AXG - Antipodes Gold [formerly GEL - Glass Earth]

[elZorro]

FB, the geologists were gone at the end of Q1 by the look of it. The punt from then was that the placer would make money. When it didn't, they had few choices left. The operation will look more like NTL by next month. Retreating to an office in Wellington I'd say. After all, most junior explorers have this setup, and it's a big step up to employ 50 staff as GEL tried to do. If they started with even $2mill spare, it doesn't take long to chew that out if the placer is unprofitable. Remember the two GEL dump trucks? They were 25 tonne older units.

Skevington Contractors has at least 4 proper trucks, Caterpillar D400 36-40 tonne units, from their website. (http://www.skevingtoncontracting.co.nz/about.html) These would be worth over $100,000 each.

I really hope Skevington make a go of it, and prove that you really need to stick to your knitting in the business world. GEL management has shown shareholders that they don't have much idea on how to run a placer operation. They might be better at exploration, although it has to be said they haven't had much luck yet.

Placer operations have been started up all around the South Island, because the gold price is still higher than it has been for 10-20 years or so. They haven't all been successful, but GEL has made a quick mess of Drybread. Shareholder money has gone on wages and repair costs for equipment, fuel, leases, rentals, paying for overpriced gear, you name it.

Despite saying in the Q1 report that the CEO and CFO were getting pay cuts, nothing noticeable happened by the time the Q2 report came out. They're not massive salaries, but they didn't drop much, that's for sure. I suspect that pay cuts weren't suggested by either of these gentlemen, someone else wanted that done, and any bridging finance will probably come from the same source, the major shareholder Geoff Loudon. Mr Loudon was not a buyer in the last PP. It wasn't long after the PP event in 2012/2013 that Brent Cook dropped his support for the company as well.

I don't think it's a question of whether there will be a consolidation in the shares, it's a matter of how severe it will be this time. There's an extraordinary general meeting in Vancouver in early October.

[Flugenbear]

I agree with your thoughts here ElZ.
I have been particularly gutted with the placer mining, and the fact they made such a mess of it. Even right at the start when the gold price was good they still managed to lose a bunch of cash. I don't know why, but I suspect you are right and incompetence has played a large role.
I had gambled a bit that it was at least going to make a bit of cash, but in the end it has been quite the opposite.
All n all, very disappointing.
Lets see if they can stay afloat to get any benefit out of WKP and Neavesville....

[elZorro]

FB - they'll be able to stay afloat, but it will be at the cost of shareholders being diluted again. Via Sharechat, an ODT article that sheds more light after talking with Simon Henderson.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/271100/glass-earth-gold-sells-its-otago-sites

[elZorro]

GEL has dropped permits 53180 and Mining Permit 52018 (their first placer mine) in late August. More to follow - all of the South Island permits that they haven't sold as part of the deals.

[elZorro]

It looks like Newmont's Waihi operations traded at a loss in 2012, and here is some data from NZResources that could have an impact on GEL. The exploration team has been cut back a bit, while the focus is on Correnso, their new mine.


Newmont Waihi says it must compete for fundsRoss Louthean — 9 September 2013
To develop the next mine for longevity Newmont Waihi Gold has told the Waihi community that, being part of the Newmont Mining Corporation global gold business, it must ensure the new Correnso mine project will perform.

Because of mine developments, mill maintenance and repair work, the company has produced very little gold and silver in recent times.
“Our parent company (in Denver) paid our bills. Now, as we refine our plans for Correnso, this proposal must compete for funding capital with a range of projects in the Newmont portfolio and also pay back our 2012 loans,” the company said in its latest Waihi community newsletter.

"The most effective way of performing well will be identifying site-wide efficiencies that will assist in maintaining our margin and profitability."

At last month’s AusIMM NZ Minerals Conference in Nelson, Newmont Waihi Gold general manager Glen Grindlay said that mine development and limitations to milling operations resulted in the NZ operations being one of the highest cost in Newmont Waihi’s operations in five continents.
The newsletter said: “It’s not the gold price that is important, it’s the margin between the total cost of production in Waihi and what we receive for the gold we have produced.
“In simple supply terms, the gold mining business is all about finding ore bearing deposits, determining how much ore we can access, and extracting it in a timely manner to ensure a continuous ‘pipeline’ of ore to the mill.”

Operations at Waihi began in 1987, with only a short break in production of a few months over that time. However, the company said, the gold mining business, just like any business, is not simple.

“If you grow pumpkins for 80c and sell them for a dollar you will have a viable business. But if it costs you a dollar to grow your pumpkins and you still sell them for a dollar it doesn’t matter how many pumpkins you grow and sell, you will not have a profitable business.
“It is the margin between input costs and the price you get for your product that is important.”
Newmont Waihi Gold said "if the gold price drops we must look at our business and identify efficiencies we can make to preserve our margin. Other similar operations around the world are in the same situation."

Mines have been reducing staff, some operations have been closed, and many new projects deferred.
There have been some major staffing and exploration cutbacks in the global gold mining business since the gold price slide several months ago and Newmont Mining has made cuts around the world, and others who have made severe cutbacks, like Barrick Gold who has sold some of its significant gold mines in Western Australia.

Newmont Waihi Gold has cut some of its exploration team as it has slowed down its exploration activity, and also shed a few other jobs.

[Manda]

Just to note central otago has had it's best winter in years . No hoar frosts, hardly even a Jack Frost. There was a couple weeks of rain a little bit of snow that didnt last, but all n all a very mild winter. Miners in central have never stopped mining through winter or wet months they just plan ahead a get through it just fine. So the whether excuse can certainly not be a factor at all in there downfall.

[elZorro]

Hi there Manda, certainly the shares are fairly cheap at the moment. Still no bailout cash in sight. Glass Earth has just let go a 6100 Hectare EP called Moeraki, near and above Macraes. They only had it granted a few months ago. More crazy planning, part of the exodus from the South Island showing itself.

[elZorro]

The last share consolidation was a 1 for 5. This time it's a 1 for 10. Desperate stuff. It is needed to ensure the shareprice stays well above the minimum for TSX fundraising.

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=602231

Note there is now no mention of any of the S.I. placer mining or permits. The focus now has to be on areas near Newmont in Waihi. I think this policy is partly at the suggestion of someone on the board. But it's also a financial imperative.

It's a real shame the company didn't get lucky on any of the CVR or Otago permits. Some they have dropped, will no doubt be explored by others, and maybe someone else will get the rewards.

[elZorro]

From NZResources: nothing new added here except the comment from the firm that helped with the IPO. 48c down to 2c in a short while, that is spectacular, no?

Again the proof reading from a NZ journalist missed the wrong word being used (it's principal). This share consolidation has to put the price above C15c so funds can be raised. Already the market has pulled it down to that figure on the TSX. They are all playing the game.


Share consolidation planned by Glass EarthSimon Hartley — 11 September 2013
New Zealand gold explorer Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL) is looking to consolidate its number of shares on issue, in a swap of 10 old shares for one new share.
The proposal would see the present number of ordinary shares on issue change from 105.66 million to 10.56 M.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said Glass Earth's numerous capital raisings over the years had diluted its share value, with the price “languishing” around 1c-2c.
By consolidating the number of shares on issue, the price could potentially rise to double figures and may be more attractive to some investors.
From a year-high of 48c last October, Glass Earth's shares had steadily declined to trade around 2c yesterday, following the announcement.
Glass Earth had raised and spent about $40 M - generally from the Toronto Stock Exchange - during the past almost eight years, to explore for gold, on both the North and South islands.
A fortnight ago Glass Earth pulled out of its Otago operations, having sold its boutique alluvial gold operations around the wider Maniototo for $1.75 M, and is concentrating exploration targets in the Hauraki region of the central North Island, including with joint venture partners.
The share consolidation proposal must be passed by shareholders at a special general meeting on October 4, and also by the TSX, which is its principle listing.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.

[elZorro]

Incorrect information from me in the above post. The latest minimum price for additional shares issue is C5c. IPOs have a higher price of C10c.

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f2ffba86-65c9-4ee4-9535-9aca5f6f3d7f

This means that the TSX price could be C0.5c for a GEL share before consolidation, and 5c afterwards, and still just meet the criteria. But it's normal for there to be a fair bit of movement downwards just after consolidation, while the bookbuilding is done. So a lowest price before consolidation of about C1c seems likely. Of course this values all of Glass Earth at just C$1.055 million. To get in just another C$2mill to the coffers will require heavy dilution at that valuation.

Heavy sales of GEL shares on the TSX last night, at C1.5c.

[elZorro]

This article worth keeping in mind as GEL plumbs new lows.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/8695877/Goldmining-giant-to-explore-most-of-Waihi

[clifton]

Waihi the town was built when Martha Mine was an underground operation over a hundred years ago. While the amount of gold taken out was large - bonanza grades etc the volume of rock taken out was small. From the lookout over the recent opencast pit you can see some of the old drives in the pit wall - tiny in comparison to the opencast operation. Other mining towns from that era are the same, Thames, Huntly towns built on top of valuable deposits.

[elZorro]

Yes, thanks for that Clifton. Newmont could carefully take more bonanza gold from under the town, the rock is super solid, as long as they backfill.

I have updated the GEL capital spending spreadsheet, a bit of torture for those of us who invested. Watch the MCap vainly trying to keep up with capital paid in, all fine for a few years after GFC, Brent Cook pushing the price up (BIG SELL signal) and then GEL making a complete hash of their placer operations, underfunded and beating a drawn-out retreat, leaving the MCap and the shareprice at an all-time low. A lesson in how not to do it, or at least that's what it looks like at the moment.

[elZorro]

I had a call yesterday, from one of GEL's current staff members. This was much appreciated, and I was filled in on how the senior staff felt about the placer operations.

Maybe the price paid for the gear was a bit high, which put the company on the back foot when it came to funds for capital equipment if needed. At that point they still had to pay the monthly capital instalments to Bob Kilgour, the gold price had backed down, the weather had turned wet, and they were still looking for elusive higher grades.

I previously posted some maths on the gold value in a dump truck heading away from the wash area: just $200 if the actual grade is 0.4g/m3. This is a lean operation, not much room for error when you're carting the wash. The caller had been involved in gold panning the wash to demarcate it, and in general they had good staff on the wash digger, although some had to be trained up. Keeping an eye on the feed rate into the GRU was an even more important operation.

Every placer area has unique characteristics which cannot all be found out beforehand, you have to get in there and run the gear apparently. In the end GEL used some older equipment plus some leased gear, and were able to extract 95% of the gold in the wash layer, when other operators had only achieved 30% in the past, and given up. The caller was in general very proud of the teams working in the placer operations.

If Glass Earth had been able to bring more capital to bear, had planned the operation over several years beforehand, and been able to operate a floating GRU as at Earnscleugh, the result would have been quite different. Already Skevington Contracting (SCL) has turned up at Drybread with a brand new Volvo excavator worth over $500,000. SCL has a requirement to resurface all of the Glass Earth workings on the 3-4 farms as the operation proceeds, and this was built into their buy price. So there will be no loose ends for Glass Earth shareholders to worry about.

I'm very pleased about that, as I can see that the operation GEL started will continue to employ staff - maybe fewer - but some. The affected farmers will be able to continue their operations with an extra income and new pastures being established behind the mining strips. I think one farmer at least has already arranged for a massive dam to be constructed (mostly completed by GEL paid staff), which will help in the normal shortage of summer water for the farm. Bob Kilgour will be paid out in full I assume.

I said to the caller that I still think the placer operation was worth a punt, it could have worked out very well with a bit more luck. Anyone tapping data into a spreadsheet will see that it all depends on the grades (and the gold price). It sounds like the grades just stayed a bit on the average side, when the wash had to be carried to the GRUs.

I mentioned the Neavesville permit and the 850oz payment due soon. This is being discussed with Eurasian with a view to it being delayed, so in line with the heavy retrenchment of staff at Glass Earth, there might not be much capital outlay required in the next few months after all.

WKP was discussed too. It is still the jewel in GEL's crown, but on an international scale and with Newmont losing money in NZ and elsewhere, it is proving to be difficult to get extra enthusiasm from Newmont's heavily reduced geologist team at Waihi at the moment. Infill drilling at WKP would of course soon add to the NI 43-101 grading of the resource. GEL are thinking about all of their options here.

These points are all relevant to the current price of GEL shares. Does the MCap of Glass Earth deserve to be flattened to just over C$1.5mill, or is there reasonable expectation that the share will recover like it did after the GFC in late 2008?

[elZorro]

In the post today, I received the notice of the Special General Meeting. This is also available to read on SEDAR, dated 11th Sept. They are asking shareholders to approve the 1-for-10 consolidation. There isn't much option for that, if more cash is to be raised on the TSX-V.

What I found interesting was that the proxyholder is to be Adrian Fleming, one of the newer directors, and not Simon Henderson (or Justin Cochrane) as was used for the May meeting in Vancouver.

Woolwich Intl Holdings is listed as holding just under 12% shares, the only one over the 10% ceiling. Auriferous Mining may still hold in the region of 8% though, which is about 20% of the company combined. Adrian Fleming is the CEO of Prosperity Gold (PPG on the TSX-V, not doing so good on paper) and has strong NZ connections. He has done well with previous exploration companies, and may be in a position to take a capital punt on GEL at this point. He is one of the directors who wants a very tight focus on the exploration work apparently.

This is all conjecture on my part, but perhaps we are looking at some fundamental changes being cemented in at Glass Earth soon.

Already the Glass Earth website is being expunged of references to placer mining, the SI and CVR permits, there are now just two projects: WKP and Neavesville. http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/Projects.asp?ReportID=450302

[Manda]

Your post was very interesting. I do find it odd how a senior staff member could tell you so much about the mine and how they felt as none of them were with glass earth and Dunstan mining when the operations first got going , when they mined with lower grades , lower gold price. Mined through 3 seasons of snow, hoar frosts , rain and drought. And still managed to buy 3 new excavators , build another plant, hire more people , maintain plant and equipment and still make a profit. I have to point out glass earth had never mined, they had to learn through experienced Dunstan mining people, when they brought Dunstan mining out they had very few experienced workers and decided to mine there own way without taking advice from experienced miners who had been mining in central otago for over 40 years. This along with many other very poor decisions was there downfall , not the whether, not the grade and not the gold price. As it was proved it can be done through all of these elements.

[elZorro]

Hello Manda, all the Glass Earth shareholders saw in the books from the earlier mining was a slender profit, but then again the company hadn't invested that much in the 50% JV. You're right of course, it was after the bigger money was invested, and GEL ran the 100% owned operations in a more managed business setup, that things started to go haywire. Shareholders were not told the true extent of the problems, I'm sure. If we were told, it was months after the events. There is probably a small book that could be written about the goings on down there, I'd like to read it. GEL policy appears to be to keep small shareholders in the dark, because otherwise it's hard to justify the net loss of millions of shareholder dollars being announced, so soon after the market was being led to believe that the operations were moving into strong-looking profits.

I refer back to the comprehensive market disclosure document on the GEL website. That has not been observed for major negative events in the company lifecycle. At the press of a button, all main references on the GEL website to placer work and Otago/Muirs operations has been removed. It never happened, the company and the existing and prospective shareholders will not need to look over that again, that is the position the company is taking. The MCap (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-Glass-Earth-IPO&p=427314&viewfull=1#post427314)chart tells the story, maybe not a unique one. Funds go into GEL, and they don't tend to come back out as saleable shares.

[elZorro]

At the risk of giving GEL oxygen, I note that Duncan Hardie, Wellington (http://www.theherald.com.au/story/473941/developer-duncan-hardie-leaves-town/), has applied for a prospecting permit of over 9500Ha, the newly incorporated company being called Garibaldi Gold Ltd.

Glass Earth is trading lightly at C1c on the TSX-V.
As you were..

[elZorro]

There is nothing on the web explaining to the market what happened on the 4th October, the special meeting of the board held in Vancouver.

NZPAM is really the only source of information on GEL at the moment.

Permit 40813, Glamorgan, has been reduced in size. It's above the WKP area, and adjacent. But a request to increase the size of the same permit has been lodged, its application number is 55241.

Minnow PGI (whatever happened to those JVs lads?) has asked for a 2 year extension on prospecting permit 53402. Goldmines NZ Ltd (Bob Kilgour) is looking around down in Southland.

And some kind of a deal has been struck regarding the JV permits near Ophir.
Ophir Gold now has 100% of two GEL permits, 40702 and 40870. Maybe now some mining work will be done on that area, but of course GEL shareholders won't see any benefit.

GEL shareholder money has been gifted across to Ophir Gold interests, in terms of the joint exploration work, the costs to hold the permits, the planning for small-scale mining at Ophir, the money paid for other S.I. permits owned by Bob Kilgour that were reasonably quickly let go, and the (probably overvalued) mining equipment and valuation on JV placer permits.

In hindsight, I think Bob Kilgour had the measure of Simon Henderson. The only issue I have with that, is that Simon was using company shareholder money, not his own.

[elZorro]

Surely a coincidence, a press release is out today explaining that the share consolidation was approved at the 1 for 10 rate, yet to be approved by the TSX. The notice also mentions WKP as the main focus, and the Neavesville wording regarding the "Maori population" makes me think that the statement was written by someone outside NZ. Still, Simon Henderson shows at the bottom of the document as President and CEO.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/17/idUSnCCN7HDfhJ+1d9+MKW20131017

According to my spreadsheet, GEL has 17 permits left current with NZPAM, a total of 274,147Ha, but 82% of that space is used by the Kakanui prospecting permit up above Macraes. It costs up to $175,000 a year to keep those permits. Drybread is still held by Glass Earth, but I'd assume it'll be transferred to SCL (a private company) in time.

[elZorro]

Glass Earth Gold to consolidate shares on issue

By Simon Hartley
Created 23/10/13

Listed gold explorer Glass Earth Gold has gained shareholder approval to consolidate the number of shares on issue, with 10 old shares to be reissued as one new share.
Glass Earth has exited its long-standing Otago exploration programmes, having spent the bulk of $40 million around the province, selling its alluvial gold operations recently for about $1.75 million to local interests to refocus on targets in the central North Island.
While having successfully recapitalised several times during the past eight years, that came at the cost of share dilution. During the past year, Glass Earth shares had traded from a 42c-high last November, to 2c or less since September.
The consolidation is still subject to approval from the Toronto stock exchange's venture exchange.
Glass Earth will resume exploration of the WKP project near Waihi, in a joint venture with Newmont Mining, while exploration activities at its Neavesville (Coromandel) project are delayed as negotiations with local iwi over access continue. simon.hartley@odt.co.nz (csimon.hartley@odt.co.nz)



Over 200,000 shares sold on the TSX overnight at C1c. This values the company at just C$1mill. We know they're running low on funds, so it's little wonder the market doesn't think much of GEL in the meantime. They are going to have to endure some pain for a while.

I can't help but compare this share with XRO. They're still losing money too. The difference is the possibility of a big buyout for XRO, long before they need to get into profit. Maybe they're a lot more organised also.

[elZorro]

670,000 GEL shares sold yesterday on the TSX, for 1.5c. All up cost for those was about C$10,000. There is a pattern shown on the private placements for GEL of a small placement followed by a bigger one 2-3 months later. Except the last small PP was in March 2013.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/quote.php?qm_symbol=gel

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

[elZorro]

GEL made a lot of noise about Garibaldi, but obviously lacked the funds to have a proper look there. Garibaldi Gold Ltd has a permit application in (55760) that completely surrounds the Sparrowhawk permit (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/Home/StaticMap?permit=53189)that GEL still has. Garibaldi Gold is just another company related to Hardie Resources (http://www.hardieresources.com/new-zealand/)in Wellington. They seem to be well funded, private, with fingers in pies all over the place. A lot of new permits held. They have a coal permit in Southland called Loudon Hill (Permit 54495) which is a placename down there.

