Story on GEL in the Otago Daily Times today, can be accessed online...nothing too exciting, but notes its crunch time. GEL has the goods, but do they have the skillset to get there??
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Story on GEL in the Otago Daily Times today, can be accessed online...nothing too exciting, but notes its crunch time. GEL has the goods, but do they have the skillset to get there??
Thanks for that Aotea, I'd missed it of course.
Nothing scary in here: but I think the reporters made a mistake about the share pricing in the article. GEL trades here at NZ8c and the lowest listed selling price on the TSX has been CDN5.5c. So the 10mill shares at CDN5c is not too bad. And I'm also impressed GEL had $1.2mill in the kitty already.Quote:
Published on Otago Daily Times Online (http://www.odt.co.nz)
Deadlines loom for Glass Earth Gold
By Simon Hartley
Created 03/11/2009 - 05:00
Dual-listed Glass Earth Gold is running a fine line between its diminishing cash flows and getting two of its Central Otago exploration prospects into gold production.
Business reporter Simon Hartley and Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre consider its latest effort to raise capital and where that could take the company.
Exploration company Glass Earth Gold, whose immediate future is crucially tied to development of its Otago tenements, is seeking to raise $C500,000 ($NZ640,000) in a private placement.
The latest placement is for "general corporate business purposes", but the clock is ticking on Glass Earth's race to get some southern gold from the ground and create a semblance of cash flow, three years to the month it first floated.
Glass Earth has burned through most of $24 million raised during the past four years in a series of placements, while undertaking wide-ranging aerial and ground exploration prospects in both the South and North Islands to zero in on the most promising targets.
Glass Earth delivered its financial report for the quarter to June, booking an almost $1.8 million loss, primarily in exploration costs.
For its previous full year to last December, Glass Earth spent $4.1 million on exploration and booked a $1.33 million loss, having the year before booked a $2.68 million loss.
Glass Earth has $1.2 million cash in hand, plus the proposed $C500,000 issue, to see it through its exploration programme until "early 2010", its chief executive Simon Henderson said in a market update.
He has been candid in the past about running out of cash and the need to underpin the company's immediate cash flows by moving into gold production at its boutique prospects in the Ida Valley and Ophir.
"Glass Earth is finalising regulatory consents and completing preparations for bulk testing at each of its initial placer and hard rock targets" at Ophir and the Ida Valley, Mr Henderson said in a statement to both the New Zealand and Toronto stock exchanges last week.
"Cash generated from placer [loose or alluvial gold] mining at Ida Valley or boutique hard rock mining at Ophir would be additional to this [$1.2 million]," he said.
The company's targets now are separate ventures; Ophir being a 50:50 joint venture with privately owned Ophir Gold Ltd near Ophir, where it is looking at gold trapped in hard rock; and the other a go-it-alone proposition in the Ida Valley in Central Otago, where it hopes to mine placer or alluvial gold (loose particles).
However, with almost 155 million shares already on issue at present, trading around 8c, Glass Earth proposes to release another 10 million at 5c, issue one million by agreement for a Central Otago buy-in, and issue another 100,000 for another Otago project - a total 11.1 million shares.
The latest private placement also carries a 1:1 warrant, exercisable for three years, to purchase a further share for 10c - another 10 million shares.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre estimates the release of a further 11.1 million shares will dilute share value by about 7%, but it may be the lesser of two evils faced by Glass Earth.
"Don't get me wrong; a [diluting] impact is never good for existing shareholders, but what would have been of more concern was if Glass Earth did not get the funding," Mr McIntyre said.
Two positive points for Glass Earth has been the resilience of gold in recent months, striking and maintaining several records of more than $US1000 ($NZ1388) per ounce throughout September, which has underpinned global investor confidence in gold and gold producer stocks.
"Gold is no longer seen as a boutique asset but has become a mainstream investment to hold; a defined asset class," Mr McIntyre said, highlighting the recent weaknesses exposed in the Euro, British pound sterling and US dollar.
"Being listed on the Toronto exchange is Glass Earth's other bonus.
"Those investors are less risk averse to backing explorers and there's more potential cash available," he said.
While Glass Earth has said the new Canadian funding is for general purposes, Mr McIntyre estimated that based on previous capital expenditure the $C500,000 could underpin Glass Earth a further six months through to the end of the third quarter next year - September.
"However, they can't carry on exploring and spending forever and eating up their cash position.
"Time is running out," Mr McIntyre said.
Glass Earth Gold capital raisings so far
October 2006: $10 million in TSX/NZX float
August 2007: $6.3 million further issue
January 2008: $7.5 million private Canadian placement
October 2009: $640,000 private Canadian placement.
Cash in hand - December 2008, $2.4 million; October 2009, $1.2 million.
Doesn't sound like GEL gave the reporters too much to work with. A bit of creative accounting on my part:
If 3 GEL contractors recovered 10oz gold/working day and it was sold at full retail, in one year they'd have provided gross income of $3.75mill. If the ore being screened was 2g/tonne gold, they'd only need to process 155 tonne per day. The GRU (dredge) alone can handle a lot more than that.
Just a passing note that the POG is nearing US$1100/oz at the moment. This has helped HGD prices to soar, that and the prospect of a mining permit being approved. GEL has possibly identified multiple sites the size of Talisman's remaining resources, and they might also be easier to extract. I'm quite happy waiting here.
A good day for GEL on the TSX overnight: half a million shares purchased for CDN 5.5c, now the sell price range there is CDN 6c-8.5c. A hopeful buy at 5c is not being filled.
Not sure if this has been posted, Crown Minerals often look towards GEL for news articles on their Minerals page..
http://www.crownminerals.govt.nz/cms...ld-prospects-1
Another good day for GEL on the TSX - up 9% to 6 CDN cents on volume of 285,000...
Hi there Cannibal :)
Yes, should be interesting today. POG over US$1100, many predicting it will reach $1500/oz. The increased dairy payout will help general sentiment here too. Many of us have a foot in both camps so to speak.
I've just spoken to Andrew (Glass Earth Wellington), and he's fairly sure that there is going to be a press release soon, in fact it should have been out by now. Unfortunately he's so busy doing multiple jobs that the website updates are waiting on a list of things to get done, and he doesn't know what will be in the press release.
Based on past conversations with Peter Liddle, it should be good news :D
Regards to all GEL holders.
The Glass Earth website has been updated today, and there is a brief factsheet just posted, for October. I can't see any new information in here, in fact some of the text relates to June-August 2009. Someone else may be able to spot some extra info.
We're still hoping for a brand new press release I think.
http://www.glassearthlimited.com/pdf...ef_Oct2009.pdf
Just clicked: this is the CHFIR profile (21/10/09) from Canada.
A welcome but initially underwhelming press release filling us in on progress at Ophir:
What can be taken from this? At first it would seem that GEL is very keen on helping Ophir Gold and Dunstan Mining recover gold from their (now JV shared)Wai-iti gold vein, for a 50% return. The pilot plant seems tiny: about 3m3 of material per hour can be processed. But if the material has just 5g/t gold average, it could be expected to recover about an ounce an hour, or 10x better than a small stream dredge (see previous posts).Quote:
Glass Earth Gold's Ophir Gold Prospect: Evaluation Study and Exploration Update
10:53 AM ET, November 12, 2009
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, Nov 12, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Glass Earth Gold Limited (GEL)(NZAX: GEL) ("Glass Earth") -
- Pilot processing plant construction completed, bulk testing commenced on
the Wai-iti gold vein.
- Gold soil geochemistry highlights potential for new gold bearing vein/shears
- Ultra-detailed ground magnetics demonstrates gold geochemistry hosted on green schist margins pointing to several new vein/shears.
Glass Earth Gold Limited is pleased to provide an update on its work on the Ophir gold prospect (last reported on August 18).
The Ophir Prospect (in a 50:50 JV with Ophir Gold Ltd) is located on Exploration Permits 40 427, 40 870, part 40 702 and part PP 39 322 ("Ophir JV area") in the heart of Central Otago, reef-gold country, in the South Island of New Zealand (see map below). Numerous highly prospective mineralized reefs, as well as near-surface gold bearing gravels, contribute to the excellent potential of the overall Joint Venture Area.
Glass Earth has recently constructed a purpose-built pilot plant (5-7 tonnes/hour throughput) designed to recover coarse/fine free gold by means of conventional crushing/grinding followed by a gravity separation process. An initial bulk sample of approximately 150 m3 is currently being processed in order to confirm the crushing parameters and recoveries. Following this test, the pilot plant will be relocated on site at the Wai-iti vein system for additional bulk testing.
Following a successful Evaluation Phase (November 2009), an affirmative decision to mine would allow for the construction of a larger plant (circa 40 tonnes/hour throughput), completion of regulatory consents and mining. The potential to replicate the mining on other pods of near-surface ore will be progressively evaluated thereafter.
In terms of the farm-in to the JV, Glass Earth is required to solely fund the Evaluation Phase study as well as the design, resource permitting and installation of suitable processing plant on the chosen mining site.
Glass Earth has also expended 60% of the requisite NZ$250,000 (approximately C$185,000) on other exploration initiatives in the JV Area; the preliminary focus having been on EP 40 427 and the Wai-iti vein system therein.
Glass Earth undertook geological mapping across the Ophir JV area, collecting and assaying 30 rock-chip samples and 672 soil samples. Legacy and Glass Earth derived soil samples both display new NW trending gold anomalies. High grade rock samples up to 56 ppm gold have been taken from trenches and adit sampling across the Wai-iti shear.
Glass Earth has also completed a detailed ground magnetic survey to complement the airborne geophysical data acquired in a previous survey, providing accurate delineation of the greenschist lithologies which host important shear/vein systems on its margins.
Combined, the greenschist margins and new soil gold geochemistry highlight potential for several new gold bearing shear/vein systems.
Further updates on other aspects of Glass Earth's exploration efforts will be provided shortly.
Qualified Persons
Glass Earth's exploration programmes are carried out under the supervision of Glass Earth's President and CEO, Simon Henderson, M.Sc, M.AUSIMM, F.SEG. Mr. Henderson meets the qualified person requirements (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) with more than 30 years of experience in the gold mining and exploration industry.
About Glass Earth Gold Limited
Glass Earth is one of the largest New Zealand-based gold exploration companies exploring a land position of over 17,000 km2 in the North and South Islands. With its main office in Wellington, New Zealand, Glass Earth Gold Limited is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE: GEL) and the New Zealand Alternative Stock Exchange (NZAX: GEL).
To receive Company news via email, contact lindsay@chfir.com and mention "Glass Earth news" in the subject line.
To view the map associated with this release, please visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/glassmap.jpg
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor New Zealand Exchange Limited has reviewed this release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:Glass Earth Gold LimitedSimon HendersonPresident and Chief Executive Officer+64 4 903 4980info@glassearthlimited.comwww.gl...hgold.c omCHF Investor RelationsLindsay CarpenterAccount Manager+1 416 868 1079 x239lindsay@chfir.com
SOURCE: Glass Earth Gold Limited
mailto:info@glassearthlimited.comhttp://www.glassearthgold.com
In fact, if these figures are about right, the 150m3 bulk sampling test (50 hrs) should recover 60oz, worth about NZ$90,000 on the spot market.
Note that some parts of the vein have 10x that density of gold.
The reaction on the TSX last night: ho hum.
The best line is the last one: more updates are to be expected soon ;)
Glass Earth has been quiet for a while: but bursts of interest here at acquiring more at NZ8c, and the TSX is matching that with CDN6c overnight.
