at the end of Friday on the TSX. It isn't very good news, I felt a bit betrayed at first.

I need to spend a bit more time looking at the full details, but there are options for a rosier outcome than it would appear at face value.
I run a simple spreadsheet on placer returns, and it's startling what happens when a GRU is put on 24/7 operation. Practically, this is going to be tough, running a machine in the frost and snow, with lights on all night, but it will be profitable. I had an idea that this was going to be required as soon as the gold price dropped. The Feb 2013 NI 43-101 report details all the costs in the example placer operation, close enough to get an impression. Lease and R&M costs were very high, so they need to run with the more reliable machine, on the best grade area.

They didn't spell out which machine would be used - Hecklers was the first area set up, it uses GRU#3, which is smaller than GRU#1, but GRU#1 has had a lot of effort and cash spent on it, while GRU#3 hasn't received much mention. The Hecklers area also had some strong looking grades closer to the middle of the selected mining area. Maybe they'll put the machines beside each other for backup, or rob parts from GRU#2, which is not being used at the moment. These are tricky decisions, as you say.

The spreadsheet also says that even at $1400 an ounce, if they get grades well over 0.4g/m3, they'll do even better. At the last indicated grade (0.39g), there could be about $2mill spare annually after all related costs and staged equipment payments, not bad from just one machine. Maybe they'll cherrypick good grades from all over the permit to feed into the GRU.

Holders of the share will be willing the gold price up, and hoping there is a bright looking pocket of alluvial gold somewhere on the Drybread permit.

Flugenbear

27-05-2013, 01:38 AM

elZorro

27-05-2013, 10:15 AM

I have to admit after reading the report my confidence has taken a big hit. One concern I have is the gold price was actually pretty good in Q1. It did fall a bit in Feb/Mar, but still averaged above $1600USD. The big fall came in April and since then averaged a bit over $1400. The USD has strengthened a bit the last few weeks, if that continues will help, but there are certainly a lot of things that need to line up in order for profit to flow.
Encouraged to hear you think the 24/7 will make a big difference. As you say that will be tough through winter.
I guess we have to hope for a recovery in the gold price and some USD strength.
Suddenly feeling I am holding too many shares!

I had a look at the insider data yesterday, Geoff Loudon hasn't sold any of his GEL shares, and he has over 12 million of them. Mind you, it would be hard to move that many.

I agree with you, I wasn't expecting great profits in Q2, but I was hoping for a good positive cashflow in Q1, with the gold price being up at $1600. It's taken them quite a while to figure out that Drybread holds the key to investor confidence at this point. We're happy to wait for the hardrock mines to work their way through, but as significant funds and effort have been used on the Placer gear, it's very important that we can see a return, and not a loss. It's not as if they can hand the gear back and recover all the wages, lease, R&M costs to date. They have to find a way to make it work out. I'm sure that's possible.

Flugenbear

27-05-2013, 04:30 PM

If they can at least get it to break even point that's a start. It's horrid to see funds going down the tube on something we thought would turn them a profit. I'm glad the share price didn't fall too far, though there are not really any buyers out there anymore....
I do agree with the new initiatives they should be able to turn this around, though I think the Q2 loss will be even greater than Q1, lets hope the 2nd half of year can help erase that....

elZorro

28-05-2013, 08:42 AM

The Q1 report said that losses in Q2 will/should be smaller than Q1, Flugenbear.

From Stuff.co.nz, no extra news here (http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8723203/Gold-price-plunge-afflicts-Glass-Earth).

The prices they are quoting are from the TSX. It's at C5c, about the equivalent of the NZ price.

bucko

28-05-2013, 11:24 AM

yeh Ive just reduced my stake in the company, I do see them doing another share offer in the near term until they start making profit off of the placer mining, which isnt anticipated for the next qtr or so Im happy to cut my losses and wait for the share price to bottom out before I jump back onboard!

I guess im hedging my bets on NTL coming out with an amazing report next month:cool:

Flugenbear

28-05-2013, 08:01 PM

Drops to 4 cents on the TSX....they obviously didn't like the report either!
Based on that we should be at 5 cents here. Probably a smart move Bucko getting out when you did, probably only downside from here for awhile.

bucko

29-05-2013, 10:28 AM

yeh well im going back to the UK for all of August to visit friends and family so i will probably look to reinvest after i get back...just in time for the next quarterly report ;)

elZorro

29-05-2013, 10:04 PM

There was every indication that Q1 would see a sensible placer profit, it's frustrating that the company didn't manage to capitalise on a fairly good gold price, with all the gear well established, the weather being mild. They'll be snowed in by now.

Here's the only photo shareholders have of GRU#3, I think, from the placer page on the website. I'm not sure what to make of it, is it on a pontoon or not? In the background are the Dunstan Ranges, source of the secondary alluvial gold they're picking up. GRU#3 is working the Hecklers area, close to Glassford Road.

Flugenbear

30-05-2013, 03:11 AM

elZorro

30-05-2013, 07:30 AM

What worries me a bit is the fact conditions were pretty good in Q1. A good gold price, good weather....
And yet we hear this from the CEO...'The Company faced a highly challenging quarter...'
As you say ElZ, winter is here, snow, lower gold price....if Q1 was challenging one would imagine Q2 will be a nightmare.
Nice pic of the GRU, now they just have to get it to make some money.

Flugenbear, I guess they'll pile a lot of wash up in front of a GRU during the day, enough to keep processing all night. The cross-pit conveyor, which we have no official data on at all, has been in use at Morans, on the other side of the road. I presume it is, as the description says, mobile. There is quite good detail about how the mining is carried out, in the placer report from February (Technical Reports page of GEL website). This includes grade data for Hecklers being higher than their exploration drilling suggested, but still just below 0.4g/m3 on average, up until February. This was a higher grade than at Morans. Hecklers was to have taken 66 weeks to mine out, Morans nearly two years, at the rate they used for most of the first half of 2013. Sounds like they ended up 20% behind schedule.

The lower South Island has had its first good dusting of snow a couple of days ago, and I don't know much about how long snow is on the ground each year in Alexandra. Maybe some of the locals can advise us.

Weather profiles and Alexandra webcam. (http://alexandra.co.nz/climate.html)

elZorro

03-06-2013, 10:19 PM

At least gold is holding up at about US$1400 an ounce. When GEL did the figures for the NI 43-101 placer report in February, they used a figure of US$1600 an ounce, and a favourable exchange rate. Their cutoff was about 0.2g/m3 of gold. When I looked at a spreadsheet of my own, with a very rough idea of the hourly costs and grades they'd given, and costs like the capital payoff to Bob Kilgour, I reckoned that the grades needed to be about 0.4g/m3 to make a decent profit. So the subsequent gold price dropping $200 wasn't going to look good on paper or at the bank, unless they found good grades.

Where am I going with this? The same spreadsheet allows a simple test of the idea of moving to one GRU, concentrating the same staff on a 24/7 operation, and spreading the fixed costs over more hours. Fixed costs could be hireage, landowner royalties, Slimes and Other. Fuel and R&M, Labour, won't be. Even allowing for $80k capital repayments a month, one of the GRUs handling 60 m3 an hour, for about 83% of the entire week, should make a profit of about US$2mill a year - if the grade is consistent at 0.4g/m3.

I have included the govt royalty of 5% of net profit on the operation. Because GEL can't run without the GRUs and other equipment, and a mortgage over them is held by Bob Kilgour, I included the capital repayments in the running costs, even though technically they might not be in the cashflow treatment GEL uses. But shareholders are interested in seeing what the effect on the GEL bank account is, in terms of free cashflow.

When I tested the numbers, running a GRU at 45m3/hr makes a meagre profit at US$1400 an ounce. No profit safety there. So either GRU#1 is going to be used, or GRU#3 has to be pushed a bit harder than its normal capacity, or the grades will be better than 0.4g/m3.

But certainly, there is a very positive change when going from 300 hours of operation/month, to 728. That's where the magic comes in.

elZorro

05-06-2013, 07:37 AM

Stockhouse (forum on the TSX) has a post from the full first quarter report: the geologists are interested in an area between the Hecklers placer area and the historic Drybread sluicing area. I did some research on this from the February Placer report.

Q1: At Drybread, where mining operations are currently underway, exploratory mapping and drilling is underway to target the zone between the current operations, and historical mining activity adjacent to the Dunstan Range.
In March 2013, GEGL completed an exploratory drilling program consisted of 46 RC holes totalling 472m. Assay results were completed on 18th April. The program returned mostly zeros and low grade results, apart from two holes, DRY-ARC-019 and DRY-ARC-041, which returned promising goldgrades over 4m and 6m respectively. These good grades correspond to a distinctive quartz-rich gravel, as observed in the chip trays. This gravel is more likely to be related to the early quaternary deposits of the historically mined Drybread diggings, as opposed to the more recent schistose gravels currently being mined at the Hecklers site.
A review of the data was completed, which determined that multiple drill holes surrounding the anomalous results did not penetrate this quartz-rich gravel. A second phase of drilling (85 holes) is currently underway to establish the depth, extent and gold content of the layer. It will take an estimated three weeks (from 10/5/13) to complete the drilling.