[clifton]

More drilling results out still positive
MINE: GEL: Further Drilling Results for WKP

GEL
08/11/2013 08:30
MINE

REL: 0830 HRS Glass Earth Gold
Limited

MINE: GEL: Further Drilling Results for WKP

Wellington,
New Zealand, Thursday 7 November 2013

Glass Earth Gold announces Further
Drilling Results for the Wharekirauponga
(WKP) Gold Project, Hauraki, New
Zealand

Glass Earth Gold Limited (TSXV-GEL; NZAX-GEL) ("Glass Earth Gold or GEG") is pleased to announce the drilling results for holes 38 and 39 in
the (Easternzone) of the WKP Wharekirauponga (WKP) Gold Project, Hauraki, New Zealand.
The WKP Project is held by the Hauraki Joint Venture ("HJV") - Newmont Waihi Gold (65%) and GEG (35%) and is located in the southern Hauraki Goldfield, 10km north of the Martha Gold Mine (Newmont Waihi Gold100%).

Highlights of the drilling results include high grade zones of 1.5m at 20.9 g/t Au, 0.5 metres at 26.4 g/t Au, and 0.8 metres at 9.77 g/t Au. As well broad intersections of lower grade mineralization include 517 metres at 0.46 g/t Au plus 454.5 metres of 0.46 g/t Au.


The President and Chief Executive Officer of Glass Earth Gold, Simon Henderson, commented on the results: "With the completion of drill holes 38 and 39, the Company has completed 9,035m of drilling on the WKP property. The latest drill holes have targeted the Eastern graben structure which hosts mineralization similar to the major gold mines in the vicinity, with continuing intersections of broad widths of modest grade, and narrow high grade individual intersections.
The area continues to tantalise with its significant volumes of mineralisation, however recent resource work points to the Central/Western zones as the most promising higher grade structures to concentrate further work".

Future technical work will be aimed at improving the size and grade of the broader high grade T-Stream gold-silver vein system (Central and Western zones). The exploration team is encouraged by the high grade potential of the T-Stream system, resources by zone offering higher grade estimates; Central zone 6.6 g/t Au, and Western zone 9.7 g/t Au respectively, with significant expansion potential.

The objective is to expand the limits of these known higher grade veins, test the selected targets for the presence of additional mineralization, collect preliminary environmental background data, and conduct preliminary metallurgical testing to assist the preparation of future Mineral Resource estimates.

The WKP project, which has emerged as the company's flagship project, hosts a NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate of the inferred category of 1.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 6.1 g/t Au and 9.3 g/t Ag for a total of 260,000 ounces of gold and 390,000 ounces of silver, at a cut-off grade of 3.0 g/t of gold (news release 1 August 2013).

Cost-containment measures

In the light of the unfavourable environment that severely affects junior exploration companies, Glass Earth Gold has carried out a major cost-cutting exercise which aims at building resilience by containing its operational and administrative costs to a minimum. A major overhaul of the operations has led to the sale of non-strategic assets and a refocus on exploration led by WKP as lead project.
The team has been downsized to two full-time employees and four consultants and part-timers, which has enabled the Company to maintain
access to core skills and effectively pursue the projects.

[elZorro]

Thanks for that Clifton. Not bad grades when they hit the veins. But perhaps a bit too far apart and not intense enough to be interesting practically. Looks like they (Newmont) are going to do more infill drilling in the best known areas. This would add to the NI 43-101 estimate over time. I can't even be bothered having a look to see where those EG drills were exactly on the permit.

So now the fulltime GEL staff is down to two people, this may be Peter Liddle (Auckland) and Simon Henderson. Andrew Hamilton (IT) may be one of the part-timers, based in Wellington with Simon. Looking at it from one perspective Clifton, this is a very cheap company now (I've had a hard lesson in how cheap it is). Whether it is viable for anything in future, is the other perspective.

[elZorro]

Not good news for GEL holders, Newmont is looking at a massive downsizing of the mining staff in Waihi for a six month period starting in the middle of next year. This is presumably because the granting of approvals for the Correnso Mine took a bit longer than they'd hoped, and other mines will be out of ore soon. They have already heavily reduced the exploration staff. Without strong cashflows from the Waihi operations, it's unlikely the Newmont head office in Denver will be too excited about WKP. There is still the Waihi West area under the other part of Waihi township to consider of course.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/9407022/Gold-mine-layoffs-raise-fears-for-Waihi-economy

You can see their problem: yes, they are the number two gold producer, but the true costs to extract the gold are now US$1149 an ounce overall (2012), and the market price is currently not that far above that.

http://www.newmont.com/about/company-glance

Jobs have also been lost at head office earlier this year. (http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2013/06/12/newmont-announces-big-layoffs-at.html?page=all)

And then the situation got worse, all-in costs more like US$1500 an ounce.
http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/46526/newmonts-q2-sees-2-bln-writedown-as-plummeting-gold-prices-take-their-toll-46526.html

[elZorro]

Sometimes you just have to call time when everything is turning against you. do you think GEL will do this?

I've been told that the company (GEL) must suffer some pain for a few months. This appears to be the feeling in Canada. I can imagine some of the more recent Brent Cook investors saying that. Newmont has not moved out of Waihi, and as they are only working in 7 countries around the world, it's still a good endorsement. Correnso is a smallish but rich find, they'll certainly work that out, and if you are a longer-term gold bug you'd think that we'll see gold going over US$1800 again soon enough. WKP would be an interesting longer-term project for Newmont, and the calls from business owners after a 6 month drop in income for the Waihi region may help to sway public opinion.

GEL has had permits on a heap of areas, possibly unlucky there weren't any massive easy finds near the surface or in the places they could afford to drill after doing the aero mapping. This meant that the funds to do more detailed exploration haven't been forthcoming since, but they also used up C$32mill of shareholder money since 2006. They definitely failed to create their own cash in the placer permits, for a number of reasons, some of which were in their control, some not.

GEL have hunkered down, left with permits near their most friendly NZ firm with capital for gold exploration - Newmont. Some on the board think that this is what they should have done all along -concentrate all the effort on just a couple of permit areas that look most promising. Very hard to do when they had a look around a big chunk of NZ, and there was lots of promise in most of it.

GEL should now be able to survive with a small amount of G&A expenses, and I think they'll wait for the gold price to move up again, just like Newmont will be watching and waiting.

[elZorro]

Yankiwi, I still have a small indicator holding in GEL, but it might make you feel a bit better to know that I lost a fair bit more on GEL than you did. They did always warn us it was a risky share. But no amount of FA work made up for the lack of real information about the true and quickly changing state of affairs. They never seemed to catch a lucky break either.

[elZorro]

elZ, no matter how much you have made or lost on GEL makes the taste in my mouth any sweeter. I think Simon might be good at finding rock in the ground that a lot of others would pass by, but that's about where it ends. IMHO he has no idea how to run a business. Placer mining was pie in the sky thinking which nearly cost me my entire investment. Maybe they should have just closed up the entire shop at that point & given us "Shareholders" the right to go down south and do a little panning of our own. That would have left a better taste and there's a good chance you & I could have been face to face with a few nuggets in our hands.

Anyways, I'm moving on with head held high. Maybe I'll find a 10/1 shot in the greyhounds and see if I can turn the $1750 into $17500, back where it all started. If that bet is placed on another preverbial "dog", it'll be a easier lesson to swallow.

Yankiwi, that is all so true. Except maybe for finding nuggets at Drybread. Sounds like the gold was very grainy and well down. Our investment was derailed, that's what happened. A bit like this dump truck. This photo never made it into the media reports from GEL..and apparently is just part of the sorry story of misadventure.

[cammo]

a mate of mine who lives down there and is a mech eng (who was up here last week) said that they bluntly refused to put in a proper road, which meant the trucks were running in deep sludge in winter and hydraulic brakes dont mind a bit of water but sludge - At 50k per truck for a brake overhaul, apparently they did like 6 over the winter due to not metalling some access road. Apparently a lot of guffaws from the local industry about goings on there...why didnt i ask earlier?

[elZorro]

Cammo, that's interesting. I was told by one GEL senior staff member posted down there, that the winter rain was unseasonably massive, and that was part of the bad luck at the site. He'd mentioned the big brake repairs, not the price of them. He never mentioned unmetalled roading. I assumed it was impractical to build better roading, sounds like they didn't even try. But it wasn't all the fault of the roading. Apparently one dump truck driver tipped his vehicle over five times before he was let go. Most driving staff learnt after the first time.

Let's do some numbers on the cost of six brake jobs, a total of $300,000 of maintenance. Each dump truck could hold about $200 of gold per load at the wash grade they found. So they'd need to extract 1500 truckloads of wash at zero cost (and that didn't happen) just to pay off the brake repairs. Ouch, that's a great way to use up shareholders' cash.

Waikaia Gold's plant in Southland has been opened by Bill English. It's using a floating GRU fed by a digger. The GRU is already down in a deep hole in a pond. 5 years of planning. This is more likely to work out OK.

http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/282100/gold-mine-officially-opened

[elZorro]

Hi Yankiwi. As per usual, GEL produces a report on the last day it can legally meet. What you have posted is a short form of the full MD&A report. The full report is on SEDAR. In a few days it should be available on GEL's website, going on past performance.

Here are some other parts from that report.


Hauraki Joint Venture (WKP prospect)

Negotiations are well advanced withNewmont Mining (65%) for Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
(35%) to assume management of the HaurakiJoint Venture and sole fund exploration activities in order
to increase its equity in the JV.

Outstandingcash calls of $588,000 due to Newmont by GENZL as at 30 September 2013, would form
part of the overall funding for the 2014& 2015 exploration expenditures. Newmont has reserved its
position in respect of the unpaid cashcalls by issuing a Default Notice under the terms of the Hauraki
Joint Venture Agreement (“JVA”) on 17October 2013. The JVA requires that the unpaid cash calls be
remediedwithin 65 days or default dilution will occur (potentially up to a 20% reduction in GENZL’s
interest in the project).

Neavesville Prospect (GENZL was 50% - now 100%)

As from 6 November 2013, the Company hasregained 100% ownership of the Neavesville prospect
opportunity. Negotiations are underwaywith Eurasian Minerals to amend the terms of the Option
Agreement – primarily to extend the payment deadline of 31 December 2013 foran option payment of
850 oz gold (or equivalent US$’s or GEGshares – at GEG’s election).

Placer Creditors in New Zealand

On 5 November 2013, creditors of GlassEarth Mining Limited’s placer operations, totaling $620,000,
agreed to accept a mixture of immediatepayment and deferred payment terms (upto 31 December
2014) while the Company refinances.

Significant Expenses of a Corporate Nature

The Net Loss before Income Taxes for the9 months ended September 30, 2013 was $12,911,000 (9
months September 302012: $8,952,000). Placer miningaccounted for $6,932,000 of this loss.

The Company’s cash position as atSeptember 30, 2013 was $423,000 (September 30 2012: $522,000)
with Trade Payables of $1,368,000.Payment of $1,208,000 of these Trade Payables is discussed under
the Subsequent Events note on page 24.

The Companyhas reduced its staff down to its two senior executives who are taking significant salary
sacrifices. The Company has reduced itsnon-exploration expenditures and efforts to reduce other
liabilities are underway. The Company hasa history of successive capital raisings (as is usual for an
exploration company).

Related Party Transactions

Related party transactions are in thenormal course of business and are measured at the exchange
amount, which is the fair value as agreedbetween management and the related parties. The
strengthening New Zealand dollardisguises some of the salary sacrifice in C$ terms.
a) Simon Henderson, CEO, received$150,215 for the nine months ended September 30,
2013 (nine months ended September 30,2012: $158,769). Use of a motor vehicle, life
and health insurance benefits are alsoprovided.
b) Peter Liddle, CFO, received $117,879for the nine months ended September 30, 2013
(nine months ended September 30, 2012:$128,327). Use of a motor vehicle, life and
health insurancebenefits are also provided.


If investors are going to get involved again in GEL, it won't be with the same optimism that was exhibited late 2012 or early 2013. That time, everyone was surprised how freely the money flowed in (about $3mill), but at the cost of massive dilution. Some bigger shareholders possibly felt they had no choice but to participate, although Geoff Loudon remained on the sidelines. The placer assets and permits had a book value, and when the operational losses were added to the loss on sale, and permits were let go (heaps of them), the loss on the placer overall was nearly $7mill in 9 months.

Cammo has alluded to the stories coming out of the Drybread area. These are not fiction, more like a financial disaster for shareholders. One wonders how a business that had layers of admin and operational staff at that stage, continued operating with massive losses for months, and proceeded to lose even more money. Who was supervising the costs and the operational matters? Ultimately, Peter and Simon, the remaining core staff. Their inaction when it would have counted, lost all that capital.

A listed company with a more compelling proposition might be able to raise money more easily. GEL will be up against it now, and already the bigger wolves are circling, with Newmont possibly able to obtain another 20% of the WKP permit, worth perhaps a lot more than the default costs. If Glass Earth wasn't able to run placer operations, will they be any better at running an exploration campaign?

[elZorro]

I wouldn't go quite that far Yankiwi, every business tries something out and it doesn't work, at least at first. Peter and Simon weren't inactive on behalf of the company, but it seems that placer operations do need a lot of hard-won experience and backup capital. They didn't get enough of that in 2-3 years. They could have used the local knowledge more, I assume it was available if they'd asked. They steadily lost money or broke even, and then with the gold price dropping and the weather bomb, it just got quickly worse. Some remediation costs are still in the wings too.

This won't be the first and last time that a business proposition looked fine on the spreadsheet, but in reality some of the final numbers were a bit optimistic.

Permits that have been let go recently according to the full MD&A: Muirs, Garibaldi, the big Kakanui prospect, Moeraki, etc. Some of these still show as valid on NZPAM.

[elZorro]

NZResources have put out a lightweight article on Glass Earth today.


Glass Earth seeks to take over WKP management2 December 2013 The gold explorer Glass Earth Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: GEL) is negotiating to take over management of the big WKP gold joint venture in the Hauraki Goldfield from Newmont Waihi Gold.
Glass Earth Gold has been rationalising its exploration holdings and has virtually left prospecting on the South Island where it was also selling its small alluvial gold mining operations and shedding other properties.
The company said it was now focused solely on the Hauraki Goldfield with its joint venture on WKP, and also the Neavesville and Waihi West prospects.
Chief executive Simon Henderson said negotiations with Newmont, which holds a 65% stake in WKP, are advancing. To give the project greater momentum Glass Earth wants to assume management of the joint venture.
The proposal would be for Glass Earth to sole fund exploration to progressively increase its equity in WKP.
The company was looking at capital raising issues as it various options. Its cash position as at September 30 was a balance of $C423,000 with trade payables of $C1.368 million, some of which involved deferred payments to creditors of the South Island alluvial operations and money due to Newmont for joint venture costs on WKP.
Simon Henderson said Newmont has reserved its position in respect of the unpaid cash calls by issuing a default notice
Meanwhile, Glass Earth was moving from 50% to 100% ownership of the Neavesville prospect. Negotiations were underway with Eurasian Minerals to amend terms of the option agreement on Neavesville to defer a looming option payment deadline of December 31.
Henderson said that in looking at corporate refinancing the company believed that taking charge of WKP and having 100% of Neavesville will add value to the company’s profile and enhance the scope of attracting new funding.
The company announced an operating loss for the September quarter of $C482,000.

[elZorro]

On 11th December, the Pigburn mining permit no. 53814 was 100% transferred to Budd Hyndman, Hyndman Mining Ltd. This permit is beside 53183, an EP GEL still has at this stage. Budd was one of the Alexandra-based contractors working for GEL at Drybread, and I think GRU#3 was actually his, and he supplied some of the gold extraction equipment on a lease basis.

[elZorro]

My mistake, EP53183 (Maniototo) is also transferred to Budd Hyndman as at 11th December. This one is a bigger permit of nearly 4000Ha.

The permit list on GEL's website certainly needs a makeover.

There are only a few permits properly valid now.

40767, 52021, (52700 Wakapatu looks dropped), 53008, 53182, 53653, (54492 and 39336 100% owned under Goldmines NZ), 40598 and 40813 under JV with Newmont, and no progress on 52759 or 51767, Eurasian(Hauraki Gold).

[Aotea]

Hi all,
It's been a fair while since I read GEL on ST. And not pretty reading. Sorry to hear you longtime holders lost cash on this dog. I was in and out a couple of times and came out pretty neutral overall.

Don't want to slam the management on this one, but I know they have made a number of tenement ballsups. One claim they held in a smaller tenement was taken up by another outfit, drilled up and is now a large resource, I mean a large deposit. Would like to disclose how big, but can't. Another tenement a mate goes out a gets half oz mugs with his detector along the old lake manuherikea margins.

I personally have a 500hectare exploration permit on an old GEL tenement and expect it to prove up to a no brainier for commercial mining. I have three other spots GEL should have tested better where economic resources are highly indicating, just don't have the funds at this stage to drill them. What I'm saying is, it was a risk, but they cocked it up in my opinion. Anyone want to invest their funds into my projects would be a better thought out project...

It is easy to get caught up in it, I have lost in heritage gold..but junior miners on the ASX are cheap pickings for now..I wouldn't throw the house on the greyhounds. All the best and have appreciated your wise words and input over the last couple of years.
Aotea

[elZorro]

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

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

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


Tough year ahead for NZ gold production

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

[elZorro]

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

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

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/70550/glass-earth-takes-50-stake-ophir


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


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

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

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

[elZorro]

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

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

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/Projects.asp?ReportID=587121

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

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

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/244168/working-refloat-gold-dredge

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

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

[elZorro]

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

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

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

[elZorro]

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

http://www.glassearthgold.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=580979

[elZorro]

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



Major changes for Glass Earth

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



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

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

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

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

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

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=66349747&qm_symbol=GEL

Earlier press release about the WKP deal with Newmont.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=66349734&qm_symbol=GEL

[elZorro]

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

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

And now here is a curious situation, the Post Office Box is either being shared with this outfit (http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCsQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Factmad.net%2Fmadness_library%2FMi sc%2FINFO.TRIANGLE&ei=PbMiU_L1GISlkQXv4YHgBQ&usg=AFQjCNEyfS59t9v3rj42q4exHNHlgFcSbg&bvm=bv.62922401,d.dGI): or someone who might be slightly dyslexic has labelled all the new website pages with P.O.Box 46-108 Herne Bay, when they really meant P.O. Box 46-018 Herne Bay, which is the central post office box for 300 Richmond Road. (Now fixed, 16/3/2014).

The new website mentions that corporate governance rules are being amended at the current time to reflect the new company name. One set of rules that needs the name change is the corporate disclosure policy. (http://www.antipodesgold.com/uploads/2/6/5/2/26528820/corporate_disclosure_policy.pdf)These look like a great set of guidelines.

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

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

[bucko]

Ive been off work sick most of last week and I was quite suprised to find that sitting in my inbox when I came back!

I haven't been holding GEL since it tanked a while ago, made a pretty loss but I've still been keeping up to date with GEL hoping something will change so I have a reason to reinvest and hopefully a change of management will be that. In regards to the lack of disclosure I completly agree, never have i ever had to wait so long, I was getting more information from ElZ and local newspapers than from the company itself.

I have always been an optomist when it comes to GEL but I've learn't from my mistakes...I'm cautiously awaiting this to pan out

[elZorro]

Ive been off work sick most of last week and I was quite suprised to find that sitting in my inbox when I came back!

I haven't been holding GEL since it tanked a while ago, made a pretty loss but I've still been keeping up to date with GEL hoping something will change so I have a reason to reinvest and hopefully a change of management will be that. In regards to the lack of disclosure I completly agree, never have i ever had to wait so long, I was getting more information from ElZ and local newspapers than from the company itself.

I have always been an optimist when it comes to GEL but I've learn't from my mistakes...I'm cautiously awaiting this to pan out

Hi Bucko, yes I agree, there has to be some point where the capital value of GEL or Antipodes reaches a low, and maybe we've seen that already. Drawing a line across alluvial or placer efforts, the company still has a valuable cluster of permits and exploration IP reasonably near the giant Martha mine at Waihi, with close-by deposits and mill infrastructure largely controlled by Newmont. Newmont don't have operations at every point on the globe, but they are here at Waihi.

