Although that article was written in January 2023, there are some inaccuracies, whether that is by way of having to translate the article from French to English, and/or the source providing the information.
re: "such as the non extension of the establishment agreement...."
~ The Establishment Convention was extended, as advised by the announcement in May 2022.
*Firefinch is pleased to announce the Government of Mali has agreed to extend the Establishment Convention*
https://announcements.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20220518/pdf/4592tqr4ym95dv.pdfThe reference to recoveries for years 2017, 2018 & 2019 I suspect would be the tax amendments issued to the Company, but I can't remember 2019 being included?
I do note also there is a accusation against Semega for the withdrawing of gold to cover his investment.......
Opinion:
From the day that the Company announced they were withdrawing their production guidance, something just doesn't gel, and I DO NOT subscribe to the Anderson & Cowden purportedly telling lies to not only shareholders but to brokers at roadshows, peers at conferences, and investment institutions, re: VanEck & Sprott with the former releasing a "Becoming a Substantial Holder" notice just days before the Trading Halt.
Eventually one day everyone will be made aware of what really happened at the mine, but, since the Company withdrew funding there has been an almost concentrated effort by Drissa Arama (mine manager) to self promote himself. A bit like politicians when on the campaign as he has been very active in the surrounding communities, his supporters are active on LinkedIn and Twitter extolling his virtues, building a shield of "I can do no wrong"??
He is also quick to grab opportunities for a photo shoot as well as letting all and sundry know how well the mine is running and producing without Firefinch's assistance, highlighted with the December quarter production , the highest since 2019?
~ It wasn't just that LinkIn post that caught my eye re: "Congratulations to the whole Morila Team for Q4 achievement of 20.1k ounces, the highest since Q1 2019, but also;
~ re: "under a vision leader, better results can be obtained by doing things differently. Well done team and good luck", and:
~ re: "Congrats Mr Arama, well done to you and the Morila Mine Team.... Now Morila Mine is in the hands of an experienced management team...... May 2023 be a year of success...... BETTER, SMARTER, Safer ....." -- Operations Director at Paragon Tailings
The very contractors that are owed substantial amounts of money are continuing to work? (unless the workers are pick/shovelling and wheelbarrowing the ore from the MSP to the mine? There is also other contractors that are not only praising Arama but also thanking Morila for the opportunity of working with them and were proud to be their provider. re: LinkedIn, on Morila December production, ".... well done to the entire Morila Team, we at Paragon Tailings are proud to be your Tailings Solution Provider"
But still it made no sense that, with the withdrawing of the production guidance had this Company spiralling towards extinction.
Why? Firefinch wasn't the first ASX company to withdraw production guidance figures and other companies have weathered the storm of shareholder backlash and SP depreciation but remained trading etc, and Firefinch won't be the last to withdraw production guidance.
Then to add to the confusion the company made a cash grab by selling the LLL shares, much to the further demise of trust in the management and board of this company, that also made little or no sense and neither did the attempted recapitalisation package.
~ Why all of a sudden did we need the additional capital to be injected into the company? We were at the end of June, the LOMP suggested that the ASIC will decrease substantially once we were putting MSP only ore through the mine? and we would be cash flow positive?
~ the Company was aware of its debt, or was it? Was there something financially not right at Morila?? In all the fallout, Cowden repeatedly said that it wasn't the Ore body, that leaves what -- contractor/s and mine financials? but wait, contractors we knew about as the company allegedly were going to take some recourse against ME-IM for underperforming.
++ Was Mine financials the elephant in the room ? ?
~ We did sell Leo Lithium shares at a substantial loss to inject $12.9M into the coffers.
~ We did have extended delays getting the Half Yearly and Annual Financial Reports signed off
~ We did attempt to raise funds in a recapitalisation package.
On the
15th of June 2022, Anderson in an interview with ASX Investor stated that ......
https://firefinchltd.com/aiovg_videos/understanding-firefinchs-leo-lithium-demerger-gold-opportunity/~ That the plant is operating well, the ore body is open N, S, E, W and at depth (underground potential) regional potential, multi asset company, cash from Morila. The ramping up and into Morila Ore, he has said, many many times that the Morila Ore was the prize . . seeing the impact of the ore coming into production, the back end of this year is when it all happens and into the 1st quarter of 2023.
~ The narrative around Morila, it's about the ramp up, about the drilling, about the extended mine life, all is on track ........
~ The LLL investment will grow in value, and won't be in a rush to divest it or undermine LLL, but like any investment they will monetise in due course adding firepower to M&A activity.
*State Street became a "Substantial Holder" on the
21st June*VanEck became a "Substantial Holder" on the
22nd JuneOn the
27th June the Company requested a trading halt, pending an announcement in relation to an update to operational performance and production guidance.
Also bear in mind that the August production of 8,122oz of gold was the highest monthly production since Firefinch took over the mine, this was driven by an increase in head grade to 1.52g/t (versus 0.61g/t in the June quarter) and a recovery of 90.3% (versus 84.3% in the June quarter) Ore from the MSP comprised approximately 40% of the mill feed in the July and 70% of the mill feed in August. All of which (IMO) is supportive of Anderson's narrative of the MSP Ore was the prize and also aligns with AISC coming down? and moving to cash flow positive? as the MSP Ore feed increased more?
The production figure for August also supportive of the MTPP (released by the current board) @10,000oz per month and an ASIC of circa US$1,450oz, and underperforming ME-IM issues now being resolved?
++ Ironically, the 3rd November - the same day that Firefinch announced that they were no longer financially supporting the Morila Mine the price of gold was circa US$1,630oz, on the 4th November it increased to US$1,670oz and breeched US$2,000oz in April
++ at the same time crude oil was US$90/barrel and has also come off and now trading at US$70/barrel
++ offsetting that, the price of diesel in Mali remains high, US$1.46/ltr
-- yep the remnants left running the Morila Mine are making money, albeit maybe short lived until the new owner takes over ...........
Missing guidance to end up here just doesn't make sense .......
But here we are ..................
cheers