Below is a flyover view of Drybread, and I'd guess that the area is towards the top of the yellow permit space. I read up a bit on the source of all the alluvial gold, it's the result of glaciers acting on exposed quartz reefs over thousands of years, the quartz being hosted in schist rock generally. Down at Heckler's, the gold is redeposited from the original layer by water action I guess, and it is close to a lot of clay (weathered greywacke). Further up, it might be a bit cleaner, and a higher grade. In fact, the grades at Groundwater, Morans and Hecklers, increase as the areas get further elevated. Groundwater is the lowest grade, Hecklers the highest so far.

By now, the extra drilling should be complete, and they'll be doing the assays in the lab at Alexandra.

elZorro

05-06-2013, 09:40 PM

It's very hard to put a figure on what sort of a grade sluicing operations would have bothered with, over a hundred years ago. Back then, water cannons driven by a big head of water provided artificial erosion, the wash being put through riffles. It must have been inefficient, and in the last 30-40 years the portable trommels have been developed(GRUs) which are a lot easier to use.

NZResources put out this press release today:

Main Divide gains Blackadder gold permit

5 June 2013
Private company Main Divide Gold Ltd has gained a permit for the Blackadder alluvial gold prospect on the South Island’s West Coast from New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZP&M).

The company said the prospect is believed to be one of the richest undeveloped alluvial gold fields in New Zealand.
It was discovered in 1981 by local brothers Afton and William Blackadder. Their initial testing of 29 cubic metres of gravel returned 8 ounces of gold – a yield of over 8.6 grams/m3

Main Divide’s principal, Chris Humphreys, said this can be compared to existing alluvial mining operations which typically achieves grades of between 0.1 and 0.3 grams/m3.

Humphreys said based on the Blackadder Brother’s prospecting in the early 1980s, the permit has the potential to contain a significant alluvial gold resource at “unusually high grades.”

Humphreys noted that the Key Government’s support for the mineral industry is likely to assist with the exploration and potential development of Blackadder. He said the prospect has not been mined due to access constraints.

“Now that the permit has been awarded, Main Divide will seek to establish the extent of the alluvial gold resource within the prospect.
“We have received a number of expressions of interest from West Coast–based parties seeking to partner with Main Divide.”
He said these proposals will be evaluated in the coming months.

The Blackadder prospect is in the western Maruia Valley, about 20 kilometres north-west of Lewis Pass.
Main Divide describes itself as an alluvial gold explorer with a focus on the West Coast and holds interests in three prospecting permits and two exploration permits with a total acreage position of about 70,000 hectares spread across the Buller and northern Grey districts.

That is an eye-watering grade, and needless to say it looks very good running into the Drybread spreadsheet. But this permit is on the West Coast, actually it's in beech forest on West Bank Road beside SH65, near Springs Junction, inland below Murchison. This could explain why it hasn't been developed yet. It's an exploration permit (EP 54526, under Four Rivers Gold Ltd). http://www.maindividegold.co.nz/blackadder.pdf
The new permit also follows a north-east direction, the path of an old river which ran beside a glacier. This river deposited gold nuggets down in between granite boulders, a few meters underground, in rich patches. It's thought the permit could contain up to 100,000oz of gold.

Drybread on the other hand, is open country, already worked and easier to get a permit for mining. GEL has found pockets of 5g/m3 on some of their drills further down the hill.

Flugenbear

08-06-2013, 07:18 PM

[QUOTE=elZorro;410335]At least gold is holding up at about US$1400 an ounce. When GEL did the figures for the NI 43-101 placer report in February, they used a figure of US$1600 an ounce, and a favourable exchange rate.

elZ, do you know what exchange rate GEL have based their figures on?
Do they have any USD hedging in place? If not, now could be a good time with the USD falling to 0.79. Of course it could still go down further but the smart money is probably on a rise above .80 again, and probably higher...
As you say gold is hovering around that $1400 mark, that really needs to hold, a fall much below that and the high exchange rate could see an end to the placer projects for now.
I have tried to figure out what the direction the gold price might take and read a lot of stuff, but I have to admit I am more confused than when I started! There seems to be valid arguments both ways, but the general consensus was we should be somewhere near the bottom now...I hope so.
But at the end of the day anything could happen....

elZorro

09-06-2013, 11:22 AM

=Flugenbear;410994]
elZ, do you know what exchange rate GEL have based their figures on?
Do they have any USD hedging in place? If not, now could be a good time with the USD falling to 0.79. Of course it could still go down further but the smart money is probably on a rise above .80 again, and probably higher...
As you say gold is hovering around that $1400 mark, that really needs to hold, a fall much below that and the high exchange rate could see an end to the placer projects for now.
I have tried to figure out what the direction the gold price might take and read a lot of stuff, but I have to admit I am more confused than when I started! There seems to be valid arguments both ways, but the general consensus was we should be somewhere near the bottom now...I hope so.
But at the end of the day anything could happen....

Hi Flugenbear - yes I agree the lower exchange rate at 0.79 will work in GEL's favour, if the gold price is stable. I've never seen any mention that they have locked any rate in, maybe they have. But it's still early days. They assumed a rate of 0.82 in January 2013. It climbed up from there, but is now back down below the figure. See charts. The more recent form is that a small dip like this will be corrected, and the US$ will weaken, or ours will become stronger relative to the US$.

According to my spreadsheet, which shouldn't be far off, GEL will still make some profit after capital repayments on equipment, if the gold price drops to $1200 an ounce. Whatever else they do, they still have to pay for the gear in instalments each month, although this will be a relatively minor cost for the operation.

Regarding the gold price, it's obvious that many miners don't make enough at $1400 an ounce, but the market could dip further unless there is good demand, or a resumption of a flight to gold for some reason. The odds are that something will go wrong out there, that's what I think.

elZorro

09-06-2013, 01:21 PM

I'm looking forward to hearing about the shallow drill results at Drybread (upper area). I have just remembered that GEL holds the area around the Drybread mining permit anyway, including all the space over the historic Drybread Diggings. Maybe they wouldn't be allowed to dig that over again, but more likely the undisturbed area around it could be interesting. GEL would have to restore the ground to better than before, of course. Here's a permit map that is current. GEL holds EP53182, still valid for a year or two.

The big PP53673 you can see spreading over the Dunstan Ranges, is held by Depot Corp Ltd (Minex Resources), and they also have a share in Waikaia Gold Ltd, a big alluvial operation getting under way, and a PP all around Cromwell.

Other than that, the space near Drybread is fairly wide open.

elZorro

10-06-2013, 07:20 AM

From the MD&A report on Q1:

Garibaldi Prospect
(Glass Earth 100%)
Glass Earth announced the discovery of the gold mineralised Garibaldi Vein System on 23 April 2012, showing ore grade gold and related tungsten and arsenic mineralisation within vein sets striking over a 900m length and 300m width in outcrop and trenching.
Geological mapping, detailed soil/gold sampling, and trenching have scraped the surface of a significant gold and related tungsten and arsenic mineralisation associated with multiple east-west and northeast-southwest trending epizonal-style quartz + sericite/illite + Fe-sulphide vein altered and sheared mafic schist in the Omnibus Stream catchment, North Rough Ridge, Central Otago.
Channel/panel sampling from trenching (individual samples of 1mx1m) demonstrate consistent mineralised E-W orientated quartz veins with individual grades between 1 – 16.1 gm/t gold and importantly interfingered mafic schist with grades between 0.5 – 2.65 gm/t gold.
This is an important development in early stage prospect delineation where the potential for significant widths of mineralised quartz and host mafic schist offer potential for a significant size mesothermal gold discovery. 168 line kms of ground magnetic surveying was completed in a 12 day period, to delineate the structure of the mafic schist, data has now been post processed and interpreted.
In April 2013 a 9 hole RAB drill programme was completed at Garibaldi
to test the down-dip and along-strike widths and grade of potential gold mineralization.
The programme targeted encouraging sample assays from the 2012 trenching programme. Drill samples have been split down and dried in preparation for analysis using a XRF Niton scanner. Trends in pathfinder elements will be analysed to determine which samples to submit for fire assay.

This scanner, the XRF Niton brand, seems to be in big demand worldwide, as it can speed up exploration by accurately spotting marker elements for gold in rocks, among other things. It's a portable X-Ray device. A small window of a rock sample (it has to be dried first to be accurate) is analysed almost in real time. Apparently you just take a quick reading of a gold ring, for example, and you'll be told the proportions of all the metals at the surface of it (it has no problem reading higher proportions of gold and silver).

These are not cheap, starting at $8,000 for a second-hand one, right up to over $40,000. GEL may have hired a unit, but in any case, it sounds like a great idea, in terms of the delays and costs with lab assays at SGS.

