NML is due its interrim results now, last year it was the 28th of this month.

They are setting up a new site to explore/research/analyse and all the equipment to do this should be on site now, and drilling should start soon, all this extra news should be covered in the interims.

does anyone have any further positive views on this company ??

Cheers, legend. There's some strange people around!

legend
I take it that you are not a shareholder?

Not sure what that is in picture 4, takahe. Could be a raft or barge.

It's nice that they update the pictures...I wish they would update the shareholders. I wonder if Dr Michael Smith has visited the site? His independent report was quite extensive. Has anyone read it? Leon Daniels, the well-known geologist, has offered to look at the kimberlite for the company.

takahe - 08 Jun'05 - 18:21 - 683 of 686
Anomalous1
That is not correct. The roads were built subsequent to these photographs being taken. Are you being deliberately misleading or are you just mistaken?
The main problem with getting established was that the machinery could not easily be moved for fear of damage to the machinery and damage to the ground.
Angola is very wet for some months of the year and was worse than usual this year. They undoubtedly got off to a slow start but that doesn't mean that progress can not be made quickly now. Neils and Piet are very experienced miners.
I am surprised that you have been able to take these pictures from the NML web-site. I understood they were right-protected.

No they are not protected - enough! It's dead easy to snatch pictures from websites, even if they are protected. If NML objects, then I'll just remove them.

The roads that were built were the ones to access the site from the main roads and Saurimo. The worksite does not appear to have any proper roads at all. Just dirt tracks, well worn by the machinery.

See for yourself:


Now don't get me wrong, "Neils and Piet are very experienced miners." I agree, they have 40 years experience (according to Monroe) but there's little evidence elsewhere of this. They are certainly very good at doing deals and managed to squeeze an extra $10,000 out of NML over the price they were going to charge Monroe - inflation for you. The deal to get the extra $195,300 was a smart move and they've already sold or transferred 1 million shares, according to the RNS dated 22 April 2005
http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200504221407014182L.html

Current Badenhorst holdings:

Piet Badenhorst 4,126,500
Neils Badenhorst 4,126,500
Joint Trust 4,040,000

Total now = 12,293,000 shares
Issued = 13,293,000 shares
1 million shares transferred or sold

Sorry..I know they have built proper roads in places. Those pictures are in the mine workings.

legend290782 - 08 Jun'05 - 18:36 - 688 of 695
Anomolous, thanks for the post. It seems to make sense to me the reduced holdings and no declaration. Do you think healy is taking backhanders from them too??

It would instill more confidence in the company if they kept them or bought more!!!!!

I have no knowledge of any 'backhanders' and would be surprised if that was going on. Many shareholders suggested that the directors ought to put their money where their mouths were and buy some shares. So they opted to convert their director's fees, possibly because the company was so short of working capital.

Just recently I heard some pretty shocking news about the company. I can't repeat it because it was told in confidence, but it was bad enough that I've had to share it with both sets of regulators. It may turn out to be innocent, but then the context of the news was such that it made me extremely worried about NML.

Oh and for the others who believe that the weather is still not a problem, look at this picture again. That's a pump working to remove the rain that's collected in the workings. The float is where the end of the pump tube sucks the water out.

takahe - 08 Jun'05 - 18:49 - 696 of 697
Sorry..I know they have built proper roads in places. Those pictures are in the mine workings.

You are correct, they have built proper roads, but not at the mine site. There's no point anyway. You see, they are constantly moving the earth about. As one area is excavated, the area that was just finished is being filled with the tailings. Moving that much earth means that the soil will get everywhere. It's madness to think that you can build proper roads at the mine site.

The ore is mostly gravels and fine clays, so it soaks up the water. During the dry season it will get a bit dusty, but they do have a river nearby - the Lapi. Even though these pictures were taken during the dry season, you can still see that the ore has been or is wet. So they will encounter problems during the rainy season. Just imagine that hole filling with water during the thunderstorms. The pumps would have to be going at full speed just to keep pace.

Anomalous1
So what is your repeated point about the Badenhorst's? That they think the results are so poor that they are selling 1 million shares?
You would have to be very sure of your facts to post that on a public BB. Do you know the brothers?

takahe,

he didn't speculate a reason, you just did!

The RNS issued by NML suggest the Badenhorsts have sold 1 million shares, these are official communications issued by the company, do you doubt their accuracy?

No, my point about the Badenhorsts is that they are smart cookies and accepted the shares in lieu of cash, because the company didn't have the working capital to pay them.

They've managed to acquire an extra $195,300 in the process and by selling or transfering only 1 million shares (I don't know what price they achieved), they have managed to convert some of the shares back into cash.

I don't know them personally, but I do have contacts in the industry, so it wouldn't be difficult to find out more. From what I heard, it was the Badenhorsts that found the Lapi River project and offered it to Monroe. When they couldn't get the funds together (?), they took it to NML. NML managed to get the licenses and do the deals with the Angolan Goverment.

If anyone should benefit from the Lapi River project, it is Piet and Neils. Obviously very smart guys.

Legend,

re FDI, I'm a long term holder, and I genuinely feel that 3 is indeed possible, if not more, in the longer term.

It's certainly reassuring to hear your broker friends are so enthuisiastic, I in fact know quite a few holders, and everyone is quietly confident of their Groen River and Botswanan prospects producing a few mines.

Re NML market cap of 5 million, well IMHO it's a speculation with risk money that you are prepared to lose, nothing more, UNTIL the company prove they can deliver.