Nothing happening at Crown Minerals to do with GEL (except one site at Marlborough dropped), and no new reports out, or articles. However, the website is up to date with announcements, and in the top right is a label showing when it was last updated. Thanks to GEL's IT dept..
I might be having a chat with Peter Liddle soon, does anyone have any questions you'd like asked on your behalf?
Regards.
Hi All,
Can anyone clarify when GEL is surrendering 1/3 of their EP 39322?
I was told it is next week, and am keen to know where as I intend on seeking further mining permits off Crown Minerals.
Cheers
Hi Aotea, quite right by the looks of it: at 36mths (29 Nov 09) 30% of the current area remaining has to be relinquished. A further 30% of what's left after that, needs to go on 29 May 2010. 29th Nov 2010 is when the final report is due. Note it's a Prospecting Permit (PP)
Are you mining yet?
Gidday EZ,
Thanks for that, I knew it wasnt far away..30% is a solid chunk to give up. Word on the street is it will trigger a couple of solid sites that GEL has overlooked and not permitted. Not mining yet, permits in and currently in discussions with stakeholders getting written approvals. Wont be until Feb March I suspect...then I need to find an honest operator to work under tribute!
land base or dredge aotea
ken
Gidday Ken,
Dredging in a shallow watercourse, in Otago with 0.5m to 1m gravels to schist bedrock. In the upper 5km of the tenement there is inferred to be in excess on 1,000 oz.
Wont be untill feb-mar untill the red-tape is sorted Im guessing.
You know a man keen to work it in a serious capacity?
trommel or dredge aotea
ken
i already have a permit in otago and will be over in jan
bit busy setting up for our own area but might be a few likely lads on this forum,
always keen to have a look though
ken
http://golddredgingforum.proboards.c...splay&thread=3
Glass Earth will be mining gold before Christmas :) according to this news.
There's quite a bit of other detail both positive and negative, but none of that matters too much once the gold starts being sold. It certainly looks like all sources of income are gratefully received at the moment. Yep, I know what that feels like.Quote:
All necessary consents for the McAdies alluvial gold mining project in the Ida Valley are expected to be in place by the first week of December. All necessary equipment is in place and ready to be mobilised to site with commencement of mining expected shortly afterwards.
Consent applications for the Gun Club/Nevills alluvial gold project, also in the Ida Valley, have been lodged with the appropriate authorities and are currently being processed.
The 40 tonne floating Gold Recovery Unit (purchased in conjunction with a
mining partner) is currently leased out.
The news followed an early purchase of 250,000 GEL shares for CDN5.5c overnight, followed by a small sale bringing the price lower. Cheapest shares for sale there are now CDN6c. But it doesn't look like the news was posted to the TSX, might have passed largely under the radar.
Here's a web version of the latest news release and financial report.
http://finance.alphatrade.com/story/...570537001.html
Note the exploration costs being amortised as the permits are dropped, this will be a large book cost over the next year or two. But GEL will still have the data to work on, and will be holding onto the best discoveries.
Questions: What firm has leased the GRU? How long is it unavailable for?
Word on the street is that GEL is seeking an extension on the surrender of the 1/3 of tenement 39322 due 30/11 which will be for only a short period for them to go through some data, and make a determination which areas to kick...
Ok Aotea, sounds sensible. I know they had a board meeting last week, so I missed an opportunity to meet Peter Liddle (anyway I got lost in Auckland).
The website is getting more frequent updates, perhaps we'll be shown some placer results soon (hint hint).
Regards.
Jury is still out on GEL for me..IMHO they are either going to do spectucularly well (probably beside HGD's mighty open pit) or the fat-cats in Canada are going to get tired of proping them up and GEL is going to go down the gurgler equally spectacularly....for all of you holding, I hope it is the first!
For the record, I have held GEL twice, and bailed after taking 30 and 40%...
Aotea, do you mean you've made 30% and 40% already out of GEL? Must be one of your best shares then :). But I'm finding that the occasional time I buy into a share for a small period, I always sell just when it dips a bit, and of course it spectacularly takes off a week or so later! Gotta have faith (but not blind faith).
Anyone who's been watching the GEL shares and thread for a decent length of time will be fairly keen to be holding over the next few months. Some easy gold is going to be recovered, no doubt about that. It's just the scale of the cashflow that will be the unknown.
Regards..
On 7th December, Glass Earth surrendered 3839.75km2 (or 383,975 Ha) of their big prospecting permit 39322 in Otago, as required. I'm not sure which parts were dropped, we may be able to spot them from the bitmap image on the CM site.
Hi Aotea et al,
I'll bet some cold ones that GEL's market cap will be bigger than HGD's by mid February 2010, about the time we should both be catching trout in Otago..if the offer still stands! :) Cripes it's hot here in Hamilton today.
Cheers..
Gidday EZ,
Im happy to put a couple of cold ones on that..by the end of Feb.
Re: Fishing yep, have a mate who fleeces the area for trout and deer yearly up that way. He reports you cant pick when it goes mad, depends on temp. If its warmer, it happens earlier...either way, I know enough good fishing holes to keep you waist deep in it!
In theory GEL should be kicking some a*se to be fair...they have the bet technology around and soon they have to start showing something for it. If you cant buy these dogs on hype and hope, what goldie can you buy?
Does anyone actually know where the area that GEL surrendered today is?
Disc: holding HGD..
Hi there Aotea, Cannibal and Balance (welcome to the thread BTW).
Been involved in a meeting so far today, it's not that I couldn't think of anything to say..;)
I made a bit of a faux pas anyway about the market cap, GEL's was already higher when I made the bet. I'm saying that even if HGD stays where it is (and it might well trend lower), GEL will be on the improve over the next few months as their alluvial mining cashflow kicks in. This in turn will kickstart more exploration, with plenty of geology graduates wanting some work in NZ.
Balance: this isn't hype, it's pure expected return. If you have x number of prospects with y probability of a big find, multiplied by the mining income from each large find, then you have a high expected return. And as Aotea stated, no-one else in NZ has the huge database and expertise to use it, that Glass Earth has.
Well said, but I do hate to reiterate that when they seek water they will be screwed. There is simply none, and no-one will sell it. That said most those who hold it, have it for a specific purpose and should that change they lose that right and it is reviewed for efficiency, all the low flow analysis for rivers etc. The only place they will get water is the key lakes, the shotover and clutha river...
However, just to be a duplicitous sod, if these monkeys cant find gold with their database, no-one will.
Glass Earth, CanAlaska Uranium property agreement
2009-12-10 17:19 ET - Property Agreement
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for expedited filing documentation of an option agreement dated June 3, 2009, between Glass Earth (New Zealand) Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of the company), and CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. and Golden Fern Resources Ltd. (a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary of CanAlaska Uranium), whereby the company may acquire a 70-per-cent interest in mineral exploration permit No. 40-481 located in the Otago region of New Zealand.
Glass Earth, Ophir Gold property agreement
2009-12-10 18:59 ET - Property Agreement
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for expedited filing documentation of a joint venture agreement dated Aug. 17, 2009, between Glass Earth (New Zealand) Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of the company) and Ophir Gold Ltd. (a private New Zealand company), whereby the company may acquire a 50-per-cent interest in mineral exploration permit No. 427 located in the Otago region of New Zealand.
Not sure how long it's been posted, but Glass Earth has been GRANTED the Mining Permit 52018 on 10th December 2009, for 5 years:D . It's the 59.56Ha just below German Hill Diggings, off McAdie Road, Otago area.
They are required to mine gravel at the MINIMUM of 50,000 bank cubic metres per year, which by my reckoning if an average of 5g/tonne, 2 tonne per cubic metre as a very rough guess, would yield 16,000 oz gold minimum, worth about NZ$18mill retail :).
OK, Aotea will now be looking to get the contract to pump water to their prospect from several K's away (it might still be worth it.;)), or maybe they could build themselves a sealed dam, or dig a well, but either way, I'm sure they've got it covered at GEL HQ (why wasn't this new data on the website??) I did notice a reasonable parcel of shares sold on the TSX two nights ago. Onwards and upwards, this is a great Christmas present for holders.
From the CHFIR website, old news..
And now we wait for the ORC consents no doubt..Quote:
Placer mineralization: Bulk testing of the McAdie placer (alluvial) prospect commenced on June 16, 2009; purchase of a 75 Cu M/hr GRU (gold recovery unit) will allow fast tracking to mining if resource testing and feasibility studies are positive.
Good news all round...sorry to be the fly in the ointment, but there is no water. None in any creek or river as they have all be calculated and allocated. That area is several times overallocated for the entire watercourse, thanks mostly to historical mining rights. That means that should at any time, if consent holders took all the water for irrigation (predominantly) that they are entitled to, the river would run dry several times over. The Council also has a minimum flow which is meant to be maintained at all times to preserve the aquatic values of the watercourse. In this area, this is all hypothetical as the water is legally overallocated. as for groundwater, the Manuherikea Claybound aquifer is also fully allocated, and Council is not giving up any more until a major report is finalised, which likely will say there is no more. So, there is only what is authorised now, and no farmer will give up their irrigation water without paying enough money to let them walk off the farm....
Sorry to be negitive, but I have held this position for the last year on this thread...GEL are pee'ing into the wind on this, and they will be working hard to get what they want.
A message from Canstock (Ontario)
Thanks for that Canstock, there might be a number truncation error in the top permit number, but the timing being 10th December for all this filing and permit work must mean something. I think these refer to the Ophir and the Rise&Shine sites.Quote:
I have tried three times to post these on the public forum but for some reason I cannot. I have asked the site administrators what the problem is but they have not responded to me. Here are two releases as per http://www.stockwatch.com.
Glass Earth, Ophir Gold property agreement
2009-12-10 18:59 ET - Property Agreement
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for expedited filing documentation of a joint venture agreement dated Aug. 17, 2009, between Glass Earth (New Zealand) Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of the company) and Ophir Gold Ltd. (a private New Zealand company), whereby the company may acquire a 50-per-cent interest in mineral exploration permit No. 427 located in the Otago region of New Zealand.
Glass Earth, CanAlaska Uranium property agreement
2009-12-10 17:19 ET - Property Agreement
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for expedited filing documentation of an option agreement dated June 3, 2009, between Glass Earth (New Zealand) Ltd. (a wholly owned subsidiary of the company), and CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. and Golden Fern Resources Ltd. (a wholly owned New Zealand subsidiary of CanAlaska Uranium), whereby the company may acquire a 70-per-cent interest in mineral exploration permit No. 40-481 located in the Otago region of New Zealand.
Are these old news? Have a great day!
Canstock.
Aotea, thanks for the water info (once more) and I guess at first it looks daunting for the GEL site operators. But it does rain down there in Otago on occasion, and we're being told everywhere (even in the Waikato) to build dams and hold onto more of it. There would be enough cashflow to pump, recollect and filter water to reuse it for sluicing. This is not irrigation, where the water is all ultimately lost. Only a portion would evaporate or be lost within the system, if all the material was carried to a sealed area. And that's just a transport belt and a pond membrane or clay layer away from reality.
Here's something for you Aotea, Miner and other keen dredgers..
The latest file at CM for the huge Otago PP 39322 was updated yesterday and published. What do you see Aotea, we'll wait to hear your comments..
http://data.crownminerals.govt.nz/Pe...x?permit=39322
Regards.