I've had a closer look at the Antipodes website. This one is understated, but it makes clear that WKP exploration/infill drilling is the core business from now on, and in particular the T-stream vein. The 43-101 report for WKP produced a limited gold resource figure, but partly because the T-Stream vein area had only about 3-4 drills through it. A lot more drills are required to get confidence intervals linked up to include larger areas of ore into a resource total. When gold prices are high and junior explorers are more favoured, each inferred ounce in-ground can be priced into company valuations at $20 or more, and mining companies reach more like $200 an ounce for P&P resources.

But even at $20 an ounce, Antipodes could optimistically expect a current valuation from WKP alone of about $5mill, but of course this is more valid once it looks like a mining opportunity. Newmont will probably be looking for 300-500,000oz plus of high grade underground (they've said so in the past) - this will be the target for Antipodes, to bring WKP back into their field of vision.

[elZorro]

Although I'm not at all interested in investing in them, I do find it interesting that nearly 5% of the GEL shares issued are currently on the ask side for 1c on the TSX.

GEL TSX (http://www.stockhouse.com/companies/quote/v.gel/glass-earth-gold-limited).

So my figures say that for just over $50k CAD you can have your very own SSH notice issued, without waiting, telling everyone you own 5% of them. If you have a bit of patients then possibly you could get your notice for half of that amount.

IMHO, If WKP held any future promise, wouldn't Newmont be grabbing all the nearly free shares they could? $50K CAD to Newmont is probably as important to them as a 50c coin is to one of us.

GEL, or what ever it is they're calling themselves now, will not be seeing even my 50c coin as an investment in their dream.

Not so Yankiwi, there are 5mill shares on ASK but they are at a range of prices, so they'd move upwards pretty fast should anyone decide to buy some. At 0.5c the entire company is valued at just $500,000, but already it looks like it's made a solid move to 1c. What would you get for C$1mill? A lot of box files on alluvial work, exploration reports, old wages bills, equipment bills, permit costs that are now irrelevant except to wider NZ as some of that data will end up with NZPAM. When the gold price moves up a bit more, smaller operators will make something out of it no doubt. But there is also the IP for the Coromandel permits, the new members and energy on the board, and of course the permits themselves. These are the best permits - the ones that are left - they are the select few from over maybe 60 permits that have been held.

I'm grumpy about losing some investment dollars on GEL too. But I won't be surprised if GEL/Antipodes recovers from this hiatus, and of course if it does, some money will be made by savvy investors who will buy in at the appropriate time. I try and make it a rule to never lose money on something I've invested time and cash into, I have learnt a lot from this process, and often apply that to other things I have a go at. So while I might not get back the losses on GEL with the new Antipodes, I will weigh up their proposition with other investments I could make.

Why did we get involved with GEL in the first place? To be investors in a greenfields explorer for hard rock gold in NZ. They may have wandered off the track a bit, but they still have something fairly interesting that needs checking out further. WKP.

[bucko]

so when are we renaming this thread?

i guess this announcement is a step in the right direction. I'm leaning towards Yankiwis views on this one, stung once and dont really want that to happen again for sure! Im just going to stay a keen observer i think

[elZorro]

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

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

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

Here's a link to some charts I compiled covering MCap and the funds paid into GEL. Some lessons that I don't want to forget. The main point is that the situation wasn't always a hiding to nothing for investors, and the best spot to be in, is investing at the bottom of a cycle. http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-Glass-Earth-IPO&p=427314&viewfull=1#post427314

[elZorro]

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

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

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




GEL


19/03/2014 16:20


HALT





REL: 1620 HRS Glass Earth Gold Limited





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





MEMORANDUM





To: Market Participants


From: NZX Client and Market Services


Date: 19 March 2014


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


Halt





Message:





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


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


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


business today, Wednesday, 19 March 2014.





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


completed before the consolidation.





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


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





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


with any queries.





ENDS

[elZorro]

Someone has renamed the GEL thread to AXG, cheers.

[Snow Leopard]

Thanks to Vince for changing the Thread title from Glass Earth to AXG - Anitpodes Gold.

I did try to do it myself but failed miserably :crying:.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

[elZorro]

Thanks to Vince for changing the Thread title from Glass Earth to AXG - Anitpodes Gold.

I did try to do it myself but failed miserably :crying:.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

PT, can I briefly say, that after so gallantly starting this thread all those years ago, this is your second post on it. That would probably imply that you are a reasonably smart investor, and use your time well. Congrats :) (Edit, Vince and yourself appear to have spelling trouble with Antipodes.)

Here is a press article on NBR from today, an interview with the new CEO, Thomas Rabone. Stuart Rabone, his father, is the lead author of a scientific paper on the geological structures and gold potential at WKP.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/glass-earth-gold-take-control-hauraki-jv-newmont-shrink-share-base-bd-153475

Looks like the exploration expenditure to October next year is not necessarily huge, maybe $730,000. That is the shortfall cash that is owed to the joint venture by GEL. By June 2015, there should be a preliminary economic assessment on WKP.

[Snow Leopard]

...Vince and yourself appear to have spelling trouble with Antipodes...

I have to take the entire blame for the spelling, which I have now corrected.

During the course of helping troubleshoot the "I started the thread but I can not change it's name bug" I obviously got a little careless.

Hopefully the new name (which is actually applicable from next Tuesday) and emphasis is a successful change for the company and all it's holders.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

[elZorro]

I have to take the entire blame for the spelling, which I have now corrected.

During the course of helping troubleshoot the "I started the thread but I can not change it's name bug" I obviously got a little careless.

Hopefully the new name (which is actually applicable from next Tuesday) and emphasis is a successful change for the company and all it's holders.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

Thanks for the encouragement PT - at the moment AXG is at a low point MCap wise, only time and some more exploration work will tell.

While the share is not trading here in NZ as per the ruling until Tuesday next week, I presume this is not AXG management's idea, because it is still trading on the TSX. Shares mostly traded at C1c on Friday, on the GEL ticker. The volume was relatively low, I guess most investors will wait and see what happens next week. A 10c shareprice will put it on the radar of more investors.


Reading between the lines, I think Antipodes Gold will have a modest drill programme in 2014-2015, after all, the drilling is expensive at WKP. Their last planning when Newmont were more closely involved mentioned $800,000 just to move the drill sites around for several drills. To contribute the $730,000 shortfall to the JV by late next year, they will possibly drill at close spacings so helicopter work is reduced, maybe multiple drills from one collar as they've done before. The hope will be that these drills fire up investor interest, so a more comprehensive programme can be achieved.

If AXG get to 51% of the JV, (needs another $3.2mill exploration expenditure) that's a powerful bargaining position when it comes to decision-making, but of course at that point there is no confirmed requirement that Newmont have to start contributing 49% of the ongoing costs (not that I noted anyway). Previously, Newmont's geologist team at Waihi sporadically worked on WKP. That team has apparently been severely reduced. Newmont's policy worldwide, at the moment, reportedly is to not do any greenfields exploration. They will develop existing resources. It's a real hunker-down attitude, obviously tied to the gold price and investor sentiment.

That policy means that they're able to move ahead with Correnso, a smart move, as it's high grade and close to their mill. This does give AXG some room to make a point over WKP in the meantime, but they'll need to find all the resources for that work themselves. I can see that the enthusiasm of Thomas Rabone, and the real-world experience of Adrian Fleming (who also has some capital backing) should be handy for the company. Simon Henderson is still on the board, I'm unsure if the paid side of his involvement is a full-time position or as a consultant.

Here's the company MCap and shareprice trend since the IPO, corrected for the dilutions.

[elZorro]

Based on the $730,000 to meet their JV costs, AXG could drill 2 holes at 500mtrs each, but the JV was intending to drill 9 or 10 holes in the next series I think.

The highest grades at WKP were in or near the JV discovery of the Central Zone's T-Stream Breccia. This vein is up to 5 metres across, the vein is continuous but the gold grades are not as well behaved. It still seems to be the most likely spot to start underground mining, and this is the area Antipodes Gold will be working in, for the near future. Grades were up to nearly 3oz/tonne in some parts of this vein, but it's the average grade that is more important. Of the 38 drills that have gone down into WKP (this is not many for a big area), WKP drills 24,25,26,31,33 painted a picture, the discovery being made in 2010-2011, and filled out since.

Look at pages 7.11 and 7.12 of this RPA document, the resource report.

http://www.antipodesgold.com/uploads/2/6/5/2/26528820/ross_2013.pdf

[elZorro]

The Northern Miner has produced an article on Antipodes Gold. This was posted on the AXG website yesterday I think. Interesting background, and there is also a 21 page investor presentation loaded on the website.

http://www.antipodesgold.com/uploads/2/6/5/2/26528820/glass_earth_reborn_as_antipodes_gold_reprint.pdf

In NZResources:


11/4/2014 — Gold
Antipodes tells shareholders it’s now a one-project company

Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) has told its shareholders that following the name change, capital and major boardroom changes it was now a single project company.
Until recently, it was known as Glass Earth Gold Ltd and as well as a new managing director in Thomas Rabone, it has essentially a new board and former CEO Simon Henderson has stepped off as a director but is now exploration manager.
In the share reconstruction Antipodes rolled back its issued shares on a one-for-10 basis, partly as a measure to be seen as a “tight” company to allow a capital raising to take place.
Rabone said the WKP gold project – a joint venture with Newmont Waihi Gold near Waihi in the Hauraki goldfield – was now the single project for the company.
The first inferred resource for WKP, produced in mid 2013 for Canadian market compliance, was 260,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 6.2 grams/tonne gold, at a cut-off grade of 3 g/t.
Antipodes said development of the T-Stream target at WKP was “compelling” as this zone was less than 25% tested and was open on strike and depth, with no drilling below 200 metres depth.
Near T-Stream the “Western Zone” has provided drill hits including 3.2m grading 37 g/t Au.
Rabone said the company was proposing a 5,000m drilling programme on this area.
Antipodes has re-negotiated the joint venture with Newmont Waihi to lift its equity from 35% to 51% and to take over project management.

[elZorro]

Perhaps this is part of the story about why those grades at Drybread were a bit lower than expected.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/9944704/Central-gold-theft

If the operation down there was properly supervised, we wouldn't be hearing about this sort of thing.

[elZorro]

AXG has published the full year report on SEDAR (30th April), but not on the TSX or the NZX yet. It's not a pretty sight. The Auditors produced strong warnings about the company not being a going concern, and refused to comment on most of the content. In fact the company at 31st Dec 2013 had $83,000 in cash, but owed well over a million to sundry creditors, most of whom have been put on hold (placer creditors, and Newmont). To top it all off, the asset value of just about everything has been dropped to a bare minimum, which is effectively $2mill for their share of WKP's permit. They'd have spent a lot more than that for their part of the exploration costs. KPMG didn't even accept that figure.

Well, that was a lot of money to blow away wasn't it? I hope a few people got something out of it.

[elZorro]

Maybe that's so, Yankiwi. I have been patiently waiting to see the annual reports posted on the AXG website, on the NZX, or on the TSX. Not yet, not yet. I suppose legally, the fact is that the data is there on SEDAR. All of the GEL files have now been renamed as AXG, so if you want to check back, they are still there, but need to be searched for through the Antipodes Gold company.

To spare anyone going through the reports, KPMG has provided their audit opinion at the front of the document. There was a bit of musing for the 2012 year books, but it was a lot more hard-nosed for the 2013 report.

[elZorro]

Antipodes Gold is going for a private placement to raise up to $2mill, announced overnight.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=67645846&qm_symbol=AXG

[elZorro]

Still no mention on either sharemarket about the annual reports being available to read on Sedar.


NZResources today: Henderson joins Aorere board

Geologist Simon Henderson has become a director of Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: OAR).
Until recently he was managing director of Glass Earth Gold Ltd which changed its name to Antipodes Gold Ltd and remains listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange’s Venture board and also the New Zealand junior board (NZAX).
Henderson remains on the Antipodes board as exploration director.
Aorere’s chairman Dene Biddlecomb said Simon Henderson brings a level of expertise to the company – perhaps an indication it will be looking at gold prospects in NZ and abroad, given a statement last week that the company was looking for new opportunities.



Actually this makes perfect sense: Chris Castle runs Aorere, and his office was in the same Straterra grouping on the first floor of 93 The Terrace, Wellington. He'll know Simon Henderson quite well. Aorere seems to have the same huge share numbers, with not much value per share. MCAP about 3.5mill at present. All of the permits dropped by Glass Earth will be in the mix here, some will be duds, but maybe there's some value to be had in others. However, it's like in any business, projects all require capital and time. How many of these can Aorere afford?

[elZorro]

Glass Earth /Antipodes have surrendered Neavesville North which was below Broken Hills mine, permit EP54492. Manorburn, which was transferred to Ophir Gold Ltd, has also been dropped. Antipodes still has WKP, and 40767, which is a permit underneath a large chunk of Waihi Township, beside Martha Mine. There are some other live permits too.

[elZorro]

Hard to say, Moosie.

What is more important for those clinging doggedly to their AXG/GEL shares, is that today NZPAM approved EP40598 for another 4 years.

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

This is WKP of course (35% AXG's), and requires a scoping study and 4500mtrs of drilling before the end of the term.

The Gun Club mining permit in S.I (MP52021) has been dropped.

[elZorro]

On the TSX today, an unusual screen shows up for the buy/sell bids. I've not seen N/A written there before.

[elZorro]

I think it's time for a synopsis on the current state of AXG, Antipodes Gold Limited, from my point of view. I have sold all of my shares a few months ago and taken the substantial losses.

Antipodes, being the renamed Glass Earth Gold company, is not a going concern, according to the auditors in the post above. It has lost nearly C$39mill of investors' money since it was set up in about 2006. It has a working capital deficit as at 31 December 2013 of about C$1,648,000. So even if the new capital raising of $2mill worked, they'd have very little of it left to actually do any exploration. Unless they intend to not pay the old bills. In NZ, that would mean you'd have trouble getting anyone to contract to the firm.

On the TSX and the NZX, no mention has been made by AXG that the annual report and MD&A is available, but it is resting in SEDAR, so they are legally OK there. But morally, it is very poor that they have not made access to these files more transparent on their website.

Here is a set of annual books that the auditors are not going to verify or honour with an audit. In particular, the value of the WKP permit. AXG think it's about $2mill worth, but it would appear that none of AXG's other permits have been worth anything much, except to defray some old bills with creditors who are otherwise stuck. They don't appear to sell well on the open market.

There is a company meeting in Vancouver this month, not sure who is paying airfares for the NZ connections. When I pointed out that there were no bids on the AXG market on the TSX, overnight a flurry of buy/sell bids appeared. Is this just window dressing? Maybe the shell losses in AXG are being prepared for another company's backdoor listing. Either way, this company doesn't look like the Glass Earth dream I was investing in.

[elZorro]

I'm glade to hear you too have realized this dream had turned into a nightmare and got the (I'll say this way for Moosie's benefit) H E double hockey sticks out while you still could.

The board & management must have had rocks in their head (not gold ones either) when things were getting critical for the company as a whole and they spent who knows how much on changing their name. Where's the benefit to anyone with interests in the company in a move such as that?

Since the time I've got out of GEL, I've had a few plays in the market. I made a few coin on a couple of choices and lost a few on a couple of others. When reflecting on my decisions, I decided that the market is not the place for me. I've sold off all of my holdings barring NTL. I still have belief in their crew and with a touch of luck, I'll be able to recover overall losses made elsewhere.

Yes, I might be in the same boat, I'll make those losses back sometime. I also recognise that outside my main work area, I'm a poor judge of other investments. It's fair to say that the managers of GEL/AXG have not lied per se over the positions they've taken with our funds, but it's the details they left out that scuppered our chances of making a dollar. Maybe also, a bit of bad luck that gold didn't just pop up in the right sort of concentration in any of the widespread permits.

On Friday, I heard this on RadioNZ. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2602132/frog-experts-worry-mining-company-might-damage-rare-habitat

Nice to know that the Greens and scientists can put together an article that is also short of many facts. Catherine Delahunty suggested that ACC should pull their money out of AXG. Good luck with that, maybe if they're successful in getting back $2mill we could all win. Their investment is now worth a paltry $50k. If that. The whole article didn't mention that Archey's Frog has never been found closer than 20km from WKP. (Not correct, see later post).

Drilling on WKP, expected within 2 years? So the game for AXG must be to sit back on very low overheads and hope everyone forgets what a poor investment it has been.

[elZorro]

I'll head out there and start digging the holes myself if ACC gives me a 30% stake. Seriously considering if I should get onto a Board of a company and start banging heads together with common sense (which ain't so common these days!)

How about this Moosie, if we came up with a good-looking proposition or project, a well written prospectus and the blather to go with it, could we see how long we can make $40mill last? I'm always amazed to see that there are always investment funds looking for a home, and while I wasn't able to contribute much in that line, I did more than enough due diligence, and still didn't find out what was really going on until the end.

Fake it, until you make it. That must have been their motto.

[elZorro]

Sounds good to me. During the Dotcom boom all you needed was an idea scribbled on a napkin pitched to the nearest venture capitalist. Fancy becoming a moose farmer? :p

Maybe we could make GRUs, ready for the next gold rush. At least we'd be at the right end of the business.

Just to keep you thinking while you are unpacking, AXG has let St Bathans go (they don't have many left at all), but has transferred the huge Kakanui prospecting permit (PP53297) to Skevington Contracting, who are running Drybread. It's about due to expire anyway, but maybe they're going to do something with it. It's the last major part of the big Otago permit area that GEL had. Those were the days huh? The expectations of grandeur.

[elZorro]

On 14th July, AXG transferred the ownership of the Manuherikia (EP53182) and Drybread (MP53653) permits to Skevington Contracting Ltd. This means that AXG has no prospecting permits, no mining permits, and one standard EP in the South Island, the interesting Sparrowhawk permit. But they still have a few extended EPs around Waihi, mostly owned with Waihi Gold (Newmont).

[elZorro]

Antipodes Gold has produced its first quarter report, and taken the opportunity to finally post the annual report on its website. The two part-time H.O. salaries are not being paid at the moment, but are accruing. Directors are providing short term loans of about $10,000 each. Not a going concern.

http://www.antipodesgold.com/financial-reports.html

[elZorro]

There has been a radio interview with Newmont about the Archey's frogs on the Coromandel, after the Greens ran the story I referred to earlier. Here is the interview in full.

http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general-news/2014/newmont-waihi-gold-update-09-07-2014/

Over three nights and days, 44 Archey's frogs were found in or near five 10m x 10m drilling sites, each 10km Southwest of Whangamata, in December 2012. Archey's frog grows no bigger than a thumbnail, and there are thought to be only up to 20,000 of them left. Newmont chose different drilling sites at four of the positions, to give the frogs a wide berth.

The rough location given in an earlier article (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11281804) (10km southwest of Whangamata) makes it look like it could have been work done in the WKP permit area, or possibly the Neavesville area. Maybe the frogs are more widely dispersed than the official sites suggest, they are hard to find without a concerted effort. Good to hear that Newmont would be happy enough to spend some funds on researching these very rare frogs. That sounds like a commonsense approach.

The poor investment record of GEL or AXG was skirted around carefully in the interview. We should have bought Newmont shares.

[elZorro]

What do you two make of one of the Directors escaping to AOR to be reincarnated?

Simon Henderson is certainly enthusiastic, he might also be a bit wiser from the experience he's had. Chris Castle has a similar background, and in business it's often those who try again after having a go at something, who succeed spectacularly. I'm not sure I'd put money on it.

The remaining unpaid part-time staffers of AXG, Peter Liddle in Auckland and Thomas Rabone in Wellington, will be residing over a tower of boxfiles and records, plus a heap of substantial old bills to pay. I'm really unsure what will happen out of that.

[elZorro]

The AGM is being held in Vancouver, might be done by now. The idea was to limit directors to four (Simon Henderson, Justin Cochrane, Adrian Fleming, Thomas Rabone) and to set auditors' fees. Plus any other business. Short meeting?

