Cadenza
24 Dec 2015
Re: Zinc price improvement... You probably all know this but IG Index quote an ETFS Zinc price for those who either wish to gain direct exposure or just track zinc, if commodities do turn in the new year then this has possibly found its bottom at 445 in the current decline from its May 2015 high of 735, current price 465.
HPC Follower
24 Dec 2015
Zinc price improvement... Zinc is up to $1555 a tonne on Bloomburg tonight; China are now forecasting 7% growth in 2016 and the GBP is strengthening against the Dollar and the Euro...Hopefully this will help ZOX get a favourable deal to at least keep their plant in South Korea and stay in business whilst zinc prices recover, which Goldman Sachs has forecast over the next year..The US increase in the base interest rates will encourage the movement of money in gilts/bonds to move to equity and investment in the growth of economies; i.e. to enable positive trends rather than be on the defensive.
HPC Follower
22 Dec 2015
Re: No statement re sp rise, why not? Yes... given the RNS today, the ZOX SP movement has purely been speculative, or even driven up by some to exit quickly with a profit.I suspect all the parties involved are playing "hard ball" and the ZOX director's negotiating position is not very strong at present.I still feel a deal will be done, possibly with two new major shareholders to avoid the "take-over" issue if someone takes 51%+. If the Placement price is very low (below 2p), existing shareholders are more likely to buy extra shares to hold their overall share of the company as far as they can afford. At 3p or above, which seems very unlikely now, existing shareholders will be less likely to take up their fall rights; although small holders could buy extra.The ZOX directors anticipated working quite a while through the Christmas period and it definitely looks like this will go to the wire.
Cadenza
22 Dec 2015
Re: No statement re sp rise, why not? The statement has taken the froth out of it, see a large trade of 1.6m shares went through @ 0.0182
HPC Follower
22 Dec 2015
Re: No statement re sp rise, why not? Happy Christmas to all ZOX shareholders... hoping for good news ahead of the New Year; ideally ahead of Christmas.I had hoped the Placement necessary might be agreed nearer 3p, but time will tell now. Any placement to keep ZOX afloat is better than none...I agree an RNS might have been appropriate but they can hardly report "there is no reason why" when it was reported before and at the EGM that they are still in negotiation to agree placement terms before the end year deadline, now, of course, with shareholder approval to proceed.The increase is probably based more on speculation than any leakage of facts, as ZOX management are being very careful... and quite a few will be taking profits on their buys below 1p just in case negotiations don't conclude successfully.
HPC Follower
22 Dec 2015
Placement at 2p ??? SP increases over the last few days seem to be levelling off with the ZOX SP around 2p... is that a clue as to what the Placement price could be?All the buys could just be speculation, with selling now to take profit on buys below 1p.Post my own top ups to average down and increase my holding for the longer term, this remains a HOLD for me.
Cadenza
22 Dec 2015
No statement re sp rise, why not? I have emailed the AIM regulator to ask why a statement hasn't been released after a 70% sp rise on 20m shares traded, this smacks of a few with advance knowledge buying ahead of a positive statement about the fund raising etc. Shame on AIM who seem to have little control and governance. If a FTSE 250 company's sp rose 70% in a day and there was no comment from the company it would be deemed an outrage. If it keeps going like this I will be back to break even by the New Year! Wishful thinking. Happy Christmas everyone.
juyamah
21 Dec 2015
Re: Big SP increase... Really interesting with such a big rise today, something must be afoot, though having said that there have been no really big orders today (price wise). not at all sure that the likelihood of a successful placing can explain it either, after all placing have been common practice every 3 months or so and that will need to continue until there is a substantial rise in the price of Zinc, very interesting though, added another few hundred quid worth of shares after it passed the penny price...small beer at todays prices but keeps me interested...
HPC Follower
21 Dec 2015
Big SP increase... Good news in the pipeline? Placement agreed above 1p?
HPC Follower
18 Dec 2015
Re: Salary cuts??! Nope, no volunteers and no discussion on this.There were only three private investors present, notably also a representative from Barclays Stockbrokers as well as the Nomad and quite a few others seemingly involved one way or another.I don't think today was the right time for such discussions, when survival of the company and key discussions/negotiations needing some of those personnel to be focussed on the future and shareholder value is of prime importance.Overall, I was encouraged that all was not lost and discussions were very active with the expectation of work during the Christmas break (guess not Christmas Day or Boxing day) as required to achieve the $5m additional investment. If this can be done at a share price above 1p, without warrants to further incentivise the investment, then shareholders should be pleased given the awfully low price of zinc; $1,461 a tonne must be close to the lowest point in ten years..It's even possible that a new partnership to progress the opportunity in Thailand might assist in the rescue... but this is purely speculation on my part.Investor sentiment, more than fact on demand verses supply, seem to be driving the zinc price down - I suspect with some "shorting" hoping to pick up the pieces of decimated businesses cheaply. This will turn around, but maybe not for a few months.
