www.mintails.co.za, page-6

Good thread, guys.

If TTs "USD20 million" posted above is a good calculation, and I believe it is, then this computes to a P/E ratio of 1!

MLI has 3.1 million ounces of gold and that does not include the gem that's being acquired from WWI. FML, which I also hold, has about 2 million ounces and more fans than Collingwood. MLI seems to have none. Why on earth would that be? Sentiment is the answer. And I'll get back to that later.

A few months ago a disgruntled poster on this MLI section exclaimed "show me the money". Let's show it now.

I watch Cash Flow as MLI's first well-being measure. These numbers come from the most recent four quarterly reports posted in line 1.13 of the cash flow report.

Quarter...(000s)
June 2010 ...1,695
March 2010 ... (1,160)
December 2009 ... (6,002)
September 2009 ... (13,308)

So far, so good. What about production ounces ... the second good-health metric?

Quarter ... Ounces of Au
June 2010 ... 4,651
March 2010 ... 4,422
December 2009 ... 4,551
September 2009 ... 4,083

Well, let's hope it improves. As stated above, we'll know in a few weeks.

Now the sentiment issue. I feel MLI has two wet blankets. First, its own. The second is the country.

Under the Frost leadership, MLI had a near-death experience and we can dissect the why's and wherefore's of that later, if necessary.

The current chairman, Smythe, saved the ship. He's the one that got BlueBay on board. I've frequently read on this board that the (current) management is the problem. Oh boy! How wrong could that be. More later.

The country? The Fraser Institute in Canada does an annual survey of all mining jurisdictions on the globe. This report reveals that SA's neighbour to the north-west..Botswana..ranks best place to go mining in Africa. Their neighbour to the north..Zimbabwe..ranks worst. (No surprises with that one.) Guess what? SA ranks darn close to Zimbabwe. The bottom line in SA is that there is a sniff of sovereign risk. We can debate this chestnut in detail later if we wish. But I hasten to add that Zuma was in China recently for talks (and junkets) and they want to crank up joint enterprise in SA. Take a look at this following link that fleshes out that piece of info.

http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/China-plans-mineral-enrichment-in-SA.htm

I suggest that if the Chinese see sovereign risk issues in SA, they'll jawbone Zuma to rectify them. Maybe they don't see sovereign risk as a problem. The other risk is union unrest. Again, if the locals don't want to work, maybe the chinese have a clause in their contract to bring in their own workers. Now wouldn't Zuma like that?

Back to Smythe. He was a bean counter at Coca Cola and attained high levels in the organisation. The problem is, unlike other Coke operatives, he wasn't a marketer. That's the current MLI problem. They are flying under the radar. Maybe the Jo'burg listing will help fix this - I doubt it. Toronto would be the best, imho.

So, my mid-term MLI wish list boils down to two items. First, get the annual production north of 50K ounces pa. Second, do a roadshow in all parts of the world.