[elZorro]

No news available for AXG, but one of the major shareholders, Geoff Loudon, is managing to make a dollar or two with his alluvial operation at Earnscleugh, Otago NZ. It's on a reasonable scale.


6/8/2014 — Gold (NZResources)
Earnscleugh mine looks to better prices
By Ross Louthean
The privately operated gold mining dredge on the Earnscleugh flats near Alexandra in Otago is continuing to be a marginal operation.
Owner, Christchurch-based L&M Group, has undertaken some operating efficiencies and also electrified a major part of the floating dredge operations after it had sunk into the dredge pond several months ago.
The chairman of L&M Group, Geoff Loudon, in Kalgoorlie for Diggers & Dealers Forum, told NZResources.com that the change off dependency on diesel power has produced significant savings.
Production has built up at Earnscleugh and in a good month the dredge recovers more than 1,000 ounces of gold, and in the past low months on treating lower grades, the recovery was as low as 650 oz.
Loudon said the operation had a good team and not only was the flat gold price a bugbear, so was the strength of the Kiwi dollar to the American Greenback.




Back in 2011-2012 Geoff Loudon reported that the project has over 40 staff, and spends about $10mill p.a. locally. Looks like the income could be around $15mill p.a. if all goes right, at the curent gold price. The recent refloating of the GRU and electrification would have cost a bit.

[elZorro]

The high NZ dollar and steady gold price has mothballed and probably closed the Earnscleugh project. That's bad news, shows how hard it is to extract these alluvial deposits at low grade.


20/8/2014 — Gold
Earnscleugh dredge mothball hits local economy
By Simon Hartley
A depressed gold price and the high New Zealand dollar has forced the privately-owned Earnscleugh alluvial gold project near Alexandra to close - stripping 35 jobs and millions of dollars from the local economy.
The loss of the more than five-year-old project - considered to be the largest alluvial gold operation in the country - will hit the local economy hard, being one of the area's largest employers.
Sole director Geoff Loudon of Mintago Investments Ltd, part of the wider L&M Group, said the operation had succumbed to the prevailing low gold price, but more so, to the high New Zealand dollar.
“There's still more gold there, but it's been marginalised by the combination of [the gold] price, and New Zealand dollar,” he said.
The depressed gold price and rising production costs had similarly prompted hard rock miner OceanaGold Corporation to lay off about 270 staff and contractors, at both its West Coast (Reefton) and East Otago (Macraes) gold mines in recent months.
The Earnscleugh start-up phase of the project has been estimated at $3 million, with the company claiming about $10 M was spent in the area annually while, by 2012, the project was averaging about 750 ounces a month from Earnscleugh flats.
Only last December, the project owners had confirmed they were considering seeking an extension to continue mining past the consented April 2016 deadline.
Dredging for the alluvial gold started in July 2009 on the 150 hectare site, and had built into a 24-hour operation at Earnscleugh; targeting more than 110,000 ounces of gold during the seven-year project.
Geoff Loudon said the high kiwi dollar meant the $NZ gold price per ounce was reduced from $NZ2,000 to $NZ1,500 per oz.
“This [high dollar] has continuously been challenging the viability of the mine,'' he said.
While gold mining will cease within a month, there is a further six months of remedial work to restore and return the area to pasture grassland, he said.
L&M owns more than 400 ha of land in the immediate area, but no decision had yet been made on selling it, or whether the dredge will be sold or dismantled, L&M Group chief financial officer Shirley Herridge said.
It was “incredibly unlikely” the project could resume if the gold price strengthened, because the costs to re-start were prohibitive, she said.
L&M, which began as Lime & Marble in 1930s, is estimated in the past three decades to invested more than $50 M in exploration around Otago, Southland and the West Coast.
Loudon said since the operation started, the New Zealand and US dollar exchange rate had increased from US65c to US85c and there was no certainty where it would be long term.
Gold hit a record $US1,921/oz ($NZ2,262/oz) in September 20011, which encouraged many small mining operations to resume or kick-start production. However, during the past six months the gold price had been drifting around $US1,300/oz, or less; trading at $US1,299/oz on Monday.
At less than $US1,200/oz where it slumped last December, even the major high volume mines around the world come close to being commercially impaired.
The tenement at Earnscleugh flats had never been mined before, but was near the historic Earnscleugh tailings reserve, where gold was mined through the 19th and 20th centuries. The project had planned to move 32 M cubic metres of overburden soil, and wash about 14 M cu m of gravel.
“We'll rehabilitate the mine site for future agricultural use, leaving the land in a better state than when it was acquired,” Loudon said of the restoration; part of 132 resource consent conditions imposed by local councils.
“Continuous rehabilitation has been ongoing since 2012, creating quality pasture from previously unproductive land,' Loudon said.
He said the land restoration mirrored L&M Group's rehabilitation programmes at earlier projects at Glenore, Nokomai, Arahura, Rimu and others, which began in the 1990s.
Loudon wanted to thank everyone associated with the project during the past five years, including councils, local community, contractors and staff.
“Their hard work and enthusiasm under difficult circumstances has been appreciated''.
In January last year the company's 30m long by 12m wide, 400 tonne gravel dredge sank and took about 10-weeks to refloat, and had its diesel plant switched to electrical at the time.
Loudon said that this change had driven costs down from about $350,000 to $225,000 per month.
The Earnscleugh project operates under the wider L&M Group which in recent decades had been exploring for oil, coal and gas around Otago and Southland.
Mintago's majority shareholder is L&M Earnscleugh Ltd. A year ago Loudon made a successful almost $13 M takeover bid for dual listed L&M Energy, and delisted it from the NZ and Australian bourses.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.

[elZorro]

Damn, just as the NZD is about to tank and gold has settled @ $1300 USD p oz!

Since some/all remaining profit has to be spent on reinstating the ground (upgrading it to good pasture), the importance of this event for AXG is that a previous source of funding from an enthusiastic shareholder, could be at an end.

[elZorro]

Thanks for that, Yankiwi. It's a shocker. Here's how you can now buy shares in AXG for NZ 2c. Stump up with some much needed capital to keep the show going. You know, I effectively paid a lot more than that in the last capital raising, and it was so successful for them that they didn't really want my meagre cash. Relatively speaking. But now, $40,000 is a big deal. Welcome to the real world.

There is also a report on SEDAR, for up until the end of June 2014. This states that the company is not a going concern, had $4,000 in the bank at that stage, but owed a lot more. It also 'lost' another $120,000 in the last 6 months.


Non Going Concern
These financial statements have been prepared on a non-going concern basis.
For the six months ended June 30, 2014, the Group had a net loss of $120,000
(six months ended June 30, 2013: $12,105,000), working capital deficit of
$1,768,000 (June 30, 2013: working capital deficit of $1,641,000) with an
accumulated deficit at June 30, 2014 of $38,852,000 (June 30, 2013: $35,952,000).

(Tabular amounts in thousands of Canadian dollars)
For the six months ended June 30, 2014
Page 8 of 27
The Group has been unable to obtain sufficient financing resources to allow
the Group to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
Accordingly, the financial statements have been prepared on an alternative
basis. The Group has continued to apply the requirements of IFRS and NZ
GAAP taking into account that the Group is not expected to continue as a
going concern in the foreseeable future and the net assets are valued at their
realisable value where applicable. In addition the assets have been presented
in order of liquidity in the Statement of financial position.
The recoverability of the carrying value of mineral properties and the
Company's and Group’s continued existence as a Going Concern is
dependent upon the ability of the Company and Group to raise additional
financing, the preservation of its interest in the mineral properties, the
discovery of commercially recoverable reserves, the achievement of profitable
operations, and/or the Company's and Group’s ability to dispose of its
interests on an advantageous basis and, controlling expenditure. The business
of exploring for and mining of minerals involves a high degree of risk and
there can be no assurance that current exploration programs will result in
profitable mining operations...



They also noted that even the accruing tax losses are not recoverable for certain in future, as they have to trade through, to hold them. This outfit needs a white knight with a tax problem, pronto.

[elZorro]

The interests of Geoff Loudon (New Dawn) have offered a short-term overdraft facility to NZEC of up to $5mill. It's in place until March next year. This is presumably a safer bet than Earnscleugh or AXG.



26/9/2014 — Oil and Gas
New Dawn loan for NZEC’s Taranaki exploration

The Canadian petroleum company New Zealand Energy Corporation (NZEC) has gained a $NZ5 million loan which it says is the first step of a capital rebuilding process.
The company (TSX-V: NZ; OTCQX: NZERF) said it secured the loan from New Dawn Energy Ltd, a company linked with project partner Christchurch-based L&M Energy Ltd and its principal Geoff Loudon.
NZEC said this week that the working capital facility, for up to $5 M, is from New Dawn which it described as parent of L&M Energy, which is NZEC’s 50% partner in the Tariki, Waihapa and Ngaere (TWN) licenses it acquired last October.
L&M is also NZEC’s 35% partner in the Alton exploration permit, also in the Taranaki Basin.
“New Dawn’s willingness to advance funds is a strong vote of confidence in both the quality of the TWN Assets, and the ability of NZEC’s team as operator of the assets," said NZEC chief executive officer John Proust.
“The additional working capital will allow NZEC to undertake the activities required to further exploit the TWN Licences, with the objective of increasing oil production.”
For the past year, NZEC said it has been focused on increasing production and cash flow in the Taranaki Basin since closing the purchase of the TWN petroleum mining licenses from Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) last October.
A tightness on capital last year, not helped by high operating costs at the time, resulted in L&M Energy coming in as a 50% partner on the TWN leases and the Waihapa production facilities.
NZEC said this week it has focused on workovers and uphole completions on the new licenses, a significantly cheaper task than drilling new wells, that if successful, could easily tie into its Waihapa production station using existing infrastructure.
With the new capital, NZEC has the opportunity to expand on its strategy. It has already found four other production opportunities in existing wells on its TWN licenses, along with several new 3D drill targets in four different oil formations.
The Canadian company said it was also reviewing an opportunity at the Waihapa station that could allow liquefied petroleum gas to be extracted, bringing in additional revenue.
“NZEC has made progress in 2014 to right-size the business, reduce operating costs, and focus on its most promising assets in both the Taranaki and East Coast basins," said Proust.
"With this inflow of capital, NZEC’s technical and operations teams can apply the insight gained from nearly a year of operating the TWN assets to advance additional production and cash flow opportunities.”
So far, the company has advanced a total of 12 wells to production, including eight on its newly acquired TWN licenses. All of the TWN wells produce light ~41o API oil that is delivered by pipeline to the Waihapa production station and then piped to the Shell-operated Omata tank farm in New Plymouth, where it is sold at Brent pricing less standard Shell costs.
The loan facility, to the extent drawn down, will bear interest at 12% per annum with a maturity date of March 31, 2015. Interest is payable monthly, NZEC said, or may be capitalised with New Dawn's consent.

[elZorro]

Skevington Contracting has dropped a lot of EP53182, this formerly surrounded the Drybread alluvial mining area, but is now reduced to two interesting pockets at Matakanui and Cambrian/Blue Lake areas.

http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/Home/StaticMap?permit=53182

[elZorro]

The reasonably large dredge at Earnscleugh is being dismantled by L&M Mining. 13 staff have been retained to complete restoration of the farm around the site of mining (temporarily on hold for resource consent), and the others have all found work.

http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/320437/mineworkers-find-other-jobs

[elZorro]

For nostalgia's sake, here is an update on what Drybread looked like in early 2013. At this stage GEL still had hopes for the area, they were going to have a tough winter and cripple all their trucks in the mud, losing well over a million dollars of shareholder funds. Within a few months most of the workers were laid off, and Skevington Contracting picked up the pieces. Eventual loss for GEL was about $4mill.

Courtesy of google street view.

[elZorro]

Newmont Gold is progressing with the Correnso South orebody, located under Waihi East township. The glimmer of hope for AXG holders is that this orebody continues into the Southwest area of Waihi township, where AXG has a permit. It's one of the very few that is still current.

ftp://www.waihigold.co.nz/httpdocs/pdf/Update_061114.pdf

[elZorro]

It looks like AXG has been let off the hook over more commitments to Neavesville. I wonder who the mystery investor (http://landmineral.com.au/new-zealand/the-neavesville-project/) is?


17/11/2014 — Gold
Eurasian strikes new deal on Neavesville
By Ross Louthean
The Canadian mineral royalty company Eurasian Minerals Inc has struck a new deal on its Neavesville epithermal gold-silver project near Waihi in the Hauraki goldfield.
Eurasian Minerals (TSX-V: EMX & NYSE MKT: EMXX) said it has struck an agreement with Australian privately-held company Land & Minerals Ltd which it dubbed “L&M”.
There is a coincidence, but perhaps no more, in the fact that the previous company planning to acquire Neavesville was Glass Earth Gold (now Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) which before its name change and management change had the support of Christchurch-based Geoff Loudon who is principal of the NZ petroleum, coal and gold company L&M Group.
At the time Glass Earth dropped out of the Neavesville play it was running tight on capital and Geoff Loudon’s group was expected to either take up equity or have some other involvement with the prospect.
However, it all lapsed so Eurasian Minerals began looking for a new partner or acquirer of the property.
Eurasian Minerals said it had given Land & Mineral the right to acquire its subsidiary Hauraki Gold Ltd which controls Neavesille.
Hauraki Gold has also entered into a joint venture agreement and access agreement with the Pakirarahi 1B Trust, which controls surface rights across a majority of the project area.
Under the deal Land & Mineral must:


Reimburse Eurasian $C100,000 ($NZ112,000) exploration costs.
Make payment of 75 troy ounces of gold by the second anniversary of the agreement date.
Pay 600 oz of gold1 within 30 days of the third anniversary of the agreement date.
Undertake at least 3,000 metres of drilling in the first three years after the agreement date.
Further payments at the rate of 100 oz of gold per annum beginning with the third anniversary of the agreement until a start to commercial production, which may be credited against a deferred consideration.
Agree to pay amounts equivalent to 3% of net smelter returns from production from the exploration licenses; in any given year, Further payments made prior to production may be credited against up to 80% of the deferred consideration payable in that year.
Beginning with a decision to construct a mine based on a JORC (2012) feasibility level Technical Report that supports a positive production decision, payment of 0.01 oz of gold for each of the first 500,000 oz of contained gold in proven and probable reserves1. For any contained oz in reserves that exceed 500,000 oz over the life of the project, the gold payment to EMX will be reduced to 0.005 oz of gold per contained oz.

Eurasian said gold payments may also be made in equivalent US dollars at the then spot price of gold – the mode of payment to be at Land and Minerals’ election.
Failure to make the gold payments or achieve the required drilling would see Eurasian entitled to retake possession of Hauraki Gold or the permit covering the property.
Neavesville takes in a single exploration permit covering 30 square kilometres and several identified gold-silver targets.
One of the mineralised zones, Trig Bluffs, has an historic near-surface inferred resource reported as 3.2 million tonnes grading 2.7 grams/tonne gold and 8.9 g/t silver, for 289,000 oz gold and 944,000 oz silver.
In addition, says Eurasian, a separate higher-grade historic inferred resource of about 0.47 Mt @ 7.1 g/t Au and 20.7 g/t Ag, represents 107,000 oz Au and 312,000 oz Ag.
“The historic estimates should not be relied upon until they can be confirmed. However, the drill-delineated Trig Bluffs gold-silver mineralisation described by the IGNS (GNS Science) report is considered relevant,” Eurasian said.
The district had historic production from the high-grade Ajax Vein system, the single largest producing historic mine in the Neavesville camp, which is within the Pakirarahi 1B Trust land and will be the initial target of an upcoming exploration programme
“The vein has not been explored in recent decades, and only two modern holes have been drilled in the vicinity of the mine workings, both of which intersected mineralisation, with one drilled through a stoped cavity,” the company added.



Companies mentioned in article
Antipodes Gold Ltd (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/companyarticles.aspx?id=495)
Eurasian Minerals Inc (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/companyarticles.aspx?id=461)



Land and Mineral Limited (ACN 152 947 601) was formed in August 2011, had its most recent shareholding changes and a share issue in August 2013, and shares the same physical office and joint company secretary and accountant as Kidman Resources, who are listed under KDR on the ASX.

Leading directors for this new owner of the Neavesville prospect seem to be Gregory Seers and Jeff Bennett.

[elZorro]

The Neavesville prospect seems to be the Exploration permit (NZ) EP51767, still listed as owned by Hauraki Gold, in turn owned by EMX, a BVI headquartered company, which is Eurasion. I think last time I looked, a portion of the shareholding was owned by Newmont.

Hauraki Gold has dropped two other permits, one being the other Neavesville permit AXG were looking at, EP52759, in May 2014.

Meanwhile AXG languishes on the TSX at somewhere between C 2c and 3c a share, valuing whatever is left, at a few hundred thousand dollars. Considering the costs of exploration, the unpaid bills out there (although these are falling away), there is still some serious dilution of share value ahead, if AXG were to ever start exploring again.

I haven't seen anything new on the web from them, there will be a new quarterly report soon however. The company website appears static.

[elZorro]

I have had some time to reflect on my previous holdings in Glass Earth. It certainly looks like even the name change to Antipodes Gold (AXG) has not revived the prospects for the company so far. And nor should it - there is much to be learned and remembered from this company's past history.

The last quarterly report gives a half-year comparison between Jan-June 2014 and the same period in 2013.

http://www.antipodesgold.com/uploads/2/6/5/2/26528820/agl_consol_fin_stat_-_jun_30_2014_-_final_-_29_aug_2014.pdf

GEL lost over C$6mill in a 6 month period of the first half of 2013, as a result of the alluvial mining operation, and an almost complete backing away from their permits in the South Island. Their accumulated losses are over C$38mill since the company was floated in 2006. In the last report, the directors had each stumped up $10,000 as loans, but since then Chris Castle has loaned $40,000, presumably to repay the directors. The offered shares for this transaction (in case the repayment didn't occur), are valued at C2c each.

In the next three month report, we may see some of the permits being written down. The company is owed $129,000 from some debtors, but who these people are, is not spelt out. The company owes a lot more to others, of course. AXG is meant to spend $700,000 odd on exploration at WKP in 2015 to make up for the cash they haven't paid Newmont under the JV terms. They still owe people who supplied alluvial equipment on lease, and other loose ends.

As one of the smaller investors who supplied these people with the cash they needed to operate for a few years, I have to wonder if I could have expected these poor results. My point of view for several years, was that since they had so many permits and were covering such a lot of ground, they would surely find an El Dorado or similar. I did some due diligence, and thought they were fairly clever greenfield explorers, and genuine.

However, when it came to being alluvial miners, they were far out of their comfort zone. I can see the point of trying alluvial mining - the gold price was high, the exploration results hadn't been spectacular, maybe just bad luck on that score. Around this time Brent Cook had started touting the GEL shares. His interests probably did a lot better than anyone else involved with GEL, as the share cranked itself up, based on frequent reports to his client list from the field data at WKP. But most shareholders didn't make the most of this phenomenon, to exit.

When Brent Cook backed out of supporting GEL, and gold started dropping in price, shareholders were on a hiding to nothing. The alluvial work almost never turned a profit, and now we know it was a fairly badly run operation towards the end.

Without the confidence of investors, GEL or AXG cannot do anything in the near future. There don't seem to be any compelling reasons to expect this to change. One or two things are in their favour: there are a lot of tax losses sitting in the company, which can be valuable to some investors. Also, one or two of the permits are possibly of interest to Newmont. The permit under the rest of Waihi township (immediately East and South of the giant Martha pit), and of course WKP. Both have too few drillholes to be known assets. They will need a lot of cash spent on them, just to see if they are of any use.

With all this in mind, I wonder if AXG will simply be taken over by a bigger company at some stage, or will it be left as a backdoor company for some other aspirants for new shareholder cashflow?

I read the other day that a large proportion of backdoor listings fail or do worse than standard listed companies. GEL was an IPO, however.

I'm interested to hear what others think.

