1. Drill equipment is in containers and ready to ship in the first week of December once they've completed all their checks. Setup possibly in the 2nd, but more likely 3rd, week of December with drilling to commence around Christmas. All crews have been told they will be working through Christmas. 1,200 cores will be shipped for assay at a time (1,200m) with an expected 3-week wait for results. Late January for first assay results.
2. The wet season has not begun yet, but it only takes 1 big down pour to cause flooding. Nigel made mention of Equity Drilling sending a 'D7' to Manono which allows them to make their own roads where required. This appears to be a multi-tasking crawler drill rig.
3. AVZ expenditure this quarter will be lower than forecast due to delays in the drill program, but spending will accelerate once drilling commences. Nigel mentioned the possibility of adding a 5th drill rig to the program. They expect to run out of money in "April/May/June" and unless Huayou exercise their $18.6m in options, a CR will be required. The additional 10% placement facility was removed from the agenda to appease Huayou's concerns about diluting their holding. AVZ still has the capacity to raise ~$55m. Nigel mentioned if Huayou (or anyone else) wanted $15m of this hypothetical raise, they can expect to pay market price, but if they took out the full $55m, they would be given a discount.
4. Nigel repeatedly referred to Dathomir as "he" and "him". The talk around him was that he is very much interested in making money, and is more aligned with AVZ's thinking than with Huayou and the other Chinese suitors'. The road to Manono will have 2-3 tolls to pay for maintenance (and presumably a tidy profit). The drive from Lubumbashi currently takes 1-1.5 days in the dry season, or up to 10 days in the wet. Once the road is complete in ~2 years time, the trip is expected to take 10 hours. The road will cross 3 rivers, with each bridge having a load capacity of 15-20 tonne. I believe it was mentioned the trucks out of Manono will weigh 10 tonne.
5. AVZ has been liasing with the local communities with an intention to spread the wealth and offer equal job opportunities at all, so as not to cause tension or jealously between the villages. Nigel mentioned that some local water wells had dried up and that they would drill some new wells for the Manono township while they have the rigs onsite. There was also talk of a farm being started up to supply fresh produce to the workers.
6. Klaus was enroute from the DRC at the time of the AGM. He was delayed by meetings that, at least in part, involved the road construction. Nigel said that Klaus would have been able to answer all questions regarding the road had he made back on time.
7. On a few different occasions Nigel seemed on the verge of divulging information they didn't want the public knowing yet, before pausing and watering down his statements. I believe he mentioned AVZ having signed multiple MOUs before someone questioned who they were with, and he walked it back to only one MOU - Greatpower. He did mention that 7 holes was enough for some interested parties, but other parties were more conservative and wanted AVZ to proceed with the infill drilling.
I'm not one for taking notes and have a fairly disjointed memory. I will post a follow up if more tidbits come to me. Overall, I found the AGM less detailed and informative than last month's GM.
AVZ Price at posting:
25.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
