Dear Harm. Please feel free to correct me where I am wrong, because I can't see the problem with the current arrangement that you obviously do.
So far as I understand it, LOM has provided all the capital to the j.v. so far. The j.v. has been successful in that it has generated a cash flow (from the alluvials) which is being used to fund on-going exploration and development, and any shortfall from that is being funded by LOM shareholders. There won't be any repatriation of funds until there is cash surplus to requirements, which may be never if the kimbo plays don't pan out; the recent one-off 404 distribution comes under the heading 'windfall' in my book, it isn't part of the normal course of business, in a cash-strapped economy like Angola's there is no way the government could let those funds be 'wasted' on exploration, hence the pro-rata distribution; LOM, of course, elected to use its share on the project because that's what it was always going to do, and it's what we're there for.
Now that SML has been formally set up, there is an avenue for funds to be repatriated and IF we hit paydirt on L259, and/or one or more of the others, eventually there will be cash coming back to LOM in Australia, BUT most likely we'll never see it, as such, because if that were to happen it's a fair bet that a takeover would materialise before any cash flowed back.
That's why I'm here, but I might be too old now to reap the benefits - we'll see.
B22.
Expand