[digger]

elZorro, your not only flogging a dead horse,but your flogging an old pile of bones that only archaeologists could put back together to know that it was once a horse. And the tax lose can only apply if enough of the founding people that substained the lose in the first place. See an accountant on that one.



Now somewhere i see you are very careful on NTL prospects to put it mildly. I would like to hear your thoughts on that company.

[elZorro]

elZorro, your not only flogging a dead horse,but your flogging an old pile of bones that only archaeologists could put back together to know that it was once a horse. And the tax lose can only apply if enough of the founding people that substained the lose in the first place. See an accountant on that one.

Now somewhere i see you are very careful on NTL prospects to put it mildly. I would like to hear your thoughts on that company.

Digger, I wasn't sure of the tax rules for a public company, what you say is true for a private company, certainly.

I am being careful about what I say on NTL, because I haven't researched it well, and want to stay neutral about it at this stage. I did have some shares in it, but sold them a few months ago. Someone else who seemed to know a fair bit about the area, reckoned that all up, the amount of gold left in New Talisman is not a great deal compared to Martha mine and surrounds. Not the amount they are going for, anyway. I was hoping there were not too many parallels with GEL: moving from talking about mining, to actually doing it, and losing a heap of money in the process. But if they take it steady, there shouldn't be too much risk. They'll know if the ore coming out of the hillside is grading 1/2 oz/tonne or more, there should be plenty of cashflow.

[elZorro]

The third quarter report for AXG is out on SEDAR, dated 25th November. As for the last few reports, it's sad reading. None of the three part-time staff have been paid since the end of 2013. There have been some bills to be paid, including $30,000 odd under geological modelling etc. All up C$88,000 has come in from directors (NZ $40,000) and Chris Castle $40,000, $13,000 from someone else. C$70,000 has been spent approx, leaving $13,000 in the bank as at 30 September.

There are two permit areas mentioned only, Waihi West and Hauraki (WKP). WKP is still valued in the books at over C$2mill. By 31st December 2014, AXG is meant to repay C$595,000 to sundry creditors, under a deal that was struck in 2013. Chris Castle is likely to be paid in shares for his cash inflow, at C2c each.

In the MD&A, mention is made of the tough conditions for refinancing.



Antipodes Gold Limited - Management’s Discussion and Analysis
For the nine months ended September 30, 2014
AGL MD&A Report for Q3 2014 Page 13
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company, in common with many junior gold explorers, needs to refinance and/or restructure.
Management and the Board are now actively pursuing a restructuring. Funding is also required for its
continuing hard-rock activities and to cover General and Administration expenses.


Sounds like restructuring can mean a lot of things, particularly change.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restructuring

[Balance]

Holy Shxt - this dog has had a 5:1 and a 10:1 consolidation in the last 4 years and it is trading 2.5c?

The directors and management of this company has turned $10m in 2006 to $264k today - a loss of 97.36%!

How much of that has gone to them in salaries, fees and benefits?

What a freaking waste of time!

[elZorro]

Holy Shxt - this dog has had a 5:1 and a 10:1 consolidation in the last 4 years and it is trading 2.5c?

The directors and management of this company has turned $10m in 2006 to $264k today - a loss of 97.36%!

How much of that has gone to them in salaries, fees and benefits?

What a freaking waste of time!

Balance: I think what is interesting, is that perception is everything. AXG doesn't seem to be compelling at the moment, yet they have taken in something like around C$32mill of shareholder funds since 2006. There are not too many who will supply cash funds now, yet in early 2013 there was quite a bit coming in from investors, including me. The difference is that instead of spending most of the cash on exploration that didn't quite make it, from 2013 they scuttled about $4mill on (what turned out to be) a doomed alluvial project. It seems that might be their last chance in the current format.

It's not unusual for greenfield explorers to raise $2-$4mill, and spend it on exploration over a two year period, often to no avail. GEL/AXG managed that several times over, still to no effect. Bad luck? It's true that Simon Henderson and Peter Liddle earned reasonable salaries over the duration, plus travel and the use of some toys. Most of the capital was spent on external contractors, the govt for permits, company staff including geologists and students etc. And in buying gear and permits from Otago people, who were smarter than Mr Henderson and Mr Liddle.

It has been an interesting journey.

On the TSX yesterday, AXG announced that they have given up on the raising of more capital via shares. Instead, they are in negotiations with an unnamed third party. Considering Newmont are owed the most from AXG contract commitments, and that the AXG permits that remain are on their Waihi doorstep, it doesn't take too much of a sleuth to guess who the party is.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=71897389&qm_symbol=AXG

There was apparently no need to post the same info on the NZX today, two days later.

[Balance]

So how much have the directors and management stripped in fees, salaries and benefits from this company?

You must know, elZorro, since you follow it so closely?

Genuine question.

[elZorro]

So how much have the directors and management stripped in fees, salaries and benefits from this company?

You must know, elZorro, since you follow it so closely?

Genuine question.

I would estimate say up to $50k in travel, $450k in salaries and directors fees (they paid very little to directors), per year. More recently, the directors have had to pay cash back in, and no pay for part-time staff. Not a big proportion of the funds that came in, were spent on directors and management. They usually had about $3mill a year to work with, on average.

About C$32mill came into the company as shareholder funds.

http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-AXG-Antipodes-Gold-formerly-GEL-Glass-Earth&p=427314&viewfull=1#post427314

[Balance]

I would estimate say up to $50k in travel, $450k in salaries and directors fees (they paid very little to directors), per year. More recently, the directors have had to pay cash back in, and no pay for part-time staff. Not a big proportion of the funds that came in, were spent on directors and management. They usually had about $3mill a year to work with, on average.

About C$32mill came into the company as shareholder funds.

http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-AXG-Antipodes-Gold-formerly-GEL-Glass-Earth&p=427314&viewfull=1#post427314

So if you add up the number of years they have been listed, a big chunk of funds have gone in salaries, fees, travel, cars, health & life insurance etc.

Also, considerable amounts have gone to investors' relations - $392,000 eg in 2011.

As for the C$32m, most of it was a write up of minerals prospects.

Anyway, good luck.

[elZorro]

So if you add up the number of years they have been listed, a big chunk of funds have gone in salaries, fees, travel, cars, health & life insurance etc.

Also, considerable amounts have gone to investors' relations - $392,000 eg in 2011.

As for the C$32m, most of it was a write up of minerals prospects.

Anyway, good luck.

What do you mean, good luck? My reason for continuing to post about AXG is to inform anyone else who might be thinking about investing in the company, to take a careful look first. I am not a shareholder anymore. There might be a lesson in how to get a reasonably large (for NZ) exploration company off the ground, even if they didn't make it. While I know they left out, or hid away, a few pertinent facts sometimes, I didn't catch the directors or managers outright lying. I also think their salaries were sensible in the scale of the company.

A large proportion of the funds raised was spent on exploration activities, with drilling crews, aerial surveys etc. More ended up in the economy as wages and lease fees.

The big lesson is that before starting out on a mining operation, make sure there is a good margin. No solid margin, don't start.

ACC sold a few shares and is now holding slightly less than 5% of AXG.

https://www.nzx.com/companies/AXG/announcements/258017

[Balance]

What do you mean, good luck? My reason for continuing to post about AXG is to inform anyone else who might be thinking about investing in the company, to take a careful look first. I am not a shareholder anymore. There might be a lesson in how to get a reasonably large (for NZ) exploration company off the ground, even if they didn't make it. While I know they left out, or hid away, a few of pertinent facts sometimes, I didn't catch the directors or managers outright lying. I also think their salaries were sensible in the scale of the company.

A large proportion of the funds raised was spent on exploration activities, with drilling crews, aerial surveys etc. More ended up in the economy as wages and lease fees.

The big lesson is that before starting out on a mining operation, make sure there is a good margin. No solid margin, don't start.

Don't waste your time then would be the advice - lost cause stocks like AXG (or more accurately, GEL) are a dime a hundred.

Nobody half smart is going to sucked in and contribute to the directors and management mining lifestyles.

[elZorro]

Don't waste your time then would be the advice - lost cause stocks like AXG (or more accurately, GEL) are a dime a hundred.

Nobody half smart is going to sucked in and contribute to the directors and management mining lifestyles.

I've seen the shared services office in Auckland, Balance. That wasn't a lifestyle spot, they were fairly careful with office overheads. They made some big mistakes with equipment at Drybread though.

Most of the exploration money was spent with contractors and in writing up the required reports and data to be handed across to NZPAM. Including the large aeromagnetic surveys, now available to new explorers.


5/12/2014 — General
The big Government spend on exploration will be airborne
By Simon Hartley
Most of the $8 million the Government is putting into mineral, and oil and gas geotechnical studies will be spent on aerial aeromagnetic surveys - including more over Otago.
In its Budget in May, the Government set aside $8 M to spend over four years on studies around the country, with Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges saying yesterday about $6.4 M was for new aeromagnetic and specific geotechnical studies.
The findings go into a data base of permitting agency New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals, which international exploration companies can access, to encourage them to apply for exploration permits.
Combined with previous aerial surveys, including the biggest which was around Otago, the new surveys would lift coverage to about 30% of New Zealand's total land area.
“The data collected will have a wide range of applications in fields such as geological mapping and geological hazard assessment, as well as potential mineral exploration,” Bridges said.
One of the most active explorers in recent years former Glass Earth Gold - now Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AGX) - combined with the Otago Regional Council in a $4 M aeromagnetic survey of Otago in 2007, covering 1.3 million hectares, used for broad use, not just exploration.
Glass Earth had spent more than $40 M prospecting around mainly Otago, but sold its boutique alluvial operations in Central Otago in mid-2013, switched its focus to central North Island tenements, then rebranded as Antipodes.
Following the earlier Otago survey, the Government had since surveyed Northland and the West Coast in recent years, with the next aerial programme shifting focus to Nelson-Marlborough, Southland and parts of Otago, Bridges said.
Providing comprehensive data to potential investors helped New Zealand compete on the international market for petroleum and mineral exploration and development, he said.
“Good data can tip the balance of investment decisions in our favour,” Bridges said.
The Government would spend $1.6 M on petroleum data projects and studies, including a national project to audit well outcomes and by gathering additional (offshore) frontier basin data through NIWA's research vessel, the RV Tangaroa, he said.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.



Companies mentioned in article
Antipodes Gold Ltd (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/companyarticles.aspx?id=495)
New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/companyarticles.aspx?id=368)

[elZorro]

Further to the above post, in this 2008 article it's obvious that a big chunk of the raised funds was spent on exploration. Back then, Simon Henderson was convinced that only good drilling results would keep the funding going.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/9942/glass-earth-drilling-under-way
(http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/9942/glass-earth-drilling-under-way)
It was probably only when general interest in greenfield explorers dried up worldwide after the GFC, that the idea of doing some placer/alluvial mining for extra cashflow gained more prominence. The gold price had reached a high by then, and was only to trend backwards. If they'd been lucky enough to find a pocket of good grades close to the surface, this would have worked well. But the gold at Drybread was very fine, locked into clay, quite a way down, and generally a shallow layer at low grade. They excavated it and trucked it to GRUs. Looking back, it was a big ask to make it profitable.

As far as permits go, well Glass Earth has had a few. At the moment they have just two locked into their name at NZPAM: Sparrowhawk in Otago S.I, and Waihi West in the Waikato, N.I.

I've always suspected that the Waihi West permit, being under most of Waihi township and right beside the gaping Martha Hill mine excavation, is a proxy for Newmont's holdings. Newmont are of course tunnelling away under the East part of Waihi township in a highly directed and safe way, to extract a high-grade gold resource from their own permit, after gaining approvals. They will need this to work, to keep their mining staff levels as they are now, with other nearby gold resources being run down over time.

Perhaps, over time, Newmont will look harder at the Waihi West permit, currently 100% held by Glass Earth (no name change on record). Sparrowhawk in Otago had some drilling when it was a bigger permit, and I've forgotten the details about this one, but it was more prospective than most of the GEL permits that we heard of. There has to be a reason that this one wasn't surrendered or traded in lieu of accounts owing.

Antipodes /GEL also have the one or two joint permits with Newmont covering the WKP exploration area north of Waihi, which at one stage they were mentioning could hold over 3Moz of gold. It is not permissible to make these kinds of official statements without qualifications under TSX rules, so now the market is being told about the 101 figure of an estimated 290,000oz of gold in one area of WKP that has been drilled enough to measure it approximately.

With their backs up against the wall and nothing happening at Antipodes without funds, while debt payment deadlines from creditors approach rapidly, I guess we'll see some kind of announcement soon. Newmont would seem to be in the driver's seat here, although OGC is also looking for underground mining investment propositions in lower wage countries.

The Company’s cash position as at September 30, 2014 was $13,000 (September 30, 2013: $423,000)
with Trade Payables of $1,357,000. Payment of $595,000 of these Trade Payables is subject to deferred payments (up to December 31, 2014) while the Company refinances.

A further $677,000 of Trade Payables is owed to joint venture partner Newmont Mining, repayable by sole funding exploration activity by October 2015.

The Company has reduced its staff down to three office holders who are part-time and are unpaid since
December 2013. The Company has reduced its non-exploration expenditures to the absolute minimum.

[elZorro]

At least GEL was not as short-lived as MCAM Ltd (another greenfields explorer) appears to be.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/64117346/uk-company-tries-to-recover-1m

Although MCAM Minerals had a good write-up in the ODT recently.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/321931/mcam-target-gold-platinum-gravels

GEL took over some Platinum/Gold-style permits from Bob Kilgour down in Southland, even had one or two of their own, but I think these were let go or transferred in lieu of creditor payments.

[elZorro]

Start of the new year, which means AXG needed to repay some old debts by now, and their Sparrowhawk permit EP 53189 (http://data.nzpam.govt.nz/PermitWebMaps/Home/StaticMap?permit=53189)in the S.I. also requires a 30 month report to NZPAM, which is to include drilling and trenching results (90% owned by AXG). Meanwhile the shareprice is getting hammered, down to C1.5c on the TSX. No major volume being sold, of course. But the market values the company and its net assets at about the same as a beaten-up state house in a provincial town.

There are no doubt some big shareholders who have put in over a million dollars of cash each, wondering if Simon and co. can pull a rabbit out of the hat. And also, perhaps, wondering what the initial market valuations were based on.

[BFG]

Time to wind it up and hope for another company to come along to chuck into the shell? Kim Dotcom is always looking to chuck another monstrosity onto market ;)

[elZorro]

Time to wind it up and hope for another company to come along to chuck into the shell? Kim Dotcom is always looking to chuck another monstrosity onto market ;)

I think Kim will be working on MEGA for a while yet. He has a new CEO looking to convert more freebie customers into paying customers.

A lot of the relinquished GEL/AXG permits in Otago were 10% owned by Mark Gunton, of Westgate fame (as New Zealand Minerals Ltd). He, in turn, has been working on a ten-year project in his area of expertise, and it has started paying off.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11155295

NZM also has two minerals permits, 100% owned. The emerging pattern is one of previous backers of GEL moving on, still taking a punt on their discrete projects, but not being interested in the AXG offering.

[elZorro]

I will keep an eye out for news on AXG, but last year the first official report to SEDAR didn't come out until the annual report on 30th April (closeoff is 31st December). The TSX shares are now trading at 1c, with two NZ bids on the NZX at 1.1c and 1.3c.

[elZorro]

Fresh capital was being sought by April 2014, and here is the page from the Rabone presentation showing key shareholders at that point. ACC has sold down some shares since. Not sure about anyone else on the list, but they don't seem to be putting up the new funds. Drilling at WKP was supposed to be restarting in June 2014.

Instead, AXG are pursuing a restructuring with an un-named third party, as announced in November 2014.

[elZorro]

Nothing to report, except that after a quick investigation of the Antipodes Gold website, it appears that they've used the FREE version of Weebly website builder, which means no video or audio player, and an ad on the bottom of each screen. I'm not sure if that's how you impress new investors with the required deep pockets.

http://www.websitetooltester.com/en/reviews/weebly-review/

http://www.antipodesgold.com/

[robbo24]

Nothing to report, except that after a quick investigation of the Antipodes Gold website, it appears that they've used the FREE version of Weebly website builder, which means no video or audio player, and an ad on the bottom of each screen. I'm not sure if that's how you impress new investors with the required deep pockets.

http://www.websitetooltester.com/en/reviews/weebly-review/

http://www.antipodesgold.com/

Hahahaha - how very sad! :D:D:D:D:D:D

An 8 year old child could make the same website for their lemonade stand...

[elZorro]

Hahahaha - how very sad! :D:D:D:D:D:D

An 8 year old child could make the same website for their lemonade stand...

I wonder how the restructure is going.

According to this website (Macroaxis), which seems to automatically scrape the web for data and put up charts and predictions for any listed company, AXG is in a bit of trouble. Some of their data is out, but I feel this part of the analysis is accurate.

http://www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/AXG.NZ--Probability-Of-Bankruptcy

On 26th January 2015, Antipodes Gold surrendered EP53189 with NZPAM, this was the 6400Ha Sparrowhawk permit in Otago. Maybe it had been for sale, but in any case it could be an opportunity for someone, later on.

[elZorro]

Periodically, I update a basic speadsheet on the permits that GEL or AXG hold with NZPAM, the govt permitting outfit.

First note: Antipodes Gold appears to have no permits at all, perhaps they haven't bothered with any name changes since last year.

Second note: Glass Earth is mentioned in only three currently running permit records that I can see.

EP40598: the WKP area and surrounds, above Waihi, up in the bush. Waihi Gold (Newmont) have 65% ownership, GEL have 35%. The operator is listed as Waihi Gold. Not Antipodes Gold, whatever they might say in their press releases.

EP40183: Glamorgan, a permit beside the WKP area. 65% owned by Waihi Gold, they are also the operator.

EP40767: Waihi West area, this is mostly under the south-west part of the Waihi Township. It's right beside the massive Martha Hill mine, that is nearly mined out. The Correnso targeted mining area is across to the east from here. NZPAM show that this permit is 100% owned by Glass Earth Gold, and they are the operator. However under an earn-in, Waihi Gold have done some drilling and exploration here (Not Glass Earth), and Waihi Gold (Newmont) should have 60% of this permit under that agreement. It's likely that they are quite happy at this stage to leave it in Glass Earth's name.

Glass Earth or Antipodes Gold owed Waihi Gold $720,000 for previously agreed exploration work that has been completed. In March 2014 the two parties set out a new agreement where AXG needed to spend that same amount on approved exploration of WKP by October 2015, and some new rules from then on. They are only the project Manager, not the Operator.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=66349734&qm_symbol=AXG

Of course, at this stage AXG have no funds at all, and don't look like getting any before October.

[elZorro]

On 12th Feb 2015, Oceana Gold was granted a 2 year prospecting permit over 10,9764 Ha, immediately southwest of their main mining permit at Macraes. The curious thing is that this permit is called Lot's Wife, and Glass Earth had an Exploration permit for the same area under the same name, also about 11,000 Ha, from July 2005 to July 2010.

Maybe they missed something.

[elZorro]

It's not so great across the Tasman, either.