Interesting. The CM page now shows 39322 as 8944 sq km (894,400Ha), but the map appears unchanged. I think it's just a matter of time before the updated map is posted.
The GunClub mining application might be sorted before Christmas too...both were put in close together.
Aotea, that's good, you're on your way then. Note also that GEL's Roaring Meg, PP50892 near the Cardrona area has been dropped a year early, on 17/12/09. There's been a lot of paperwork going on in the last month or two, by the look of it. It would be a huge job keeping a track of all these areas.
Not a lot of interest in picking up GEL shares at the asking price for the moment: but I do note that there are very few available on the TSX, and lots wanting to buy cheaply as per usual.
On 18th December Glass Earth's CM file was modified for PP39322, and the new map was locked in. You have to look inside the big file to get the map, the smaller maplink doesn't seem to be updated at the moment.
Like you say Aotea, there are big gaps everywhere. They've kept everything near Macraes mine, and around the outside of their mining permits, with a big hole inland from Dunedin. New area is 8944 sq km.
The CHFIR profile was updated again on 17th Dec. I can't see any major change (again), there are still some gaps in the info, a few typos. Is any of this new?
Quote:
Glass Earth’s strategy is to apply sophisticated use of new technology, over whole geological provinces permissive for large gold deposits. Glass Earth is now at the target specific drilling stage in three egions: Hauraki; Mamaku and Otago.
Key targets in those areas are:
• WKP in Hauraki (Newmont funded)
• Muirs in Mamaku
• Serpentine in Otago.
• Rise & Shine gold prospect in Otago.
Glass Earth’s strategy for 2009 onwards is therefore simple:
To continue work on high priority targets,building towards NI 43 101 compliant resources; and
Place mining to provide sustainable cash flow; with the first plant expected to be running by year-end 2009.
Glass Earth is well placed to achieve this in terms of:
Its extensive ground position; Experienced management; Its funding and contributory joint ventures.
MANAGEMENT AND DIRECTORS
MR. SIMON HENDERSON, MSc BSc (Hons), member, AusIMM - President and CEO:
Mr. Henderson is a founding shareholder of Glass Earth and is a geologist with over 30 years experience in the gold mining and exploration industry.
MR. JOHN DOW, Chairman (non-executive):
Mr. Dow is a geologist, joining Newmont Australia in 1978, culminating in him being appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Newmont Australia (previously Normandy Mining Limited) in April 2002.
MR. PETER LIDDLE, CFO and Company Secretary
MESSRS RICHARD BILLINGSLEY, PAUL C. JONES and STEVEN BURNS (Canadian/North American based non-executive Directors) provide valuable guidance in their respective areas of exploration, mining and finance.
FUNDING/CONTRIBUTORY JOINT VENTURES
Glass Earth has C$1.2M in cash as at Q2 2009 and has three contributory joint ventures, including two with Newmont over the Hauraki Region and an area immediately adjacent to the Martha Gold Mine.
Management considers that, with a prudent approach, this combination of funds and contributory joint ventures should allow Glass Earth to build towards NI 43-101 resources into mid-2010 without recourse to further funding.
I did a google trawl and picked up this article by Simon Hartley in the ODT.
This lines up: the Gun Club MP is close to being granted by Crown Minerals most likely. GEL has also started to recover gold at Ophir. It's possible that the webmaster for GEL will post us some photos of these operations and the new-look GRU on the website (a promise is a promise...)Quote:
Glass Earth goes for cashflowHome » News » Business
By Simon Hartley on Tue, 1 Dec 2009
News: Business
Glass Earth Gold's working capital has shrunk below $1 million for the first time since its October 2006 dual listing on the Toronto and New Zealand stock exchanges, after the company spent more than $24 million in that period on exploration around the country, mainly in Otago.
The explorer is looking to become a boutique gold producer to create cashflow, having late last week posted a third-quarter loss of $218,000, leaving it with working capital of $934,000.
In October, Glass Earth announced it intended to undertake a private placement in Canada for financing of $667,000 and as at November 26, $381,000 had been received.
Glass Earth's chief executive Simon Henderson said working capital of $934,000 at September 30, together with "cash from or work undertaken by contributing joint venturers", was budgeted to carry the company through into "early 2010".
"Cash generated from placer [alluvial] mining, in the Ida Valley, or boutique hard rock mining, near Ophir, would be additional to this," he said in a market update.
All consents for the McAdies alluvial gold mining project in the Ida Valley were expected to be in place by this week.
"All necessary equipment is in place and ready to be mobilised to site with commencement of mining expected shortly afterwards," he said.
Also in the Ida Valley, consent applications for the Gun Club/Nevills alluvial (loose) gold project, had been lodged and were being processed, he said.
Last month, Glass Earth recovered some gold during bulk testing using a seven-tonne crushing plant near Ophir.
Mr Henderson said a 40-tonne floating gold recovery unit, bought in conjunction with a mining partner, was being leased out.
The company was continuing exploration elsewhere, including the test drilling in the Mamaku volcanic region, plus stream and pan-concentrate sampling in Marlborough, outside known historical workings.
Part of the November 12 press release about Ophir:
Quote:
Glass Earth has recently constructed a purpose-built pilot plant (5-7 tonnes/hour throughput) designed to recover coarse/fine free gold by means of conventional crushing/grinding followed by a gravity separation process. An initial bulk sample of approximately 150 m3 is currently being processed in order to confirm the crushing parameters and recoveries. Following this test, the pilot plant will be relocated on site at the Wai-iti vein system for additional bulk testing.
Following a successful Evaluation Phase (November 2009), an affirmative decision to mine would allow for the construction of a larger plant (circa 40 tonnes/hour throughput), completion of regulatory consents and mining. The potential to replicate the mining on other pods of near-surface ore will be progressively evaluated thereafter.
Partial surrender of GEL by 0.38km2 on the books today also...
EZ, by now GEL should definately be making money from Ophir Gold I would expect.
Well done Glass Earth Gold (Andrew?): the website has been updated today with some beaut photos of the GRU on its lease site (helping at Earnscleugh?) and also some photos of the new smaller GRU at McAdies. Have a look, they're impressive. Aotea, there seems to be some water at McAdies...
http://www.glassearthlimited.com/gallery.html
mmm, Earnscluegh..I dodnt even know they were working there. That water is actaully a surface water intersect from the Clutha/ Frasers which isnt a worry, they are allowed as permitted 1M litres per day at a rate of 100l/sec without a consent!. Where is the McAdies prospect EZ?
Hi Aotea, I think an operator working at Earnscleugh has leased the big GRU from GEL. Might be a good idea, they can sort out any bugs..as long as GEL gets it back when they're ready. Would this be the same operator with the really huge bucket dredge? I think it was moved a while back, I posted about it.
McAdies is on a slight incline just below German Hill Diggings, Ida Valley, just off the end of McAdies Road.
Not too far away is the Gun Club project, MPA52021, which is bigger at 146.5 Ha. It's adjacent to the Falconer prospect, Poolburn (MP41762), and those guys have been doing really well by the look of it, with three employees, just with alluvial/placer gear and diggers.
Gidday,
Yep, I do know the Earnscleugh project you talk of now...as for Adies yes it has real promise, but it doesnt have water available with the exception of flood harvesting into dams. Should be an interesting year for GEL.
Merry Xmas to you all who have contributed to the GEL forum...Mid-Late feb is fishing time..
Thanks Aotea, trust you'll have a good Christmas too. I'm hoping to practise with the cicada lures in January up here, mid-late Feb sounds good :)
Re site visits to McAdies/Ophir etc, these are on private land, but I have put in a request and will wait to see what happens. I've been into a quarry before, and it usually involves a quick OSH training meeting, hardhats and high-vis vests. I still think a site tour(s) for shareholders at some stage would be a great idea, now the mining is up and running.
2009 has been a bit of a do-nothing year in Hamilton, with lots of promise but no action ;). I expect 2010 will be a lot better, and I'm looking forward to the GEL SP moving up to something sensible :D
Here's the story about our big GRU, L&M Mining have it for the meantime..
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/alexa...on-starts-week
Quote:
Earnscleugh gold extraction starts this week
Home » News » Regions
By Rosie Manins on Wed, 4 Nov 2009
Your Town: Alexandra | The Regions: Central Otago
Click photo to enlarge
The 70-tonne plant L and M Mining Ltd is leasing for its mining operation at its Earnscleugh mine. Photo by Rosie Manins. L and M Mining Ltd is due to start extracting gold from Earnscleugh this week, following delays with its equipment.
The 70-tonne mine plant L and M is leasing had to be re-wired to comply with existing industry standards.
Initially, the company hoped to start mining for gold in late October.
Mine manager Mark Coleman, of Cromwell, said the plant should start operating in the next few days.
Physical work started on the site in June, and almost all initial major earthworks have been completed. About 40,000cu m of earth has been excavated and used to create bunds around the mine pit.
Once operating, the plant will float on water at the bottom of the mine pit, the depth of which will increase by another 8m. The plant will be winched into position and moved as mining progresses.
"The mine pit will stay relatively the same size, but it will slowly be moved through our projected course. Old mine spots will be filled in as we go."
One person will stay on the plant at all times, and a fulltime digger operator will also work on the site.
Mr Coleman said the plant would weigh about 90 tonnes and process 80cu m of raw material each hour when it was operational.
As mining developed, L and M might use a larger plant capable of processing 250cu m an hour.
"We have a plan of what we want to do, but some of the details will be determined as we go, depending on how the site responds, among other things." So far, seven staff, including Mr Coleman, have been working on the site.
More people are expected to be employed as the project intensifies.
L and M plans to extract more than 110,000 ounces of gold during the seven-year mining project.
It owns much of the land on the Earnscleugh flats, alongside the Fraser River.
- rosie.manins@odt.co.nz
Attachment 2196
I guess you've had a great year then Aotea..looking forward to hearing more about it later!
The news just gets better: I hadn't noticed the new text on the front page of the Glass Earth website, quoted below:
In the McAdie's photos, two medium-sized Hitachi diggers/excavators are seen working, with another person beside the GRU. There is water flowing, so most issues seem to be resolved. As long as there's enough gold in each tonne handled, GEL should be making money :).Quote:
Bulk testing of several prospects in the Otago Region is either
underway or completed. With a Mining Permit granted for the
McAdie's project as well as access and council approvals granted
mining is now underway.
Hi Yankiwi and other GEL holders:
Back from holiday and looking forward to 2010, all is improving. Been so busy at work there's no time to post..
Early this year we should see the Gun Club MPA being approved/started, and start seeing some figures on placer/alluvial production at McAdies and Ophir, along with a steadily improving bank balance at Glass Earth head office.
Around this time GEL will probably be employing extra geologists and field staff to work on their extensive PPs and EPs spread around NZ, and getting more drilling done.
So I'd expect a lot of news releases (at least one a month), and some more of the images that the GEL webmaster has been collecting. These are all really helpful, each one says a few thousand words, and I'm feeling better and better about my investment.
As an aside, have a look at ASX:ARM, (Aurora Minerals) - these guys look a bit like GEL, started out with a dual listing, had gold prospects and all sorts of mineral areas to look at, but in 2009 found a huge Manganese deposit sitting at or near the surface in Australia. It's so rich (50% by weight) you can scoop some of it up and ship it in bulk without further processing. Suddenly this minnow (MV about 50mill a few weeks ago) could build into a business worth over a billion dollars. Their share price has doubled in the last two months, it went up 7% yesterday, and I'm picking at least another 6% today.
