summary of research

MRS now full t/o of SIB

The Davyhurst project resources as outlined in the Croesus 2005 Annual report were 808,000 ozs.

The Siberia Mining Corp. resources as referenced in their 2005 Annual Report and SIB web site are:

Siberia Project: +750,000 ozs
Lady Ida Project:+420,000 ozs
Yandal Project: +118,000 ozs

Also, MRS now aquires SIB's Bellevue project in which is has a
exploration agreement with SBM (announcement
http://stocknessmonster.com/news-item?S=SIB&E=ASX&N=301603 )

As stated in SBM's recent activities report on
page 4 http://stocknessmonster.com/news-item?S=SBM&E=ASX&N=312374 under
Bellevue. I presume its the same drill.


These are all worth a read for background.

Minesite December 30th 2005 - Kiernan, the man who made the manganese a respectable mineral via his resurrection of Consolidated Minerals, has undoubtedly been the dominant character of Australian mining in 2005 ,with Forrest a close-run second. Unhappy with his treatment at the hands of some institutional investors in Consolidated, Kiernan decided to “up stumps” and do something different. His first port of call was Monarch Resources (MRS), which he is busy merging with Forrest’s Siberia Mining, and his second was the chairmanship of Croesus. The smart money says Kiernan has spotted a wonderful opportunity to build a sizeable gold business and it would not be a surprise to see Croesus become part of the emerging structure. http://www.minesite.com/storyFull5.php?storySeq=3213


Minesite (November 21st 2005). You mentioned deals in the gold sector as an area of emerging interest, has anything in particular caught your eye?

Oz. The most interesting move was the announcement of a merger between Siberia Mining (SIB) and Monarch Resources (MRS). The deal brings together two companies which, at this stage, have more interesting management than they do projects. Siberia is headed by Andrew Forrest, better know for his iron ore exploits, and Monarch, by Michael Kiernan, who has been grabbing headlines for his painful exit from Consolidated Minerals (CSM). What seems to be happening in this case is that both men, Kiernan in particular, have developed a taste for gold. In Kiernan’s case that is shown by the emergence of Monarch as the company attracting most of his attention, and his appointment as chairman of Croesus. On the market, there was a mixed reaction to the Monarch/Siberia deal. Monarch gained A1 cent to A36 cents while Siberia almost doubled from A8.1 cents to close the week at A15 cents, but after touching A16 cents during Friday trade.

Minesite. Very interesting. Keep an eye on those two, please. Much else to report. http://www.minesite.com/storyFull5.php?storySeq=3135


Minews Story
Date: November 10, 2005
Kiernan and Manners Play Ring-A- Roses With Croesus And Monarch In Perth.

By Our Man In Oz

The champagne corks should be popping at Australia’s deeply-troubled Croesus Mining which has just off-loaded a second-hand goldmine, and snatched itself a big name chairman in the imposing shape of Michael Kiernan. The fact that no pops were heard after the Croesus annual meeting earlier today in Kalgoorlie’s Hannan's Club, or up the road in the Porter Street offices of Croesus, is largely because everyone has been forced to spend time explaining a number of curious matters related to both events, plus the fact that Croesus appears to be indulging in a process of detailed self-examination so painful that it cannot be described adequately.

Sold, on Tuesday, was the Davyhurst mine to a company which Minesite noted recently had never previously appeared on an investor radar screen, Monarch Resources. For the unprincely sum of A$5 million Monarch gets, according to the formal statement, 100 per cent of a “pre-loved” mine, technical data, accommodation village, a 1.2 million tonne-a-year processing plant, workshops, offices, and tools. Missing from the statement is a little bit of background on Monarch which, astute readers of Minesite will remember is the “second” corporate vehicle of, wait for it, Michael Kiernan.

There is, like most complex issues in life, an explanation as to the Kiernan linkage, and Minesite’s man in Oz has been rummaging around looking for one, because when he saw the November 8 Davyhurst sales announcement, in the light of Kiernan’s appointment today (November 10) as Croesus chairman, his antennae were twitching. How, he pondered could the two events not be connected, and what game was Big Mick playing at. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that he was walking away as chief executive of Consmin in high dudgeon over this treatment by certain institutional shareholders? And, wasn’t it just a little bit later that he recanted, and said he would stick around for an extra year as the boss of the company he single-handedly forged into one of Australia’s more successful base metal miners. Yes, it was. So, what’s our man Mick up to?