18/2/2015 — General
Geoscience jobs continue to fall in Australia
By Ross Louthean
One of the major geosciences bodies in Australia has raised concerning statistics that also impact on professional employment in New Zealand.
The Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) this week released figures showing that unemployment for geoscientists was continuing to rise.
The degree of the problem has been well shown in news reports showing massive cutbacks in the Pilbara iron ore fields and coal fields of Queensland and New South Wales.
There is also the fact that more than 80 listed junior explorers on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) have “zombie” classifications – insufficient funds to last the next six months without considering exploration.
AIG said its latest survey for the December quarter showed that an uptick in jobs in the previous quarter was short lived.
The survey showed the unemployment rate among 666 respondents in the latest survey was 15.5%, a full 2% higher than the rate for the end of the September quarter. The under-employment rate in the latest survey among self employed geoscientists rose to 16.9% from 15.4% in the previous quarter.
The unemployment rate of 15.5% was the second highest recorded since the AIG started this survey in mid 2009.
“The combined unemployment and underemployment rate of 32.4% was also the second highest recorded by this survey,” the AIG said.
Self-employed geoscientists continued to struggle with more than a third unable to secure more than 10% of their desired workload. Were these self-employed geoscientists to be considered to be essentially unemployed, the overall unemployment rate would be a staggering 21.3% - more than one in every five geoscientists in Australia today.
The latest survey showed 12.2% of the geoscientists lost their jobs in the previous three months. Almost 40% had been unemployed for more than a year.
The survey showed more than 66% of unemployed or under-employed geoscientsits were not confident of returning to full time employment in their chosen field within 12 months, and 6% were seeking alternate employment.
“The increase in unemployment amongst Australia’s geoscientists in the final quarter of 2014 will be seen as very disheartening by many in the profession,” commented AIG president, Wayne Spilsbury.
“The employment downturn, since it peaked at the end of 2013, has shown little sign of improvement whereas the GFC in 2008 to 2009 was a short, sharp event.
“The current, continuing downturn appears to be a product of sustained depressed commodity prices which has dampened equity markets, contributing to a marked decrease in exploration funding that is essential to the sustainability of Australia’s minerals and energy resource industries and Australia’s continued economic prosperity,” Spilsbury added.
Western Australia, which had been the boom State that also was a mecca for geoscientists and other mining professionals and skilled workers from New Zealand, has borne the brunt of the downturn.
Spilsbury said that some promised incentives and initiatives from the Federal and some Australian State governments have failed to stop the rot.
Another peak industry body, the AusIMM, has been raising concerns about the massive loss of jobs for its members, which include geoscientists, mining engineers and metallurgists.

[elZorro]

In the first bit of news since - well - months ago, Newmont has been officially awarded 50% of the Waihi West permit that was previously recorded as 100% Glass Earth's. No money would have changed hands, this is just a tidyup. Newmont can do a bit more work and gain 60% of the permit.

https://www.nzx.com/companies/AXG/announcements/260911
(https://www.nzx.com/companies/AXG/announcements/260911)
This is permit EP40767, NZPAM have not updated the records yet.

[elZorro]

A followup from the Newmont side: to inform the public what's going on, they have this info in NZResources:

25/2/2015 — Gold
Newmont outlines Waihi West role

The North Island’s sole major hard rock gold miner, Newmont Waihi Gold said that with closure of the Martha open pit scheduled to occur next year, and the new Correnso underground mine having a known resource for only a few years, it makes sense for the company to advance a regional joint venture in the area.
Newmont Waihi Gold (NWG) is a subsidiary of global gold miner Newmont Mining Corporation.
The company has now earned a 50% stake in the Waihi West property of Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG).
This property is adjacent to NWG’s Martha open cut which has been the biggest historic gold producer on the North Island, and it is also adjacent to NWG’s recently completed Trio underground mine.
“What this means is that we have been funding and conducting the exploration work on and off since 2006, and this has now earned us a half share of the prospect and formalised the joint venture,” said NWG’s external affairs coordinator Kit Wilson.
Wilson says this type of arrangement was normal in the mining industry where junior exploration companies such as Antipodes may hold a tenement and the right to explore or prospect in the area, but they do not have the financial backing to be able to conduct all the work.
Newmont has the same joint venture agreement with Antipodes Gold at the Wharekirauponga (WKP) tenement on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Kit Wilson said Newmont was currently conducting exploration drilling from the closed Trio mine under residential areas to the south-west in the Antipodes Gold tenement, and from inside the Martha open pit under farmland to the north-west in a tenement held by Newmont.
“We have always said that we would like to be here for the long term. We also have always said that just because we are drilling in an area this does not mean that mining will follow. As an example, in the last three decades we have drilled just over 300 kilometres of core and developed just three mines. That’s enough drill core to stretch from Waihi to Coromandel town three times over.”





Last I heard, the exploration dept at Newmont Waihi Gold had been severely reduced. They would still be able to use local drilling rig contractors to perform some drills from discreet sites, and this seems to be what they have done.

Coincidentally, the Antipodes Gold website was unavailable last night, and is still down. Getting a makeover?
Edit: no link to www.antipodesgold.com (http://www.antipodesgold.com). Try www.antipodesgold.co.nz (http://www.antipodesgold.co.nz) (that works). Not a free website anymore..



Now I'm wondering that if Newmont is the third party looking over AXG, although at current share prices it could be anyone, their main interest could be that permit under part of Waihi Town. Yet there has been virtually nothing mentioned about this permit by GEL or AXG for years. Originally there was some mention of the aeromagnetic data in the area suggesting that there could be known gold veins from the east of the site extending into the permit. GEL were never allowed to make much noise about the permit (http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/8695877/Goldmining-giant-to-explore-most-of-Waihi), a directive from their JV partner. It has always been effectively in Newmont's control.
(http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general-news/2015/newmont-waihi-gold-conducting-exploration-drilling-and-business-as-usual/)
From 2013: Newmont announced they were having a quiet look.

http://www.newmont.com/files/doc_downloads/australia/waihi/media_releases/NWG-Media-Statement-Waihi-West-200513.pdf

[elZorro]

NZResources added some detail in May 2013.


22/5/2013 — Gold
Newmont Waihi evaluates South and West Waihi permits

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.”

[elZorro]

One of my old 2012 posts from this thread gives some detail on the Waihi West Permit, EP40767, direct from Simon Henderson.

http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?4019-AXG-Antipodes-Gold-formerly-GEL-Glass-Earth&p=367744&viewfull=1#post367744

Its ownership has not been officially changed yet. It is due to expire in December 2015, but there will be an application to extend the duration I'm sure.

Since Newmont are drilling from the Trio Mine, which is just outside the RHS or East of the 40767 permit, it would seem that they are concentrating on the area of the permit closest to the Correnso find. That would make sense from a logistics point of view, and they have done gravity surveys. The Correnso find was also a vertical cone shape, I think.

They are also drilling in a NorthWest direction into a Newmont-held tenement, that would possibly be drilling from the northern side of the Martha pit wall, a different target.

This dewatering report from the local council also shows some of the local faults. They run into the Waihi West permit. Looks like there have been mine shafts/inclines into the area from the Martha Pit, as well. They show up as settlement areas.

http://www.hauraki-dc.govt.nz/Files/district_docs/mining_docs/NWGDewateringSettlement2012.pdf

Speaking on General Security Deeds of the type AXG provided to Newmont: if this one from Rabobank is anything to go on, it's not the type of document that you enjoy signing. Newmont are using something like this for security over outstanding obligations by AXG, for both WKP and Waihi West.

http://www.rabobank.co.nz/Global-Content/Forms/Documents/9623_Form-GSA-NZ.pdf

[elZorro]

The local radio station at Waihi (Gold FM) seems to be a font of information about the Newmont operations there. In a recent interview, Kit Wilson was asked for his comments on a range of topics.

In particular for AXG investors, this part about the exploratory drilling isn't quite so hot:


Question: You are conducting exploration drilling to the northwest of the Martha open pit and to the southwest of the completed Trio mine under Union Hill. What does this involve? Where are you drilling from and to? How do you drill? Is it underground? Is this part of the Martha Project?

Answer: Newmont is drilling out from the Martha pit and from the Trio underground mine which is finished. "What we're doing is having a last look to make sure that we're not leaving anything behind before we move into closure mode. We haven't got anything else at the present time so this is our last look."


The whole interview is here: http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general-news/2015/newmont-waihi-gold-east-ender-update/

[elZorro]

Newmont has put out another press release about exploratory drilling. This time there is a bit of detail. It shows one long drill area heading West into the 50% AXG Waihi West permit from the completed Trio mine, and surprisingly another smaller drill from the Martha Pit towards the northern part of the same permit, in the area where it borders on a fully owned Newmont permit.

http://www.nzresources.com/attachments/7002/NWGexploration_lr.pdf

"Just looking, thanks"

[elZorro]

Antipodes Gold has just put out a news release, I was googling, not expecting to see anything, it has been out for about an hour. This means that the Canadian market can trade on it, but it's the weekend in NZ. Typical of AXG management. The bigger money gets looked after first.

Newmont has intercepted a sizeable gold vein in Waihi West.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=74418985&qm_symbol=AXG

Newmont have their own assay lab, or a tame assay lab, so they will have known about these results for a while, as they were being tested. A few weeks ago I posted on this thread that Glass Earth Gold still technically had 100% ownership of the Waihi West permit, and that it was not quite the case. I was surprised to see a flurry of reads of that post, and soon after Newmont had obviously applied a legal document to that permit, and WKP, ensuring their interests were properly noted.

Anyway, I'll have a look at the release, it's just the results from one drill, but the grade is up to nearly half an ounce, that's not too shabby for a 10mtr wide vein.

[Carpenterjoe]

Antipodes Gold has just put out a news release, I was googling, not expecting to see anything, it has been out for about an hour. This means that the Canadian market can trade on it, but it's the weekend in NZ. Typical of AXG management. The bigger money gets looked after first.

Newmont has intercepted a sizeable gold vein in Waihi West.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=74418985&qm_symbol=AXG

Newmont have their own assay lab, or a tame assay lab, so they will have known about these results for a while, as they were being tested. A few weeks ago I posted on this thread that Glass Earth Gold still technically had 100% ownership of the Waihi West permit, and that it was not quite the case. I was surprised to see a flurry of reads of that post, and soon after Newmont had obviously applied a legal document to that permit, and WKP, ensuring their interests were properly noted.

Anyway, I'll have a look at the release, it's just the results from one drill, but the grade is up to nearly half an ounce, that's not too shabby for a 10mtr wide vein.

Thanks elZorro,




Sounds like there could be the tiniest bit of hope regarding my pitiful GEL holding, wait I mean AXG.

[elZorro]

Thanks elZorro,


Am I right in assuming this is not associated with the vertical drilling that is underway at Martha?

Sounds like there could be the tiniest bit of hope regarding my pitiful GEL holding, wait I mean AXG.

Hi Carpenterjoe, I sold off my AXG shares in 2014 so I wouldn't waste too much time and energy worrying about it. The reason I was involved at all was because with so many permits, surely one of them had to work at some stage. I waited for a few years and didn't see it through. Note that now they just have part ownership in the WKP area and Waihi West, and the latter permit was never mentioned much because Newmont was really in control of it. That's a good thing, because they always have the capital and the proximity to be able to do something. What happens next, when AXG is asked to stump up for some more cash to co-fund drilling at the 40% rate? The cupboard is bare, well, worse than bare. AXG will surely need a cash injection of say $2-4mill just to see them through some more drilling and to stay in the game. At the moment, the TSX says the company is worth about $400k, twice what it was worth three hours ago. That spells even more share dilution, the likes of which the sharemarket doesn't see too often. GEL/AXG had only a brief time when it was valued at more than the cash thrown at it by shareholders. I think it has burned through $35-45mill so far, its a lot anyway.

If AXG rebounds on the market to 15c and holds (instead of falling to 1.5c) just on this press release, that would be a good starting place for capital raising. It's a long way up to there though.

Hence AXG is looking at restructuring with an anonymous third party. Could the third party be Newmont, or one of the many investment vehicles run by Geoff Loudon?

[Carpenterjoe]

Hi Carpenterjoe, I sold off my AXG shares in 2014 so I wouldn't waste too much time and energy worrying about it. The reason I was involved at all was because with so many permits, surely one of them had to work at some stage. I waited for a few years and didn't see it through. Note that now they just have part ownership in the WKP area and Waihi West, and the latter permit was never mentioned much because Newmont was really in control of it. That's a good thing, because they always have the capital and the proximity to be able to do something. What happens next, when AXG is asked to stump up for some more cash to co-fund drilling at the 40% rate? The cupboard is bare, well, worse than bare. AXG will surely need a cash injection of say $2-4mill just to see them through some more drilling and to stay in the game. At the moment, the TSX says the company is worth about $400k, twice what it was worth three hours ago. That spells even more share dilution, the likes of which the sharemarket doesn't see too often. GEL/AXG had only a brief time when it was valued at more than the cash thrown at it by shareholders. I think it has burned through $35-45mill so far, its a lot anyway.

If AXG rebounds on the market to 15c and holds (instead of falling to 1.5c) just on this press release, that would be a good starting place for capital raising. It's a long way up to there though.

Hence AXG is looking at restructuring with an anonymous third party. Could the third party be Newmont, or one of the many investment vehicles run by Geoff Loudon?

Thanks Mate,

I had written this investment off ages ago, the third party will pretty much own the whole company.

[elZorro]

Thanks Mate,

I had written this investment off ages ago, the third party will pretty much own the whole company.

Yes, someone is going to have to be very brave or deep pocketed, that's for sure.

Since Newmont have given the locals a bit of a heads up with the drilling program in a general way, I have taken a wild guess at what the drill 908SP50703 is all about. It may have been collared from underground workings at Trio mine, right on the outer edge of the Waihi West permit. It could be about 360 meters underground at the start point, and went 300 metres or so into the Waihi West permit, horizontally. At that point it intercepted a 10 mtr wide quartz vein, vertical perhaps. That sort of a structure is similar to Correnso, it laid dormant and undiscovered for a long time.

Or the drill might have been collared from the West wall of the Martha pit, in which case I'm wildly off beam.

However, the colourful and plain English "Current Exploration Activity" one-page document of March 12 2015 mentions in three different panels:


...vertical vein systems prevalent in this area. Drilling from underground means we can drill shorter holes at right angles to the vein systems to intercept them...(fishing analogy) The nibble doesn't mean that you will get anything, or you may get an undersized fish that you have to throw back. In any case, you don't shout out that you got a bite, you wait until you have landed a decent fish..
(Gardening analogy) It took forty exploration drill holes to "find all the potatoes"and confirm the extent and grade of the main section of the Correnso ore body.

Newmont probably has Boart Longyear contractors doing the drilling. They appear to be looking in four different directions around the Martha Pit, two of them heading into the Waihi West permit.

[elZorro]

Here is an up to date image of the mine workings at the Correnso Mine in Waihi East, just few hundred metres away from the East edge of the Waihi West permit. You can see the concentrated work on the main cone-shaped ore body is well under way, with drives heading off after smaller veins. Also note how small in area the main body of ore seems to be, in relation to houses. It's quite a rich patch of gold.

Newmont didn't start having a hard look at the Waihi West permit under the joint venture option until the Correnso mine had been approved in about 2012 or 2013, although they had drilled into the area in 2006 and found nothing. They also didn't formally pick up the JV offer until the document was signed earlier this year. In the normal scale of mining exploration, this is a reasonably significant development as far as Antipodes Gold is concerned. The timing as far as AXG is concerned, is not good, they are now paupers and have significant debt.

But not a great deal of debt, in terms of what 40% of a prospective underground mining area would be worth, if it was proved up. You'd have to think that the chances of that happening are at least far higher than any of Glass Earth's other permits, because all the mining infrastructure and expertise is right to hand, and there was a great big pile of gold mined out within a few hundred metres of the area, with more being discovered recently, to the north-east.

[elZorro]

There was apparently a press release on 1st April about AXG being able to make a reverse takeover of CRP. The way I see these concepts, CRP is amalgamating with the shell of AXG because it has a dual listing. By the time of the reverse takeover, the core assets of AXG (being their permits and IP), will have been transferred to AOR for just NZ$1mill, under the control of Chris Castle. This is out of left field, I hadn't seen this coming, but Simon Henderson is now on the board of AOR, and the two blokes involved used to work alongside each other in Wellington.

http://www.antipodesgold.co.nz/uploads/2/6/5/2/26528820/ag_news_release_15-3_(final).pdf

So the offer only became concrete once the Waihi West drill results were out. Now AOR reckons that all things withstanding, the permits (held in GENZL) are worth about $1mill plus the money owing to Newmont, about another $600k. The AOR shares that are part of the deal in lieu of cash, will mostly need to be sold to get enough cash for AXG to first pay off all their ordinary creditors who have been waiting for over 12 months. The $200k cash won't be enough. This goes some way towards explaining why Chris Castle fronted up with a $40k loan deal a few months back.

All this is subject to shareholder approval. Newmont apparently have some right of pre-emption, maybe that means that they can step in first and make a more straightforward offer for AXG in toto, and then delist the company.

This probably wouldn't suit Simon Henderson, who will possibly have a deal going with AOR, and in any case is due a golden handshake of up to about $2mill if AXG (or is that GENZL) ever gets to the point of having a decent mineable resource. The permit part ownerships are held by Glass Earth.

This press release has not been tagged alongside AXG on the NZX, but then neither have the other two press releases this year.

This will be interesting, to see what happens. Correnso is being mined by Newmont (100% owner) because there is at least 570,000 oz of gold there, at low current prices nearly US$700mill worth. They said it'll cost $200 mill to tunnel down and get to it ( labour costs could be over $50mill a year alone), then ongoing extraction costs. In any case, the sort of money being discussed over at AXG, 40% holder of an adjacent permit with one or more recent drills showing something, isn't really in the same league.

I think the AOR offer is a bit cheeky, and might flush out a bigger bet.

[elZorro]

The TSX will start trading in AXG shares again, overnight in NZ time. That'll be interesting.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=74634531&qm_symbol=AXG

Edit: Maybe not, one transaction overnight worth $1350, at 3 cents.

[elZorro]

A couple of hours ago, nearly 6% of AXG was traded on the TSX, 630,000 shares from a total of over 10mill, at C 2.5c, valuing the company at C$264,000 odd.

Doesn't look like the market is too impressed with the deal being discussed.

[elZorro]

Aorere Resources has a page showing the press releases from CRP, AOR and AXG around 1st April.

http://aorereresources.co.nz/blog/2015/4/7/nzx-announcement-proposal-by-aorere-resources-to-acquire-gold-joint-venture-held-by-antipodes-gold-limited

There have not been any great changes in the share prices of these companies, well not upwards, anyway, since. I like to read between the lines a bit, this is a new habit that I've picked up after having been delivered a few lessons.

AOR will need to hand over $200,000 in cash, which they'll come up with by selling one or more assets. Then they'll also provide $800,000 "worth" of AOR shares to AXG, for the GENZL company assets. I'm fairly sure AXG owes quite a bit more than $200k at the moment, which means they'll sell these shares on market to realise cash, or they'll try and palm off most of the shares in lieu of payment. The last time someone exchanged GEL shares for debts over on the TSX, it caused a major crash in the price. Since AOR is only worth just north of $1.2mill on paper at the moment, guess what will happen to the shareprice. This could all happen around about August 2015, if all goes as they want it to.

It seems to me that all this is being driven by both Simon Henderson and Chris Castle being prepared to take a punt that the Waihi West permit will contain mineable gold, or it being the most likely positive result from all of the current AOR investments. As long as neither of them have to stump up any real initial cash, of course.

It will be the investors in AOR who will need to handle the share dilution and capital raising afterwards, if they have to pay for 40% of the drilling costs, assuming that goes ahead. There was no market frenzy from the Correnso find nearby a few short years ago, as that was all quietly contained within Newmont's offices. They could probably run a few news releases over drilling in Waihi West, or as much as Newmont lets them do.

But this all seems a lot of mucking about, when Newmont could just take over the whole permit and WKP for a sensible amount, let AXG sort out its horrible debts, and then maybe AXG could help CRP with a reverse takeover, only this time AXG would have a bit more of an interest in the final concern.

Note: this leaves AOR out of the picture. But as Chris Castle said, this whole deal is being set up to help CRP. Yeah right.

[elZorro]

Here's a part of the Eastender update from Newmont posted on GoldFM by 8th April.
Kit Wilson was asked:


*Is more information available about exploration permit 40767? What has been found? What does the joint venture refer to? People are saying it’s well known that plenty of gold is there because there was a proposal to move Waihi Central School and change the road. It would be good if we can get some clarification.*Kit Wilson said there's not much he can say other than Newmont is drilling from Trio out towards the West into that permit area. The permit is owned by Antipodes Gold and Newmont is paying for the drilling. They have had one hit and Kit Wilson said it's like fishing, they have had one nibble, so there is nothing to clarify in terms of that.
There is one drill rig on the surface north of Savage Road at the moment and Kit Wilson said they are having a look around to see if there is something they should be taking a closer look at before they leave. Newmont is drilling underground because it is less of a hassle. "As soon as we find something, people will know."

