rms will recover, page-6

In the latter part of 2020 Ramelius was powering: winning the Digger of the Year award, continuing to under promise and over deliver, continuing to be best-in-class for the timeliness and detail of its reporting, and announcing its plans for a step-change into the upper echelon of WA gold miners.

This puff piece from back then gives a feel for the vibe back then (remove the space between stock and head).

https://stock head.com.au/resources/this-is-how-3m-market-cap-minnow-ramelius-became-an-850m-gold-miner/

Note that back then St Barbara was considered one of the big guys. No longer.

Coincidentally or not the old guard at Ramelius was stepping aside and in December 2020 Bob Vassie got the gig as non-executive chairman on the Ramelius board. And as they say in the classics, the rest is history. It is never a good sign when a public company becomes less transparent which is what Ramelius did in 2021 by stopping to report quarterly production and cash figures separately and earlier than quarterly reports. They clearly would have the production and cash-on-hand numbers ready to go so this was a marked change in attitude from Bob Vassie and the Ramelius board.

Paying overs for Apollo and its early stage and very average Rebecca project was a strategic disaster that should have resulted in the resignation of Vassie and maybe a couple of other board members. A $140m pissing contest with another bunch of gold company executives. Not buying Gascoyne last year for about what they paid for Apollo was another strategic blunder that should have cost someone at Ramelius their job. The sector knew in the latter half of last year that costs in the sector were exploding and the thought that Ramelius could pick up a near new super-efficient 2.5mtpa mill just 65 km from Mt Magnet for well below cost would have been a blindingly obvious move. It would have been strategic as whoever owns the Dalgaranga mill will have the whip hand in consolidating the Murchison gold province. (In contrast, Rebecca will not be the point of consolidation in the region it is located - whoever owns the Carouse Dam mill will be the consolidator there). That it now looks like the Dalgaranga mill is sitting on a significant high grade gold deposit makes Gascoyne an operational and tactical success as well (but of course Ramelius could not have known that back last year when it had its chance to buy Gascoyne cheaply).

I am a long term holder who has been trimming my sails over the past year and I am not too fussed about the share price hole Ramelius is currently in. But I continue to be concerned that this company has lost its spirit and its way since late 2020. My impression is that Mark Zeptner and his teams continue to be top-line operational and tactical managers. But, very much like St Barbara, Ramelius has turned into a strategic mess, with Edna May veering towards marginality and Rebecca being $300m and 3 years away from reality. That Bob Vassie has had a strong hand in both Ramelius and St Barbara means that for me he is the one that should go.