broomfielder
22 Dec 2016
RNS The RNS is a bit of a Curate's egg in my view.Clearly the site assembly under what seems like the Spanish equivalent of CPOs has gone as hoped and Saloro (the Project vehicle) now own / control the planned Project lands. Excellent.However, commisioning has (again) been delayed this time to mid 2018. Now this decision is driven not by any practical or funding issues but essentially as a consequence of the Project JV Partners (.......lets be honest, it will be Oaktree's decision) taking an off-market view on future Tungsten prices. In light of this, the adjustments to Management fees make sense but do not benefit Ormonde.Whilst Tungsten prices have recovered from their recent 'lows', clearly a view has been taken that these will recover stronger 6-9 months later than the previously planned commisioning date.Now I have little doubt appropriate research will have formed the basis of this decision and arguably will improve Oaktree's IRR etc. but should Tungsten prices fail to follow their anticipated growth, is it not beyond the bounds of possibility to suggest that the project could be mothballed?Arguably a 9 month delay in commissioning is hardly the end of the world, but I have to confess to feeling little uneasy with todays announcement. I could have understood it better had Tungsten prices be falling but they are in fact stalling a major project because their returns might be better a matter of months later. I hope my nervousness with this Announcement is misplaced. But I am beginning to wonder if I will live long enough to witness Barruecopardo up and (profitably) running!Finally, I hope all Ormonde PIs and in particular the many excellent contributors to this bb have a great Christmas and a prosperous New Year (.......even if we have to wait until 2018).B
bizana
13 Dec 2016
Ormonde's PR I have always found Ormond really good in responding. Kerr was exceptional by any standard and a hard act to follow; but I can only express complete satisfaction with Paul Carroll.Attending the AGM is a very good way to introduce oneself and establish a rapport with the board members. It is still that sort of company. And, Dublin is an attractive city to visit.Happy Christmas all.
Zen1
12 Dec 2016
Re: Management communications... BB20..I didn't want to phone as I always feel an email is more of a 'test' as it were.I'm pleased to say I received a very good response from Paul Carroll this morning.I'm looking at various suitable companies very closely at the moment specifically for inclusion into what I'm calling my 'retirement portfolio'.Still mulling it over but Ormonde is on the short list..already a relatively smallish holder ..but viewing a major increase for a long term hold....!!.. ATB...Zen1..
BigBobby20
09 Dec 2016
Re: Management communications... Hi Zen:I was fairly regularly in touch when Kerr was in charge but not since his very sad and untimely departure. I remember that I started off with emails to the office address, having to chase up a response once or twice. (I was ready to accept that the BoD is a small and very busy team.) Later on, I would ring up to see whether Kerr was available and, if not, to leave a message. I always got a call back, not necessarily the same day but soon after. This bit of past history is not much help to you for the present, where, regrettably, you have not had a response to your queries. You could always ring the office (the secretaries are very helpful) to record this unfortunate lapse in communication with a shareholder and perhaps ask for the direct email address of the chairman or of Steve Nicol. BB20
Zen1
08 Dec 2016
Management communications... May I ask if anyone has had any replies to emails from the company..?.A couple of what would have been quite easy emails to respond to have so far gone unanswered.Surely they ought to have a few spare minutes to interact with their shareholders.Zen1..
longmile
06 Dec 2016
to philip reid for a person who would appear to have every thing wealth wise plus a1 personality why in gods name would you give your self the wasp bite and the frustration of having shares in such a miserable company and have to suffer the arrogance of a dont care for shareholder board of director
Phillip Reid
21 Nov 2016
Re: Topped up - Again Hi Bobby,Sorry about the late reply; I started replying shortly after your post but had a bad internet connection and since then (and most of the time these days), I just don't come and post on here as I used to do. The referendum (sorry to bring it up one here where thankfully it has been absent), has been like a curse on many of these boards, esp. where I have been a frequent poster, and it has brought much negativity and conflict. I don't want such stuff in my life.Re. your post, I don't know about pulling a leg. I keep shaking my head at myself as I had previously determined that I would not put another penny into AIM stocks. I once got out of ORM completely, if you remember. Now my holding is in seven figures, Carry on like this and I will be replicating the position that I previously had with FTO - before the management there bought us out and deprived us of the promising growth that was to come - but that is another story. Anyway, if