Cadenza
18 Dec 2015
Salary cuts??! HPC, I know I sound like a stuck record but any mention of voluntary salary cuts to reduce overheads or was that way too much to expect? I just can't understand how the board allows this to continue, it is totally ridiculous that 2 of the mgt team are on over $400k pa Thank you for the feedback, sorry I wasn't able to get to the meeting
HPC Follower
18 Dec 2015
Re: The End of ZOX as we know it? Good progress technically and operationally; more zinc dust arriving from Thailand with good zinc content (slightly better on receipt than from Korea)... 95% of target zinc recovery, still being "tuned". Bagging side better now as well, as the zinc oxide powder is cooler and clears through better.Big problem is the very low price of zinc; more than 30% of zinc producers world-wide are running at a loss and stocks have been running down for the last 3 years; but China usage has yet to pick up after a slow down in their steel production.All resolutions were approved, with roughly 62 million shares voted in favour and only c. 2,500 against. This is a 'strong' vote of confidence which should assist ZOX now they have the authority is conclude matters in discussion.All ongoing negotiations with potential new major shareholders, existing major shareholders and potential partners are deemed confidential and the ZOX board would not talk about this at all; although there focus was very much on getting the extra $5 million needed by year end one way or another. Korea Zinc are still be "helpful" and "flexible".In my opinion, a deal will be done with someone, as the downside is relatively low risk and the upside very high in financial terms, i.e. maximum loss is 100% of the investment, up side could be x5 or better if the zinc price recovers even just to $2,000 a tonne.There are no guarantees here... make your own choices whether to stay in, buy or sell.Some felt that the ZOX shares should have been suspended when the RNS about a Placement being needed was released (or just before) but the LSE general practice, recommended by the ZOX Nomad, is to continue to allow trading so anyone could exit if they wanted or buy if they wanted depending on the risks considered.The ZOX board have every incentive to dig themselves out of this hole now; although the price of zinc remains the critical factor into the future.With oil, gas, copper, zinc, iron ore, etc. at such low prices, an awful lot of companies will go under and/or be forced to curtail their businesses over the next year.The ZOX break-even point for zinc is lower than most...I can only hope for the best right now !!!The ZOX Board will inform all their shareholders when negotiations are completed, good or bad...
juyamah
18 Dec 2015
Re: The End of ZOX as we know it? Thanks that would be great, share price up 20% maybe there is some good news coming..
HPC Follower
18 Dec 2015
Re: The End of ZOX as we know it? I agree, although many mistakes were made that if avoided could have more than made up that $5m difference whilst the zinc price was much stronger; e.g.. not using the "heat exchangers" in the first place - the root of most of the problems. Although they have not yet reported on production after one month of removal...This will be an important day for ZOX survival, or not... will report back from the meeting later, if anything to say. Right now it still looks pretty bad on the cliff edge...
juyamah
18 Dec 2015
The End of ZOX as we know it? Todays RNS does not seem to hold out much hope completing the placing"At the General Meeting to be held today to approve resolutions in relation to a proposed Placing and possible fundamental change of business, the Company will announce that discussions with potential investors are continuing, with the aim to secure at least US$5m of funding by the end of 2015. There is, however, no certainty that these discussions will lead to a successful outcome".If this is the case then where does ZOX go next, with only a token 10% holding left in Korea and the Turkish land assets up for sale (to cover the loan arrangement which has been extended to next August) we have to ask the question is it still possible that another plant could be funded and built in Thailand or anywhere else for that matter.Even if it is possible to achieve that, it will take at least 3 years or more to get there...in the mean time where is the income coming from to cover the day to day running costs of the company.I don't blame the BoD for the failings it always was a boom or bust involving using new technology and I believe they did the very best they could, if we could ever get another shot at a plant elsewhere it might be a whole lot less challenging then.In the mean time If Korea Zinc do take over 90% of the plant, I would expect a offer for the remaining 10% will follow, after all I cannot expect Andrew and the rest of the board remaining interested, if the money is not completely swallowed up in outstanding commitments then maybe a few quid will make it back to the shareholders....but truthfully what is the chance of that? .....HOLD till the End.