It appears that we outsiders are watching a complex set of manoeuvres which involve (a) two sets of corporate re-positioning and (b) two sets of personal re-positioning. The corporate shuffles involves Monarch looking for a meaning to life, before Kiernan makes his shift from Consolidated, and Croesus desperately searching for a meaning to life by recruiting a head-kicking chairman. The personal shuffle involves Kiernan taking steps which will accelerate his exit from Consolidated, while Croesus founder and chairman, Ron Manners, tries to step aside, though perhaps not quite far enough.

For non-followers of the saga a bit of background. Kiernan said last month that he was quitting Consolidated. Then, after an emotional annual meeting, he said he would stick around for an extra year. That decision, while no doubt taken for the best reasons, looked odd, nay sad because Kiernan had made it clear that he was on the way out and part of his attention would be transferred to Monarch. There is nothing wrong with any of this, except the change of mind.

What appears to have been happening in the background is that Ron Manners saw an opportunity to snatch himself a new chairman for Croesus which has suffered from chronic share price weakness, rising gold production costs and falling productivity, not to mention a few employees who were stealing some of the company’s gold. Manners asked Kiernan to replace him, while he kept the job of “emeritus” chairman, a truly bizarre title as the strict definition of emeritus means honourably discharged from service and/or retired. It will be fascinating to see how a very strong willed chairman Kiernan handles an equally strong willed emeritus chairman.

Meanwhile, while the corporate shuffle was underway, Kiernan’s other company, Monarch, was bidding for the Davyhurst mine being sold by Croesus. According to a spokesman for the deal, the Davyhurst sale process was underway before, and separate to, the Kiernan/Manners deal. A firm called Prime Corporate Finance, run by an ex-Rothschild staffer called Liam Twigger, was handling the Davyhurst sale and Monarch won it with the best bid. Kiernan is said to be far from amused that some people are drawing the wrong conclusions.

Annoyed he might be, but there is a certain messiness about the whole affair, including Kiernan’s indecision at Consmin, the Monarch purchase of a Croesus asset, followed by Kiernan’s appointment as Croesus chairman two days later, the curious decision of Manners to retain some sort of honorary role, and the “mea culpa” message in his chairman’s address today. Included in the presentation from Manners was a gold cost production graph which showed Croesus costs at close to A$600 an ounce in the September quarter compared with other companies which were below the A$200/oz mark, and a productivity per employee graphic which had Croesus at little more than 100 ounces per employee and other companies at more than 350 ounces per employee.

On the Australian stock market there has been a mixed reaction to the game of musical chairs combined with pass-the-Davyhurst-parcel. Croesus was up A1 cent to A32.5 cents, a modest gain when measured against the 12-month share price high of A69 cents. Monarch investors greeted their purchase of Davyhurst by knocking A2 cents off the price, down to the same price as Croesus, A32.5 cents. Consolidated was also a little weaker, losing A 6 cents to A$3.27.

To a casual observer, there is little doubt that Croesus needs a firm hand. There is also little doubt that Kiernan is looking for a life after Consolidated. But, this week’s events beg the question as to what anyone is actually achieving.Kiernan is still at Consolidated ….and Monarch, and Croesus. Manners is still at Croesus, albeit in an honorary capacity. At some point someone will say “chaps, it’s time for a clean break from the past – for all of you”. At that stage Kiernan may have to declare whether he prefers Croesus ex Davyhurst to Monarch cum Davyhurst, or vice versa, and why. Should be interesting!!

Minesite Oct 24th 2005
The other stock watched most closely was Monarch Resources (MRS), the company no-one had heard of until Michael Kiernan confirmed his plans to quit Consolidated Minerals and possible shift to Monarch. Big Mick’s exit, which appears to have left a few red faces among London’s community of mining analysts (but not a certain website publisher) has cut Consolidated’s price back to A$3.54 (down just A5 cents over the week) and lifted Monarch to A$28.5 cents, up A4.5 cents, but down on the A34 cent high reached on Tuesday. To put a somewhat more positive spin on the situation it could be argued that Consolidated performed better in the second half of the week after dipping on Thursday to a low of A$3.41, and Monarch eased at the close.http://www.minesite.com/storyFull5.php?storySeq=3065