we double the SP from here, this will be heading to be the largest holding in my portfolio, competing with the likes of GSK, HSBC, LLOY, RDSB, GFM etc."What are the projects that are you busy with in China?" - Well, not so active these days at 75, but financially I have a 40 percent interest (sleeping partner) with a friend (brother-in-law of ex-g/f) in what was originally an insulation business, fire, acoustic and warmth., but which has now grown to have ability in much bigger construction projects, including 'glass curtains'. No reward from it yet after 9 years but content to see it grow and if they float it on a bourse, I would then be handsomely rewarded. It is good just to know that it is providing work for many of the migrant workers that head from rural to urban living - a massive gamble and change in their lives.My main concern at my age, being my health, I spend a lot of time with students here playing table tennis, tennis, badminton, running, climbing a local mountain, helping with their English speaking and generally socialising and helping. The last 2 days has been a departmental sports & I always like to go & encourage the participants. After the closing ceremony yesterday, I along with many students started our own exercise jogging/running round the running track. I only did 3 laps, partly because some young guy overtook me and gave me a stare, on the third lap and my competitive spiirit could not accept it, so I speeded up, & followed him for nearly half a lap, then sprinted the last 100 yards, & left him behind. I stopped then, but he also did so he wasn't planning to run any further - as I had been until he went past me. I then (after getting my breath back), ran most of 2 km back to my home. My doctor in the UK tells me not to sprint, as I have a heart condition haha. I tell everyone who say the same thing, I will worry when I can't do these things.Back to ORM. I know there is a risk here still, despite everyone seeming to agree that all the finance is secured, Murphy's law can come into play.there could still be unknowns and setbacks. If there was and ORM needed more finance they would be punished in the market - I know what I am doing so would not complain, if my gamble, for that is what it is - came unstuck - it is a risk worth taking for the potential reward. ATB and kind regards
BigBobby20
12 Nov 2016
Re: Topped up - Again Hi Phil.Congrats on your buy. I thought you might be pulling a leg, so I checked the logs and found--I heard myself whistle admiringly--that your buy was indeed a handsome half million of these promising little tiddlers, which should begin their metamorphosis into sleek and dynamic young trout around this time next year. No point in wishing away the months in the meantime. And, of course, it must be said that no band of merry men (and women?) in the history of investment can have been as well rehearsed as the ormondistas at stretching out in the shade, listening to the sleep-inducing cicadas and dreaming repeatedly of the great push forward. What we know for sure is that there is no substitute in this world for tungsten, that we have lots of it and, thanks to some astute work by management and their advisers, we have the financial muscle to meet all of the tasks that lie ahead of us, which are being ticked off one by one. I have at last got my stake building in Quadrise Fuels and RhythmOne to more or less the intended level, and am now ploughing some seed corn money into Cluff Natural Resources. Time perhaps to follow your example and get averaging down the cost per share of my holding in Ormonde. The way I look at it is this: whatever money goes into ORM at under 2p is, I believe, almost certain to double by the end of next year as operations commence. Given some uplift in tungsten prices, the SP could then easily treble from its present level by the early part of the New Year of 2018. Ormonde may perhaps lack lack the explosive potential of QFI or RTHM but it does seem to have a clear and unimpeded route mapped out to sunny and fruitful climes. What are the projects that are you busy with in China?BB20
Phillip Reid
10 Nov 2016
Topped up - Again Gone for another half million top-up. I think I am a bit OTT for an AIM stock here, but in good company, and might even be still dragging my feet - Eh Bobby? I know you have a big commitment here. Anyway - that's going to put the kybosh on any more gains for the foreseeable!RegardsPR - busy with lots of other stuff here in China
Zen1
09 Nov 2016
Re: Share Price I see the movement in the sp here today as a buying opportunity so I've taken advantage and added to my holding.It's an interesting investment this one......well under the radar currently with a tiny market cap that's at odds with the 'what's in the ground' potential and 'cash in bank'. Good solid, serious management.Extremely well funded by committed partners which will hopefully leave plenty of scope for furthers project developments.Can't help thinking this will from now on and going forward into 2017 start attracting more interest and attention.Feeling very positive about Ormonde indeed.Just watched this again which only confirms my views....[link] this 3D site video.....classy music too ...imho...