The Waihi Central School is directly opposite the main offices of Newmont, and while Newmont have the permit under their building 100%, AXG has a share in 40767 going down Moresby Ave around there. What the questioner referred to was probably the changes for the school if the West Layback was proceeded with. Newmont would have extended the reach of the Martha pit right beside the school, following some known veins from the pit. In view of Correnso, they've changed their ideas since then, they're keener on underground mining at depth. Savage Road joins Moresby Ave just north of there, and heads roughly northwards.

Here's what they were talking about in 2007.

http://www.waihigold.co.nz/assets/updates/2007/newmont-update-02-10-2007.pdf

Permit 40767 is notched out roughly where those veins come through, Newmont has that immediate area already.

AXG will have to produce the last quarter and annual report by 30th April, or earlier.

[elZorro]

The end of year report is out, will have a look at this later. The big news for today is OGC's offer for the Newmont Waihi assets, at $101mill. They have played this very quietly. I did get the impression that Newmont have better areas elsewhere, and OGC said they were looking for acquisitions in low labour countries. It could be that the latest find in Waihi West helped galvanise an offer, but note the scale of the offer, $280 an ounce for known reserves at the end of an existing tunnel. That's fairly cheap I'd have thought. Good news for the labour force in Waihi, as OGC are talking 10-20 years out, long enough to find some more underground resources.

What will this mean for AXG? OCG have deep pockets just like Newmont, so the $1mill AOR is talking about ($200k cash), might not be enough to stave off OGC taking AXG's share out of the picture in Waihi West, long before shares have to change hands. I don't think AXG has any kind of a relationship with OGC, there was certainly something with Newmont. GEL had that big permit right beside Macraes mine in Otago, but had to drop it before anything was done about it (nothing that was reported).

Again, this is a big surprise.

[elZorro]

I had a quick look at the annual report. Uninspiring, as I'd thought it would be. The auditors didn't feel that they could pass an opinion on the books, not enough questions answered. No funds raised, but the directors did see fit to stump up $10,000 each (all in, lads!) for which they'll receive shares. One of the Drybread/Gunclub/McAdies landowners has sued for $300k damages to his property, in December 2014. We hear about this now? Typical.

Another comment towards the rear of the MDA:



On 1 April 2015, the Company announced an intention to restructure the Company by means of two transactions, being the sale of the Company's gold assets and a change of business by means of a Reverse Takeover of a phosphate company. The planning of these transactions is at an early stage and subject to a number of conditions. There is no certainty that these transactions will be concluded.

The failure to conclude these transactions could result in the collapse and/or bankruptcy of the
Company.


Can a publicly listed company go belly-up? $400k odd has been dropped off the overdue debt loading somehow, maybe some creditors have written their debts off. No detail about if Newmont/OGC can just take over the JV permit shares in exchange for payment.

[elZorro]

NZ Resources story for today, mentions AXG at the bottom. I think the reporter got the 30% a bit wrong, on paper AXG owns 50% of Waihi West permit for the moment, and 35% of WKP. But Newmont, and then OGC, hold first right of refusal to allow AXG to transfer these assets to AOR.

OGC say they'll spend about $5mill p.a. on exploration including near-pit veins (like those at Waihi West). I don't think that sort of spending would stretch to much WKP work, it must be on the back-burner in their current plans. But miners do seem to change their minds often.

AXG shares untouched overnight, OGC shares held about even, bigger than normal volume.


1/5/2015 — Gold
OceanaGold to acquire Newmont’s Waihi operations
By Simon Hartley
New Zealand’s premier gold miner OceanaGold Corporation (ASX, NZX & TSX: OGC) plans to purchase its only hard rock gold mining competitor in New Zealand – the North Island operations of Newmont Mining Corporation at Waihi at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula.
The agreement is for OceanaGold to purchase the Waihi leases for $US101 million ($NZ132.3 M) which may prove to be a lifeline for OceanaGold’s operations to continue at Macraes for several years.
The combined operations will this year employ about 1,000 staff in NZ, with overall gold production next calendar year potentially well beyond 400,000 ounces; including OceanaGold’s Philippines contributions.
In the face of rising costs and gold price volatility, OceanaGold recently shed almost 300 staff and contracting jobs from Macraes in Otago, and at Reefton on the West Coast, as part of a $100 M efficiency drive following the gold price nosedive.
OceanaGold’s chief executive Mick Wilkes said Waihi represented a unique opportunity to acquire a high-quality asset which had demonstrated an ability to repeatedly extend its mine life in the past 27 years “in what is still a very prospective, high-quality goldfield.”
“We've long believed that Waihi represents a strong strategic fit within OceanaGold. We're excited about the prospect of acquiring it and welcoming its experienced workforce to our team,” he said.
Wilkes said there would be several synergies from the acquisition, including underground mine management, expertise and experience, equipment and procurement from suppliers.
The purchase is subject to gaining regulatory approvals and will be paid for from a mix of cash reserves and drawing down of existing debt facilities - the acquisition to contribute to OceanaGold's balance sheet from July 1.
The Frasers underground mine in East Otago recently got a mine life reprieve, being extended out to 2016 and the open pit operations may also yet be extended beyond 2017, but a cloud still hangs over Reefton operations.
When asked, Wilkes said the Waihi acquisition would not offset the planned mothballing of the Reefton open pit operations, at the end of 2015.
Each mine in OceanaGold's expanding portfolio had to justify its production costs, Wilkes noting he “didn't expect any significant long term recovery,'' in the price of gold, which has undermined Reefton's viability for the past two years.
All operations at Waihi were expected to continue as “business as usual,” with its gold continuing to be smelted into rough “dore” bars, for export and minting.
Wilkes said a review of operations would take place after the June, with expectations the workforce would be unchanged and capital expenditure, such as that on developing the underground Correnso mine, would be financially backed by OceanaGold.
Exploration spending above and below ground would continue at Waihi, at around $5 M per annum, which would include gold veins near the old, at present closed, Martha pit.
Wilkes had set a “cut off” selling price of about $US1,250/oz for New Zealand operations in March, and said yesterday that this rule of thumb was unchanged. However, he believed Waihi's overall cost of production could reduce overall NZ operation costs in the future.
Newmont operating subsidiary Newmont Waihi Gold has a staff of 340 from operations that were acquired early in 2002 when the American gold giant acquired Australia’s then biggest gold miner Normandy Mining Ltd, beating South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti to the punch.
Soon after that acquisition, Newmont courted at least two Canadian junior gold miners interested in buying the Waihi operation, considered by some Newmont executives then as too small to retain.
However, Newmont had a change of mind and retained the operations and invested strongly in maintaining the community relations that Normandy had fostered in Waihi.
The flagship remained the Martha open cut mine which had been developed in 1988 over the historic Martha underground workings which had closed in the early 1950s. Newmont Waihi Gold went on to develop the Favona and Trio underground mines and, with these now closed, is developing the Correnso underground mine from near the Martha pit, which suffered a wall slip recently and has been temporarily closed.
Waihi has been producing up to 100,000 oz of gold and about three times more silver through in 2014 output was reportedly about 131,500 oz gold and 482,000 oz silver.
The acquisition may queer the pitch for struggling junior explorer Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) which has two joint ventures with Newmont in the Waihi district and is planning to undergo a restructuring linked to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR).
The plan is for Antipodes to undertake a reverse takeover of AOR associated company Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) and an attraction for that company is that the Antipodes link (nominally to change its name to Antipodes Phosphate) would provide a Toronto venture exchange listing.
Antipodes plans to sell its Waihi assets – 30% of Waihi West near the Correnso development and the WPK joint venture prospect further away where a large epithermal system has been outlined by Newmont to Aorere.
Antipodes still owes for some of the recent exploration commitments to Newmont which would have a first right of refusal should Antipodes change its colours. That then brings OceanaGold into the corporate chess game.
- additional reporting by Ross Louthean
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.



Mind you, the official Newmont story is that the net smelter royalty applies to a recent discovery north of the current Waihi operations. The amount of gold (300,000oz) also lines up with the 43-101 report on WKP for about the same, defined within the few closely spaced drills. It would defray some of Newmont's costs there. Note: OGC say the permit is in fact Waihi North, wholly Newmont owned at the moment, probably exploration drilled into, from the Martha pit. No detail.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=75105341&qm_symbol=NEM:US

Maybe OGC is having a think about WKP longer term.


http://www.oceanagold.com/assets/documents/Presentations/150429-OGC-Waihi-Transaction-Presentation-FINAL.pdf


AXG's MD&A for end of 2014. https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/212120.pdf

See the financial report and the auditor's statements: I don't think they are impressed with the hoops AOR and CRP would need to go though to make the deal work. Maybe AXG is destined to be in the CRaPor.

https://www.nzx.com/files/attachments/212121.pdf

[elZorro]

25/5/2015 — Gold
Antipodes advances deal with Chatham Rock
By Ross Louthean
A formal loan agreement between troubled gold explorer Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: ASG) and Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) has progressed.
Subject to approval of shareholders of both companies and regulatory authorities, the companies plan a corporate merry-go-round.
Under this agreement, CRP will make an interest-free, unsecured loan to Antipodes for it to meet its share of the transaction costs, and to cover interim general expenditure.
Antipodes was now preparing to lodge relevant initial documents with the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V). The dual listed company plans to sell its New Zealand subsidiary, containing its business assets, to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) – a company associated with Chatham Rock Phosphate.
Antipodes is a partner with Newmont Mining Corporation’s subsidiary Newmont Waihi Gold in the Waihi West and WKP gold prospecting joint ventures in the Waihi district.
While Newmont Waihi Gold has a pre-emptive rights relating to these joint ventures there is a new chapter to this exercise as OceanaGold Corporation (TSX, ASX & NZX: OGC) is advancing the purchase of the Newmont Waihi Gold mining assets at Waihi.
So, it becomes a question as to whether the pre-emptive right also moves to OceanaGold. Certainly, Newmont Waihi Gold was patient with cash-tight Antipodes in meeting its financial commitments for drilling on the two joint ventures.
“Unable to raise capital for development of these assets, AXG’s financial position has demanded a restructure to realise the current value of its business assets and remaining company structure,” CRP said late last week.
Should the Waihi joint venture assets be transferred to Aorere, then Antipodes, now a listed shell, would propose undertaking a reverse takeover of CRP by offering new shares to CRP shareholders, winch includes Aorere.
This, CRP said, would leave Antipodes current shareholders with a residual stake in the post-transaction company.
Under the blueprint the Antipodes company may be rebranded Antipodes Phosphate Ltd as it would hold the Chatham Rise seabed phosphate project - recently having its mining consent rejected by the Environmental Protection Authority - and also seabed phosphate deposits off the Namibian coast.




There has been a bit of work on the Antipodes website too: the annual report has been posted to the financial page.

The fact a loan has been made at all, implies there is real value in the TSX listing, perhaps not as a junior gold explorer at the moment, but undersea resources could become increasingly interesting to Canadian investors.

Now the big question is, what value is likely to be involved in the WKP and Waihi West permits, and what are OGC intending to do on this front?

[elZorro]

The Antipodes Gold website now has the first quarter report to March 31st. I had a quick look, nothing major seems to have changed except Newmont has now technically earned into 60% of Waihi West, as provided under the current agreement. Meanwhile OGC is going for it with the takeover of Newmont's assets at Waihi, holding the economic benefit from 1st July 2015, and looking to formally complete sometime in the third quarter, which is fast approaching.

http://www.antipodesgold.co.nz/uploads/2/6/5/2/26528820/agl_mda_mar_31_2015_-_final.pdf

[elZorro]

From NZResources: Aorere is still hoping that Newmont won't exercise their pre-emptive rights over WKP or Waihi West permits, but OGC has been implying already that they are part of the deal at Waihi.

24/6/2015 — Gold
Aorere awaits Newmont on pre-emptive rights issue

Shareholders in Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) have been told that directors are awaiting to see if Newmont Corporation will use its pre-emptive right on two joint ventures it holds in the Waihi region of the North Island.
Aorere has just released its 2015 annual report in which managing director Chris Castle said that it had made an offer to acquire the two Waihi project interests Antipodes Gold Ltd (TVX-V & NZAX: AXG) holds with Newmont.
Castle said in the report that Newmont was yet to advise whether or not these rights would be exercised.
A corporate roundabout being planned by Aoerere and associated company Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) is for Aorere to buy Antipodes interest in the Waihi West and WKP joint ventures it holds with Newmont and for Antipodes to be involved in a reverse takeover of Chatham Rock and to be renamed Antipodes Phosphate.
CRP currently holds the Chatham Rise seabed phosphate project which had its resource consents rejected recently by the NZ Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and also seabed phosphate permits in Namibia.
Chris Castle said that if Newmont does not exercise a pre-emptive right on Antipodes two Waihi district permits then Aorere “will hold interests in two very interesting, strategically located exploration tenements within shouting distance of the existing mining operation.
“While there will be associated work programme commitments we believe that these should be able to be financed by further equity raises,” he added.
One other interesting piece in this chess game is the fact that OceanaGold Corporation (TSX, ASX & NZX: OGC) has now confirmed it will be taking over Newmont’s Waihi operations and that will include the two exploration joint ventures.
In his report in the annual report, Aorere chairman Dene Biddlecombe said that originally it was hoped this would be a year of investment opportunities for the company.
The company is a major shareholder in Chatham Rock Phosphate but that company’s share price was eroded first by an EPA staff negative report and then by the EPA later rejecting the Chatham Rise resource consents.
He said the impact these had on CRP’s share price significantly reduced the net tangible assets position of Aorere at March 31.
Biddlecombe said the company was also disappointed with the company’s other major investments in Mosman Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM: MSMN).
“Some upside in this investment remains but the current conditions for a petroleum exploration company anywhere in the world are very difficult,” he said.
Aorere’s other investments have mostly remained stable in the past 12 months with Asian Mineral Resources (TSX: AMR) becoming profitable with development of its Ban Phuc nickel project in Vietnam.
Biddlecombe said that should the Antipodes deals go through then the CRP vehicle would have dual listing in Toronto.

[elZorro]

I missed the press release, but Newmont, on behalf of OGC, has put in an offer to AXG's board for the exploration assets, that cannot be refused.


22/7/2015 — Gold
Antipodes on new tack with Newmont-pre-emptive right
By Ross Louthean
The series of events that were to lead to a new life for a struggling gold company and two associated companies was somewhat unravelled this week but there is still a path ahead.
The short version of the planned corporate merry-go-round was for the gold company to sell its interest in two gold prospects in the Waihi district to a mining investment company and then to become a reverse takeover vehicle for another company holding marine phosphate projects in New Zealand and Namibia.
It was a tight schedule, with one of the tightest factors being available capital in the three companies.
Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) informed the market yesterday that Newmont Corporation, owner of Newmont Waihi Gold, had decided to take up its pre-emptive right for Antipodes’ equity in the Waihi West and WKP exploration permits near Waihi.
Linked to this decision by Newmont was Oceana Gold Holdings (Waihi) Ltd, the company set up by OceanaGold for its separate $US101 million takeover of Newmont’s mining and exploration permits in and around Waihi.
Antipodes minority equity in the two joint ventures was held by its subsidiary Glass Earth (NZ) Ltd (GENZL). Had the pre-emptive right not been taken up by Newmont, then Antipodes was to sell its equity in the two properties to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) for $1 million in shares and cash, and for it to then become a reverse takeover vehicle for Aorere’s associated company Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP).
A fundamental for Chatham Rock, which was hard hit by the rejection of its mining consents for seabed phosphate on Chatham Rise by NZ’s Environmental Protection Agency, was to be able to utilise Antipodes dual listing on the venture exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Antipodes said the proposal for the takeover of CRP was still being contemplated but terms were likely to be modified.
“A separate announcement in this regard will be made in the near future,” said Antipodes chief executive Thomas Rabone.
Newmont, with the knowledge and participation of OceanaGold, will pay Antipodes for the pre-emptive right:


Waihi Gold will assume responsibility for all unpaid cash calls owed by GENZL from exploration carried out by Newmont for the joint venture.
GENZL will transfer and Waihi Gold will assume responsibility for all GENZL’s royalty obligations associated with the permits.
Waihi Gold will pay to GENZL $NZ1 million (plus NZ goods and services tax of 15%) together with up to $NZ525,000 to settle GENZL’s debt to other creditors.

Subject to all conditions being ratified, including approval from Energy & Resources Minister Simon Bridges, then the new Waihi Gold Agreement will be concluded on or before December 8.
Meanwhile, Aorere’s chief executive Chris Castle said that CRP, in which Aorere is a major shareholder, was in discussion with Antipodes on the proposal for a reverse takeover of Chatham Rock.
In another announcement Aorere chairman Dene Biddlecombe said a purpose of Antipodes reverse takeover proposal of CRP was for CRP under a new guise to assume Antipodes’ listing on the TSX-V.
“Pleasingly the intention to undertake this takeover remains and the CRP and Antipodes boards are now in discussions directly to progress this transaction further,” Biddlecombe said.


Antipodes Press Release. (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/attachments/7450/Antipodesstatement_lr.pdf) (55.2 kilobytes)


This is much more like it: the Glass Earth - Antipodes Gold company that promised so much and worked hard trying to make it, will have its remaining permit assets bought out by a larger player, effectively for about NZ$2mill, after C$32mill or more has been spent by investors on mainly exploration and some admin costs since 2006.

Importantly, all of the old debts are covered, a clean slate for suppliers, so in the circumstances not a bad result. The WKP and Waihi West areas are also more likely to get the necessary proving work done on them (by OGC), so if there's enough resources there to make it worthwhile, maybe some jobs and wealth will be created in the area.

And, CRP might still get their reverse takeover listing on the TSX.

http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=76850079&qm_symbol=AXG

[elZorro]

Looks like the AXG TSX listing is valued at $300,000. Bargain.

https://www.nzx.com/companies/CRP/announcements/267322

https://www.nzx.com/companies/AXG/announcements/267321


NZResources:

24/7/2015 — Other Minerals and Metals
New agreement for Antipodes reverse takeover of CRP

A revised agreement has now been reached between Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) and Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP) to look at a corporate marriage.
The original plan was halted when Newmont Waihi Gold Ltd exercised a pre-emptive right for Antipodes Gold’s minority interest in two gold exploration targets in the Waihi district.
That action saw Antipodes gain a payment of $NZ1 million, and financial cover for outstanding payments for drilling on the two properties and funds to also eliminate other outstanding debts.
The original blueprint was for Antipodes to sell its equity in the two properties to Aorere Resources Ltd (NZX: AOR) and then become the vehicle for a reverse takeover of Aorere associated company Chatham Rock (CRP).
Yesterday both Antipodes and CRP said the two companies had reached agreement on Antipodes taking up all the issued shares in CRP, subject to approval of shareholders in both companies and the Venture Exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The existing CRP would see this passage to the TSX-V as being valuable for market exposure and for future capital raisings to get a new submission before the NZ Environmental Protection Authority for the recently rejected mining consents for the company’s Chatham Rise marine phosphate project. CRP also has marine phosphate tenements in Namibia.
The new blueprint also sees Antipodes, as the reverse takeover vehicle, being renamed Antipodes Rock Phosphate Ltd.
Antipodes’ chief executive Thomas Rabone said that the transaction with CRP or the Waihi Gold Agreement will be completed as proposed or at all. There was due diligence by both companies and full board decisions to be taken into account.
At this stage Antipodes Gold could be valued at about $NZ600,000 and CRP at $2.4 million. Assuming completion of the takeover, this would result in CRP shareholders holding about 80% of Antipodes Gold.


