To those who are interested,
I attended the AGM today in Sydney. It was a smallish turnout which was a little surprising.
Apart from the general business in the agenda, the following information was provided by the Board.
* Due diligence is continuing with Queens Mine. Management acknowledge that it is taking longer than originally anticipated. Apparently, things move slowly over there commonly referred to as 'island time'. The drilling program, which is no doubt a pivotal part of the DD, will need to be completed before the agreement with RS Mines moves forward. The drill rig is expected to arrive on-site approximately mid-December 2014. However, I got the impression that it will be late December or early January 2015 before drilling kicks off. This is somewhat disappointing as the original announcement in June 2014 outlined that a drill rig was being sought back then. In any event, they intend to drill holes between 50-250m target depth with a total of 3000 metres to be drilled. Whilst the VTEM anomaly indicates that the Queens mine is of similar intensity to the Kahatagaha Mine, only drilling will confirm that scenario. However, it is very close indeed to the Kahatagaha mine. Andrew Johnstone, who has visited the Queens mine site seems confident that drilling will identify various graphite veins similar to those at Katahagaha. However, clearly there are no guarantees. Whilst it is clear that there is graphite in those hills (pursuant to the videos on the RS Mines website), drilling will assist in determining how much and whether it is commercial or otherwise.
* At the Kingfisher site, ground clearance work has taken place and they are also waiting on a drill rig to arrive. Apparently, access to the Kingfisher site is easier than Queens mine and is close to a nearby highway which will assist with transportation of any ore mined. Again, whether the drilling occurs in December 2014 or early 2015 is not clear. I get the impression (and I may be wrong) that Kingfisher is becoming a priority insofar as drilling etc is concerned. The sooner both get drilled, the better.
Reading between the lines, it is apparent that the VTEM has identified at least a few other anomalies over the land scanned. Apparently, land access agreements are still being pursued in relation to those other anomalies.
Clearly, there is still an amount of technical work that needs to be undertaken at both sites together with building alliances with the local population so that the drilling timelines can be facilitated and put into place. By all accounts, these requirements are progressing well. It's all about relationship building with the locals (incl a nearby monastery) and that takes time.
Demand for Sri Lankan graphite seems to be high but it is very important that a commercial quantity is able to be sourced because any potential buyers won't be interested in simply buying a relatively small amount. They will need large quantities because the companies interested in purchasing need to conduct their own DD regarding the suitability of the graphite for their individual purposes, and there are many purposes. Clearly, any potential off-take agreements are a way off yet.
Chris Cowan showed the attendees a plastic bag containing graphite that has been pulverised using the recently purchased 7 micron Jet Mill. Apparently, it pulverises the natural graphite into a minute powder form. Looked quite impressive.
Interestingly, it is apparent that the initial target located adjacent to the Kahatagaha mine will not be drilled any time soon as they are not keen to upset the applecart insofar as the Government owned Kahatagaha mine is concerned.
Finally, the board aren't at all happy with the current sp. Unfortunately, they were quick to identify that most of the graphite sector has been hit hard. The issue of further and regular updates was raised to keep investors and potential investors interested.
That's all I can remember at the moment but will advise if anything further comes to mind.
DYOR
Biggles
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