i attended the agm

I attended the AGM

IBR

I arrived early and sat in on the last 20 minutes of the IBR AGM.
Hugh just back from Portugal. Heap leaching is not allowed in Portugal.

Lichkvaz

The Mill bound for Lichkvaz is sitting in the docks in Darwin all boxed up. It was never sent across.
Currently performing metallurgical studies, as the resource is very complex in structure.
The board is very excited about Lichkvaz.
A very good geologist has been employed.
Probable 100,000 to 120,000 Oz operation.

Montemor

License application due September 2008. It takes approximately 1 year to get permit approved.
The real issue is one of environment protection. The Portgeese want to protect the cork trees growing in the area, so any mining plan must take this into consideration. A local expert has been hired for this purpose.
Diamond drilling results due next week.
60,000 Oz operation using multiple open pits.

Reguan

Current results, done by RIO, not JORC compliant, due to age of previous drilling and the use of different compliance rules back then.
Drilling being done to confirm resource. A small number of holes to be drilled right next to old holes to confirm previous results.
Average tungsten properties yield 0.1618 %, but this property is twice that grade. Hugh called it a ‘cracker of a project’ and that he ‘Loves the project’.
Most likely to be underground operation, due to location in a very beautiful area and the Portugese being so mindful of environmental impact.

Porta Legre
No more work, as the grades are too low.

Tavera

Three targets. Very Greenfield at this point in time. Has the hallmark of being a very nice project.
50 km strike zone.
Drilling staring in Dec 08.
Another option is Sulhuric Acid production. The price of this acid has gone through the roof.

Q & A

Listing of IBR on TSX? “Everything is being considered”.
How will IBR be funded? “Funding is critical, but it will not be from TMR”.
Are you talking to any prospective buyers? “Can’t tell”.
Minority Holders? “No comment”.

TAMAYA

IBR

Why buy IBR?
TMR looked at 40 projects and not one single project worthwhile was in Chile. At the time Latitude was not interested in selling. Once the IBR deal was done, Latitude ended up selling very, very cheaply.
Why did the TMR not insist that the shares be escrowed? Well, we tried but there were three Canadian companies competing to buy IBR and the no escrow clinched the deal. History reveals that part of the reason the TMR share price went down was due to selling by former large IBR shareholders.
Lichkvaz has tunnels and development already in place worth $50 Million and should this work have been done from scratch it would take 2 years to accomplish. The area has plenty of electricity, roads and water. The only issue is one of complex ore, which is not an issue in the end but just a matter of how to extract the metals in the best way possible. Floating yields great results, but with high arsenic levels. How do you get this resolved? It could be done by roasting or sulphuric destruction etc. This is what ius currently being investigated by the newly appointed geologist.
IBR will no longer be funded by TMR, but will become self funding. IBR will have an independent board and management. A fundraising is likely.
IBR has an impressive portfolio.

SPP

$20 million raised through international investors. These shares are not listed and I forgot to ask what the impact of this is. Anyone who knows, please provide an explanation.
There are a staggering 7,600 share holders in TMR. There was a considerable shortfall in the uptake. When this became evident TMR had to go to the second option. So don’t blame TMR blame yourselves. You know who you are.
The money will be used for;
Accelerating decline at Punitaqui to reach higher grades.
Open pit strip at Cinabrio, which will also get access to higher grades.
These two will give an exponential return on the investment, because grade is all important.
Drilling Santa Dominga. Resource can be up to 50 Million tone of Fe. TMR will prove up resource and then look for Joint Venture partner, who will fund all the way to production.
Funding the increase to 4,000 tpd and potential increase again later on.

HISTORY

At the beginning of Hugh’s tenure, Tamaya did not even have licenses, there were lots of litigation against the company and there were big debts to directors and shareholders. Had Hugh known then what became apparent over time he would never have joined up and the same goes for Mike Fisher.
Mike Fisher showed a presentation ‘Before – After’, which was astounding. SMC was nothing but a amateur entity scratching in the ground, with old equipment and no safety procedures. The options had been to put the company in administration and then raise $120 million and even then cash flow would not have been starting until 12 months from now. What Hugh has done is remarkable in the sense that we are now cash positive and the total expense has been 30 odd million.
The after story is quite a story. The operation is totally refitted with modern technology and procedures. The operation is run as best practice and this is one hell of a long way from how it started.
In February Mike Fisher sacked and replaced the whole team at Punitaqui. The reasons were many, but the main reason was that when Hugh and Mike joined SMC gold was in such bad shape that no one wanted to work there. Now after much improvement they have managed to attract top people, including a South African GM and some of his old team.

TSX – Toronto listing

John Hick has been appointed lead consultant. A TSX listing is no ‘Silver Bullet’ for the share price, but it will give exposure to the Canadian market, where analysts are very knowledgeable about Chile and their reports are a must read by anyone worldwide who is looking in to South American ventures.
TSX do not like ‘penny dreadfuls’. They need shares of at least $5. TMR has found a way of achieving this, without doing a consolidation.
The listing is planned for Sep/Oct 08.
Currently there is due diligence performed to achieve this. ‘43101 reports’ are required for each resource and these reports are close to being completed.

ARCO IRIS
Announcement due on Monday.
Seems to have both grade and volume and is only located 5km away. This changes the focus squarely back on Chile.
If big enough it will become a new stand alone mining operation, else it will extend the mining life at Cinabrio.

London Office
TMR can now be managed a lot closer with less issues of distance, cost and time zones.
Cash Cost of Cu
Currently $2.39, will decline to $1.70 to $1.80 by Dec 2008.
Grades will improve from 1.05% to 1.5%. Grades drive cash cost.
Punitaqui Mini Model
Has been revised, using infill drilling. The stope and grade planning are now good. The previous management was not on top of it and this was one reason they are no longer in the company.
Mike Fisher is on site since early February.
1,000 to 1,300 meters of drilling per month is being achieved.

Cinabrio
Will most likely be both Open Pit and Underground at the same time.
Licensing is being worked on, using an external consultant. Due Dec 08.
This is a very exciting scenario.