Further transaction update. (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/attachments/7461/NewAntipodesagreement_lr.pdf) (56.8 kilobytes)

[elZorro]

No news has been reported on the ASX or the NZX about AXG to my knowledge recently, but SEDAR has the mandatory 6 monthly report for a listed company, and the MD&A etc. These are unaudited, dated 25th August 2015.

http://www.sedar.com/DisplayCompanyDocuments.do?lang=EN&issuerNo=00009207

Nothing much has happened since OGC formalised the idea of gazumping AOR for any gold there might be in GEL's permits near Waihi. AXG will be sending out a circular to shareholders sometime soon, for a meeting to discuss the proposal in October. Almost tempted to buy a few shares, to go to the meeting, although it might be in Canada.

AXG shareholders will be pleased to note that despite the slow progress in unwinding a bankrupt listed company to extricate what little value is left, some semblance of an office is surely running at full bore. Simon Henderson has accrued another $77,000 odd in salary due to him for the six months, while living in the Wellington region, with the shared services office (one room) being in Auckland. The inspired accountant Peter Liddle is also accruing a salary, as is CEO Thomas Rabone. No doubt these gentlemen will be paid for their vocal and obvious services in the washup, with OGC money. All three were heavily involved in the debacle played out in the Otago dustbowl of Drybread, where GEL lost its last few million dollars very quickly, because of some bad decisions and poor management.

In hindsight GEL should never have gone there, and the major person helping the share price along, overseas greenfield mining consultant and tipster Brent Cook, should have been asked for his opinion first. Without his big collection of Canadian investors alongside GEL, there wasn't any backup plan for more investors.

No more free cash to play with, no workable exploration JVs, game over.


ANTIPODES GOLD LIMITED
(A Development Stage Company)
Notes to Financial Statements
(Tabular amounts in thousands of Canadian dollars)
For the six months ended June 30, 2015
Page 22 of 28
a) Salaries of $77,182 have been accrued for Simon Henderson (Director) for the
six months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014: accrued
$18,774).
b) Salaries of $36,262 have been accrued for Peter Liddle (CFO) for the six
months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014: accrued
$16,427).
c) Salaries of $45,205 have been accrued for Thomas Rabone (CEO) for the six
months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014: Nil).
d) No further loans have been received from directors and management for the
six months ended June 30, 2015 (six months ended June 30, 2014:
- Adrian
Fleming $10,000, Justin Cochrane $10,000, Simon Henderson $10,000, Peter
Liddle $10,000).
These loans are interest free and repayable by September 30, 2015 or, at the
election of the director, convertible into shares in the Company.

[elZorro]

Why has there been a change in my opinion of the executive of this company in the last post? Because I had been led to believe that they were prepared to clean this mess up for a token salary amount, considering that they had been well paid by shareholders earlier on, two of them since 2007. The shareholders got kept out of the information loop far too often, so any major issues weren't of the shareholders making.

Let's have a look at the EOY 2014 report: the bit about related transactions. Here are the salaries they were prepared to accept last year, and the settlement date for the loans. Very low salaries, but understandable in terms of the massive losses that the company had suffered under their watch. About then, I figured they were running the company much more like an ordinary business. If things go bad, everyone feels the pain.

By August 25th 2015, the executive and the board must have decided to roll out the repayment terms of the small loans, but also to boost the salaries of the three company employees back to fairly close to their historical level. Then, shareholders have to ask, with little or no exploration going on (no point anyway) just a few crusty old bills - that can't be paid yet- to look at, and perhaps a few meetings to chew the fat, what are they going to be paid for? How does anyone justify over $150,000 of salaries being accrued in six months when the company is effectively not trading?

These golden handshake salary payments to three staff will be made at the cost of the remaining shareholders, people who have seen almost all of their investment squandered in short order. Even in the last big capital raising, there was one NZ party who could have lost over a million dollars. I put it to the executive members, this is not funny money.

[elZorro]

Further to the post above, I had a bit of a look at the Q1 report, and in this one the salaries for the three executives were well screwed down, and that report was put out around the end of June 2015. See below. At this point the possibility of the company being able to easily settle its old debts wasn't looking good at all.

By July 20th, however, Newmont/OGC had ridden to the rescue, and the far better real offer was announced. By 25th August there had been a rather miraculous improvement in the pay scales of the three executives for the previous six months, which appeared in part to be backdated. Well, I noticed it, I wonder if any existing shareholders did? They should make some noise at the next meeting.

[elZorro]

The date and place of the next meeting will be advised on SEDAR no doubt.

There is an Annual General and Special Meeting on Oct 1st, in Vancouver.
http://www.sedar.com/DisplayProfile.do?lang=EN&issuerType=03&issuerNo=00009207

Meanwhile, the ODT has some background on the permitting regime as it applies to Otago and NZ, noting that GEL/AXG has exited Otago. They have left behind plenty of data at NZPAM, hopefully some new operations will make use of it.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/352947/technology-changing-nature-prospecting

[elZorro]

SEDAR says the special meeting is now a month later, on Nov 03 at the same venue. Unsure what time the meeting is, that's not spelt out.

[elZorro]

All of the proposed motions at the AGM were passed, which means Antipodes Gold will provide a back-door listing on the TSX-V for CRP, while at the value end of the deal Oceana Gold will pay the old Glass Earth bills, and obtain 100% of what's left of the permits. These are under part of Waihi township, and to the Northeast of Waihi, up in the hills at and around WKP.

I also saw this snippet in the management information circular sent out before the AGM.


ANTIPODES GOLDLIMITED

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL AND SPECIAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
To be held on November 24, 2015
Management Information Circular
(Dated October 23, 2015)

The Company had employment contracts with Messrs. Henderson and Liddle but these have been cancelled by mutual agreement and replaced with a time based contractor rate of NZ$700/day (C$600/day). Mr. Rabone is also on a time based contractor rate of NZ$800/day (C$680/day) since his appointment as CEO in February 2014. Other management services for the Company are not, to any material degree, performed by persons other than the senior officers of the Company. No pension plan or retirement benefit plans have been instituted by the Company and none are proposed at this time.


Of course at this juncture, the three people concerned are the most likely to know what's going on with the company business. But they also helped put the company in a very bad position, and lost a whole lot of shareholder cash. Some of this capital was apparently lost through a minority of untrained or unsupported staff who were being paid only around $25 an hour. Even then the staff did a lot better out of the deal than the shareholders, who actually paid good money to watch all of this unfold. Our return =NIL.

[elZorro]

Oceana Gold is firing ahead with drilling into the Waihi West permit, where they have a new vein discovery called Quattro. Note that this didn't get 'discovered' while Glass Earth had any money or ability to do anything about it. It just sat there, while GEL shareholders helped cover the permit holding and overall mapping costs.

http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general/new-vein-discovered-in-waihi-called-quattro

[youngatheart]

NTL also seems to demonstrate a similar lack of action... Perhaps, as one poster mentioned, they also may not know how to drill.

[elZorro]

NTL also seems to demonstrate a similar lack of action... Perhaps, as one poster mentioned, they also may not know how to drill.

Yes, it all goes to show how goldmining is certainly a game for the big guys. Newmont just stalled Glass Earth on Waihi West (surely always a good bet), waited for them to run out of money. They were outfoxed in Otago by an older operator, but they were well and truly done up in Waihi. Drilling costs a heap, you have to drill a lot of holes to get good data reliable enough for mining. GEL only had to pay a smaller percentage, but that was always too much for their budget at WKP, and Waihi West was not really started. Then they lost the new capital Brent Cook brought along (or the potential for it) at Drybread, and they were sunk. Lots of the SI permits were probably never adequately checked out, they had too many permits for the funds available.

I still think that they were unlucky not to find a rich spot in their few contracted drills, but when it came to alluvial mining, they were inept compared to people who had been doing it for a living. That's what finished off the game as far as shareholders were concerned.

[Carpenterjoe]

Yes, it all goes to show how goldmining is certainly a game for the big guys. Newmont just stalled Glass Earth on Waihi West (surely always a good bet), waited for them to run out of money. They were outfoxed in Otago by an older operator, but they were well and truly done up in Waihi. Drilling costs a heap, you have to drill a lot of holes to get good data reliable enough for mining. GEL only had to pay a smaller percentage, but that was always too much for their budget at WKP, and Waihi West was not really started. Then they lost the new capital Brent Cook brought along (or the potential for it) at Drybread, and they were sunk. Lots of the SI permits were probably never adequately checked out, they had too many permits for the funds available.

I still think that they were unlucky not to find a rich spot in their few contracted drills, but when it came to alluvial mining, they were inept compared to people who had been doing it for a living. That's what finished off the game as far as shareholders were concerned.

Yip, Yip and Yip.

Can't wait for this little thread and my AXG holding to disappear.

Thanks for your insight and your continual postings elZorro.

A lot of lessons have been learnt. My future cash will stay away from the directors involved in this failure.

[elZorro]

No problem Carpenterjoe, guess you were as optimistic as me for a long time. If I'd been a bit more informed by the company as to the true state of affairs, I'd have posted a lot less. Their carefully worded press releases remind me of that slug gun and motorcycle brand, BSA.

One outfit I will be keeping a good eye on is OGC, they could do very well around Waihi, as the gold grade appears to be close to 1 oz/tonne in parts of the Quattro vein alone.

http://www.oceanagold.com/assets/Uploads/151122-OceanaGold-Exploration-Results-Press-Release-ASX.pdf

[elZorro]

CRP put out a press release yesterday, in which AXG is carefully posed as a "cashed up" entity, ready to help CRP achieve all of its long-term goals.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1601/S00233/chatham-issues-january-2016-update.htm?utm_source=ST&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ShareTrader+AM+Update+for+Tuesday+19+ January+2016

All the best for that - looks like Simon will be going to another PDAC conference overseas.

[elZorro]

Nothing to report, except that an old November 2015 press release puts a new perception on the Quattro Vein in Waihi West. Remember GEL had a big chunk of that in the beginning, at the IPO. While they hooned all over the country looking for a pot of gold, it was probably sitting there under Waihi township all along. But I bet Newmont wouldn't allow them to drill it for several years.


The newly identified Quattro vein located west of the old Trio workings may be a potential strike extension of the Martha system. Its estimated to have a strike length in excess of 500m with thick vein widths up to 7.6m.


http://www.goldfm.co.nz/general/prospects-looking-good-for-oceanagol

[elZorro]

14/3/2016 — Gold
OceanaGold to acquire Antipodes tenements
By Simon Hartley
OceanaGold Corporation (TSX, ASX & NZX: OGC) has purchased the gold exploration assets of Toronto-listed Antipodes Gold Ltd (TSX-V & NZAX: AXG) in the central North Island, with the latter still headed for its reverse takeover of Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd (NZAX: CRP).
Antipodes, formerly gold exploration company Glass Earth Gold which operated mainly around Otago, announced completion of the sale on Friday to OceanaGold, which separately last year purchased the adjacent Newmont Waihi Gold production mine and exploration permits.
Antipodes chairman Adrian Fleming, who did not reveal the sale price, said the company could now focus on the reverse takeover of Chatham Rock.
Because of TSX Venture Exchange regulations, Antipodes, with Chatham as its subsidiary, must have sufficient working capital to meets administration and budgeted operating costs for the 12 months after the reverse takeover.
To achieve that, Chatham has boosted its cash position by entering into a conditional subscription agreement for up to $NZ600,000 of new shares from a private investor, Fleming said.
“The divestment of the [central North Island] gold assets provided an opportunity for shareholders to invest in a company with exciting prospects in the marine and terrestrial phosphate industry,” he said.
Chatham Rock holds a mining permit over a significant phosphate deposit on the Chatham Rise seabed, about 400 kilometres east of Christchurch. However, Chatham's initial marine consent application was declined in February 2015 by the the Environmental Protection Authority, but Chatham is planning to submit a new application, subject to improvements to the consenting process.
Chatham intends to raise further funds of up to $NZ900,000, Fleming said.
He cautioned completion of the reverse takeover was subject to a number of conditions, including final acceptance by the TSX-V, so he could give no assurance the transaction would be completed as proposed.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.


http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/img/icons/pdf.jpg ANTIPODES GOLD NEWS RELEASE 16-1 10 March 2016 (http://www.sharetrader.co.nz/attachments/8344/Antipodessale.pdf) (194.6 kilobytes)



That's one way of spinning it..

[elZorro]

Latest update from NZResources:


13/7/2016 — Other Minerals and Metals
Reverse takeover for CRP is nigh

The planned reverse takeover of Chatham Rock Phosphate (NZAX: CRP) by Antipodes Gold continues to work through the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Last year the two companies agreed to come together, with Antipodes Gold having to shed some gold assets to remain afloat and CRP seeing this as an opportunity to use Antipodes listing on the Venture Exchange of the TSX.
The reverse takeover was said now to be 95% down the track.
Chatham Rock’s chief executive Chris Castle said that with the Antipodes shell CRP would inherit some funds associated with the merger, a Toronto director, 1,003 resources-sector shareholders in a number of countries, and a Canadian corporate support structure.
“This merger will strengthen Chatham, complement our New Zealand listing and provide new opportunities for existing Antipodes shareholders,” he said.
Chatham Rock said in its June quarter report it has been able to raise $3.7 million since its share price was “slaughtered by the Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) refusal of a mining consent for seafloor phosphate nodules on Chatham Rise.
Castle said the company’s present share price of 0.9 cents values Chatham at $7.24 million - a sixth of its market value in February last year.
“We believe Chatham is now in a stronger position than it’s ever been due to the knowledge gained during the marine consent application process,” Castle said.
CRP will be reapplying for a marine consent following further consultation with stakeholders, a potential revision of the project and further research on some scientific issues.
Castle said both the company and the EPA have learned a lot from the initial consent application.
“We’re confident this will result in improved application and hearing processes and we’ll resubmit an even better application to robustly deal with the issues on which we were rejected.
Castle said that CRP remains puzzled by environmental groups which, through opposing our Chatham project, condone New Zealand importing all its phosphate needs, “so exporting our environmental footprint to countries mining phosphate where it involves severe social and environmental distress.”
CRP will be holding its annual general meeting in Wellington at Chartered Accountants’ House, 50 Customhouse Quay, on July 26.




This is all about using the Antipodes TSX-V listing and a bit of leftover cash to help give CRP some leverage, when needed for their next fundraising. It's the last bit of tidy-up work for Glass Earth-Antipodes. However untidy it may look, some Glass Earth key staff will be thankful that they were working in a listed company. If they'd tried the same operation with their own private money, they'd have lost the lot.

[elZorro]

At least the Govt seems to have figured out that a few million spent on surveys and then made available to exploration companies, would be a good investment.


12/10/2016 — Gold
Surveys to hold up prospecting permits
By Simon Hartley
Prospecting permits will not be issued for metallic minerals across much of Otago and the South Island until mid-2018, as permit agency New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals (NZP&M) completes its $8 million aeromagnetic and soil geochemical surveys.
Under the prospecting permit exclusion, just put in place by Minister of Energy and Resources Simon Bridges, permits can still be applied for mineral exploration and mining.
The aeromagnetic data helps identify mineral deposits and information on faults, aquifers, and soils, measuring the earth's magnetism and naturally occurring radiation.
Of the total $8 M being spent on new data, about $6.4 M is being spent on the aeromagnetic and soil sampling.
NZP&M manager-commercial, analysis and investment David Darby said in his latest update that the Murchison survey will create a link between the Nelson and Marlborough surveys, and the Government's 2013 survey of the West Coast.
“Once complete we will have a seamless data-set linking Nelson and Marlborough with the West Coast.
“It will mean aeromagnetic data has been gathered over more than 30% of the country,” Darby said.
He said the data gathered is available, free, to the resource's industry and provided valuable information for potential investors which could help sway investment decisions.
NZP&M similarly also undertakes seaborne hydrographic surveys of the seabed, also to entice oil and gas explorers to New Zealand.
The exclusion of applying for prospecting permits runs from last September to July 2018, with the reservations in total covering more than 17,626 square kilometres.
Simon Bridges said prospecting permits for metallic minerals would not be granted or extended in relation to three separate areas of land around the South Island, including the reserve areas in Otago and Murchison.
Under the wider aeromagnetic survey, undertaken by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, areas being covered included east Nelson, Murchison, North and Central Otago and South Otago and Southland.
The Otago-Southland survey started in January and was now more than 45% complete and will restart again in the summer of 2016-17.
The North Otago part of the survey restarted in mid-September and was expected to be completed by November.
“So far this part of the survey has acquired approximately 53,000 line km of geophysical data,'' NZP&M said.
The Marlborough District Council and Venture Southland; representing Environment Southland, Southland District Council, Invercargill City Council and Gore District Council had partnered with NZP&M on the project, which would provide them with information on geological hazards, including fault lines, regional water resources and information on climate, soil and geology.
*Simon Hartley is senior business reporter and assistant chief reporter for the Otago Daily Times.

[elZorro]

The Toronto stock exchange has approved the reverse takeover of CRP by AXG, which means CRP will have all AXG's assets, being a small amount of cash and the TSX-V listing. In the big document they filed on Sedar, it looks like Simon Henderson isn't a big part of the new operation.

http://www.nzresources.com/attachments/9359/ANtipodesfilingstatemen_lrt.pdf

[elZorro]

An Australian company is looking to raise cash to develop Neavesville, just above the WKP area. Glass Earth /Antipodes couldn't raise the cash or access for their attempt a few years ago, even when they were backed 50% by Geoff Loudon.


6/3/2017 — Gold
Neavesville the focus for Australian float
By Ross Louthean
One of the identified gold regions in the Hauraki Goldfield is to be the prime asset in a new Australian float.
A company called E2 Metals Ltd has released a placement prospectus for the issue of 40 million A20 cent shares to raise $A8 M for an IPO that hopes to list on the Australian Securities Exchange in early April.
The principal target is the Neavesville prospect, a known target for epithermal gold-silver in the Hauraki goldfield, and the 51% owned Mount Hope project in the Cobar copper-gold field in New South Wales. E2 plans to acquire the other 49% equity in the Australian project.
Under the proposal the company plans to offer a loyalty option for every three shares issued in parcels greater than $A2,000 in the IPO.
E2 said the Trig’s Bluff prospect at Neavesville has a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 1,489,500 tonnes grading 2.58 g/t gold and 9.69 g/t silver. The prospectus said Trig’s Bluff was open at depth, up dip and down dip.
The prospectus shows E2 already has 30.37 M shares on issue.
The non-executive chairman Martin Donohue was founder of listed ASX company Kidman Resources, and managing director Simon Peters is a mining engineer and executive director Christopher Spurway a geologist who has worked on the Neavesville project for five years.
Neavesville is 15 km south-east of the historic Thames goldfield and 20 km north-west of Golden Cross which was a recent mining operation for US company Couer d’Alene.
There are three principal targets at Neavesville – Neavesville, Oneura and Chelmsford and the most advanced being Trig’s Bluff at Neavesville and the Ajax prospect.
Neavesville is on land owned by Trustees of the Pakirarahi Number One B Trust and Trustees of the Pakirarahi Number Two Trust. A joint venture and access agreement has been with the Number One B Trust covering 1,409.5 hectares and this contains Oneura, Chelmsford and the Ajax prospect.
When the now disappearing Antipodes Gold (by going into a reverse takeover with Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd) was operating in the Hauraki goldfield as Glass Earth Gold it attempted to acquire Neavesville, but the quest failed undoubtedly due to Glass Earth’s diminishing cash.

[elZorro]

Update: E2 Metals raised $6mill, they have recently listed on the ASX, and they are ready to drill immediately at Neavesville.

http://e2metals.com.au/new-zealand/the-neavesville-project/

GEL/AXG had a right to hold this permit, but relinquished it in March 2014 as part of their meltdown in the South Island.

[elZorro]

Oceana Gold is putting two new tunnels into an area near the existing Martha pit, around the bottom level. This is for grade checking.

But also, a presentation included a page on drilling and mapping programmes on the Coromandel, with the majority of the expensive work going in at the WKP permit. 6,000mtrs of drilling is underway. That could produce say 30 new drills at 200mtrs each. It's a scale well above what Glass Earth achieved, and with costs in the region of $1,000 a metre at WKP, it'll cost them $6mill for those drills.