By 3pm: not looking like a smart prediction, as some profit-taking sellers have appeared.
But I've been reminded:
Links for Aurora inSo our own GEL has links with Newmont, Aurora, Ophir Gold, L&M and OGC, among others. We're in good company.Quote:
NEW ZEALAND: At Macraes West Gold Project: JV with Canadian-New Zealand company Glass Earth Limited (GENZL). The Macraes West prospecting permit area comprises 1,173sqkm and covers the possible westward extension of the Hyde–Macraes shear which hosts the Macraes mine mineralisation.
The relevant web page from Aurora's website is here:
http://www.auroraminerals.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1644
But although this is a big area and in a great spot, the 1173km2 PP was number PP39267, which was due to expire on 26 Feb 08. It's not available to view on the CM site, it's expired. (See GEL's strategy report for 2008-2009, includes a great map of the mentioned locations and a permit list). Ophir Gold and GEL do have some areas very near the Macraes mine, but a good chunk of the other areas nearby are taken by OGC.
Maybe some of PP39267 was incorporated inside PP39322, which has been extended and expanded over this period, before getting reduced over time.
We're not far off the time when GEL will be reporting on its gold recovery, and I'm a bit curious as to the royalties due to the Crown, and accounting issues. According to the NZMIA website:
I think GEL's books are based on a Canadian system, which means the costs for exploration are brought in only in the year that permit is surrendered. I'm not sure about the capital costs for mining equipment over there, but Aotea, you are no doubt going to be able to buy dredging equipment and other gear, and claim the costs immediately. That's quite a good deal.Quote:
The tax legislation contains several provisions for companies mining 'specified' minerals. The list of specified minerals includes gold and silver but not coal.
For tax purposes, these "specified minerals" companies are required to divide their income and expenses between mining and non-mining activities. The tax rate applicable to both types of income is 33%.
Where the mining activities result in a tax loss, this loss may be set off against income from non-mining activities, although the benefit of the mining loss is reduced by 50%; ie $300 of mining losses are required to be offset against $200 of non-mining income. The reasons for these unusual offset arrangements relate back to a period when mining companies paid a lower rate of tax than ordinary companies.
Mining companies are prohibited from grouping their profits or losses with other mining companies or with non-mining companies.
Despite these limitations, the tax regime for mining companies is generally regarded as concessionary. For example, it allows mining companies to immediately deduct their exploration expenditure and any expenditure incurred in the development of the mining licence. Thus buildings, mine-shafts, plant and machinery, production equipment and storage facilities, which would ordinarily be capitalised under standard accounting conventions, may be deducted immediately for income tax purposes.
These concessions extend to 'associated mining operations', a term which describes facilities situated in New Zealand for the accumulation, initial treatment and transportation of gold up to the stage where gold is in a saleable form and in a location suitable for sale.
Mining companies are also allowed to deduct their estimated expenditure for the next 2 years on exploration and development. The estimate is reversed in the following year and therefore is included as income in that year. The mining company can maintain its deferral however, provided it continues to budget for further exploration and development work.
There is also a concession for carrying tax losses forward. New Zealand companies are usually only permitted to carry losses to the extent that they have 49% continuity of shareholding. However, mining companies are permitted to carry forward their tax losses even where there has been a complete change of ownership, where:
The losses have resulted from exploration expenditure or development expenditure incurred on licenses which are retained by the company;
The losses are offset against assessable income arising from mining from the same or geologically contiguous licence areas.
Royalties……
The Crown Minerals Act 1991 contains the right to charge a royalty on any mining permits.
The Ministry of Commerce has recently imposed a royalty on minerals owned by the Crown. The royalty is the greater of 1% ad valorem (value of production) or 5% of accounting profits. The prescription for calculating the ad valorem royalty (AVR) and the accounting profits royalty (APR) is set out in minerals programmes issued by the Ministry in October 1996. Separate documents cover coal and other minerals, though the royalty provisions in both are very similar.
And the royalties don't look high either. Can anyone give us an idea what a mining company would get for their raw gold in today's market, near NZ$1125 per ounce spot price?
Spotted while looking to see if L&M Mining had posted returns from our GRU:
http://www.graysonline.co.nz/sale.asp?SALE_ID=4356
This a great looking piece of gear. Is the intention to bring it to Earnscleaugh if it doesn't sell, replacing the leased GEL GRU?
It is only a part of the full gear required, see the detailed listing. It might be a bit beyond GEL's budget at this stage. Good to know this sort of equipment is around in NZ though.
The latest private placement for GEL has been documented on the TSX.
Quote:
GLASS EARTH GOLD LIMITED ("GEL")
BULLETIN TYPE: Private Placement-Non-Brokered
BULLETIN DATE: January 8, 2010
TSX Venture Tier 2 Company
TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to
a Non-Brokered Private Placement announced October 28, 2009:
Number of Shares: 7,420,000 shares
Purchase Price: $0.05 per share
Warrants: 7,420,000 share purchase warrants to
purchase 7,420,000 shares
Warrant Exercise Price: $0.10 for a three year period
Number of Placees: 10 placees
Insider / Pro Group Participation:
Insider=Y/
Name ProGroup=P/ # of Shares
Woolrich International Y 5,720,000
Holdings Limited
(S. Collins, M. Hoddinott)
Thomas Gallant P 100,000
Finder's Fee: $1,200 and 24,000 warrants payable to
Leede Financial Markets Inc.
$2,000 and 40,000 warrants payable to
Raymond James Ltd.
$1,600 and 32,000 warrants payable to
Jones, Gable & Co. Ltd.
$400 and 8,000 warrants payable to
Penson Financial Services Inc.
Pursuant to Corporate Finance Policy 4.1, Section 1.11(d), the Company
must issue a news release announcing the closing of the private placement
and setting out the expiry dates of the hold period(s). The Company must
also issue a news release if the private placement does not close
promptly.
TSX-X
Wow - this has been tracking at 8 - 8.5 cents for the last while - down to 6 cents now.
Any ideas?
Last I looked, TSX holding firm at 5.5c CDN. So someone got a bargain..
Nothing has changed in the last few weeks as far as I'm aware, except GEL is a lot closer to earning an income from gold recovery. The TSX market still values GEL at 5.5c CDN, about 7cNZD, and they almost always lag behind NZ.
I think the small NZ market lacks direction on GEL at the moment, and this could easily be sorted out with a press release or website update on the alluvial/placer recovery results from various sites. Just an idea Andrew...:)
Also note that a total of 10 placees (most of the money connected with GEL in some way) fronted up with the latest placement, and in a year or two the option (warrant) to buy GEL shares for 10c CDN might be a dream for the rest of us.
I posted this up so we could all see how these deals are done. Maybe next time some of us will be keen on getting involved.
Ta for the feedback people. Pretty much how I saw it.
I was happy to pick up a few at 6 cents.
Up overnight on the TSX - now 6 cents Canadian!
Overnight NZ$8000 spent on GEL: TSX holding solid at about 8c NZ. Still some cheaper shares sitting over here. Perhaps there's more good news on the horizon.
I'm getting confused about dredges: here is the latest information I could find about these private companies on the Crown Minerals website:
Maybe L&M have several dredges to choose from, or they have had second thoughts about bringing in bigger gear (see For Sale advert posted above).Quote:
L&M starts up Earnscleugh alluvial goldmine in central Otago.
— filed under: News, Minerals
12 June 2009 - Private mining and energy company L&M Group has begun work on its Earnscleugh alluvial gold mine project across the Clutha River from Alexandra in Central Otago.
L&M exploration manager David Manhire, of Christchurch, said high gold prices had encouraged the company to activate its Earnscleugh project, which isestimated to contain 110,000 oz of gold and is expected to run for at least seven years.
The L&M Group’s focus on alluvial gold mining in the 1980’s and 1990’s switched in the past decade to lignite, coal seam gas, and recently Buller and north Waikato coal.
Mr Manhire said the size of the Earnscleugh mine had been scaled down to 150 hectares (ha) from an earlier plan to mine 255 ha as granted by the 2001 resource consents in 2001. All appeals against the consents were cleared in mid-2004.
He said gold mining subsidiary L&M Mining held two mining permits MP 41005 covering 81 ha and the much larger MP 41462 covering 919 ha. Both are held in the name of Mintago Investments Ltd.
The project will focus on the smaller of the two permits and the area nearby on the eastern side of the Fraser River, which will now not be diverted. The Fraser runs parallel to the Clutha and through MP 41462 before joining the Clutha upstream from Alexandra.
Mr Manhire said the mine was virgin ground and had not been mined by the large Earnscleugh dredges that mined the area 100 years ago.
Some 1,300 holes were drilled to test gold grades over the new mine area in the 1980s and 1990s before the mining permit was granted.
The Earnscleugh mine will be operated by a contracting team and have two stages, Mr Manhire said. The first stage will be a small scale mine that is expected to begin mining in July.
In the second stage a larger floating gold recovery plant currently stored at L&M’s closed Waikaka mine near Gore, will be brought to Earnscleugh.
Sources: L&M Mining and Lindsay Clark
Last updated 29 June 2009
Now about the whopper dredge:
All this confirms that most Otago alluvial areas are quite profitable at the current gold price, at medium to large scale.Quote:
Grey River gold dredge restarts again on north bank
— filed under: News, Minerals
26 June 2009 - The large Grey River alluvial gold dredge, which was extensively refitted in 2008, is now successfully mining gold on the north bank near the town of Blackball.
Birchfield Minerals restarted the dredge early this year to take advantage of the higher gold prices. The dredge operation was shut down in 2004 for economic reasons.
The 3,500 tonne, 170 m long dredge is one of the world’s largest remaining alluvial gold bucket dredges, and is working the wide gold-bearing gravel flats of the Grey River inland from Greymouth.
The Grey dredge’s electrical system and bucket line was rebuilt near Ngahere (about 15 km upstream from Greymouth) on the south eastern side of the river.
Allan Birchfield, managing director of Birchfield Minerals, said that the dredge was moved to the north western side of the Grey River where it is now mining the area near where the Blackball Creek and Ford Creek join the river. He said the refurbished dredge was operating well.
Gold is now selling at NZ$1,500 an oz unlike in 2004 when the gold price was about NZ$600 an oz, Mr Birchfield said.
Fifteen staff are now employed on the dredging operation, he said.
Birchfield Minerals last year was granted an extension of its Mining Permit 41933 to 873 hectares (ha), which almost tripled the original size awarded in 2006 of 294 ha.
The extended permit area included a small area on the northern banks near Blackball as well as a greater area downstream on both sides of the Grey River from the original permit area.
Mr Birchfield said the current permit contains an inferred recoverable reserve of 170,000 oz of gold.
Source: Birchfield Minerals and Lindsay Clark
Last updated 29 June 2009
Birchfiled Dredge is a brute, and is making loads at the moment, They went up Blackball Creek and found bugger-all, but now am working in a screek below the Roa coalmine and doing very well. The other Birchfiled project near Ross is working blacksand and making $1M days....
The Birchfield dredge got their consents canned about 6 years ago, but have reappiled and been granted them. Its a mighty beast...West Coast alluvials are low grade typically but a lot of material to feed, and Otago has the goods, far higher grades and discrete sites.
Ah yes, thanks Aotea, I got my geography mixed up a bit..
Quickly found this about Birchfield:
http://www.ross.org.nz/business_and_industry.htm
Presume they're now mining the local beach for gold, not ironsand. Are you saying that they can separate $1mill of gold in a good day? That takes a bit of thinking about.
