I have been away from Hotcopper for some time because my mate asked me not to post. Got to know a few people on Hotcopper and have been talking among our internal group. Now I have been given permission to post as much as I want.
A lot has happened in the last 3 months from Gleneagles selling Genorah shares in NKP to force them to deal with the Paramount Group (Ivor Ichiwitz). This was the rumour that my mate believed as well although there was no proof. Now that the deal with AMED seems to be the way forward.
Below is what my mate wrote about AMED when the announcement was made:
AMED is a member of the International Finance Corporation who is a member of the World Bank Group. AMED is registered in Luxembourg and also has an operating office in Switzerland.
MED is founded by David Twist and Rudolph De Bruin. Below are summaries of these two:
Rudolph de Bruin Rudolph practised as an advocate at the Pretoria Bar from 1977 to 1989. Since then he has concentrated on finding, acquiring and developing mineral exploration and mining projects in various African countries. He was a founder member of the Platmin group. During this period he focused on building Platmin into a credible platinum explorer and producer. His role was to engineer the acquisition of mineral projects. Before 2004 he supervised the entering into of more than 300 agreements with mineral rights holders (mostly farmers, but also other mining companies like Anglo American Platinum Corporation Limited, Rustenburg Minerals and Lonmin PLC). With the advent of the new MPRDA in May 2004, he supervised the conversion of Platmin's rights to new order rights and the application for new order prospecting rights. He was also involved in the various fund raisings done by the group in the United Kingdom and North American markets. By 2006, Platmin had reached maturity and moved into the development of a number of platinum mines. It also listed on the TSX and AIM. He sold his Platmin interest in 2006 and co-founded the Sephaku group. During this period he established Sephaku's flagship projects as well as the companies to which Sephaku is currently the BEE partner.
David Twist David Twist is a mining venture capitalist having founded and developed several mineral exploration companies in the past fifteen years. In partnership with Rudolph de Bruin, David co-founded Platmin Ltd., Sephaku Holdings, Taung Gold, African Nickel and African Precious Minerals Ltd. David is a geologist with a B.Sc. from Reading University and Ph.D. from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is a Director of Sephaku Holdings Ltd., Taung Gold Ltd., African Nickel Ltd. APM Ltd. and APM Mining Ltd.
Now if you look at Platmin today the Non-Executive Chairman is Brian Gilbertson, who happens to be the chairman of Pallinghurst Resources and the ex boss of BHP. Refer to the two links below as verification. Pallinghurst rescued Platmin in 2009 during the GFC.
Brian Gilbertson has worked with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) four times since 2005-2006.
Brian Gilbertson
In 1960, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) awarded him a bursary to study at Rhodes University where, in 1963, he obtained a BSc degree, majoring in Mathematics and Physics. The following year he earned a BSc (Hons) in Physics. Following further study (part-time), he was awarded an MSc in Physics by Rhodes University in 1969 and an MBL by the University of South Africa in 1973. In 1983 he attended PMD45 at Harvard University. From 1992, Mr Gilbertson led the transformation of the South African conglomerate Gencor into a focused mining company. Gencor entered the international arena in 1994 via the US$1.2 billion purchase of the mining interests (the Billiton assets) of the Royal Dutch/Shell group. In July 1997, Gencor sold its non-precious metals interests to a new Londondomiciled corporation, Billiton Plc. Billiton’s investments and acquisitions in the ensuing years culminated in the merger with BHP Ltd of Australia, on July 1, 2001, to create BHP Billiton plc. Mr Gilbertson has also had active roles in the merger of the gold operations of Gencor and Gold Fields of South Africa, creating Gold Fields Limited, as well as in the formation of Incwala Resources, a pioneering black economic empowerment (BEE) initiative in South Africa. He also played a leading role in the October 2006 merger between Russian aluminum producers SUAL and RUSAL, and the alumina assets of Glencore, to form the world’s premier aluminium company. Mr Gilbertson is currently the chairman of Pallinghurst Resources Limited and has been a Platmin Board member since December 2008. He was appointed non-executive chairman on December 1, 2009.
I am only guessing here that the AMED guys may bring in Brian Gilbertson (I am just guessing) onto the board of Nkwe to advance the project to funding and eventual development. Brian Gilbertson has raised multiple billions of dollars to date on mining ventures and has enough credible institutions to get the project up and running. I can see that the IDC will be taking an equity stake and provide a loan, with about 30-35% will be raised through equity.
I know Brian Gilbertson in person as he has introduced me to off-take deals in South Africa for Coal and Copper. Brian Gilbertson is involved in another ASX listed company called Jupiter Mines (JMS) that is producing Manganese out of South Africa. My staff did the independent valuation for JMS back in late 2010. From November 2010 to May 2011 JMS share price went from 9c to 80c high. JMS share price is now 13c because of the collapse in Manganese price and delays in the construction of the flagship project. I have asked Brian Gilbertson if he is coming on board because of AMED and he would not confirm. Brian says that he knows of NKP projects and has spoken to NKP but at the moment his commitment is with Pallinghurst. I am only guessing that someone like a Brian Gilbertson will come into NKP.
Rudolph De Bruin and David Twist has also been advising the Bengwenyama Community. So if AMED comes on then you can see the resolution with the Bengwenyama case as well. Below is the article that states the link between De Bruin, Twist and Bengwenyama
If my assumptions are true then I am more than happy for these guys to be involved. The combination of De Bruin, Twist and especially Gilbertson together is even bigger than Ivor (at least in the mining game). I can see that Peter Landau is most likely going to be asked to leave in the short/medium term. I believe that peter Landau is being kept in the dark with regards to the AMED deal.
On the Anglo issue I believe this to be overplayed by Peter Landau. When I went to Johannesburg I ended up talking with 4 different lawyer groups and they told me that in the past 15 years there has been no cases where the "traditional" landholders have lost out. There are now over 2400 cases under "Paja review". Do not forget that Peter Landau was openly telling shareholders back in April/May that Anglo should not be an issue and suddenly its a "massive topic". I believe that Landau wants to give away Heopakrantz is because there are related parties that will come in as the "broker" to the deal that will set themselves up for a healthy royalty when Hoepakrantz is mined. Do not forget that Geratau will take like 3 years to develop however Hoepakrantz can be almost mined within 12 months because the Modikwa depths from Anglo/ARM is running out of resources.
I see the Bengweyama issue being of more importance than Anglo. However with AMED I can see this coming to a fruitful resolution.
I have spoken to several directors from Genorah and they are in conflict with Peter Landau. I am not suprised because Gleneagles sold their 12m shares for like 5c essentially placing a gun to their head. I can only guess that they are not even keeping Peter Landau in touch of the AMED deal. Obviously when the deal is done Peter would know about it as it has to be announced to the market. I believe that in due time OKAP days are numbered in NKP. This is a good thing to me
I see a re-rate over a 4-6 month period but the end game should be very rewarding baring another GFC event.
I am personally quite excited for NKP at this stage. My position in NKP is the largest I have taken. I have been fortunate enough to pick a few when that dreadful dump of 5c occured. In hindsight its a blessing as I got cheap shares but when I picked them up I was almost crapping myself cause of the selling pressure. I did buy more at the 7-8.6c range when we re-listed on the "strategic partner" rumoured to be Paramount and more when we re-listed naming AMED.
Lets hope for the best. Good luck everyone.
NKP Price at posting:
16.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
