I thought that those shareholders that were unable to attend the AGM on Tuesday 30 October might like an update on what was said and presented.
The meeting was well attended, although perhaps a few less than last year. The venue was sufficient for everybody to have a seat. The formal part of the meeting, which related to the resolutions put to the meeting, was dealt with in an efficient and effective manner.
The points presented in this overview do not necessarily follow the order in which they arose during question time. My summary has been drafted under headings for specific topics.
H.H. Sheikh Maktoum Hasher al Maktoum was an apology. A question was asked why he had not invested in ARV, implying what had he brought to the Board. David Lenigas (DL) replied that the Board including HH Sheikh Maktoum Hasher al Maktoum were not able to buy any shares in ARV at this point as they were all privy to confidential in confidence information that effectively made them insiders. DL added that several Board members would dearly like to make further investments in ARV and that HH Sheikh Maktoum Hasher al Maktoum was very keen to commit $ 10 million. This would represent appropriately 10% of the market value of ARV.
DL ran through the various base metals projects that ARV has in its portfolio. He added that management had spent resources and time to identify which of those projects would offer immediate value, in other words what would be the priorities. Whundo was discussed as it has recently been the subject of a revised resource announcement. At this juncture Whundo does not have a very long mine life, three years possibly four. The net present value (NPV) was estimated at $ 100 million. Shareholders in the audience who had been involved in the project under Fox Resources confirmed that the deposit was viable as the mine was put on care and maintenance in the aftermath of the GFC in 2008 when commodity prices were a third of those prevailing today. The mine was closed not for want of resources, but due to very depressed market prices, which is why Fox Resources ran out of money and ended up in administration.
Attention then turned to Carlow Castle (CC), which has been the subject of several very promising announcements in the last few weeks. DL stated that ARV had achieved a remarkable volume of assayed drilling at 7,388m for 81 holes for the existing resource announced in January this year at 4.5 million tonnes. The new resource expected this quarter would be based on 24,655 meters for 189 holes to meet Australian JORC 2012 criteria and Canadian 43-101 criteria with indications that the new resource would be a significant multiple of what has already been announced and that it would in all probability be a company maker. DL clarified that any cobalt resource that exceeded 10,000 tonnes at a grade of 0.1% would be considered as a world class deposit. DL also mentioned that the by products of copper and gold were also particularly rich grades in their own right. Metallurgy work was well advanced with the suggestion that discussions with third parties for off take agreements had already begun with detailed specifications for the concentrate. The off takes would make the CC project bankable. DL added that the CC resource was critical for the Toronto listing as ARV planned to list on the main TSX Toronto exchange board. It was clear that ARV management have identified CC as their first priority project. In fact the flotation circuit for the Radio Hill (RH) plant has not yet been installed until such time as the definitive metallurgical studies have been completed and the concentrate parameters have been agreed with off take customers for maximum efficiency of the circuit. The flotation circuit is as new equipment bought second hand and has been on site for some time.
This brings me to the discussion around the processing plant. There are two aspects to the RH, the refurbished base metal plant and the new Gecko gold gravity circuit. The refurbishment and the new circuit have been the subject of inevitable regulatory delays, which are being addressed as they arise. The Gecko circuit is virtually ready for commissioning and it is the intention of ARV to derisk that part of the process by putting third party bulk conglomerate samples through the system on a fee base toll arrangement. Pacton have already signed up as previously announced, which should put pressure on Novo to follow suit. Negotiations with Novo are ongoing as to whether Comet Well samples should be processed at full toll cost or whether Purdy's Reward JV samples should be processed under a JV arrangement still to be agreed within the current budget of $ 5.4 million announced for FY 2019. It appears that Novo's initial exploration focus may have moved on to their new Egina tenements as any of the 2019 FY budget not fully utilised would be rolled over into the 2020 FY budget. FY 2018 spend was $ 6 million, being $ 2 million farm in and an additional $ 4 million split 50/50 in accordance with the JV agreement. The main base metal RH plant is being held up by submissions to the Dept of Mines in WA for the tailings facilities. It was disclosed that existing permitted Tailings 1 (T1) and 2 (T2) were the subject of leaks. A decision was made to initiate Tailings 3 (T3). The spoil from T3 has been used to close off the unusable T1 and T2. The submission for T3 is currently with the Dept of Mines with approval expected before year end. The base metal plant will not be started until this key aspect has been sorted as alternatives are costly and carry higher risk particularly during the wet season. Plans are already in motion for an additional Tailings 4, but this cannot proceed until T3 had been approved.
Munni Munni was briefly discussed, but is considered marginal at this juncture until a clearer picture emerges from any conglomerate gold contact. It should therefore be viewed as being on hold for the time being. Mt Oscar Wits is at a very early stage and should therefore be viewed in the same light as Munni Munni. Munni Munni has in excess of 60kms of conglomerate contact at or near surface, MT Oscar Wits has 14Kms at this point.
I have run out of time and will resume tomorrow morning and cover the conglomerate gold side then.
This posting is my recollection from my notes and should note be considered as a recommendation, so please do your own research.
Ditto, thanks.
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