The big Grey River dredge link has been posted before:
http://www.mineralswestcoast.co.nz/dredge.html
Of course, GEL doesn't do the West Coast, stayed clear of it.
Thats right...the photos of the beachsand set up is outstanding. Thats Evan Birchfirlds' project which he started after the Ross pit was demossioned and turned into a lake at Ross township. It isnt beach gold exactly, but old beach leads, and yes $1M days are happening Im reliably told.
As for Allan Birchfield, he is into the confluence of Ford Creek and has been doing very well, where he was previously at Blackball Creek confluence and doing OK. Has been finding lots of historical coins and apparently loads of mercury too from the old timers...pretty interesting beast the grey dredge. They got taken to the environment court for breach of consent and eating up a riverbank if I recall correctly...
Finally found a picture of the Ophir pilot plant..
I found part of an article on google, the first confirmation about the ownership of the 40-tonne GRU. Anyone get the Southland Times?Quote:
Ophir May Be Next Gold Strike
By JOHN EDENS in Alexandra - The Southland Times Last updated 05:00 18/11/2009
FUTURE'S IN GOLD: The test plant at Glass Earth Gold's exploration site near Ophir, which has the potential to yield more than 100,000 ounces of the precious metal.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-tim...xt-gold-strike
Ophir could be the next gold bearing site in Central Otago after mining began at the L&M Mining Earnscleugh pit.
Glass Earth, a dual-listed explorer, has a 50 per cent stake in private firm Ophir Gold to explore a 640ha prospect near Omakau.
The company announced pilot plant construction was finished and bulk testing at its Ophir prospect had started. Pilot plants are small mining plants used to test a prospect's potential gold yield ahead of major operations.
The gravity separation plant, which can sift five to seven tonnes an hour, is testing a 150 cubic metre bulk sample before more testing at a nearby prospect, the Wai-iti vein system.
After this evaluation phase a decision to mine – using a 40 tonnes an hour plant – could follow, although the firm would need mining consents. A ground survey was completed to add to geophysical data from an earlier aerial survey, to identify areas of interest.
Rock studies, mapping and geochemical soil analyses showed the "potential for several new gold bearing ... systems," the statement said.
If a decision to mine is made, the joint venture aims to extract more than 100,000 ounces. The firm is required to fund the exploration phase, plant design, installation and any resource consent applications.
Glass Earth chief executive Simon Henderson, who emailed The Southland Times from Perth, said testing must be complete before any mining recommendations were made.
It would take at least four months for permit and resource consent applications to get approval, he said.
The joint exploration site is 70km northwest of the Macraes gold deposit.
john.edens@stl.co.nz
And here is a general article summarising the gold prospecting/mining business in NZ in Sept 09. Glass Earth gets a mention.Quote:
Ready to Mine for Bullion
The 40-tonne plant, valued at about $500000, was jointly bought by Dunstan Mining and Glass Earth Gold. They stripped it down, sanded the 10-year-old kit, ...ex Southland Times article cached by stuff.co.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-e...s-good-as-gold
Publicly available information on the McAdies regional council permits that were approved by ORC staff and presented to the consents committee follow (stripped down version). These show that Glass Earth has permission to obtain up to 10 litres/sec of water from its own bore(s), and will discharge into a treatment pond and holding ponds. The approximate location of the site is about 1km from the mapped end of German Hill Road.
This looks like a very tidy self-contained setup, and GEL are by no means the biggest possible water user in this batch of consents.Quote:
REPORT from Otago Regional Council (ORC)
Document Id: A158365
Report No: 2009/1384
Prepared For: Consents Committee
Prepared By: Julene Ludlow, Manager Resource Management Administration
Date: 3 November 2009
Subject: Resource Management Administration Report from Saturday 26th
September 2009 to Friday 30 October 2009 inclusive
__________________________________________________ ___________________
1. Project E.1 – Resource Consent Application Processing
40 new applications, 1 transfer of site and 3 variations to conditions were received during this period. The types of applications received are shown in Appendix 1. Applications for land use consents to drill a bore made up the majority of new applications received.
1.3 Consents Decided
The table of consents decided between Saturday 26th September 2009 to Friday 30 October is attached as Appendix 2. There were a total of 24 consents decided; none were either limited notified or publicly notified. In the case of water take decisions, the rates of take for those decided consents are included in Appendix 3.
Appendix 2 (includes)
2009.169 23/10/2009
Mathew Bell Staff Panel
[Water Permit] - Under Take
Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
To take groundwater water for non-consumptive use for the purpose of operating a gold recovery plant. Location: Approximately 2.7 kilometres southeast of the intersection of Flannery Road and Jones Road, Poolburn, Central Otago
2009.170 20/10/2009
Mathew Bell Staff Panel
[Discharge Permit] - Water
Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
To discharge water containing sediment to water in a processing pond and storage ponds for the purpose of operating a gold recovery plant. Location: Approximately 2.7 kilometres southeast of the intersection of Flannery Road and Jones Road, Poolburn, Central Otago
2009.171 23/10/2009
Mathew Bell Staff Panel
[Land Use Permit] - Bores
Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited
To construct up to three bores for the purpose of accessing groundwater. Location: Approximately 2.7 kilometres southeast of the intersection of Flannery Rd and Jones Rd, Poolburn, Central Otago
Appendix 3
Water Take decisions made between 26 September and 30 October 2009
Consent Number Holder Rate (l/s)
2006.402 Borst Holdings Limited 40
2009.169 Glass Earth (New Zealand) Limited 10
2009.219 Watson I S Watson P M 5
2009.296 Aitkens Folly Vineyard Limited 1.5
2009.309 Highground Land Company Limited 0.15
Aotea, you've got me interested in finding out what size of operation is needed for those large mining turnover days..
The Grey River dredge operated by Allan Birchfield can run 24 hrs a day and process 187,000 tonnes of gravel a week. At Ross, Evan Birchfield's operation appears to be a fixed system:Quote:
Westland District Council site:
Ross, located 15 minutes south of Hokitika, was settled in 1865 mainly as a gold mining town which at its peak had a population of about 2,500 people drawn by the lure of gold as well as numerous hotels to service the thirsty miners. Today the town has a resident population of 291 people and has become a popular base for people working in Hokitika and Greymouth as well as staff employed by Birchfield Mining who operate a large gold mining operation in the area.
During spring, the main street of Ross, which is also the State Highway, is lined with blossom trees in flower which were planted by the Community Association.
In 1909, two miners working in Jones Creek close to the township unearthed a gold nugget weighing around 3.1 kg which was then and still is the largest found in New Zealand. It was christened “The Honourable Roddy Nugget” after the then Minister of Mines, Roderick McKenzie. The nugget was used as a doorstop at a local hotel for many years before being raffled to raise money to build the local hospital. This raffle was the start of New Zealand’s first Golden Kiwi Lottery. In 1911 the nugget was gifted to King George V as a coronation gift and was sadly melted down and gilded on a tea set.
Ross is bordered by the Totara and Mikonui Rivers to the North and South and the Southern Alps and Tasman Sea to the east and west. It is a paradise for anyone with a love or yearn to explore the outdoors. Walks close to Ross include the old Railway walk, which is currently being converted into a cycle way from Hokitika, or the Water Race through rainforest which also takes in a historic cemetery, an old miners hut and tunnels as well as spectacular views of the coastline and valley. There is excellent trout fishing and white baiting in the rivers close by while the surfcasting from the Ross beach is among the best on the West Coast.
The Ross Goldfields Information and Heritage Centre, which is operated by the local community, has a great shop showcasing local art, crafts, souvenirs and gifts as well the local history of the area. Visitors can also try their hand at panning for gold while staff are always happy to help with accommodation and other travel enquiries as well as the many attractions in the area. The town has two hotels, bed and breakfast outlets as well as backpacker accommodation and campsites.
Ross Goldfields Information & Heritage Centre
Ph 03 755 4077 or email rossgoldfields@netaccess.co.nz for more information on accommodation, tours, walks and activities.
www.ross.org.nz
I did some quick calcs: at 5g gold/tonne, this operation would need to process 6,200 tonne a day if their return gross was (say) NZ$1000 per ounce. That looks to be about a third of the big dredge's capability, and I guess they use earthmovers like Newmont does at Waihi. You might have more details though, Aotea.Quote:
Minerals West Coast Annual Forum, Hokitika 2 July 2008
Similar to previous years the day’s proceedings commenced with the Trust's AGM, followed by a morning session concentrating on national issues that affect the Coast, and an afternoon session of updates of major developments and topical issues within the Coast. (etc).
..The theme for this year’s Forum was Mining on the West Coast –its recent evolution. Three morning speakers Don Elder, Damien O’Connor and Chris Auchinvole were followed by updates form Pike River Coal (Peter Whittall), Oceana Gold (Gareth Thomas and Melanie Rosak) and Department of Conservation (Mike Slater) The afternoon presentations were followed by a wet and windy field excursion to Birchfield Ross Minerals operations in Ross.
Birchfield’s maintain the only fixed plant alluvial gold operation on the Coast . Commissioning of a new plant, some two kilometres south of their existing now decommissioned plant is currently underway, and it was to here that the group was safely escorted by a retired WWII military tank. Evan Birchfield explained the plant had ‘yet to produce’ any gold but all were hopeful. The mining process and the considerable extent of rehab work, now with good grass cover and carrying stock, was a testament to how integrating land development with mining provides multiple benefits.
Special thanks to Evan for hosting the field trip and the efforts he went to ensuring we were not ‘at risk’ from any insurgents.
Newmont Waihi's site states their maximum processing ability is 3,500 tonne of ore/day, at average 3.3g/tonne gold (main pit), so 379 oz/day at best..but the extended work in the pit may yield 800,000 oz gold. Their max water take was/is 230 litres/sec.
Anytime now we should see a press release detailing how the gold recovery and bulk testing is going :D. Meanwhile, we have to guess:
It's quite hard to put together, but here is the scant information we have on GEG (GEL's) mining equipment:
(A) 1x 40 tonne floating GRU, refurbished and rewired, part owned with Dunstan Mining Ltd, currently leased out to L&M Mining, from Nov 2009. Working in a pond at Earnscleugh, unknown results.
According to CHFIR, it handles 75 cu mtr/hr, say 150 tonne of gravel per hour. If it was run perfectly for 24hrs a day, with ore at 5g gold/tonne, it could recover 580oz a day, worth about NZ$580,000 gross/day.
I assume this beauty will end up at one of the GEL permits in the near term..
(B)The new Ophir pilot plant with crushing and gravity separation handles 5-7 tonnes/hr, so by comparison can yield 27oz/24hrs at best, and the level of gold over there is apparently between 3g and 4g/tonne.
(C)Mention is made that if all goes well at Ophir, the JV (GEL&Ophir Gold) will construct a 40 tonne/hr plant. This could yield up to 125oz per 24 hr shift at 4g gold/tonne.
(D)At McAdies, another plant is in use. It's not much smaller than the 40 tonne GRU (A) which was earmarked for this site. Maybe it's about 100 tonne/hr, so capable of 386oz per 24 hrs. It's running costs would be higher I guess.
Anyway, we're all quite keen on hearing about these machines..
Here's a bit more about the first GRU: the full article I think.