Manufacturer's website: http://www.niton.com/en/mining

elZorro

11-06-2013, 02:23 PM

New low of 4 cents CAD = 5 cents NZD. Think we might be going to the bottom on GEL, right along with NTL. Anyone waiting at the bottom?

The share is certainly nearly at its lowest MCap since the IPO, Moosie. The last time it was down like this, a whole lot of shares were handed by a (then) major GEL shareholder to a third party as part of an outstanding debt. The shares were ruthlessly sold off on the TSX. This time, excessive dilution appears to be the main issue, not helped by the placer results being poorer than hoped for, so far.

The Q1 MD&A shows another area being looked at to reduce costs:

Ophir Gold Project (Glass Earth 50%)
The Ophir prospect is located within Exploration Permit 40 427, on the Raggedy Range behind the Ophir Township, 25km NE of Alexandra in the South Island of New Zealand.
Exploration work has identified several shear zones within the permit area which hold the potential for additional resources however, the small size of potential resources has caused management to advise its partner that it intends to withdraw from this project and to concentrate on its two most advanced epithermal projects - WKP and Neavesville.

I was expecting that the payments across to Bob Kilgour (the other partner here) would in turn help kickstart this project a bit further. But it would seem that it's either on the backburner, or won't happen at all, given current funding.

Flugenbear

12-06-2013, 01:58 AM

New low of 4 cents CAD = 5 cents NZD. Think we might be going to the bottom on GEL, right along with NTL. Anyone waiting at the bottom?

If you can tell me where the bottom is Moosie, I'll be there waiting.:p

Can it go lower....Unfortunately I think so. They are already running low on cash, and with the placer mining losing money there will be no short term funding from that.....so that leaves more dilution for shareholders, and this time it will be brutal with such a low share price. On top of that gold currently at$1368 as I write. At least the USD has shown some recent strength against the NZD, will help limit the pain! Oh I'm feeling it, OUCH! Not brave enough to buy more right now, even at this very low price....

Flugenbear

12-06-2013, 05:21 PM

5 cents now...matches the value on the TSX for the first time in awhile.
As far as the placer mining goes, we really need to consider the return in NZD. If GEL used USD1400oz and 0.82 for their figures (not sure about the .82 but elZ did mention this was a figure they had used a few months ago...) then we get NZD1707. As I write we have USD1376 and .79 for NZD1747. I think anything below NZD1700 and GEL are in a spot of bother.
I suspect if gold keeps going down we might see some USD strength which could help GEL at least.
Either way it's a pretty ugly picture for gold stocks.

elZorro

13-06-2013, 06:59 AM

Yes, that looks right, Flugenbear. Although the placer operation has been changed in form quite a bit, to extract profit from a lowish grade resource even with the current gold price, in safety.

Here's a chart of OGC (NZ's biggest miner, also taking a hiding), and GEL, against the US$gold price for the last year.

Flugenbear

13-06-2013, 07:47 AM

bucko

15-06-2013, 08:37 AM

while im no longer holding (waiting for the bottom before i reinvest) i received this email from GEL overnight which fills me with optimism, El Z you are the main source of information for this company which in itself is quite shocking you are darn good at digging up that information! they have now appointed a full time investor relations person who will hopefully keep the announcements flowing!

Wellington, New Zealand, Marketwire – Friday June 14, 2013. Glass Earth Gold Limited (TSX Venture: GEL; NZAX: GEL) ("Glass Earth") is pleased to announce that it has retained the services of Anne Robert to manage investor relations activities. Based in Montreal, Canada, Anne Robert will monitor the Company’s investor relations programs and investor relations consulting for an initial period of one year. Such services do not include market making activities.

Simon Henderson, CEO of Glass Earth Gold commented: “I am pleased to welcome Anne Robert to the Glass Earth Gold team. Her recruitment comes at an exciting time in the life of the company with our lead project WKP currently drilling and the option rights to acquire the nearby Neavesville property. With the placer/alluvial mining operations transitioning to a 24/7 basis, partially supporting our development, we feel that enhanced communication with our stakeholders will strengthen our business model.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Glass Earth has agreed to pay a monthly retainer of CAD 4,000 in consideration for her services. Anne Robert does not have an ownership interest in Glass Earth and Glass Earth has not granted any right to acquire any such interests.
Anne Robert is a Graduate of the Reims Management School, France. She has a 19-year career that encompasses diversified roles in financial reporting, corporate communications and investor relations in Canada and Mauritius.

elZorro

15-06-2013, 09:11 AM

Hi Bucko, Flugenbear et al. I'm still holding, so I am also pleased about the announcement. A small bit of digging reveals that Anne Robert previously worked for CHFIR, GEL's last agent in Canada. http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=1448418579&targetid=profile and http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/anne-robert/9/717/b59

She might not be full-time for GEL, this could be a contract appointment. But it does show commitment from the company in the future form of better news releases, hopefully more often and more detailed. GEL management want to look after current and prospective Canadian investors too (market-making not in Ms Robert's brief, no doubt Simon Henderson will still travel). Glass Earth no longer appears on the client list page of CHFIR.

Regarding digging up data, google works fairly well, and for a few quarters now I've been careful to check the full MD&A reports, although sometimes I'm a bit late getting onto it. These have to include data and info that might affect the shareprice. GEL is subject to the rules on both the NZAX and TSX-V exchanges, plus the BCSC watchdog. No doubt this is part of the reason for the appointment.

elZorro

16-06-2013, 10:30 AM

Moosie, a job like that would be interesting, but a bit tricky. At least I can largely say what I want to, in a forum. I'm glad you guys are waiting for things to sort themselves out, because in the chart up above, comparing OGC and GEL with the gold price, what is also of note beside the form of the plots, is that GEL managed to end up at 1/5th (or less) of its shareprice from a year earlier.

How a company that has historically relied almost entirely on new issued shares being purchased regularly, has managed to destroy perceived value in each share so comprehensively in the last year, is beyond me. Sure, Brent Cook pulling out his support didn't help, but now it's fairly obvious that if GEL needs a few million in the latter part of 2013, it's going to get awkward.

Glass Earth has been doing a lot of exploration work with the money that has flowed into the company. In a lot of different places, and perhaps been a bit unlucky that none of them were instant bonanzas, considering they are using new generation detection methods near earlier discovered gold areas. This is the punt that we are all taking, by being shareholders in a greenfield explorer. We've been told numerous times it's a risky investment.

From my perspective, that amount of funding and effort in a more conventional NZ design or manufacturing business, say, would have been more likely, by now, to employ a lot of people long-term, and help drive the country forward.

But I am sure that GEL management are well aware that shareholder funds are not 'play money', more than ever before. The way they can prove that, is to stop the previous practice of going fairly quiet for a month or three after PP funds arrive in regular bursts, and to keep the market regularly and clearly informed. They are working on a lot of areas still, I see no reason why we shouldn't get an update on one or more permits, at least once every two weeks.

elZorro

18-06-2013, 07:49 AM

An excerpt from the much longer and more detailed MD&A report from the first quarter.

Mining operations took a major step forward in 2012 with the establishment of two additional mining units at Drybread in Otago, successively in May and June. The southern winter made it more difficult for staff undertaking this exercise but both of these operations were made fully operational. Site set-up costs and commissioning costs (which were lengthier than planned for) were written off as incurred. The third, smaller operation was closed down.

Profitability remains elusive while operating at 2 sites during the day only, with a cash operating loss of $246,000 for the 3 months ended 31 March 2013. Depreciation of equipment and amortisation of exploration and acquisition costs were a further $270,000. While mining and processing costs were overall on budget, one site is significantly better in maintaining performance levels, with over-performance balancing out a reduced grade to achieve gross revenue budget at that site. The other site underperformed in both performance and grade.

During Q1 2013, 78,000m³ of gold bearing wash was processed at a recovered grade of 330mg/m³ for 830oz gold. That was 20% under budget and the major reason for cash generation underperformance.

The Company’s response is to move to a 24/7 operation at the better site, concentrating all the Company’s owned gear on that site and also intending to achieve operational efficiencies compared to just day-time shifts. A 30% increase in operating capacity at this site is also being implemented. Grade control is also being reassessed in the light of the reduced gold price.

I think that some of the answers are here: GRU#2 has been moved over to Drybread from Gunclub, but we've heard no more about it. GRU#3, running on the Hecklers site at Drybread, had a capacity of 45m3 per hour. It may now be able to handle nearly 60m3/hr, which makes a lot more sense on the spreadsheet. It is a land-based GRU. The implication is that GRU#1 underperformed at Morans, on the other side of Glassford Road.

elZorro

19-06-2013, 07:05 AM

The Glass Earth website has been updated - looks like some recent photos of the Hecklers operation have been put up. Well worth a look.

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/PhotoGallery.asp?ReportID=587998

These show perhaps the start of the 24/7 operational setup. A wide channel has been dug down to the gold wash, the cross-pit conveyor has been fitted up with lights, and we see that for the first time. Looks a useful beast, on one side is the working face with new gold wash at the bottom, on the expelled side it's the top few metres of overburden. In the background of one picture there is a phone/power pole, which helps locate the area (see google earth street view photo - a set of poles runs from Glassford Road to the Heckler farm buildings).

