Up 4% this morning following IC recommendations. Wide spread I think, but the IC article says Hambledon are working on a Russian exploration in Sekisovskoye, which it recently acquired.

Seymour Pierce analyst apparently have a price target of 9.2, but depending on outcome of Russian exploration this could go a good deal higher.

Interesting, but DYOR please.

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=45213

What 's Wrong With The Junior Gold Sector?
By Stephen Clayson

08 Aug 2008 at 03:24 PM GMT-04:00

So far this year junior gold stocks have performed poorly. Why?


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LONDON (ResourceInvestor.com) -- Looking back on 2008 so far, an uninitiated observer might assume that investors in gold sector equities would be a pretty happy bunch. The price of the yellow metal has hit record nominal levels. Even with this weeks slump, gold is well ahead of where it was this time last year.

If those investors had been focused on the sectors bigger players, that uninitiated observer might have been right. For example, using London prices, Randgold Resources (RRS; GOLD) has gained 22% to 2305p from 5 January to close of trade today while Peter Hambro Mining (POG) has fallen 32% to 888p and Yamana Gold (YAU) has lost 25% to 547p over the same period. Granted, Peter Hambro and Yamana are down, but they have fared reasonably well in a very testing environment for equities of any hue, and much of the damage has actually been done this week as the gold price has weakened.

Contrast this with Central America-focused explorer Condor Resources (CNR), which is down 75% to 1.05p over the same timescale. Or junior producers Hambledon Mining (HMB) and Mercator Gold (MCR), which have come down 72% to 5.75p and 75% to 21.25p respectively.

Although a lot of juniors have come down with the gold price this week, most didnt really go up with it, owing to the catastrophic effect that the credit crunch and associated economic maladies have had on junior markets the world over.

That said, maybe this is the markets way of flagging that there are actually a lot of no-hopers out there; companies with development projects that simply dont stack up, exploration projects that will never reach critical mass, or cringe-worthy political risk profiles.

It is also a reflection of the new reality in the gold mining business; that a lot of mines in high cost locales like Australia are now borderline viable, and wont stand much more cost pressure unless their management really pull something special out of the bag. Alas numerous juniors have all their eggs in one high cost basket, and are at real risk of going kaput. A few have already gone under, Monarch Gold and View Resources being two.

Bad hedge positions are also an issue. The big players can buy back hedges they dont fancy anymore, albeit at immense cost, but that may not be an option for a junior, especially with equity markets strained at all levels. European Minerals merger with Lero Gold to form Orsu Metals (OSU) was a neat way to give European Minerals a way out of having to keep buying gold in the market to deliver into its hedges as a result of commissioning delays at its Varvarinskoye mine in Kazakhstan, but not everyone will be so lucky.

People who buy gold bullion are frequently not the same people who buy junior gold shares, though there is some overlap. Juniors depend to a great extent on retail investors, but retail investors as a group are under pressure in all major Western mining markets, having been pummelled by falling home prices; a tightening credit environment, which has led to margin calls from many brokers; and rising real world prices, especially of fuel and food, even if for many the impact of these is as much psychological as anything else.

The lack of significant discoveries being made by juniors is a worry. But more important is that the minerals boom has triggered an explosion of competition for good assets, from state-backed Asian (primarily Chinese) entities and from the big Western mining companies.

By and large, mining and exploration are no longer businesses in which likable amateurs, that perennial fixture of the junior mining sector, can expect to muddle through. It takes big money to succeed nowadays; money to hire good people, to motivate suppliers, to fund ever burgeoning corporate social responsibility programmes. And that skews the field against the juniors more than ever before.

Good day to add with positive news, HMB is now a producer and closing in on its annual production rate targets.