I'm not a mining engineer, but I think there may be some technical errors in this article. Maybe the rig can handle 100 cubic metres of gravel an hour..and I guess the unit will be powered by a 120kW diesel genset.Quote:
Ready to mine for bullion
The Southland Times, Sep 17, 2009 | by John Edens
THE plant for an Earnscleugh goldmine is expected to go on-site next month.
L&M Mining began a seven-year, $165 million goldmining operation on the Fraser River bed in June.
Dunstan Mining managing director Bob Kilgour is in charge of the plant, leased to L&M on a renewable contract.
Mr Kilgour and his team spent the last four months rebuilding the machine, which is in pieces in a yard off Boundary Rd, Alexandra.
The 40-tonne plant, valued at about $500,000, was jointly bought by Dunstan Mining and Glass Earth Gold.
They stripped it down, sanded the 10-year-old kit, cleaned and welded, Mr Kilgour said.
Three 106cm jigs would sieve alluvial gravel at a rate of up to 100 cubic metres a second to extract gold, he said.
Power for the diesel plant would be supplied by a separate 120kW generator.
Next month, a crane would lift the plant on to a transporter before it is placed on pontoons at Earnscleugh and floated over the mine site.
--------------------
The Southland Times, Copyright of Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2009, All rights reserved.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
The renewable contract (mentioned above) may mean GEL will not be able to do more than reap a portion of lease fees from this gear until the contract is up, I hope it's worthwhile.
Might have posted this earlier, but this was the intention of L&M in June 2009.
Multiply 110,000oz by NZ $1500 per ounce and you get $165 million, that's the figure the Southland Times used for the project. So that doesn't take into account costs or wholesale value, it's the retail value of the gold that should be recovered. Still, not a bad living by the look of it.Quote:
L&M starts up Earnscleugh alluvial goldmine in central Otago.
12 June 2009 - Private mining and energy company L&M Group has begun work on its Earnscleugh alluvial gold mine project across the Clutha River from Alexandra in Central Otago.
L&M exploration manager David Manhire, of Christchurch, said high gold prices had encouraged the company to activate its Earnscleugh project, which is estimated to contain 110,000 oz of gold and is expected to run for at least seven years.
The L&M Group’s focus on alluvial gold mining in the 1980’s and 1990’s switched in the past decade to lignite, coal seam gas, and recently Buller and north Waikato coal.
Mr Manhire said the size of the Earnscleugh mine had been scaled down to 150 hectares (ha) from an earlier plan to mine 255 ha as granted by the 2001 resource consents in 2001. All appeals against the consents were cleared in mid-2004.
He said gold mining subsidiary L&M Mining held two mining permits MP 41005 covering 81 ha and the much larger MP 41462 covering 919 ha. Both are held in the name of Mintago Investments Ltd.
The project will focus on the smaller of the two permits and the area nearby on the eastern side of the Fraser River, which will now not be diverted. The Fraser runs parallel to the Clutha and through MP 41462 before joining the Clutha upstream from Alexandra.
Mr Manhire said the mine was virgin ground and had not been mined by the large Earnscleugh dredges that mined the area 100 years ago.
Some 1,300 holes were drilled to test gold grades over the new mine area in the 1980s and 1990s before the mining permit was granted.
The Earnscleugh mine will be operated by a contracting team and have two stages, Mr Manhire said. The first stage will be a small scale mine that is expected to begin mining in July.
In the second stage a larger floating gold recovery plant currently stored at L&M’s closed Waikaka mine near Gore, will be brought to Earnscleugh.
Sources: L&M Mining and Lindsay Clark
110,000 oz is 3,410kg of gold over seven years, and if working for 240 days/year, they hope to recover an average of 2kg of gold a day, so they need to process perhaps 400 tonnes of gold-bearing gravel each day.
Without even going 24 hrs, you could do that at 50 tonne/hr in an 8 hr shift. What's a bit disturbing, is that GEL's refurbed GRU can handle 150 to perhaps 200 tonne/hr, but it will need loading by digger(s).
Will L&M still want to bring in their second stage big gear with a bucket dredge?
Found this on a BusinessWeek page for GEL: probably it was announced on a trading day, I missed it.
As a relative newbie, what does this mean for us?Quote:
Key developments for GLASS EARTH GOLD LTD (GEL)
Glass Earth Gold Limited, Special/Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting, Feb 24, 2010
01/15/2010
Glass Earth Gold Limited, Special/Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting, Feb 24, 2010, at 10:00 US Pacific Time. Location: Suite 1750 – 1185 West Georgia Street, Vancouver B.C. V6E 4E6,Canada. Agenda: To consider the issued share capital of the company be altered by consolidating all of the 157,702,633 issued common shares without par value into 31,540,526 issued common shares without par value, on the basis that every 5 common shares be consolidated into 1 common share without par value, or on such lesser basis as may be approved by the board of directors and the TSX Venture Exchange; and to transact such further or other business as may properly come before the meeting and any adjournments thereof .
I can't see that on the NZX nor TSX website.
In the US and most likely Canada listed companies get charged listing fees on the amount of shares they have on issue, not the market cap of the company.
So a share consolidation on the TSX may be a way of cost cutting, the annual listing fees that Glass Earth gets charged.
They may do the same here, but NZX don't seem to show a record of it.
Additionally NZX and ASX both only charge their annual listing fees based on market cap, so there would be no benefit to Glass Earth doing a consolidation here.
Check out my comments on Stockhouse.
Just relaying a private message from Canstock (his post not set up by admin yet):
I don't think the share price will drift back, Canstock, we have just seen it firming up here in NZ, in anticipation of the placer results and cashflow improvements. There was some mention that not all of the CAN$500k had turned up earlier on, sounded like that was temporary.Quote:
From Canstock, Ontario:
Reverse splits rarely benefit the little guy. If we are trading at 5 cents one day, then the reverse split, we will be trading at 25 cents the next day, after the RS. Without great news we will drift back down to 5 cents, but now we only have 20% of our original shares. I understand why they have to do it, but it still sucks for us. It will be easier for them to raise money with less shares outstanding. The unfulfilled private placement was likely the catalyst for this.
I'm taking a longer-term view on GEL (being an optimist) and I consider that the money spent on R&D (exploration) will come out the other end - if everyone does their job. That means (to me) the ordinary shares are still worth NZ25c, and I picked up some bargain GEL shares over the last year or so. While the shares now rest at 7.7c-8c here, there is expectation that the placer cashflow and some firmed-up drilling results for the larger sites will have a positive impact on the share.
I received the paperwork for the Special General Meeting over the weekend. Wellington head office had dated the letter 20th January 2010. As expected, management is keen on the 1 for 5 share deal. I think I'll go along with that.
I can imagine that new investors might be put off by the currently low share price, and without the history and buy-in that the rest of us have, be reluctant to get started. The consolidation might also put GEL back on the map a little. It applies to all shares, in NZ and Canada. The special deals for GEL share purchases at a later date (stock option plan) are also changing in line with the ordinary shares.
Great, there were some press releases in the weekend:
This one shows that McAdie's GRU is running at about 80 tonne gravel/hr, so if at 5g gold/tonne (someone help me out here, is that realistic?) it's nearly 13oz per hour, say $13,000 of gold income every hour!Quote:
Glass Earth aiming at higher capacity
ODT: Home » News » Business
By Simon Hartley on Sat, 30 Jan 2010
News: Business
Listed Glass Earth Gold is working towards commissioning a second gold-recovery unit for use at one of its three Ida Valley prospects in Central Otago, where the firm has been recovering alluvial gold for the past five weeks.
It is likely the commissioning can not come quickly enough for Glass Earth.
The exploration company's cash in hand had fallen below $1 million by December last year, the company having spent more than $24 million since dual listing on the Toronto and New Zealand stock exchanges in October 2006, focusing mainly on exploration around Otago.
Creating cash flow from its boutique mining ventures in the Ida Valley and Ophir is crucial to Glass Earth's future, the explorer to date having only posted losses.
Glass Earth chief executive Simon Henderson was upbeat about the consistent but unspecified amount of gold being recovered daily from the McAdies prospect in the Ida Valley.
"I'd like to see the second GRU [gold-recovery unit] start tomorrow. But we're likely to see that happening by the end of February," he said yesterday.
Glass Earth is working with joint venture partner Dunstan Mining in the Ida Valley and is permitted for mining at the McAdies prospect.
The explorer was "almost 95% of the way there" to get mining permits in place for the Gun Club and Nevills prospects in the Ida Valley, Mr Henderson said.
At present there is a 60-80cu m-per-hour gold-recovery unit operating at McAdies, achieving 40cu m per hour, and Mr Henderson hoped a second unit would also have an up to 80cu m-per-hour capacity.
"A lot depends on the ground conditions when it comes to [cu m-per-hour] recoveries," Mr Henderson said.
He has said in the past 2010 would be crunch time for Glass Earth in terms of generating its own cashflow and in December, he forecast the company had enough funds to continue into "early 2010", a forecast which remained unchanged yesterday.
"We're getting gold on a daily basis and are meeting [gold-recovery] expectations," Mr Henderson said of the McAdies prospect, while declining to reveal details.
In early December, Glass Earth posted a third-quarter loss of $218,000, leaving it with working capital of $934,000.
A month earlier, it had completed a private placement in Canada, raising $640,000.
For its previous full year to December 2008, Glass Earth spent $4.1 million on exploration and booked a $1.3 million loss, having a year earlier recorded a $2.68 million loss.
In mid-November last year, Glass Earth recovered a small amount of gold from its other Central Otago prospect, near Ophir, with 50:50 joint venture partner Ophir Gold Ltd, a private company, following bulk-sampling tests under its extended exploration permit.
Unlike the Ida Valley's alluvial (loose) gold deposits, the Ophir deposits are set in hard rock, which is crushed for extraction.
Mr Henderson said the results from bulk testing at Ophir had been sent to a Canadian company to determine the recovery rates and assist in the design of a bigger gold-recovery plant.
Before resuming work at Ophir, Glass Earth also had to determine the size of the gold target, Mr Henderson said.
While the firm had not applied for a mining permit from Crown Minerals for Ophir, the exploration permit allowed for continued bulk testing.
Note that the placement was fully subscribed, and that the bigger Gun Club mining permit looks close to being approved. It's right next door to some other alluvial miners who are doing well.
And Glass Earth gets a mention today in "shares to watch" over here:
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/article/9...h-hlg-npx.html
Andrew (IT at GEL's Head Office) has emailed a bit of background: he's busy with permit reporting obligations, but acknowledges the website should get an update or two in future. Thanks for that.
On another note, GEL's partner (Dunstan Mining) is keeping the recovery levels at McAdies in-house at the moment, even the crew there don't know the levels. Andrew thought the figures will be released eventually..with a bit of diplomacy.
I've been working with figures of 5g/tonne, as the big pit at Waihi has 2-3 g/tonne. I figured GEL has drilled quite a few holes all over the place, and had selected McAdies as a good starting point. They certainly had heaps of sites to choose from. Gold naturally occurs in the crust of our Earth at 5ppb by weight, and anything up to 15ppb or so is "background". Of course 5g/tonne is 5ppm, a thousand times more gold than background.
I don't think GEL would have chosen a mining site with anything less than 1g/tonne over parts of it, considering they can pick which gravel goes into the GRU. If the results were average or poor, I don't think they'd be talking about building or bringing in another GRU so soon:).
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/indu...ld-explorationQuote:
Capital will pay for gold exploration
By ALAN WOOD - The Press
Last updated 05:00 02/02/2010
Glass Earth Gold is planning a capital raising through overseas and New Zealand investors in March after it completes a share consolidation plan.
