Hey guys
Have been scanning some past announcements and thought I'd post a thread here with what I believe could be coming up in the near-term.
On the capital raise, no 3B yet, but it's coming tomorrow. You would expect news this week given the unusual situation of the SP is tracking to the placement price despite the last announcement. Obviously VEC can't sit on material news, but they may have been accelerating progress across some of the prospects at Maniema, or via existing or prospective acquisitions.
Here's a bit of research from me, would be good to see others add to this thread, keeping it to potential announcements, not general VEC discussion.
Maniema gold project (main project)
* Possible key Maniema announcement - Artisanal gold production at Kabotshome, Lukele, Mitunda and Eveche prospects.
VEC has regularly referred to the fact that there are existing artisanal miners who have been working the various sites (and still do) when VEC took over.
As at
last quarterly, VEC was "
currently finalising' the conversion of its seven exploration licences into small scale mining operation leases". Recent announcements on VEC's existing activities did indicate they would move to small to medium scale production quickly, using existing production across the main prospects at Maniema. Check out
this Corporate Update (at the Africa Downunder Conference in September).
In my view, any announcement would involve small-scale gold production via a 'tribute' paid by artisanal miners. But it would mean income, and would give some substance to the prospects.
Here are some specific announcements that could occur for each prospect (all my view based on updates provided by VEC).
Kabotshome prospect (currently drilling, 421,000 oz inferred JORC resource)
* Possible announcement of some or all of the first phase of drilling results (unlikely this quarter in my view)
The last quarterly and the
more recent update provide updates on VEC's DC drilling program at this prospect, targeting six holes. The latest update does say that results are expected in the first quarter of 2018, therefore I doubt we'll see an update this month. But it's possible if they pushed for some of the six holes to be prioritised. I'm not a fan of releasing part-results though. Best to release the lot.
Note that Kabotshome is Maniema's most advanced prospect, with drilling active.
Lukele prospect (mapping, new discovery)
* Possible geological mapping and/or sampling announcement
Lukele is a new prospect under the Maniema project that was discovered in September (see announcement '
Further discovery at Maniema gold project'). It's right near Kabotshome prospect and was discovered when VEC were assessing existing and historical artisanal mining that's been going on in the area. Same EL as Kabotshome. There's a possibility we'll see some announcement around geological mapping/sampling that's in progress. Given this is a new discovery, such an update is worth releasing.
Mitunda and Eveche prospects (mapping and sampling in progress according to VEC)
* Bulk sampling results at Mitunda prospect (no timeline given by VEC)
* Geological mapping and sampling update from the newly discovered Eveche prospect (no timeline given by VEC)
Mitunda is the existing prospect, whereas Eveche is a
newly discovered prospect under the same EL.
It's possible we'll see some bulk samples plus mapping at Mitunda, and grab samples plus mapping at Eveche. Again see quarterly. Also check out the
corporate update presentation I linked earlier.
Other prospects at Maniema
* Maybe some word on Mbutu, Mbala or Tubambo? (No recent updates)
Kibali South gold project and Nizi gold project (new aquisitions)
* Possible geological assessment at Nizi, which was flagged in the
latest announcement.
* Further detail on either of these two projects
Nothing to add to this yet. We might see an expansion of some of the details.
Further acquisition
Possible second acquisition this month, pure speculation though. I won't post JB's tweets on this because they could be interpreted any which way. Check the threads and you'll find it if you want to.
It's possible we'll see an update on all of the above tomorrow, highlighting key progress yet to be announced. We'll see
Hops this helps folks.
Cheers
Dan