Minews Story
Date: October 13, 2005
LATE EXTRA: Big Mick Fades To Black At Consolidated Minerals

By Our Man In Oz

Pay peanuts, get monkeys. It’s a saying that you just can’t get out of your head after a name-calling showdown between a group of institutional investors and Consolidated Minerals effectively claimed the scalp of Michael Kiernan, chief executive of the successful Australian manganese, nickel and chromite miner. While still filling the corner office at ConsMin, there is no doubt that Kiernan is bitterly disillusioned with some of his shareholders, and will not be there much longer. “It’ll be very difficult for me to work for them after some of the things that have been said,” Kiernan told Minesite. “Talk that I have been unprofessional and dropped the dummy is a bit hard to cop. It’s just shabby.”

Unusually for such a corporate spat, Kiernan is not holding back in naming names. He lists Investco, Portfolio Partners and AMP among the institutions which have made life untenable for him at the company which he rescued from obscurity and turned into a business capitalised at A$1 billion. Under his management, ConsMin rose from a classic “penny dreadful” trading at less than A40 cents to a peak this year of A$4.47. On the way up, he made everyone a lot richer, including the institutions which have baulked at the terms of a proposed new contract which would have kept Kiernan on for another five years.

The contract, which was to have been voted on at ConsMin’s annual meeting on October 27, would have seen Kiernan issued with a generous dollop of shares over a five-year period and carrying a value today of A$18 million. But, sensing that an institutional revolt was underway Kiernan asked that the issue be left off the AGM agenda, and returned to his original terms which will see him exit by next June, but most probably a lot sooner, such is the poisonous atmosphere created by what he interprets as personal criticism.

“I have never done, and never will do anything which is against the interests of my shareholders,” Kiernan told Minesite. “I had a rough year, last year, with a divorce, a cancer scare and the death of my father. My instinct says that now’s a time to simply fade to black” – an expression which harks back to a time when Kiernan’s father was chief executive of a commercial television station in Perth.

The next few days will determine whether Kiernan sees through his threat to quit, but people who have known him for much of his life, including this correspondent, say that Big Mick is a man who always backs his words with action. If that happens it raises two fascinating questions, with an answer possibly already staring us all in the face.

First, what will the loss of Kiernan mean to ConsMin? The answer, lots, as can be seen in the company’s share price which has slipped from A$4.33 to A$3.80 over the last 10 trading days, and A22 cents over the past two days as speculation of his unhappiness surfaced in Perth. In dollar terms, and assuming the A22 cent loss is the Kiernan factor, then ConsMin shareholders are already A$47 million worse off, that being the dollar value of the share price fall – more than double what he would have been paid over a five year period. This might give the young fund managers who brought matters to this sad head something to think about when contemplating the future performance of their investments.

Second is the question of what next for the man who delights in calling himself a “truckie”? The answer is a well-kept secret called Monarch Resources, a small explorer trading under the ASX code of MRS and set up several years ago as a vehicle of secondary interest to Kiernan, but one in which he has a 30 per cent stake. “We floated Monarch in case I ever needed a place to go to work,” Kiernan said. Conveniently it is situated just a floor below ConsMin in the same building.

Interestingly, the institutions who disagree with paying Kiernan more might care to notice that while ConsMin’s share have been falling Monarch has risen from A20 cents to A24 cents over the last two days – perhaps a spot of position taking in a rarely traded stock. And they might also note that ConsMin’s chairman, Colin Smith, is also chair of Monarch and David Macoboy is a director, and to bring a real smile to their faces they might note than Kiernan does not get paid a cent in salary at Monarch – yet!




Date: October 18, 2005
Siberia Comes In From The Cold

By Our Man In Oz

After a year in the sin bin there are signs that Siberia Mining is starting to deliver some good news for its patient shareholders. Since hitting hit rock bottom of A5 cents a share in early June the small, but well connected Australian explorer, has been moving steadily higher, briefly touching A10 cents in late September but now trading around A8 cents. Driving renewed interest in a company which started life with a bang in 2003, soaring as high as A58 cents, is an injection of fresh capital, and a revitalised management team which has been busy making tough decisions about poorly-performing assets, as well as branching out into new areas, and striking a series of value-creating deals.