There are two diggers shown clearly, and these both have hire company names on them. From the model numbers, one is a Volvo 46 tonne EC460BLC, the other is a Hitachi 33 tonne 330 ZAxis digger. The Hitachi might be GEL's, as one of the dump trucks shown on the website (http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/Projects.asp?ReportID=450554)is also ex Heavy Trax Hire, and they have 6 diggers, up to 33 tonne.

GEL don't have a 46 tonne unit showing on their website. It looks like quite a deep channel, has to be dug out in stages. A big digger would cost in the region of $100 an operational hour to hire, looking at the web. However I understand they'd own the truck(s) and the cross-pit conveyor.

The gold is shown on the jig table I think, held in riffles before it's washed into the Knudsen Bowls where it's concentrated further.

Note there is snow on the hills, nothing lower down at that stage, but the big cold snap coming tomorrow (today?) will get down to this area. The hard graft will be starting soon.

elZorro

19-06-2013, 08:52 PM

This is my favourite photo of the set - the cross-pit conveyor doing the job. This must be saving a lot of truck and digger movements, and now all they have to do is keep moving up the paddock, probably towards Drybread Diggings. Since the amount of overburden is about 5x deeper than the wash layer (one metre deep), the big digger and conveyor might need to be going all night, just helping to clear the face down to the wash. There is a track down into the pit, maybe a smaller digger and dump truck go in for the wash layer and transport it to the GRU. I'm just guessing about that. The Terex dump truck can hold 25 tonne, or 15m3 of wash. The GRU will need four loads every hour to run at full capacity. The other dump truck looks to be about the same size, maybe it's a Volvo.

Only a small part of the GRU being used is shown in photos, so that's still open to conjecture about which one it is. But the site does appear to be Hecklers, for sure. The GRU is probably tied down in one spot with all the recycled water supply and settling ponds. It's a lot of gear to run one GRU, and of course they're looking for 0.4grams of gold in every cubic metre of wash.

elZorro

23-06-2013, 09:11 AM

At a later date we might hear that mining at Drybread had to be fitted around snowfalls. Last week there was a fair bit of that, and at least one of the roads near Drybread was closed.

Alexandra, the GEL placer base, is about 30mins by normal road travel from Drybread. Some parts of the Drybread permit are at 500mtrs, the rest are a similar height above sea level. Alexandra township is at 100-150 metres above sealevel, and the clock is at 200metres. From the webcam on top right of this web page, (http://alexandra.co.nz/) you can see that there is snow in the hills around Alexandra, but not in the township itself.

This is just a guess, but Drybread could have been snowbound for some of last week.

elZorro

26-06-2013, 07:31 AM

There's a bit in this article from NZResources about what Newmont's response to the lower gold price might be. Luckily Correnso is a high-grade deposit.

The gold gloom places gold buffs in a hole

Ross Louthean — 26 June 2013
The dilemmas being faced by OceanaGold Corporation (ASX, NZX & TSX: OGC) on its New Zealand operations is a mere microcosm of what is happening in the global mining world.
This week the Australian market received several project downgrades and decisions that have prompted talks of mergers and project and gold plant sales – notably in Western Australia.

The website MiningBusiness.net also said yesterday that hundreds of employees for global giant Barrack Gold Corporation could be retrenched from the Toronto headquarters as well as shedding exploration teams elsewhere in North America.

The gold specialist website kitco.com had some gold buffs resolutely claiming better times are ahead while it said Comex (the New York-based Commodities Exchange) was looking at defensive action.

A report by Kitco News journalist Allen Sykora quoted the global broking house BNP Paribas as lowering its 2013 average gold price forecast 11% to $US1,405/ounce.

“They also reduced their 2014 average gold price to $US1,155/oz, down 24% from their previous forecast in May.”
“Multiple headwinds push gold lower,” BNP analysts Harry Tchilinguirian and Stephen Briggs told Kitco News.
Those headwinds include: lower inflation expectations, higher US-10-year Treasury yields, a stronger $US, weakened investor interest in gold and expectations that America’s Federal Reserve will begin to taper its quantitative easing programme.

BNP Paribas said while the Fed said that any curbing of stimulus depends on economic data and that tapering does not mean the end of stimulus, the gold market didn’t take it that way.

“The gold market appears to be placing more emphasis on the eventual diminishing flow of asset purchases by the Fed rather than on the higher overall stock of assets held in its balance sheet at the completion of QE3 (quantitative easing mark 3),” the BNP analysts added.

While the “flow effect” of quantitative easing in the US (printing money) may allow for some dollar weakness and occasional gold rallies, the potential exit of QE by mid-2014 may be guiding investors.

BNP Paribas economists expect that the beginning of tapering won’t be until the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Still, reported Kitco, the market may get ahead of itself.

But in a forward-looking market, selling of the rumour may come ahead of the meeting, sending gold lower still.

While OceanaGold has been frank about the challenges it sees ahead, New Zealanders will be awaiting what Newmont Waihi Gold or its US parent Newmont Mining Corporation have to impart.

Sources: kitco.com and miningbusiness.net

elZorro

27-06-2013, 07:28 AM

Robert Kilgour has applied for a mining permit recently. (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/StaticReport.aspx?application=55482) Not at Ophir, this one is between the Hector Mountains and the Nevis River, Otago.

Not for the faint hearted, but there are old sluicing areas in the Nevis Valley.

http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/about-new-zealand/attractions/history-and-culture/nevis-valley.html

Flugenbear

27-06-2013, 07:17 PM

elZorro

27-06-2013, 08:40 PM

elZ, at what stage do you think that the placer mining becomes unprofitable with the current 24/7 operation?
Let's assume a NZD/USD rate of 0.80....I was thinking anything below USD1200/oz is going to be a real struggle unless the dollar drops to 0.70. Although that can't be ruled out, I think it's unlikely. Yet the chance of gold dropping further is looking a safer bet unfortunately. I guess GEL must have a number in mind where they simply pull the pin...especially over winter....and look at it again when things improve....

Yeah, nah, I'm not sure Flugenbear. But based on US$450 an hour to run the operation (the conveyor helps), plus the NZ$80k a month to Bob Kilgour (who must be feeling quite clever by now), plus royalties and site payments, I figured that at 0.38g/m3 and 168 hours a week, they would be even at about US$1000 an ounce. At $1230, where it is now, possibly over a mill profit per year. This is assuming the plant can be run in the snow. There are a lot of farmers down that way who are bulldozing paths to their stock and feeding out silage. Hopefully GEL staff can get to work, and have heated seats in their cabs. It's not quite as glamorous or easy as I thought.

elZorro

28-06-2013, 07:28 PM

An article about Glass Earth from last year that includes a few snippets none of us knew, published in Vancouver.

http://www.northernminer.com/news/glass-earth-advances-in-new-zealand/1001389917/

Glass Earth advances in New Zealand2012-05-01 VANCOUVER — Work on the ground has not been quite as smooth as its name implies, but Glass Earth Gold (GEL-V) looks to now have several New Zealand projects under control and moving forward.

The company had expected to start some time ago the next phase of drilling at WKP, its high-profile project 65% owned by Newmont Mining (NEM-T, NEM-N), but a variety of issues including local permitting delays, heavy rains, and even a helicopter pilot’s broken arm prevented the work from being done.

But as of mid-April the companies have started the 5,500-metre drill program on the target to help determine its potential scale. Results from previous drilling have indicated both narrow-vein potential, with hits such as 3.2 metres grading 37 grams gold per tonne in hole 29, 15 metres averaging 9.4 grams gold in hole 25, and 9.7 metres grading 17.2 grams gold in hole 31, and more of a bulk-tonnage potential with hits such as hole 24 that returned 156.1 metres carrying 1.6 grams gold, and hole 27 that returned 152.4 metres grading 1.2 grams gold.

The company reports that the WKP epithermal system has magnetic and alteration characteristics similar to Newmont’s nearby Martha epithermal mine, and there is the potential to extend the system along strike by at least a km or two. The WKP Central zone currently has an 800-metre strike length and 180 metres of width.

The junior explorer has also long been trying to ramp up production at its placer operations, designed to provide alternative funding to the junior explorer, but a local 50% owner had thwarted progress and expansion. Glass Earth has now secured full control of the placer operation, including some $2-million worth of equipment, in a $4-million cash and share deal and is now free to improve production.

The placer operation could bring in $2-million in net profits this year and then upwards of $6-million next year as it adds two more gravity plants and increase production from 2,000 oz. gold per year to 7,500 oz. per year. The company expects it could sustain that level of production for at least four years with known resources, and expects costs of about US$800 per oz. gold.

The company is also working towards having a resource estimate at its Muirs Reef project by the end of 2012, with a 2,500-metre drill program underway. The project has a non-compliant historical resource of 390,000 oz. gold grading 1.5 grams gold, while the system ranges from 20 to 30 metres in width and extends north-south for 500 metres.