Glass Earth chief executive Simon Henderson said the money raised will be spent on test drilling at five of the company's seven South Island sites and in two North Island sites.
He did not want to name a figure, but it would be significant for a company of Glass Earth's size – a capitalisation of around $11.9 million.
"(We've) got to get onto our major drilling projects at the end of the recessionary phase. We've got ourselves through that process without falling over and now we've got to ... start more active drilling in the field," Henderson said.
Glass Earth has called a special general meeting on February 24 in Vancouver, Canada to consolidate its 157.7 million shares into 31.5 million shares – on the basis that every five common shares be consolidated into one.
This was to help with efforts to raise more capital, Henderson said.
Investors, particularly in North America, were not as interested in "penny shares" or those with a face value of less than 20 cents a share.
Glass Earth shares last traded at 7.7c within a 12-month range of 5c to 17c.
"We are looking at a significant capital raising in late February, early March. The (share) rollback is geared around that fundraising process, so we'd need to formalise that so people buying shares are buying in at the rollback stage."
Glass Earth also wanted to commission a second alluvial gold-recovery unit at one of its Ida Valley prospects in the first quarter of 2010. There was already one unit – comprising diggers, a processing plant and water supply-washing system – operating in the Ida Valley region of Central Otago.
Henderson was unspecific about the amounts of gold being recovered daily from the McAdies prospect in the Ida Valley but said its sale would go towards making the company cashflow positive.
Glass Earth is working with joint venture partner Dunstan Mining in the Ida Valley and is permitted for mining at the McAdies prospect.
"We are producing in a very minor way. It's a good start for us," he said.
"We anticipate increasing the number of operations that we have in the Ida Valley ... we have one operation going in partnership (with Dunstan Mining).
"We should have another running inside three months, and we have potential to grow further if those two consolidate enough business."
Henderson said he was confident of getting a second permit through soon for the second Ida Valley site.
Glass Earth dual-listed on the Toronto and New Zealand stock exchanges in October 2006.
It has also entered into a joint venture with private South Island company Ophir Gold and has recovered a small amounts of test gold from a prospect near Ophir township in Central Otago.
Henderson said sampling tests were continuing at the Ophir prospect with drilling into the rock, and some results from those tests still to be returned from Canada. "We did construct and process some material, and the results of that aren't finalised yet."
Right, that's starting to get clearer: the placer work won't pay for all the drilling they'd like to do soon, and of course there are time limitations on the Crown Minerals exploration permits. And to outsiders, despite the fact the GEL shares only started off at 20c/25c (IPO), they can look a bit scary at the current price.
A business called Kenex has been an historical feature of GEL's JVs (Aurora) and acquisitions (HPD) by the look of it:
http://www.kenex.co.nz/Predictive/success.asp
Who knows what the near future holds, if GEL start drilling their best spots in earnest.
Re post above, I forgot Ophir rates its prospects at 3-4g/tonne gold, so McAdies should be there or thereabout.
OK, lets start with a proposition that one GRU at McAdies recovers 13oz gold every hour, running at about 50% duty, 80 tonnes gravel/hr, 5g/tonne gold.
The GRU and water pump could use $60 of diesel every hour, and one person (I'm being careful here) stands next to the GRU looking after it at $60 per hour chargeout. As part of the contract, two medium diggers and their operators could cost another $400 per hour. The GRU would also be billed out, let's say $200 per hour. Total running costs if everything goes right could be just $720 per hour, and the worst that can happen is that the rig breaks down, stopping the income flow. The contractor would carry any repair costs I guess.
With no better figures, I guess the wholesale gold value might be over NZ$1,000 per ounce in the raw state, some silver to be extracted etc. The govt fee is fairly small, so let's say income is $13,000 per hour, costs are $720, wow! over $12,000 per hour profit. Is this too good to be true?
One would hope that there's not some sort of 50/50 profit sharing going on with Dunstan Mining, the contractor, as mooted for Ophir. Fair enough when it's over or around their mining permit.
Now if $12,000 profit per hour was doubled with another GRU, and assuming there was no shortage of 5g/tonne gravel, and again running at 50% duty, how long would it take to make the NZ$12mill GEL is looking for?
1,000 hours of operations, 500 hours for each GRU, so just a few weeks.
Just a reminder about the levels at Ophir:
http://www.contrafedpublishing.co.nz...ons+again.html
Have GEL missed something in the Waikato?
Just entered on the Crown Minerals site, application for a 452600Ha EP by China's largest gold mining company, Zijin Mining Group. No. 52446, at 4526 km2, this area is not in Taranaki but the Waikato. It stretches around Hamiltown (that's close to home) and up past Huntly's coalfields towards Meremere, and way back down into the King Country.
http://data.crownminerals.govt.nz/Pe...lication=52446
Zijin have a market cap of NZ$22.6Bill and that changes a lot (listed company), was heaps higher 2 months ago. This area is almost as much permit space as they had in all of China, according to a 2008 article I glanced at.
Anyone know anything about this?
http://www.otago.ac.nz/Geology/resea.../alluvial.html
Just double checking, a few grams of gold per tonne is not unusual in Otago alluvial mining sites. Recovery rate could be somewhere between 50% to 80%.
Hi Yankiwi, thanks for posting..plenty are just looking..
I think this SP lacks direction at the moment, here and on the TSX. Shareholders do deserve some numbers from GEL management. Recent (and some old) drill results, bulk testing figures, assays, etc from some of those permits we stopped hearing about.
Not to mention the recovery grades and tonnage mined from McAdies, and how that site is set up with the contractors, if it affects the returns to GEL.
Is the company playing around over there, or is it literally a goldmine for temporary cashflow? You'll know from previous posts that I think it's more likely going quite well :).
One reason that persuades an exploration company like GEL to have an IPO is to increase its profile, while of course having access to shareholder funds without paying any 'interest' in the short term. The quid pro quo is that the operation of this business must be a lot more open than a privately held company. I've no doubt this can take a lot of effort, but at times like this when more shares are likely to be issued, shareholders (existing and prospective) would like to see a state-of-play document that really does let us see how things are going.
On another note, MPA 52021 has still not been approved according to the CM website. I note that MPs have been issued for other numbers around this series, 52022 through to 52146. Many of these are on the West Coast, seems to be where the action is. It's also possible the permits are easier to get over there (no shortage of water Aotea?).
This Gun Club permit application is across Webster Lane and Nevill Lane, near Moa Creek/Bonspiel. I would expect that the Gun Club and Nevill prospects are within this space, but cannot find anything pinpointing the spots on a Glass Earth plan. But these appear to be the other two sites GEL is wanting to set up gold recovery on, in Ida Valley.
Gidday EZ,
I wouldnt put too much weight on that delay....provided GEL could prove there is a resource there, and the means to extract it, they have little worries. As for water, Crown Minerals couldnt care and doesnt have the ability to consider such things, so thats a no-brainer. I would stick with Otago tenements rather than the Coast...far higher values.
On another matter, Im a little surpised that the ORC has allowed the water takes being ground water, then then returning them to surface flows and then calling them non-consumptive. They dont know their ar*e from their breakfast and clearly the wool has been pulled over thier eyes....
Hi Aotea,
Welcome back, are you heading over to your prospect soon? Are the cidadas flying around yet (trout fishing)?
You will have a better idea than most, what did you think of my speculation on the amount of gold in the gravels at McAdies? What would be the range expected in partly covered areas of Otago, if the average grade is higher than on the West Coast?
I'm not sure about the water rights, just happy they got some, and it's not too bad a use for water considering irrigation water (in much bigger volume) is only used relatively inefficiently in Canterbury, say about 30% is used by the crop, the rest filters through the ground. Huge power use too, of course.
Gidday EZ,
Trout fishing is looking very unlikley..I have a ton of work on the house and have been housebound for an age. I can put you onto a good man who would love to take you out if you were interested though.
Re the water, yes it all looks promising really, mostly thanks to incompetent staff at the Council. I wouldnt say most filters into the ground though, most evaporates, and especially in the stoney paddocks!
As for your good value guesses, I think they are possibily a bit optimistic, but I dont know. There is a reason they are mining there afterall....
I think GEL will do well this year and they are one of my NZ Sharetrader comp picks!
Aotea,
Hope being housebound is your choice, I know from experience it can take 5 years of all your spare time just to paint the inside!
You might notice I didn't enter the share pick competition for the year, not feeling brave in December. So what sort of % increase in GEL would bring you to the top of the competition table? I see the average spread is about +/- 15% so far.
Anyway, the MV of GEL should get a big boost if McAdies turns out at the high end of the expected range, so good luck with your picks.
I'm still keen on going down to Otago to have a look at these GEL sites, the fishing would be an added bonus, not too worried.
Glass Earth has a policy of releasing important information to the market, and Peter Liddle has stated that they do not go along with the very frequent releases from some other operations, that have limited effect other than raising the profile of a company.
But Glass Earth has never had an income up until recently, and by their own admission have been mining at McAdies with some reasonable equipment for at least 5 weeks. There is also a share consolidation and share issue being mooted. Is now not a suitable time for a press release?
What would larger companies do in this situation?
Quote:
POSTIE PLUS LIMITED
COMMUNICATIONS AND DISCLOSURE POLICY
(As adopted by the Board on 22 October 2009)
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 TYPE OF INFORMATION TO BE DISCLOSED
As soon as Postie Plus Limited (“the Company”) is aware or becomes aware of any information concerning the Company that a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price or value of the Company’s securities, the Company will immediately tell the NZX that information, unless the information is subject to the disclosure exceptions set out in the NZX Listing Rules.
1.2 DISCHARGE OF OBLIGATIONS
In discharging this obligation, the Company will ensure that company announcements:
• Are made in a timely manner
• Are factual
• Do not omit material information
• Are expressed in a clear and objective manner that allows investors to assess the impact of the information when making investment decisions.
Hi Yankiwi,
Yes, I see what you mean, maybe under the clauses of exploration findings, even if McAdies is just a placer site. The cashflow could easily be significant to the MV of the company. Based on the TSX trading last night, someone could in theory buy the whole lot for a few million CDN.
But, I am most impressed with the form of GEL's disclosure document, it is well done, to TSX standards.
Have a look at the equivalent Telecom NZ document, which I was going to post as an example instead of Postie Plus. I couldn't, because it was too full of mistakes!
http://www.telecom.co.nz/content/0,8...203840,00.html
Quote:
Telecom has also appointed certain executives as authorised spokespeople who are required to ensure that all proposed public comments contain information already in the public domain or information which is not material. Management is responsible for ensuring compliance with the policy.
Telecom's website, contains media releases, quarterly financial information, current and past annual reports, dividend histories, notices of meeting, a list of shareholders' frequently asked questions and other information about the company.
Looking back on some of the older posts here, I found some mention of MD&A results from the quarterly reports. These are not often posted to the web, but anyone can access them by going into the "Financial" menu on the Glass Earth website.
This is where some of the drilling and testing results have been recorded by management. I've just added together the comments on the placer mining spots, mainly McAdies, below. Italics refer to new information.
