Weekly reports are not going to get the gold out of the ground...

Weekly reports are not going to get the gold out of the ground any sooner, get our buy back or dividends any closer.

I agree that the optics of the bonuses were poor given the low share price. But that's about it.

Our mine is in Thailand. Not Chile.

Our company lost its gold mine through plenary action without compensation. That would bugger most companies but not this one. We cannot ignore Mike Diemar's rules. First delay....

https://www.smedg.org.au/Tiger/Diemar.htm

"It is uncommon for a bureaucrat to be obstructive, but he may be uncomfortable because he is required to make a decision, on a particular topic, outside his area of expertise or there may be some political influences in the background.

It is incumbent on the company to keep the bureaucrat in his comfort zone.To do otherwise, say by unreasonably pushing the pace, can lead to problems for the bureaucrat, which will eventually backlash on the project in some way. The company should, in consultation with the bureaucracy, be active in training bureaucrats by arranging mine visits and by including them in company exploration, mining, process plant and environmental activities, particularly when new techniques are being used. As small companies sometimes have consultants on site, workshops by the consultant on a particular technical area for company and bureaucracy staff can be very productive.

Ingredients for Success.

Persistence. Calvin Coolidge, US President had the last word on this topic.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not;nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not;unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not;the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

See The Big Picture.It is essential but difficult for the hands-on CEO and the most senior expat and national staff to maintain the vision and not to lose sight of the big picture, while at the same time dealing with the detail without getting bogged down in it.

Everybody’s Friend. Whether in the boardroom, with staff, bureaucrats, local communities, everywhere, using responsible steady leadership along the path to the goal, you cannot nor should not be everyone’s friend. Politeness is always essential, but it is poor management to try to keep everyone happy or satisfied. General Colin Powell, Chairman (Ret) of US Joint Chiefs of Staff said it best.

“Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.”

Focus. This is, very simply, making a plan and sticking to it. Easy to say, hard to do.

There are always pressures from partners, shareholders, stockbrokers, directors or political or financial pressures

to make a major change in company direction eg to go ‘.com’, to explore in East Kalimantan, to look for rubies or kryptonite, to hedge or to not hedge or ? Fashion is very powerful and changes with the season, however maintaining a steady plan, while being flexible within that plan, is crucially important for the small company............

Luck.This is an ingredient in most successes and might involve getting an unexpected metal in a sample, jagging a new style of mineralisation in a drill hole, raising money just before a crash, being in the right place at the right time to do a property deal or developing a mine at the commencement of a period of sustained higher metal prices.Steady management and maintaining a balanced view of the big picture, increases the possibility of making your own luck.

Clear Honest Message. Success cannot come without supportive shareholders. Shareholders own the company and will generally support it through the long downturns if the CEO and board have been open, honest and regular in their communications with them, including giving realistic projections of forward achievements. A steady record of delivery is essential.

LESSONS LEARNTabout operating in Asia.

If you believe in a project fight for it.Always show your strong intent.Be single minded.

Patience is not a virtue it is a survival mechanism. Speed kills

The shortest distance between two points is not a straight line

Learn to recognise if you have a problem.

Learn to identify the problem.

Deal with the problem immediately.

Never take your eye off the ball or it will disappear.

Use trusted national staff in all dealings with nationals.

National and expat staff are very different.Only understanding can bring people together.

Budget size often has an inverse relationship to success as time kills the enthusiasm of backers.

Develop a wide network of national information contacts (spies).

Maintain a very low profile.

Equity is king.

Technical excellence is essential in exploration, feasibilities and mining.

Above all things, remember you are a guest in the country."

I agree that the company has not hit its timeline for mining and for plant 1. The delays largely stemmed from bureaucratic paralysis in granting the approval for the mine and the consequential loss of gold from the balance sheet and the loss of cash consequential on not having that gold, and the consequential dilution. Consequentially we have the need for debt to fund the simultaneous mining and the plant.

None of this would be a problem were the share price to be $3.

At the moment the share price is broken and is what the manipulators choose it be. Complements of pump and dumps by BOA/ML and algos, and a corrupt system of trading from the ASX, and no regulation whatsoever from dysfunctional ASIC on its last legs.
Looking into this also requires persistence, patience and single mindedness.....

The solutions are possible.

Back to the spreadsheet....

Cheers, and thanks for that great post.