The Muirs reef project sits 65 km southeast of Oceanagold’s (OGC-T, OGC-A) Martha Mine that has produced over 3 million oz. gold since 1990 and still hosts several million oz. gold.
Glass Earth recently also announced it had made a gold discovery at its Garibaldi project, south of Muirs. The discovery is characterized by a network of quartz veins that have returned grades of up to 16.1 grams gold in trench sampling. The Garibaldi project remains an early-stage prospect but is one of several greenfield targets the company is exploring.

The company has been strengthening its board of directors of late, with two recent appointments. Justine Cochrane, currently Executive VP of Corporate Development at Sandstorm Metals and Energy (SND-V), and Adrian Fleming, President and Director of Prosperity Goldfields (PPG-V) and former CEO of Underworld Resources, have both come on as directors.

Glass Earth’s share price recently closed at 33¢ with 68.4 million shares outstanding. The company also has roughly 26 million warrants outstanding with exercise prices ranging from 35¢ to 80¢, and recently extended the expiry date of the 8.5-million 35¢ from early May to early June of this year. The company had $3.6 million at the end of 2011.

elZorro

01-07-2013, 07:37 AM

From NZResources today, a little bit of hope for GEL holders.

Newmont Waihi indicates no redundancies plan

1 July 2013
A carefully worded statement by Newmont Waihi Gold in its community newsletter for people in the Waihi district made it clear it has not made any reduction in staff numbers as it works towards extending mine life at operations in the district.

The company said some on-site contractors have reduced numbers “for operational reasons as work in particular areas has come to an end.”
The report said parent Newmont Mining Corporation had recently announced a round of redundancies in head office in Denver in the United States and at the regional office in Perth in an effort to contain costs brought about by operating costs and the significant slide in the gold price.

Newmont Waihi Gold has operated mining operations in Waihi since acquiring Australian company Normandy Mining and for many years the Martha open cut mine was the flagship.

It has just completed mining of the Favona underground mine and has opened the nearby Trio underground mine and is moving to develop the Correnso underground mine.

A key exploration project for Newmont Waihi Gold is the WKP project, a joint venture in the Waihi district that it manages with Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL).

Here is the link to the one-page pdf put out by Newmont Waihi Gold. http://www.waihigold.co.nz/assets/updates/2013/Update270613.pdf

No mention of WKP there at all. So the reporter, or writer of the NZResources article, wrote the last line. As far as I know, Newmont have never publicly admitted that WKP is a "key exploration project". Which begs the question, is it, or isn't it? Is the reporter sure about that?

elZorro

01-07-2013, 08:42 PM

Another old NZResources article about this area: Newmont may be conscious that underground mining is a lot more palatable in the conservation estate. The WKP area is in this category. Hence the diamond drilling at WKP really needs to be finding some good bonanza-style intercepts. Note to management: might need a few more drills up there, to increase the odds.

Newmont makes some points on Schedule 4Ross Louthean — 15 March 2010
The North Island’s only major gold miner, Newmont Waihi Gold, says that the proposed issues on the Key Government opening up part of the national estate for exploration evaluation does not alter the way in which the company already operates.

In its Waihi Gold Update newsletter the company which mines both underground and open cut ore at Waihi, said consent documents and negotiations it has undertaken over the years already illustrate how sensitive issues on conservation values can be handled.

“Newmont has a 20 year track record of working with communities in Waihi and more recently in regional exploration works undertaken in Onemana and Opoutere,” the company said.

“As with any issue, we encourage agencies or individuals with concerns to discuss them with us directly.”

The company said its interest is in high-grade deposits in relatively low-value conservation localities that can be mined by small footprint underground methods.

The newsletter said the Green Line on all conservation land north of the Kopu-Hikuai Road and the entire foreshore on the Coromandel Peninsula was now in the proposed Schedule 4 debate.

“As such, the peninsula is open to underground mining now, or surface mining on privately owned land.

When the Green Line was put in place some environmental groups “incorrectly” claimed to have succeeded in having stopped all mining on the Coromandel Peninsula – with the exception of current operations such as Waihi.

“The inaccurate claim has not been widely challenged.”

A government report on Schedule 4 within the Crown Minerals Act should be released this month. It identifies land administered by the Department of Conservation (DoC) currently unavailable for surface mining activity.

Also it recognises that underground mining that disturbs only small areas may be permitted providing it complies with all other applicable laws and regulations.

elZorro

02-07-2013, 07:59 AM

Perhaps I should stop beating about the bush. Unless Peter Grieve was sadly mistaken in his WKP report from January 2013, the first project resource estimate for at least part of WKP, is overdue for release to shareholders.

This could be a monumental point in the life of the company. But unless Glass Earth management stick to the timelines they set for themselves, and keep all shareholders informed at each step, I'm starting to lose faith in their chances of getting anything done to add value to a crippled shareprice.

The company now has a dedicated PR person, Anne Robert. Has anything been put out publicly since? No.

elZorro

03-07-2013, 07:05 AM

Two NZ mining sector lobbyists have combined: Straterra is the more recent entity but was more active. Glass Earth's Wellington office is one of a cluster of similar companies like Chatham Rock Phosphate, set up around Straterra's offices.

NZMIA merges with Straterra

Simon Hartley — 3 July 2013
The original industry voice for the New Zealand minerals sector the New Zealand Minerals Industry Association (NZMIA) has merged with the more active industry organisation Straterra.
The NZMIA was established in 1981 during a brief gold boom and later increased its size by bringing in the quarrying industry. It was originally known as the New Zealand Mineral Exploration Association
When Straterra was launched in 2008 at the annual AusIMM New Zealand Mining Conference in Wellington it prompted many in the resource sector to question the need for two agencies delivering similar messages.
Straterra'a inaugural members included mining heavyweights such as OceanaGold Corporation, State owned enterprise Solid Energy, the NZ Coal Association, Newmont Waihi Gold, Minerals West Coast and L&M Group.
The NZMIA council had included representatives from Heritage Gold NZ Ltd (now New Talisman Gold Mines Ltd), Holcim (NZ) Ltd, Winstone Aggregates, New Zealand Steel Ltd and Newmont Waihi Gold.
Straterra's membership now represents 90%, by value, of the country's mineral production, including a large share of exploration, but not representing, oil, gas and geothermal interests.
Straterra chief executive Chris Baker said the merger was an important step to consolidating the mineral industry sector into one voice to achieve more effective sector representation.
In recent years has grown in membership and also linked with the Austmine industry organisation to help operate Austmine NZ.
The veteran chief executive of NZMIA has been Douglas Gordon.
“NZMIA holds much history and knowledge, and we welcome NZMIA members into Straterra. Mining faces many challenges in New Zealand,” Chris Baker said.
It is important that we manage our scarce resources efficiently, and present our industry professionally. This agreement helps us do that,” he added.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.
-additional reporting by Ross Louthean.

elZorro

08-07-2013, 06:58 AM

From NZResources today: there has been a small protest at the latest WKP drill site.

Watchdog blockade at Coromandel drill rig ends

Ross Louthean — 8 July 2013
Anti-mining activists withdrew over the weekend from a drilling site on the Coromandel Peninsula after occupying the site over 30 hours.
One News reported that Coromandel Watchdog activists – a hard-line group constantly wooing the media to high-drama protests against exploration and mining - had camped out on the Newmont Waihi Gold drilling rig in Parakiwai Valley, near Whangamata, preventing it from operating.
Watchdog spokeswoman Renee Annan said the group had withdrawn “after achieving its goal of shutting down operations for more than 30 hours.”
“We have achieved our purpose, which was to highlight that this area should never be mined. She claimed on television that while there would probably be underground mining planned it would still produce “toxic waste” without quantifying just what this would be – something the mining regulators would not accept.
The area concerned is not protected by Schedule Four in the Crown Minerals Act, something Ms Annan called "an accident of history".
Given the opportunity Coromandel Watchdog and other groups regular campaigns against exploration and mining - which have provided prosperity around Waihi as a contrast from other parts of the Coromandel – would want the whole of New Zealand declared under Schedule Four.
Source: tvnz.co.nz

Further South, I'm wondering what is going on down at Drybread, in a 24/7 operation now.

In the photos of the placer setup, two Knudsen bowls are shown. The recovered gold is about 50-200um wide on average, so some fine gold is lost from the first bowl, and needs a second pass.

http://www.mine.mn/Robin_Grayson_gol...y_method15.pdf (http://www.mine.mn/Robin_Grayson_gold_recovery_method15.pdf)

elZorro

09-07-2013, 01:20 PM

Moosie, they are not trespassing, Parakiwai is DOC land, there is open track access. About 30 protesters went in according to the Watchdog site, some found the access not too easy to walk. They implied that the bush is virgin native forest, whereas I suspect it is regenerating after logging from generations ago. They also implied the rare Archey's frog is nearby, when it is not known to reside within tens of kilometres. They cleverly mention protecting the habitat for Archey's Frog - well it's not quite the same thing.

