BCD Beaconsfield Gold ... insider info

[winner69]

Good old Mary Holm had this in the paper yesterday (for aussie friends Mary is journo who is a bit of a joke ....who just loves balanced funds ... hates properties and sharetraders .... buy and hold type ....

Gold rushes straight to head
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/12...ectID=10376532

Some inside info this ....one of the directors of Beaconsfield Gold, and he was saying the company has had a big exploration programme and has discovered massive deposits of gold and other minerals.

Big and massive .... soon to be announced

Don't miss out

[lacmur]

Problems and publicity ... at least she got the Big and Massive bit right.

[winner69]

On Business Sunday today ..... another case of MacQuarie screwing all in sundry .... go the Millionaires factory .... what an investment

Minefield
Sunday, May 21, 2006
"How can you have a mining company, especially with a mine so technically intricate as Beaconsfield, a deep underground project where it is ultimately run by one guy, who lives in Perth?"


Until the Anzac Day disaster, Beaconsfield was a very rich mine, producing gold at the rate of 21 grams per tonne — $40 million profit has been pulled from the ground since 2002 — but shareholders are complaining they haven't seen a cent. Adam Shand has this special report about the business behind Beaconsfield.



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ADAM SHAND: Todd Russell and Brant Webb have emerged from the depths of the Beaconsfield Mine ending their hellish two week ordeal, but spare a thought for shareholders of this mine, like Jeffrey Knapp. After five years he's still wondering whether his investment will ever see the light of day.







JEFF KNAPP, shareholder, Allstate: We have felt for a while that we'd been in the dark. We didn't get a set of the accounts from this company for over 16 months despite the law having a clear requirement for that to happen, and yet we still feel like we are in the dark on a lot of issues.

SHAND: Until the Anzac Day disaster, Beaconsfield was a very rich mine, $40 million in profit had been pulled from the ground since 2002, but shareholders have seen not a single cent. Though it was solvent, the mine manager Allstate Explorations was still in voluntary administration, under the control of this man, Perth accountant, Michael Ryan.

WILL MATTHEWS, shareholder, Allstate: For the administration to have gone on five, long years, been under investigation by ASIC. ASIC now, or are saying that they would re-open their investigation, so obviously things aren't quite right. For this administrator to be going forward now, OK, running this mine, is patently ridiculous…

SHAND: For the past year, shareholders of Allstate have sought the appointment of a special purpose administrator to investigate the actions of Michael Ryan. The tragic collapse which caused the death of miner Larry Knight has focussed further attention on the management of the mine.

KNAPP: I think it's opened the Pandora's Box. There are matters that we raised, as shareholders, for many years from 2002 onwards and I think these matters are now going to be properly addressed.

SHAND: And what are those exactly?

KNAPP: They are in relation to the control, who has control, who's directing the operations of this company, in terms of the governance of the company, who's making the decisions, why is there only one director in terms of the accountability, why the financial reports seem to have so many errors and in terms of the administrator himself, has his decision making been appropriate?

SHAND: So where has all the gold gone? Well, Ryan's firm Taylor Woodings, its lawyers and other professionals, have taken $11 million. Another $27.5 million has gone into the coffers of Macquarie Bank, the banker to the mine's manager Allstate Explorations. Courtesy of an extraordinary deal in 2002, Macquarie bought Allstate's debt of $77 million for just $300,000. Allstate was broke at the time so the deal allowed the mining to continue, but the anger was rising even before the mine disaster.

SHAND: Would you invite them back again?

HARRY STACPOOLE, former Beaconsfield Gold chairman: No, I don't think so.

SHAND: In no circumstances?

STACPOOLE: No circumstances. I don't want to ever hear or see Macquarie again if I can get out of it.

SHAND: Is that a common view around these parts?

STACPOOLE: Macquarie's name, in this area, is very bad.

SHAND: The mine is a joint venture between the operator Allstate with 51.5 percent and Beaconsfield Gold, the junior partner with 48.5 percent. In 2001, the mine's gold extraction plant broke down, sending both companies to the w

[p2r]

Down 60% today with money issues ... not all Goldies doing so well!