Good afternoon
finally and definitely back now!!
China increased liquidity of the banking system, while German exports delivered a rare, positive surprise.
Unfortunately, not only good news in my absence!
Panoramic - the unexpected became true - yes, they do need money. Their bank has reacted to what has been a difficult ramp-up period, and demanded the repayment of 20 mill of the 40 mill$ project-finance. While most probably absolutely unnecessary, I can understand these guys: It´s without question, that the ramp-up of the mining operation at Savannah has had it´s fair share of problems, culminating in underperformance of the existing orebody, Savannah, in July and August. Numbers were better compared to the previous Quarter, but 20% under budget. One has to understand the bank - in the end, these guys have only downside, no upside from a loan! The problems culminated in a small and isolated seismic event at Savannah in July, which made things even harder. So PAN are raising 27 mill A$ after costs to pay back 20 mill of the 40 mill$ loan ( which got extended a little ), accompanied by hedging ( which has previously been announced as part of the original loan ), which starts in Sept 2020 for 8.000t of nickel at approx 8,40 A$/t. The good news is, that development of Savannah North, the brand-new ore body, will hit ore in November, and should ramp up very quickly early in the new year. This will bring production to the planned 80.000t/month in the first Quarter, and will deliver very significant. cash flow. The operating costs should not be impacted by the problems of mining the old ore body, and costs are stille xpected to be 3.50 US$/lb sustaining costs for 10.800t of yearly production, vs the current spot price of 8,15 US$/lb! .
The drilling of the ventilation shaft has also overcome earlier problems now, and is progressing very well. In any case, it´s not needed before mid 2020 - and by then, it should easily be finished.
Also important: I understand, that Peter Harold will stay on until the current problems are behind the company!
Overall - big dissappointment, that PAN needs this extra cash - but I really view it as a fresh buying opportunity in what will be a very profitable mine, especially at current levels of the nickel price! All shareholders based in Australia, Switzerland and Germany + various others can participate .
Metro Mining - came out with a very positive production update ! Production and shipments have been very strong in July and August, with shipments around 450.000t/month. At those rates, it will be no problem to acheive guidance of 3.3-3.5 millt for the current year. This also implies, that costs should be very favourable. The Quarterly for this quarter should be very positive. This stock is a screeming buy! the share price reacted positively - but there is a lot of room left! I suspect, that the market is waiting for the results of the feasibility study to increase production from 3.5 mill to 6 millt p.a.. , which should come out any time now and which should be very positive. I recommend everybody to have another look at this stock! It´s such an easy operation - just digging up the stuff, and load it on a ship to China - a real cash machine!!
West African Resources - big announcement today about board changes, and appointments of senior personnel. The current Chairman, who is on numerous boards, resigns and Richard Hyde, the current CEO, will also become Executive Chairman. The board will have 4 independant, and 2 Executive Directors.WAF have also announced the appointments of several operational managers - all of which appear to be very experienced in Africa, as well as in senior, operational roles. I think the team to finish, comission and operate Sanbrado, which is making very strong progress, is now complete! Hartley´s recently updated their price deck, which is still below the current US$ gold price, and with a slightly higher A$ vs today, resulting in a NPV-valuation for WAF of 84ct/share.
Have a nice evening
WS