But Newmont/GEL could have put some money into rare native frog research, and headed off that debate.

http://watchdog.org.nz/

elZorro

10-07-2013, 06:46 AM

The Greens have had a go at the Broken Hills Gold Mine too, on TV news last night. However, their research can easily be shown to be lacking here, on a quick inspection of the facts.

NZResources:

Small gold mine under fire from Green PartyRoss Louthean — 10 July 2013
The Green Party’s strong opposition to exploration and mining has seen it lay claims of the Government being misleading over granting extra ground to a small gold mine on the Coromandel.
Party co-leader Russell Norman told One News that the Government had broken its promise of leaving Schedule 4 land untouched and that this was a broken promise.
However the Broken Hills gold mine, a boutique operation that is a century old had been compelled by the Government to develop a second egress for its operations for safety purposes and this has meant providing an access through enveloping Schedule Four land.
A 25 year mining permit was awarded to Broken Hills Gold Mining which has been operating for 13 years and the requirement for a second egress meant it needed a full mining permit on adjacent land, some of which is Schedule Four.
Well known geoscientist Stuart Rabone who operates the mine which has been an attraction for tourists said this process was the only “practicable area where we can make a second egress that is required for safety of people in the mine.”
He told One News the company has caused no problems to anyone and that the firm has an "accident free record.”
The permit extends the amount of land it can mine from five hectares to 23 ha, with around five ha of that Schedule Four land, according to the Green Party.
Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges maintains awarding the permit has not broken the Government's promise.
“The only work that can be on Schedule Four is for health and safety purposes, there will be no mining on Schedule Four," he said.
“Effectively what was important to me was a continuation of a traditional mine.”
What is forgotten when mine safety is an issue is the fact that underground mines should provide adequate access and departure zones and the Broken Hill mine is now complying with the new safety regime sparked by the Pike River coal mine.
It should be remembered the restricted area allowed by the Department of Conservation for the Pike River mine restricted the footprint for mine development.
If Pike River mine is ever to be re-accessed – if only to recover the remains of the 29 men who died there – then the idea of being precious about land access may need to change.
Sources: tvnz.co.nz and nzresources.com files

elZorro

18-07-2013, 09:40 AM

I suspect that Glass Earth has news on several fronts, but the dropping of the gold price in previous weeks has dampened junior explorer sentiment in the meantime. It's been a while since we had any news, 4-5 weeks, and that news was only to say that they have a new PR person, Anne Robert.

The ASX Gold thread has some interesting posts on why the gold price might have dropped. Anyone looking at the US PoG chart can see that large forces are at play, and I really mean play, when it comes to shorting. The most telling timelines show that when a country asks for its gold holdings back, when they are supposedly held on US soil, that spurs a frenzy of shorting of gold, started by the banks and their brokers, suggesting that gold is on the way down, and to expect far lower prices for gold. The large US banks are quite capable of leading the gold shorts, enough to trip stop-loss activity by smaller traders. http://www.mauldineconomics.com/ttmygh/what-if

Those of us investing in explorers and gold producers know the huge cost of extracting gold in the volumes that have been required in the last few years, as the easy resources get mined out. And the costs of finding them in the first place, as GEL is discovering. Approx C$45mill so far, and that really is a small amount internationally.

So here is Glass Earth, in possession by now, of an estimate for all or part of the resources at WKP, a large permissive system within 10km of the Martha Hill mine. Maybe no immediate action will take place with gold at $1250 an ounce. But based on history, gold will get back up near $2000 an ounce in the future, and will exceed that. It's a matter of seeing if inflation will outpace the price rise.

Meanwhile Germany is asking for part of its gold holdings back from the US. The US have promised to deliver the 300 tonnes within 7 years. 300 tonnes is over 10.7 Moz of gold, or all of the historical production ever taken from the internationally significant Martha Hill mine and environs.

Manda

18-07-2013, 10:23 AM

elZorro

18-07-2013, 10:59 AM

This is not glass earths plant, it was a hired plant which they no longer have

That's very interesting. Welcome to Sharetrader, by the way.

The primer red unit is loaded on the website, as GRU#3, and we've never been told otherwise. Shareholders haven't been told exactly where the placer mining is at the moment, or which GRU is being used, but the latest photos were from the Heckler's area, and GRU#1 had been on the opposite side of Glassford Road, at Morans. It's possible a GRU has been cobbled together from parts at Dunstan Mining's workshop.

Do you have any idea how things are going at Drybread?

elZorro

22-07-2013, 08:10 AM

I've noticed the Waihi Gold exploration permit near Onemana/Whangamata. A bigger company might be able to do something with the area over time, Heritage Gold had some good intercepts here.

Newmont to persist with White Bluffs questRoss Louthean — 22 July 2013
Newmont Waihi Gold says it plans to continue gold exploration on the epithermal gold-silver prospect it calls White Bluffs near the head of the Whangamata Harbour, north of Waihi.
The prospect was originally a discovery by Heritage Gold (now New Talisman Gold Mines) and then known as Onemana, after the small village near the harbour.
Heritage eventually dropped the prospect and one factor was a legal challenge from a group that held pine forest plantations in the area. Drilling several years ago by Heritage produced some significant gold-silver assays.
Newmont Waihi Gold, a subsidiary of Denver-based Newmont Mining Corporation - one of the world’s largest gold miners – was granted an exploration permit over White Bluffs in 2008, and has applied to extend the lease for another five years.
Meanwhile, the Waikato Times has reported that Newmont Waihi Gold’s approval to mine the correnso discovery near the Martha open cut has been challenged by anti-miners – no surprise for the company.
The newspaper said court-assisted mediation begins today and will end on Friday. Depending on the outcome, there may be a court hearing later this year.
Sources: stuff.co.nz/Waikato-times and nzresources.com data base

elZorro

25-07-2013, 07:47 AM

In late 2012, Glass Earth reported that placer mining output was lower over the three months of winter in Otago. By September, output was to move back up to planned levels. We're about in the middle of that block of time for 2013, so an update on progress down there would be useful.

There is still no WKP estimate being reported anywhere, the only positive being that US$ Gold is trending upwards, as theoretical holders ask for their physical gold from the banks in increasing numbers. But if the WKP report is ready, shareholders should be looking at it.

So far, I have not noticed any output at all from the new PR person, Anne Robert. At least CHFIR would email on a list every so often. We were to have updated web pages too. Now it looks like some of the existing photos are not of GEL's gear, that gear belongs to someone else. Why are many of the trucks and diggers emblazoned with hire centre names, when in theory Glass Earth Mining owns them? In any possible downtime, the gear that the company does own should be emblazoned with new paint and a logo stuck on them, so we know for sure.

And I repeat, when are shareholders going to be invited over for a look around the Drybread area? What's the big secret?

elZorro

26-07-2013, 11:13 PM

After enquiring about GRU#3 on behalf of shareholders, Head Office has kindly supplied a work in progress video of the latest plant being used. This GRU is composed of two sections - a trommel, and on the right is the cyclone and jigs setup in a big frame. It's quite a beast. Thanks Andrew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y21I_emUupY

Towards the end of the video the gold flakes are washed out of some riffle mat at the rear of the jig output, this lines up with a photo that was posted on the webpage. This then flows into a series pair of Knudsen bowls where it will be trapped. As the plant had been turned off to do the cleanup, somehow the Knudsen bowls would have been worked on next.

The video is dated mid June 2013. In the background are shown at least 2 bulldozers (GEL owns one) and a couple of dump trucks that don't look like the ones GEL has on their website. They seem to be from Heavy Trax Hire. Two smaller diggers are working near the GRU, they would be GEL's I think. The bigger excavator loading the wash onto the dump trucks is hired.

The loading of the dump truck with wash looked a little slap-happy, but I'm no expert! No video of the cross-pit conveyor in action.

elZorro

02-08-2013, 07:22 AM

Thanks for that Yankiwi, so it's out at last. An NI 43-101 standard estimate on WKP.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/glass-earth-gold-announces-filing-ni-43-101-technical-report-on-mineral-resource-estimate-tsx-venture-gel-1816770.htm

It's for 260,000oz of gold, which at first looks disappointing when potential figures of around 3-5Moz were mentioned for the WKP area. But in the geological notes there are valid points restricting the report's scope to add in much other gold.

Diamond drilling has outlined vein mineralization that demonstrates three-dimensional continuity, thickness, and grades that can potentially be extracted economically.

The style and distribution of mineralization could be amenable to open pit mining methods, however, based on the project's location in a Department of Conservation (DoC) administered Forest Park, RPA concurs with Newmont's opinion that underground mining is the only realistic mining method to be considered. RPA therefore modelled and reported underground Mineral Resources only.

The Mineral Resources are contained within discrete vein structures within five mineralized vein domains. Given the broad spaced drilling and style of mineralization, all Mineral Resources were classified as Inferred. Although wireframe models and block grades have been interpreted to distances of 200 m, only blocks within 40 m of a drill hole were reported. There are no Mineral Reserves estimated on the Property.