Production update, out.
cyril

Bought a chunk of these 2 days ago, time to dust this thread off again, in process of upgrading the cone crusher so as to handle higher capacity, has taken a while to get it across from China, but looks to be all systems go, now with increase in output and gold price heading upwards, sellers cleared and indeed evidence of large purchases in background, its onwards and upwards im(unbiased)o

Stochastics and RSI looking toppy, but if sp can hold up (consolidate) while these retreat in coming days/week - that will also be bullish, as the next leg should begin.
Dont forget we are a producer now - not blue sky, this translates into earnings -
also Kazakh currency devaluing means lower labour and running costs etc...

HMB are in production, have no hedging and little debt. I can see this rising very fast on release of restart of production? imho

Take a look at thier photo's say's more than a 1000 words?
www.hambledon-mining.com

I think we could get news next week?
cyril

OK who sold against my reconmendation? Down at this minute but not phased.
cyril

OK who sold against my reconmendation? Down at this minute but not phased.
cyril

Most surprised at the size of the pull back, although some expected with market
as it is, but what i buying opportunity?
Although no news as yet a reply to an e-mail explains the understandable delay
in reporting?

Thank you for your email and your good wishes. As you have seen the new crusher is installed. We haven't put out an RNS yet as we want to be sure of its performance before we do so. We will do this as soon as we can. I know that yourself and many other PIs are awaiting this news and for obvious reasons I cannot tell you something we are not telling everyone. I do hope you understand.

Yours sincerely

Charles Zorab

aimho
cyril

I see others have thought the same,some healthy buying going on.
cyril

Hambledon Mining Plc 11 March 2009

The Directors of Hambledon Mining Plc (the Company) are pleased to report upon the installation and performance of the new secondary crusher.

The installation of the new secondary cone crusher and re-lining of the primary ball mill were completed in late February. The installation and commissioning interrupted operations for longer than expected, resulting in the equivalent of three weeks of lost production. The upgraded circuit is, however, now producing crushed ore at above the design rate.

Several other improvements to the crushing circuit were carried out during the shutdown and will be completed in the next two weeks. These changes are designed to make the plant more reliable and less prone to stoppages caused by freeze-thaw weather in spring and autumn. Nevertheless, some weather-related disruption to production can be expected from now until the end of April.

The new circuit is capable of producing a more finely crushed product, which will allow the mills to operate at higher tonnages. There is therefore potential for higher milling rates after further experience of operating the new circuit is gained, particularly in the summer months.

A quarterly production update will be given at the beginning of the next quarter.

Not the most exciting of news releases, but typical HMB call it as it is,which allows
one to make a factual decision. So a lot more patience required i'm afriad, but it'll
be worth it imho?


cyril

Quarterly production report due shortly.

First quarter gold production at Hambledon Mining was severely affected by problems in the crushing plant and shutdowns for repairs and installation of new equipment.

Milled tonnes totalled 30,742 in January, 22,930 in February and 48,092 in March.

A new cone crusher was installed in early March and various other modifications were made during the shutdown.

The newly supplied cone crusher drive motor failed shortly after installation and further shutdowns occurred later in the month for the installation of new feeder arrangements and modifications to improve the flow.

Since the restart on 1 April, the changes have proved successful.

In the first 12 days of full operation, some 24,100 tonnes were milled and 900 ounces of gold were produced.
cyril

interesting movement today and a lot of buys, anyone know if news is imminent?

I B.......y hope so been stuck with these toooooo long.

At this price has to be a bargain,producing gold and with the new excavator due this month a ramp up in output. Gold is rising, couple increased output(reducing costs and improving margins)along with $950+ makes it a strong buy, aimho.
cyril

Are you sure it's not you ramping up..cyril lol

A slight tick up since posting.
The 3rd excavator will allow up to 50% higher supply of raw material to the crusher, but more importent is the back up to cover any breakdowns, of which have been many. This along with the building up of spare parts will help to ensure a constant supply, at least thats the object?
cyril

The steady climb has started.i dont see the previous highs but 8p is not too far away imho.

post 303 .... as a total aside ..... Zorab is an old armenian family name and there's not a lot of those - i suspect that all of that ilk are quite closely related

i knew you would all enjoy that bit of utter trivia!