[link]
BigBobby20
07 Nov 2016
Re: Aurum`s Big Sister Hi Gold or Silver.It is always good to see new contributors on this board, particularly in this quiet period, as we progress step by step along the time line towards the projected start up to mining at the end of next year. However, did you spot that the the interims, points from which you cut and paste in your post, came out some six weeks ago in late September? They were commented on (see posts of Sept.30 and Oct.2) in some detail at that time. BB20
Gold or Silver
04 Nov 2016
Aurum`s Big Sister Ormonde Mining plc (LON:ORM) has confirmed that its Barruecopardo tungsten mine remains on track to go into production at the end of next year.The update was provided in the firm’s interim results, which charted six months of significant progress.Chief among the landmarks was the receipt of the declaration of urgent occupation, paving the way for the compulsory purchase of land around the mine.The construction schedule has been agreed, while the engineering design and awarding of processing plant equipment supply contracts is “proceeding in line with budget”.The company has also launched a drilling campaign to assess the potential for a longer-term underground operation.Barruecopardo mine is permitted and fully financed to the tune of just under US$100mln."We look forward to the full construction stage of the Project once the remaining land access procedural steps have been completed,” said chairman Michael Donoghue.The company made an operating profit of €120,000 for the six months ended June 30And May
broomfielder
12 Oct 2016
Share Price Following on from the recent sustained rise in SP no doubt largely fuelled by Mr Anderson's stake building, our persistent seller (if indeed it's one party), seems to have returned and has largely contributed to the somewhat disappointing downward trend seen in the SP of late.I guess until we get much closer to commissioning further into 2017, we should not expect any appreciable change in the SP to emerge unless of course commodity prices in general (or Tungsten in particular) harden. Alternatively we may get a heads-up on further drilling (to expand resource/reserve assessment) albeit realistically, this is likely to be delayed until late 2017 / or possibly 2018.At least with the funding structure in place and Oaktree's somewhat unexpected flexibility on future development / time scales etc., we may just be spared the perennial problem with so many AIM investments - the oft dreaded equity raising exercise, often by way of a restricted Placing to those and such as those hammered home with a tempting discount to really ...... disappoint PI's.B
BigBobby20
07 Oct 2016
Grant of options Key personnel have been granted options (see RNS 6 Oct.) over nearly six million ORM shares to be vested in three tranches.Like pupils who--on principle if for no other reason--hate school dinners, most investors will groan out loud at news of share options. It always helps to read the fine print, however. The options here have, if exercised, to be paid for by the recipient at the agreed market price, so they are not "freebies' in the usual sense of that term. There is also the quite compelling argument that those managers who have displayed loyalty and hard work (and in the case of ORM a willingness, I would add, to settle over recent years for what has been fairly modest remuneration) deserve some tangible incentive to remain on board, happy in their work and fully applied to the project challenge. They, like us (proportionate to our holdings), will benefit when they bring the ship in and there are clear advantages to that. They be properly rewarded--and so will we--when Ormonde is seen to be high in the tree as one of the major WO3 players outside of China. It could be argued, therefore, that this strategy is in reality a bit of a no-brainer.BB20
broomfielder
02 Oct 2016
Re: Interims (FAO BB 20) Hi BBI wholeheartedly agree with your remarks and indeed the general sentiment expressed toward investment.Thorough assessment of the fundamentals (seemingly unfashionable these days) are always at the core of any analysis I undertake although this is often supplemented with the assimilation of any ad hoc information I can garner from whatever source.This is simply a reflection of the difficulty I find in obtaining good quality (and reliable) information about Companies listed on AIM. And that inevitably results (for me) in adopting a cautious approach, certainly in today's volatile markets.The area I have always had the greatest difficulty in, is assessing the quality and experience of the senior management/executive team. So often investors appear satisfied from a quick glance at their cv's or similar, and whilst I would concede it can be very difficult to get behind their track records, a bit of research can often be illuminating augmented if possible by direct contact. It was an approach I always undertook during my working days be it for investment or indeed recruitment.I have kept an eye on Wolf for obvious reasons although I am not fully aware of all the issues etc. What struck me as somewhat odd was the Final Cov. breach so early into production. Now I might be well out of order, but the last thing that should happen in the first 12-24 months of production, is to have the FC's too tight (if that was indeed the case) as clearly the potential for the producing Co breaching is very much higher during start-up.Unless of course that was the intention of the Lenders either to re-price or even increase or exert control. Perish the thought.I have to say that was an issue I alluded to when the first details of our deal with Oaktree emerged. There are many rapacious lenders out there and my fear was that Oaktree's self stated aims suggested (I concede I am probably being too cynical) that we had better not breach any terms of Agreement with them or they won't be slow to squeeze us until our pips squeak.Perhaps I do Oaktree a disservice. Whilst not a FC, for example, the delay in commissioning could itself have breached a Loan Condition if they had so desired just as the 2 year period for the Loan Monies may/may not have an extendable date etc.All this chat about T & C's reminds me that I don't think shareholders were privy to the full documents governing Oaktree's equity injection, it's loan monies Agreement, the JV Agreement, Ormonde's Management Agreement etc. I think the best we got were abridged details in each case. I wonder if for example Wolf shareholders had sight of the full documents which may have permitted them to see an FC breach coming? Yes, at the time the late Kerr Anderson concluded his negotiations, obtaining 100% financing for a mining project was close to a thing of the past. We perhaps didn't realise that at the time, but albeit with the benefit of hindsight, it was perhaps why Kerr had been so pleased with his deal and so perplexed by Pvte. Shareholder reaction.True, it fell far short of most PI's expectations, but these related to a market that sharply diminished following the 2008 credit crisis and had essentially disappeared by the time the commodity super cycle unwound a few years after. Before then, I would have wagered we could have got close to a deadlocked JV.Rgds.B
