Great post Salt
I have also been doing a review and I am very excited too. I took a different tack to your analysis but came to the same conclusion. I looked at how have things changed? And where to from here?
After a solid week and the start of a rerating of ABM, I started to refresh my mind by going back over some past anns and notes and I really started to get excited about ABM’s prospects. I, like other long-term holders have had a very rough ride over recent years. Now, from being a one-trick pony with four broken legs and a terrible jockey, ABM has emerged as a revitalised company with enormous prospects.
I will say that previous CEO Brett Lambert performed a great CPR job on the company which was pronounced dead by a lot of people! We owe him a big thanks.
The more I re-read what the current management are seeing and saying about the prospectivity of ABM, the more excited I get. The important thing too is those who have met Chairman Tommy McKeith and MD Matt Briggs, will I am sure testify to their
genuine excitement about what they have seen so far.
A lot has happened over the past 6 months or so. The following is a bit of a synopsis for new and old holders. I am not ramping but have just extracted information that has been announced to the shareholders already.
So how is ABM positioned now?
- Cashed up – over $6.0m in cash and $4.3m in restricted cash which would presumably be released in the event of a sale of Twin Bonanza
- A refreshed and energetic board. Those who went to the AGM would attest to the difference in quality and forthrightness of current board members (Cheese) compared to the previous mob (Chalk).
- The new MD said at the AGM that he had been keenly looking at ABM for a couple of years. He must have been impressed at its prospects to convince himself to take the job.
- Large contiguous tenure over under-explored gold district
–Over 13,000km2of granted tenure
–Over 24,000km2application tenure
–Located in belts containing major gold deposits e.g. Callie (Newmont) and Groundrush (Northern Star/Tanami Gold)
- Suplejack and Tanami areas are within 150km of existing processing infrastructure at The Granites, Callie, Central Tanami and Coyote
What have the new management achieved so far?
- Managing Director, Matt Briggs has been in the job for almost 3 months and with the board is implementing a focussed exploration strategy on ABM’s under-explored and highly prospective tenement holdings in the Tanami region. Strategic initiatives underway are designed to unlock value within the Company’s portfolio. Matt Briggs made the statement at the AGM that ABM wasted 3 years by being fixated with Old Pirate when it was evident it was too hard and there were so many other prospects to target.
- The management are assessing corporate and asset level opportunities, including joint ventures on early stage exploration projects, and divestments. This will result in a revised budget and 3 year implementation plan.
- Management have reduced recurrent costs
- They are looking at rationalising the portfolio through the divestment of assets that no longer fit with ABM’s strategy. The potential divestments would include the resources at Old Pirate and Buccaneer. Due diligence is currently underway by a number of companies and ABM expects to be in a position to provide a further update to shareholders on the sale process towards the end of the year. Any decision on whether or not to divest, or JV, any assets will depend on whether offers received represent superior value for ABM shareholders. A successful divestment would provide additional funding to expedite exploration and discovery on ABM’s highest priority projects.
- North Arunta is also being viewed as a divestment project
- Aggressive exploration targeting new, world class gold deposits
- Rapidly progressing the highest quality advanced targets to Resource status
So What Have The New Guys Learned/Observed About ABM ?
- “Results continue to confirm the prospectivity of Lake Mackay as a belt-scale opportunity”. “The JV partners (IGO) believe that there is potential to unlock a new metallogenic province hosting multiple styles of mineralisation.” (Nov 14 Ann)
Below from
https://www.britannica.com/science/metallogenic-province
“
The great belt of porphyry copper deposits that extends north from central Chile into Peru is a metallogenic province associated with the subduction of the Pacific Ocean floor beneath the South American plate. Among the examples of metallogenic provinces in North America are the gold province on the Canadian Shield that extends for 2,000 miles (3,200 km) and includes all the major Canadian gold camps; the copper province of the southwestern United States and adjacent parts of Mexico, which at one time produced about one-third of the world’s copper; and a large silver-lead province in north-central Mexico, which contains widespread, lead-zinc ores very rich in silver.”
- The Supplejack Project is considered by management to be an emerging “camp scale” target. The 1.6moz Groundrush deposit lies immediately to the south (Nov 2 AGM)
- 78% of ABM’s tenement area does not have a single RC or DD hole (Nov 14 Ann)
- Since 2009 ABM geologists have generated 306 targets. Outside of Twin Bonanza, only 12 of these have been drill tested. The focus on mining delayed the discovery of the next Callie(s). Partnering can bring forward discovery. (Nov 14 Ann)
- ABM has everything an exploration company needs and the mid-tiers and majors want.
- Large contiguous tenure over under-explored gold district, located in belts containing major gold deposits, eg, Callie >6.5moz (Newmont) and 1.6moz Groundrush (Northern Star) (Nov 2 AGM)
- Quality targets and encouraging exploration results.
- Motivated JV partner (IGO)
- Management has now classified and ranked ABM’s known targets by exploration stage and it makes for enlightening reading.
- Apart from Buccaneer and Old Pirate, there are -
- 2 Advanced targets in Hyperion and Tregony
- 16 Drill-ready targets including, Tethys, Black Cat, Bumblebee, Springer, Prowl etc etc
- 72 Anomaly Definitions including Capstan, Hornblower, Stony Ridge etc etc
- And 16 Concept targets including Wild Turkey, Mallie, Ellie and Homestead etc etc.
That should keep the news flowing for a while! (Nov 2 AGM)
- Scale of tenements and cost is too large to fund independently –An increasing proportion of funds are required to maintain holdings. (Nov 2 AGM)
- ABM to focus on stand-alone (world class) opportunities to deliver value to shareholders. (Nov 2 AGM)
Activities Underway
- RC Drilling commenced by JV partner IGO at the Lake McKay prospect.
- Five out of 14 RC holes have been completed with mineralisation intersected in three holes
- Encouraging mineralisation intersected at the Grapple Prospect from two of the three initial holes
- Multiple intersections identified in hole 16GRRC003 including 9m at 3.26% copper, 1.8g/t gold, 49.1g/t silver, 3.63% zinc, 1.09% lead and 0.26% cobalt
- Results of completed drilling will be released in December 2016
- The board is currently considering a number of non-binding indicative bids from other companies for JV/acquisition of assets at Twin Bonanza. This process will be completed in December
- JVs with interested partners are being considered for South Tanami
- A 9,500 metre RC drilling program completed at Supplejack has defined a 1300 metre east/west mineralised structure. Open to depth
- ABM has now commenced a 2,000 metre diamond drill program. Results of this will be out this quarter
- Significant additional drill intercepts at Pandora (9 m at 6.32 g/t) and Brokenwood(3 m at 9.34 g/t).
- New structure identified (Suess Fault).
- Defined three additional economic grade shoots to the east of Hyperion
- Resource update for Supplejack will be announced Q1, 2017
I am more optimistic than ever now, ABM has turned a very big corner. New management bring with them a whole new network of peers and contacts to which they can share their obvious enthusiasm about the company’s prospects.
GLTAH. Do your own research. Pick me up if I have made any mistakes or left anything out.
PB