There have only ever been 38 holes drilled over a large area, and so 260,000oz of gold is inferred to lie within 40 metres of some of these holes. These spots are presumably contiguous enough for someone to go underground for, but the dots between each block have not been drawn up.

Until the JV has done a lot more infill drilling, it won't get past the inferred estimate level. So a lot of money to be spent at WKP yet, before it might trigger a mining feasibility response from Newmont (3Moz?).

elZorro

03-08-2013, 12:47 PM

I have looked on www.sedar.com (http://www.sedar.com) and there, under Glass earth public company reports, you'll see the full report on WKP dated 1 August 2013. It's down the bottom of the list of recent documents.

This is much more detailed, shows how the data was tested and then put into a modelling package(s). The grade cutoff was chosen using US$1500 an ounce, which was more current in June 2013, when most of the work was done. I don't see that as a big issue, I think gold will go back up, like it always does.

These are not Reserves, they are not ready to mine, no mining feasibility has been done, so technically they are called Resources. 'Inferred' is the lowest step on that rung, and the reason for that is the drill spacings are very wide, approx 200mtrs I think, where they are clustered. Otherwise, there's nothing except educated guesses based on the instrument surveys, for large areas of the permit.

The table below shows how blocks that could be counted in the reserves list were modelled, for just one cross-section. Heaps of these were amalgamated by the package. Note all the blocks are close to drills. The minor gold held in the fractured Rhyolite between the drill holes is not shown, because the grade is below the cutoff for underground drilling. These areas would be more interesting for pit mining, but that is not the intention.

The T-Stream intercept looks the warmest in colour, that is the highest grade area on this cross-section. Of course not all the vein predicted paths are highlighted in gold grades, because they haven't been drilled enough yet. Infill drilling is done closer to a mining event. By use of stats and noting outliers, the maximum grade of any block was pulled back to 30g/tonne ceiling. This is still a big grade, but one or two intercepts at WKP on drill logs were near 80g/tonne.

With just 38 drills so far to report on, many of them historic and above lower grade areas, it's perhaps heartening that a few more drills into the right sort of spots would allow a bigger resource to be calculated next time, perhaps double the current total. This would be the 4500mtrs of drilling proposed. At the moment the drilling programme is completing work that was meant to be done in the 2012 programme, plus a small bit more. For the last year or so, the drill cores have been prepared for assays at SGS Westport, and then sent to an SGS facility in Australia, where they can do 50 crucible sample fire assays at once. The Waihi branch of SGS must be busy doing Newmont's grade control assays. Whatever the reason, it's a bit weird we don't have the capacity to do faster assays here in NZ.

The report also makes it clear that the main reason for reporting on WKP with an NI 43-101 resource result is not to give shareholders warm fuzzies. Without such a valid resource estimate, the JV's case to extend the exploration permit with NZPAM for another 5 years would be weak, and perhaps turned down.

So Newmont and Glass Earth certainly want to do some more exploration at WKP, and they don't want the area being handed over to anyone else. They have recovered most of the original permit area, including the surroundings of Golden Cross Mine, and Komata.

elZorro

05-08-2013, 07:17 AM

A lot of Newmont's attention in NZ must be on the Correnso deposit. They have spotted a couple of smaller nearby deposits that they might be able to recover on the back of the Correnso mining. Newmont Waihi Gold is not intending to drop any staff over the intervening period, and they have modified the Correnso plans to allow cheaper drive access in light of lower gold prices.

http://nzresources.com/attachments/4735/Corrensoupdate.pdf

Oceanagold has also indicated one of their mines will be mothballed in 2015, and is working on $100million of cuts to operating costs. This from NZResources.

OceanaGold staffers await outcome of NZ operations review

Simon Hartley — 5 August 2013
Wage freezes are said to be on the cards for OceanaGold Corporation (ASX, TSX & NZX: OGC) staff as the miner continues its company-wide review, which has already found more than $US100 million ($NZ126.4 M) in cost reductions.
The likelihood of a wage freeze was first mooted by OceanaGold chief executive Mick Wilkes in mid-June, with a company market update late last week saying wage freezes had been identified among the $US100 M cost reductions.
The reductions include deferment of heavy earthmoving at Reefton and Macraes, the scaling back of New Zealand exploration and unspecified cuts to the use of contractors.
In spite of nearly 1,000 staff being employed by in New Zealand across its East Otago and West Coast operations, OceanaGold had not by Friday released any staff-specific update from the review.
The company is understood to still be in negotiations with the Amalgamated Workers Union, which covers the majority of staff at Macraes in East Otago.
The latest corporate presentation outlined that estimates of 2013 production and earlier cost guidances were on track.
OceanaGold's Didipio gold and copper mine in the northern Philippines is estimated to produce between 50,000-70,000 oz of gold and 15,000-18,000 tonnes of contained copper, with copper sales offsetting the cost to produce gold to a negative $US370-$US50/oz for the year.
Overall New Zealand operations for the year estimate production of between 235,000-255,000 oz of gold, at a production cash cost of $US650 to $US800/oz.
While the Macraes site has a mine life to 2020 at present, OceanaGold announced its Globe-Progress open cut operations was being cut short by two years and would be mothballed by mid-2015.
Globally gold producers are cutting staff levels, some are virtually halting exploration and the large number of Australian gold exploration juniors are downsizing on all levels with some invoking wage cuts that also take in some chief executives and senior management.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/266265/macraes-cutbacks-part-review

elZorro

06-08-2013, 10:22 PM

Glass Earth was granted an exploration permit yesterday: EP 54492, Neavesville North, 974 Ha. They were granted a smaller area than they asked for in the application.

On the same day three permits were let go:

53184, 53142, 53298 (Gore, Piano Flat, Moeraki Extension).

GEL now has less than 3000km2 of permits, two thirds of it being the single large Kakanui prospecting permit up above Macraes.

elZorro

07-08-2013, 07:28 AM

serious question ez. are you not afraid GEL is about to hit penny dreadful status and that many, many years of capital raising and massive dilution are ahead on the back of a flailing gold price?

As Balance has pointed out earlier, there has already been a lot of dilution in this share. I keep a running total of MCap and shareprice on a spreadsheet, and right now the share is probably at its lowest MCap since the IPO.

There was quite a reasonable participation in a PP at the start of 2013, (over $3 mill cash) but with the higher wages, overheads and running costs staying well ahead of any placer income in Q1, the full Q2 report that must come out by the end of this month, will be compulsory reading for anyone investing, or intending to invest, in this share. There has been no press release from the company about Drybread operations lately, nor has the website been updated. Despite the company paying for the services of an IR person in Canada. We've had winter, tough months to be working outside, and so I'm apprehensive about the results.

The new WKP report does shed some light on the potential of the area, but also the ongoing exploration costs. It's a long-term game for big players, but GEL at least has a good percentage of the JV, and only 35% of the costs there.

If Newmont suddenly decided that anything in GEL's possession was a smart long-term investment, the company looks like a bargain on paper at the moment. The sum total of investor money put in from the IPO onwards (not including the setup before that), which I think is less than C$30mill, is just nothing in the scale of larger miners. But as I say, anyone interested in the share, needs some more official information at this point.

elZorro

13-08-2013, 07:32 AM

I'm still wondering what the full picture is like at Drybread, but I suspect it's not pretty. On googling 42A Russell Street Alexandra (GEL's office and workshop) yesterday, this ad block appeared on the front page. Space for lease.

http://www.primecommercial.co.nz/commercial/all/central-otago-lakes-district/central-otago/alexandra

One of the photos inside the office block shows a drilling rig.

This news can be added to a terse comment on finances on page 25 of the GEL Q1 report (end of May), a copy being held on the Glass Earth website.

Liquidity and Capital Resources
As a mining exploration company with currently modest revenues, the Company’s operations are dependent on its ability to raise financing and its ability to realize assets and discharge liabilities.

The Company’s cash position as at March 31, 2013 was $1,192,000 (March 31 2012: $2,369,000) with Trade Payables of $497,000. Expected alluvial losses since 31 March will further reduce the Company’s cash position.

The Company has reduced its staff by 50% with the two senior executives also taking significant salary sacrifices. The Company has reduced its non-exploration expenditures and efforts to reduce other liabilities are underway. Management and Directors are pursuing several alternatives to ensure funding is available to continue its drilling campaigns. The Company has a history of successive capital raisings (as is usual for an exploration company).
The Company’s existing share, option and warrant capital structure is set out at the end of this report under the heading of "Supplemental to the Financial Statements".

elZorro

18-08-2013, 12:45 PM

A little bit of Sunday analysis on the fortunes of a NZ junior gold explorer. From the date of the IPO in 2006, the MCap exceeded the cash paid in for a year or so, and then the price crashed as shares were swapped for debt over on the TSX. The company bravely recovered, consolidated the shares in 2010, and had a brief period where again the MCap exceeded the cash paid in (helped in this by Brent Cook). This graph would have been a useful indicator to sell, based on the ongoing funds being raised shown as red cumulative totals (might be a bit inaccurate). On average, funds are required about once a year.