If they achieve that, then clearly a reassesment will be in order, but not until IMO.

legend290782 - 08 Jun'05 - 17:45 - 676 of 701
Seems like some interesting afternoons posts!!
How come Healy had death threats does anyone know??

The idiot that made the death threats did so because he bought NML at a high price when they were only about Niobium and Tantalum. When the price dropped, he panicked and sold out at a massive(?) loss (or so he said). Then NML got the diamond concession and he feels cheated.

He accussed the directors of being con artists (when there is no evidence of this) and made direct threats to Shane Healey, his children, John Cross and another investor.

I called in the police when we knew that the directors would be visiting London to give a presentation. We tried to get the person traced months before, but due to problems with tracing his identity, the Police could not locate him in time. So I requested a couple of plain clothes police to attend the presentation, just in case the nutter turned up with his knife.

The police contacted Seymour Pierce (the broker) who were holding the meeting. The next day there was the AFX news release. I was shocked when I saw it and contacted the company PR man. He was in a bar with his ex work mates - from a News Agency. So you can guess who released the news as cheap publicity.

I contacted a friendly reporter to attend the meeting. The directors mislead the reporter over the real reason for the death threats. They said that it was because the shareholders thought the company was holding back price sensitive news, when it was actually because a nutter lost some money on his investment.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2004/11/05/cnmill05.xml

The BBC picked up the story from the Telegraph and reported it. But when they checked with the police (after I had a quick word with them) they changed the story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3986463.stm


Also didn't nml do their homework as to the accessibility to the mines and potential costs??

Many of us believe that the company did not check out the weather conditions well enough and were taken by surprise when it actually did rain. They were unprepared for the extent of the rain and how long it lasted.

It appears that they did not factor the rain into their forecasts, so the Project Summary they completed is probably way out. IMO, I doubt that they will be able to mine the 10,000 carats per month that they are expecting to do all year. They might do better in some dry months, but I reckon that most of the time they will be falling behind forecast.

Does it not alarm you that the so called experts - 'the brandenhorst bros' are selling shares??

Not in the slightest - the Badenhorsts didn't expect to have that much in the way of shares, but then they can convert as much as they want, when they want and nobody would know. Because they are not directors and have non-declarable holdings. Their overall holding is largish. It is presently 6.9% of the issued capital. They could put quite a dent in the price without raising suspicion.

However, they are smart guys, and I doubt that they would dispose of all of their shares. They are obviously looking at the bigger picture - the Pipes!


What do you vale nml at?? Do you think that 5m is fair or 'cheap'???

We did a summary on the ADVFN boards using the published data. Here it is:



You can see the value of the company and the projected share price. On the face of it, NML has a great deal of value, but the problem is the market. The market will not price according to this summary, but according to the supply and demand for shares. If the big seller keeps dumping shares, then it would be difficult to see how the share price could rise, unless the company declares spectacular news.

Andy
No..he quite clearly stated that the Badenhorsts must have sold a million shares.Quote: "by selling only 1 million shares (I don't know what price they achieved), they have managed to convert some of the shares back into cash."
That is very surprising, if true.

Anomalous1
"So you can guess who released the news as cheap publicity" AFX releases do not work in that way

>Takahe
I have ammended the post to read:

"They've managed to acquire an extra $195,300 in the process and by selling or transfering only 1 million shares (I don't know what price they achieved), they have managed to convert some of the shares back into cash.
"

They could have transferred them. That's certainly possible, but IMO it's more likely that they sold a million.

Regards the AFX, The NML PR guy was in a bar with a NEWS AGENCY, so you can guess who gave them the story.

Having consulted someone who knows more than I do about mining, that is a pump in picture 4. All open mines use them to remove rain water but more importantly, we have to remember that in 'the cut and cover' style of mining that NML propose to use - that particular hole in the ground will be filled up with processed gravel in a matter of days, while the next bench is being stripped and mined.

Cheers takahe.

Anomalous1, you say "Just recently I heard some pretty shocking news about the company. I can't repeat it because it was told in confidence, but it was bad enough that I've had to share it with both sets of regulators. It may turn out to be innocent, but then the context of the news was such that it made me extremely worried about NML."

Are you prepared to give a brief outline of this, perhaps in an email?

Do you hold NML shares?

Just recently I heard some pretty shockingly good news about the company. I can repeat it because it wasn't told in confidence, and it was good enough that I've had to share it with both sets of bullitin boards. It may turn out to be already known, but then the context of the news was such that it made me extremely excited about NML.

Here it is:

notready - 9 Jun'05 - 10:28 - 1537 of 1537


I have some fantastic news about NML!!!!!

1. They have started alluvial mining operations.
2. The known resource is huge. Unmapped resource is probably massive.
3. The company have brought forward their kimberlite mapping because of demand from several potential partners.
4. The directors have share options that start at 8p and have share price targets from 16p to 55p by April 2007, only 20 months away.
5. The potential profits and cash flow are very large from alluvials alone.
6. The potential profits from kimberlites could be huge.
7. They also have a free interest in a promising diamond prospect in Greenland.
8. The market cap is a ridiculous 6m.

Please tell everyone, including the regulators, because I don't think the market has cottoned on yet!!!!

PS. On the negative side there is some confusion in reconciling old and new directors holding notices and there was a bit of a delay to minestart due to bad weather. Big deal!

mjr
What an interesting post. There is also the possibility of a take-over from a major, once their resources are proven.