The hardest decision, and the one which played the major role in sending Siberia to, well, Siberia, was the closure of the Missouri openpit goldmine about 100kms north-west of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia in February. The mine, part of an extensive land-holding in WA’s Eastern Goldfields region, was the sole mining operation of Siberia, and a primary cause in the company winning accolades for being the “float of the year” in 2003. The problem with Missouri, however, was that while the oxide ore was easy to toll treat at the nearby Davyhurst plant of Croesus Mining, the deeper and harder rock, was a different proposition.

With the mine closure it was a case of back to the drawing boards for Siberia’s management which is led by Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, a man better known for his tireless efforts in launching a major iron ore operation for Fortescue Metals Group. While Twiggy remains chairman at Siberia, the day-to-day leadership role is being filled by Andrew Stocks, a former executive at Crew Gold. “The Kalgoorlie region, and our land-holdings around Kalgoorlie, is our greatest asset,” Stocks told Minesite during a visit to his office in a leafy backstreet of suburban Perth, a stone’s throw from the University of WA, and the coffee-strip of Hampden Road.

“There were a number of operational issues at Missouri that made it difficult to keep going,” Stocks said. “After we made the decision to close we set about recapitalising the company, completing a A$6.25 million capital raising, including a A$2 million placement to RAB Capital.” Armed with fresh funds, Siberia has also strengthened its board with the appointments of prominent businessmen, Michael Perrott and Ian MacLiver, and is now busy creating value from its 1,250 square kilometres of tenements around Kalgoorlie, a position which Stocks describes as the second most extensive landholding in a highly-mineralised area, and an asset ripe for joint ventures.

A whiff of the deals being worked up by Stocks came last week when Siberia announced a joint venture with another Aussie miner undergoing a corporate revival, St Barbara Mines. Their agreement covers the nickel potential of the Bellevue project, an area once extensively mined for gold by Barrick Mines. What interests both companies is that Bellevue is located just 900 metres west of the Prospero nickel mine being developed by Jubilee Mines. In fact, the decline being dug by Jubilee passes within 50metres of the tenement boundary. “Nearology” is never an exact science, some might even call it an art form, but being so close to a rich nickel deposit adds interest to the Bellevue search which will be run by St Barbara which has agreed to spend A$200,000 over the next 12-months, and can spend up to A$2 million for a 60 per cent interest in any nickel minerals.

The Bellevue deal followed a series of other strategic moves by Siberia, including a decision to start exploration for uranium on its Waukarlycarly leases located about 45km north-west of Newcrest’s Telfer goldmine, an area previously worked over by Rio Tinto. Like so many potentially rich uranium prospects in Australia, the almost unpronounceable Waukarlycarly became lost in the political imbroglio which has hamstrung uranium mining in Oz.

While Stocks rates his “land bank” in the Eastern Goldfields as Siberia’s primary asset he recoils from a suggestion put to him by Minesite that he was playing a similar game to Ian Buchhorn at Heron Resources, a Kalgoorlie-based explorer which has been setting world records for JV’s with major mining houses, including Inco and BHP Billiton. Stocks said he was interested in JV’s but “not prepared to give away” access to tenements. He added that gold remained the metal of choice for Siberia, and a map of its tenements in the Kalgoorlie area underlines this point with a string of exploration and development targets stretching from the Siberia Gold Camp in the north ,which includes the Missouri, Sand King and Invincible projects, to the Lady Ida Project, and the delightfully-named Black Rabbit and Rivers of Gold. Talks are underway with potential partners to re-start mining in the Siberia Gold Camp area, while studies are also being undertaken into a heap leach project at Lady Ida.

Important as gold is to Siberia’s future, there is a surprise in the company’s range of interests, a newly-acquired manganese project in northern New South Wales. The Doherty mine was a major producer of the steel-hardening mineral until about 50 years ago. Worked by openpit and underground, Doherty has produced grades of up to 80 per cent manganese oxide, and has returned encouraging cobalt assays of up the 1,338 parts per million. Siberia’s aim is to apply modern exploration techniques to an area known to contain commercial grades of manganese, at a time when the price of the mineral remains high. When pressed by Minesite, Stocks named the newly-acquired Doherty project as his second best asset after the Kalgoorlie tenement package, making Siberia a stock to watch for manganese developments, as well as gold, nickel and uranium.