The Q2 report could be used to pinpoint when the next fundraising is needed.

elZorro

26-08-2013, 07:37 AM

Looks like GEL's Simon Henderson is presenting a 15 min report on recycled placer deposits at AUSIMM in Nelson this week.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/270268/pressing-issues-mining-conference

https://custom.cvent.com/7D44ECD432654B6DA64826C592F01E88/files/89e21bd2805c4f30b92f4bbf0888ecf9.pdf

elZorro

28-08-2013, 07:40 AM

I predict that within 3 days we'll be able to read the Q2 report from GEL. It's a legal requirement.

In the meantime, NZPAM has made available a wide section of the CVR for mineral prospecting. This is the same area that Glass Earth made a big pitch at, and surveyed a lot of it for the first time with newer gear. As a result of this, a large area of molten lava was found in the area around Wairakei, north of Taupo. GEL drilled a few times but found nothing of great consequence. They'd have needed to be lucky, it's a big area.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11115354

elZorro

29-08-2013, 08:30 AM

Adrian Fleming, a director of Glass Earth, also gave a speech at AUSIMM. Via NZResources.

AUSIMM 2013: Company developer says explorers need to understand boom-bust cyclesRoss Louthean — 29 August 2013
An Australian geoscientist who has helped develop mineral exploration companies in Canada, Australia and with a focus on New Zealand, said the current downturn has to be seen as just part of the boom to bust scenario.
Adrian Fleming, who developed more than one successful explorer and has a Toronto Stock Exchange junior board company, Prosperity Goldfields, said these were particularly tough time for junior companies with the TSX and its junior board home to 57% of the listed miners and explorers in the world and that the boom in 2012 saw 137 new companies listed and $C10.3 billion raised.
Globally this represented 70% of all new mining and exploration capital raised.
That was then, he said, this is now and issues such as the dive in the gold price and commodity price slumps have put the Canadian market, and other bourses, in a deep freeze.
He showed one graph where the Australian Securities Exchange has slumped badly this year but the formerly higher TSX-V junior board has gone from above to well below on the graph
In answer to a question on his presentation yesterday, he said while Toronto has been a mecca for raising capital for projects elsewhere in the world, including New Zealand. But, the market perception over there now was that the regulatory situation in NZ was seen as arduous and not attractive.
For a company to join the TSX-V it must have at least a 50% interest in a mineral property, have an exploration expenditure capacity of at least $C100,000, provide an independent report complying with Canadian bourse standards for the work programme and a public float of at least 500,000 shares, and 200 public shareholders.
To show how the mighty can fall in the current market, he showed big gold producer Goldcorp as diving with the share price slump of recent months.
Fleming said booms create busts and busts are followed by improving indices.
“The supply-demand paradigm will kick in but we can’t tell how long it will take,” he said.
Fleming raised as an example Newmont Mining Corporation which has had total sustaining production costs of $US1,417 per ounce.
“On the street in Toronto, mining is a bad word; equity market money for juniors is essentially non-existent.”
Fleming told delegates that if you are a junior explorer it is all about survival.

elZorro

30-08-2013, 07:56 AM

RAM scam operator David Ross is hauled before the courts. Those who are out of pocket are looking for his secret stash.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11116180

It's a matter of public record that one of Ross's companies invested a small amount in GEL at the last PP (at a time when his actions were known). Unfortunately, like all of the other GEL investors found, this didn't turn out to result in a pot of gold.

GBHcorp

30-08-2013, 08:45 AM

Today's announcement looks dire. Selling out of South Island to pay down debt. Mention of new financing requirements:

Considering the prevailing conditions, the Board of Directors has determined
that a major strategic refocus was warranted in order to safeguard the
Company's exploration assets and set the Company on the right foot for its
next phase of development. It has therefore been decided to dispose of placer
gold mining operations, refocus exploration activities on projects in the
Hauraki region, carry out significant cost-cuttings and consider new
financing opportunities.

elZorro

30-08-2013, 08:53 AM

You're quick off the mark, I hadn't seen it GBHcorp. Thanks for that.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=62383710&qm_symbol=GEL

I have a strong suspicion that this has been brewing for weeks, but I have only recently joined the dots.

I think sometime in June the Alexandra offices and workshop were up for lease, with GEL still working from them. Today might be a handover day.

SEDAR has the latest full Q2 report, and a full MD&A report. Mandatory reading.

Subsequent Events Placer Operations

The Company's placer mining operations in central Otago are planned to be
sold pursuant to two Sale & Purchase agreements dated 29th August 2013.
The agreement is subject to TSX approval and formal settlement would take
place upon approval being granted.
That sale, together with two smaller sales of placer mineral permits, will
generate approximately $1.5m, payable in cash. Receipts from the sale of the
assets will be used to retire debt and trade payables.
The remaining placer mineral permits will be sold or relinquished in the near
term. This will conclude the Company’s involvement in placer activities.

Corporate Refinancing
The Company is also seeking funding for its continuing hard-rock activities at
WKP and Neavesville (Hauraki Region of the North Island). Advised
investor interest in a refinancing should provide funding to allow the
Company to progress those activities for an interim period.

Staffing
With a two project focus, a lean and resilient GEG will continue strong
austerity measures having reduced to core staff, while retaining key technical
and management ability to oversee GEG’s assets.

Flugenbear

30-08-2013, 06:33 PM

I think GEL will hang in there. It's hard to know how long the anti gold sentiment will hang around. But it will eventually change, that is a certainty. Will GEL be around to see that change is obviously less certain, but I think there is enough investor interest there to keep it going purely on the basis of WKP.
All though the announcement is dire, I think it a good thing they are going so lean in terms of surviving this phase. I was actually surprised they didn't suspend placer activity before winter given the market sentiment. I guess it was worth a try. Ironically the last week or so the gold price is the highest and USD/NZD most favourable for the entire period....but that can always change again in a hurry.
All GEL supporters hang in there, they'll get through this.....though I won't eat my hat if I'm wrong.
What do you think ElZ?

Flugenbear

30-08-2013, 07:25 PM

Yep, certainly a good question Yankiw....

elZorro

30-08-2013, 07:32 PM

I have not had time to check through the full reports on SEDAR. Normally within a few days, the full reports will be placed on GEL's website.

What I have noticed so far though:

Massive writeoffs for S.I. permits, Garibaldi dropped, the big Kakanui dropped, Ophir permit perhaps sold to Bob Kilgour in lieu of part payment for placer gear. The entire placer gear sold off with its permits for about 1/3 of what they paid for it. The ancilliary permits were never worth much.

Muirs written off and all the data etc handed over to NZPAM and the landowner. I think they were trying to sell it, but no offers.

GEL has been outflanked down in the S.I. in particular. They paid too much for the placer gear, they got into hock over it, then they tried to run it as a managed business, and there wasn't enough profit in it. They have dug some huge holes in the farmland down there. I wonder if any of the landowners have an agreement with the permit holder for restoration of their ground after mining. No mention of this liability. Maybe the new owner has to sort that out.

It seems to me that GEL management couldn't keep good control over the placer. There were undoubtedly good people who had experience with that equipment, but I'd guess others who were roped in because they were handy. Simple mistakes could cost a lot in maintenance. Most of the gear was old and needed to be treated sensibly. With such low grades I wonder if throughput at all costs just overloaded the system. They mentioned poor grade control at one stage. With each truck only holding about $200 of gold at best from the wash, they'd have needed to put good people on that job. Did they?

Wading in with shareholders money, GEL took some proven and unproven gear onto some placer sites with the aim of making at least $2mill clear each year, but instead managed to lose about $4mill or more. By catching themselves short, now they also have to write off more millions in exploration costs in the same financial year.

They need at least another $2mill before Christmas to dig themselves out, and hold Neavesville. 850oz gold or equivalent. That deal doesn't sound so hot now.

They can't raise money on the TSX with shares below a certain price (http://www.pinnacledigest.com/blog/pinnacle-digest/tsx-venture-exchange-accommodates-tough-market-environment). So there might be another consolidation. Prepare for more dilution. Who is calling the shots now, and who can gain control over a fair portion of the company for just two million?

Retail shareholders have been operating in a vacuum with this company, in between the quarterly reports. When you consider that the Alexandra premises were up for lease in June, it appears that payments to Bob Kilgour were in arrears, maintenance costs were very high and the site was submerged with water etc. We know all about this today, weeks later. I should just like to point out to any GEL management people that here is the disclosure agreement from their own website.

http://www.glassearthgold.com/i/pdf/CORPORATE_DISCLOSURE_POLICY.pdf

I suggest they read it, digest it, vow to abide by the rules, or this company should be delisted forthwith. There are at least eight very good reasons why we should have heard about what was going on, a long time ago. What kind of a board allowed this state of affairs?