ML was never a substantial holder, he only held @1.6%.
Personally I think it's a positive that he no longer appears to be tied to the company. I say 'appears' because both Citicorp & JPM nominees have increased their total holding over the past month and his remaining holdings could be mixed in with either or both.
In any case, AG's departure and ML's non or silent position puts to bed the Easter Eggs saga, the constant ramping via his twitter account (though his commentary on the remarkable characteristics of the Manono deposit and vs peers was spot on IMO) and the ASX query that ultimately led to him being silenced by the company. It also allows the company to move forward without potential shareholder conflict with a former advisor.
Oddly or not, things seem to have turned around substantially since AG's departure and it certainly feels as though NF and his new team are finally steering the ship in the right direction, no doubt with the help of new expert advisors.
However, for those who are not convinced that AG / ML's departure is a positive thing, then you may want to read the following post which provides further assessment (my opinion only) of AG's time with AVZ, not to mention the actions of our previous chairman and some very relevant questions that should be considered when forming an overall view on AVZ's corporate and advisor history. https://hotcopper.com.au/posts/39552319/single
I would also question ML's recent actions when the SP rallied to 9.6c in late May / early June. Some will recall that he placed his entire option holding for sale (20m at 7c from memory). The question is why would he do this when 4-6 weeks later he was selling 250k lots of options in the low 2 cent range?
We know that most of his shares were sold (if not then transferred to a Citicorp of JPM nom. account?) between late June and July - refer to the end of June Top 20 report where he still held 25m shares and when and where the SP has ranged between 4.5 - 6c ever since.
Given that ML had prior opportunity to;
a) sell on or off market his shares between 6 - 9.6c (during the time when his options appeared on market at 7c) and;
b) sell his options between 3.2 - 6.8c in 250k lots instead of trying to offload them at once for 7c. Was he trying to scare the market or prevent the SP from rising above 10c? And for what purpose? Perhaps he didn't want a large tax bill so better to sell out at a lower price... lol.
In any case, I can only come to the conclusion that his timing and actions weren't particularly savvy, and IMO certainly not the actions of a patient and seasoned professional investor seeking an optimal return. Thus I think he may have needed the cash urgently for his business and/or other purposes, and was in the end perhaps forced to sell out (his options at least we know for sure) at whatever price he could get. And / or perhaps he no longer want to be involved in a stock (however good he thinks it is) where he and AG no longer had a say or had internal visibility?
All IMO of course and those closer to him maybe able to provide a different picture.
GLTA
Cheers
Elpha
p.s. aside from Citicorp's and JPM's increase in holdings, it was good to see Ying Nominees, Stecol Consulting, Mr Jiang, Mr Huang and Mr. Griffiths all substantially add to their holdings. Apart from the aforementioned and ML's exit, there appears to be little change to the list.
p.s.s. Also increased my holdings last month, but with oppies to boot still remain outside the Top 20. However, have a block of land up for sale soon so if the SP is still under 10c by Xmas then I may still decide to officially join the party.
AVZ Price at posting:
5.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