A grain of gold is not that big. The best result we have been told about is 0.07oz (2.17grams) of gold per cubic metre, which means about 1g/tonne. Working back from there, the average amount might be 0.1g to 0.5g per tonne. Of course this is just the gravel near the surface, and we don't have much to go on.Quote:
Glass Earth Gold Limited
Management’s Discussion and Analysis
For the three months ended March 31, 2009
- Placer (Alluvial) Targets
Significant effort was put in to delineating placer resources to allow evaluation studies to be completed with a view to mining commencing in Q3. An infill RC-drill programme of 13 drill-holes was carried out to further delineate an indicated alluvial-gold resource. Hole-spacing varied between 25-50m with an average hole-depth of 5m. A total of 66m were drilled. The five highest recently drilled 1m intervals range from 16.7 to 33.5 grains/m3 Au (gold).
A ground magnetic test survey was carried out across this alluvial prospect as well as a gradient array resistivity survey with different electrode spacing. It appears that the detailed measurements (2m electrode-spacing) can distinguish layers dominated by sand and gravel from those dominated by clay and silt in the upper ~10m depths. Such measurements have the potential for filling in gaps of data between shallow exploration holes. The preparation of the mining permit application and associated resource consent application was commenced.
Separately, a drill-programme of 39 drill-holes across three lines was carried out subsequent to encouraging results from previous drill-holes (legacy data). Hole-spacing varied between 10-15m average hole-depth of 3m. The total amount of drilled meters was 128m. The five highest recently drilled 1m intervals range from 3.13 to 11.46 grains/m3 Au (gold).
2nd Quarter
In Q2 2009, the following work was undertaken:
Otago Region Placer (Alluvial) Targets
Management has identified two areas in the Ida Valley region of Otago as having the potential for hosting modest placer gold resources and results from exploration activity to date have been encouraging. Three prospects have been subject to drill testing and two have been tested further with pitting which has supported the drilling results. Once resource and other regulatory consents are received, trial mining is planned.
The Company, in conjunction with its alluvial partner, has purchased a 40 tonne floating gold recovery unit which is currently being refurbished.
3rd Quarter:
Glass Earth Gold Limited
Management’s Discussion and Analysis
For the nine months ended September 30, 2009
Management has identified two areas in the Ida Valley region of Otago as having the potential for hosting modest placer gold resources and results from exploration activity to date have been encouraging. Three prospects have been subject to drill testing and two have been tested further with pitting (25 pits and 54 pits respectively) which has supported the drilling results.
The Company, in conjunction with its alluvial partner, purchased a 40 tonne floating gold recovery unit which has been refurbished in Q3. Requisite permitting processes have been advanced.
Looking again at the quoted breakeven of 3,000 oz gold over two sites, plus another possible 6,000 of hardrock gold as being the target over one year, it starts to add up. The costs per hour per GRU could be in the region of $700 to $750, for a 40 hour week, but as the gold level (on the surface anyway) may be at this lower level, the gross profit would be much more "modest".
At 0.5g/tonne gold, say, the GP could be more like $550 per hour.
These are all just figures guessed at from the small amount of information, and the MD&A documents give plenty of far better test results elsewhere among the permit areas. Perhaps McAdies is a test site, and/or it has a large volume of accessible gravel, with an interesting signature underneath. No doubt we'll find out in time.
Just spotted, Crown Minerals shows a surrender of 146.5Ha from Glass Earth, and a matching MINING PERMIT for 52021, the Gun Club Project. The date for this was 22nd February. (It might or might not be a coincidence that 285,000 shares sold on Friday at 7c, the biggest amount here for a few months). It wasn't me buying...
Anyway, this could well be a good spot, considering the adjacent Falconers alluvial/placer results appear to be good. Now GEL need ORC approval to get started on this one.
In the weekend I was near Te Puke and had a drive up No.3 Road, linked up with No. 4 Road and after passing over two one-lane bridges was opposite a private driveway sign saying "Muirs Reef". Opposite was Muir Orchard (kiwifruit I think). There is a lot of kiwifruit being grown on the roads around there, but at the end of No. 4 rd it's more rolling sheep/beef country. There are steep gorges with good looking trout streams in the bottom, but I was not allowed to head off on foot to have a look (2 reasons: pvt property and the family were with me).
Muirs has not seen mining since 1928, but about $55mill dollars worth was taken from the site using fairly rudimentary equipment, at today's prices.
Put me down for some of those traded EZ...I thought after all the comments I had made, I should put my money where my mouth is.
This is my third jump into gel, and the first two were short but profitable..may hang around for a while this time ;)
Yes, should be an interesting day for GEL holders. I'm going to pay a lot more attention to any drilling and test site information that we have already been given. Maybe that's what GEL means when they say the market is fully informed. If new results are not substantially different, no need for a new press release. Similarly, the mining permit is not a licence to start mining at Gun Club, but no doubt they have been working on the ORC consents process in the background.
I trolled the internet and found these snippets about Muirs Reef:
I think I'd need to consult some books for more detailed information, but this does help. Using fairly basic equipment at the time, $54 million dollars worth of gold was recovered (today's trade value), and GEL thinks there is quite a bit more kicking around in the general area (but note the seams appear to be not very wide). If the above data is correct, the average grade was a little less than 1oz/tonne (a creditable 26g/tonne) for the quartz ore, for the two reefs that were mined. GEL has access to historical drill results giving up to 358g/tonne over a 1 metre interval. A little bit of that sort of ore would make up for a lot of lower grades.Quote:
The prospecting and exploration permits discussed in the previous section indicate
that these activities are primarily focused on potential gold deposits in the Bay of
Plenty. While there is no current gold production in the region, existing information
and the location of the nearby Martha Hill mine at Waihi suggest that this cannot be
discounted in the future. Figure 6 maps some areas of potential interest for gold and
silver deposits, identified using publicly available information. The map locates these
areas in the Western Bay of Plenty and Rotorua districts.
Areas of interest in the Western Bay of Plenty centre on known mineralised areas
with historical gold production. Information from Crown Minerals (2004) focuses on
two locations in particular and provides the following commentary:
(i) Muirs Reefs in the Te Puke area.
Two subparallel, north northeast striking auriferous quartz reefs. Worked intermittently from 1897 to 1928 from several adits and shafts with a production in excess of 1685 kg (54,172 oz) of bullion
from 64,482 tonnes of quartz. These reefs and their possible extensions and repetitions have been explored under various mineral licences and permits in more recent times. The area has good prospectivity and is potentially a future extraction site.
(ii) The Eliza Mine on the Waitekohe Stream in the ranges southwest of Katikati yielded only 150g bullion from 12 tonnes quartz earlier last century but remains a potential future extraction site. The known mineralisation is >400m long, several metres wide, and strikes 15° dipping steeply west.
While these remain potential areas of interest, other interpretations should also be taken into account. For example, Houghton and Cuthbertson (1989, p.31) acknowledge the Eliza Mine deposit, but conclude that the history of prospecting and mining in this part of the Kaimai Range has been singularly unsuccessful..
Gold and base metals
Stokes (1980: 276) recorded the history of gold prospecting in the Tauranga/Te Puke area. A small amount of rock was crushed at the Eliza claim, south of Katikati (Downey 1935: 254). Muir’s Reef, south of Te Puke, was a much more substantial effort, with a number of claims being made there and one substantial mining effort resulting, which operated from the late 1890s until 1928 (Downey 1935: 252; Taylor 1969: 123–134; Stokes 1980: 278–280)....
Muirs Reef, southwest of Te Puke, was the site of the Bay of Plenty's only commercial goldmine. It was operating around the 1920s, and the mining activity generated mail, resulting in the Muir's Reef Post Office being opened in July 1921. An accident in 1924 saw the mine being flooded, and the main pump destroyed. An attempt was made to keep the mine going, but rising costs, diminishing amounts of gold, and continuing water problems, the mine closed in 1928. Once this happened there was no further call for a post office, and it closed in February 1929.
GEG (GEL) put out a press release last night, just before the start of trade on the TSX.
145,000 shares traded higher over there at CAN 5c.Quote:
MINE: GEL: PLACER GOLD PRODUCTION UPDATE AND PRIVATE PLACEMENT CLOSING 08:32a.m. GEL 25/02/2010
REL: 0832 HRS Glass Earth Gold Limited
MINE: GEL: PLACER GOLD PRODUCTION UPDATE AND PRIVATE PLACEMENT CLOSING
PLACER GOLD PRODUCTION UPDATE AND PRIVATE PLACEMENT CLOSING
Glass Earth Gold Limited (TSX-V: GEL; NZAX: GEL) ("Glass Earth" or the
"Company") commences gold production at McAdie's, New Zealand.
Glass Earth Gold Limited further advises that it has closed the non-brokered
private placement announced on October 27, 2009.
Placer mining at McAdies, Ida Valley, New Zealand commenced in mid-December
2009 following the grant of Mining Permit 52 018 on 10 December 2009. Weekly
production is in line with expectations and Glass Earth is delighted to
commence modest gold production.
Consents for the Gun Club placer gold project, Ida Valley have also been
granted as well as Mining Permit 52 021 (on 22 January 2010).
Together with the 40 tonne placer gold plant currently leased out on the
Earnscleugh Project (L&M Mining - nearby at Alexandra), Glass Earth intends
to have three placer projects contributing to gold production/cash flow in
the first quarter 2010. Cash generated from these projects is expected to
significantly contribute to Glass Earth's corporate operating expenses.
Glass Earth's placer operations are managed by GEG's 50% joint venture
partner Dunstan Mining - releasing Glass Earth technical management to focus
on its hard rock exploration in Central Otago, and Hauraki-Mamaku, New
Zealand.
Glass Earth further advises that it has completed the non-brokered private
placement announced on October 27, 2009. A total of 7,420,000 units (the
"Units") at CAD$0.05 per Unit for gross proceeds of CAD$371,000. Each Unit
is comprised of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (the
"Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional
common share at a price of $0.10 until expiry on December 29, 2012.
The Company also issued 104,000 finder's warrants and paid cash of $5,200 to
finders in connection with the closing of the private placement. The
finder's warrants have the same terms as the Warrants issued to subscribers
in the private placement. The securities issued in the private placement and
the finder's warrants are subject to a hold period expiring April 30, 2010.
The proceeds of the private placements will be used for general corporate
purposes.
Qualified Persons
Glass Earth's exploration programmes are carried out under the supervision of
Glass Earth's President and CEO, Simon Henderson, M.Sc, M.AUSIMM, F.SEG. Mr.
Henderson meets the qualified person requirements (as defined by National
Instrument 43-101) with more than 30 years of experience in the gold mining
and exploration industry.
About Glass Earth Gold Limited
Glass Earth is one of the largest New Zealand-based gold exploration
companies exploring a land position of over 17,000 km2 in the North and South
Islands. With its main office in Wellington, New Zealand, Glass Earth Gold
Limited is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX.V: GEL) and the New
Zealand Alternative Stock Exchange (NZAX: GEL).
For additional information on the company, please contact:
- Simon Henderson, President and Chief Executive Officer, at +64 4 903
4980 or info@glassearthlimited.com;
- Jeanny So, Director of Operations, CHF Investor Relations, at +1 416
868 1079 or jeanny@chfir.com
- Visit the Company's website at www.glassearthgold.com.
To receive Company news via email, contact jeanny@chfir.com and mention
"Glass Earth news" in the subject line.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor New Zealand Exchange Limited has
reviewed this release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
End CA:00191649 For:GEL Type:MINE Time:2010-02-25:08:32:33
Looks like some of us could have jumped in on the private placement after all, and had guaranteed CAN10c share options up to 2012. Anyone have any comments?
Database error on Sharetrader? that's a new one.
This press release is certainly helpful.