Management has to be the underlying factor in this instance Bentley 007, evidenced by the lack of detail on the “missing $10m”* and to me it’s the nail in the coffin.
*even though some are already spending it on drilling and study costs for the Underground phase.
I’ve looked back on Management’s track record since involvement with Empire and its not very impressive.
Our Star performers successfully raised $5,564,608 at 20c/share after costs in January 2007….essentially, it appears from ASX releases at the time, on the back of generating cash from Penny’s Find.
By way of background, it took 7 years to get this far (and only one guess as to who led the charge).
13-04-2000 Palladium Resources Pty Ltd is incorporated.
11-10-2000 The above becomes Palladium Limited
15-08-2003 Enter Executive director A Jessup.
8-12-2003 Palladium Limited becomes White Gold Mining Limited
2-02-2005 White Gold Mining Limited’s attempt to list comes to an end.
29-11-2005 White Gold becomes Empire Resources Limited
Nov 2006 Empire issues its Prospectus
1-02-2007 Empire on the ASX Board
On May 11 of 2007 ERL stock rocketed to 53c before closing at 32c.
So far, so good!
Then the honeymoon was over and it was time for the real work.
In the 8 years that followed listing our trusty team guided the share price to as low as .2 of a cent in the first half of 2015.
According to the Google calculator I used
THAT REPRESENTS A 99% LOSS IN VALUE for those who paid 20c/share at issue and a whole heap more to those who paid more on the open market.
The annual Report dated 30 June 2015 shows an appalling financial position for 2014 & 2015:
- "Cash and cash equivalents increasing 556% to $119, 069 (2014:$18,152)”
- The company has $51,696 in unsecured loans from directors. Some call this “Skin” in the project. I call it desperation/survival unfit for an ASX listed Public Company.
But its not all bad news. Yes you guessed it. Penny’s was still there “ready to be developed into a Cash Flow project” – just like it was in 2007 - but this time with Barola/Brimstone as the key (ASX:ERL: 4 June 2015) and with “an internationally experienced mine developer to drive Penny’s Find gold project….” (ASX:ERL: 15 July 2015).
The SP rockets to 4.9c before closing at 4.2 on 15 August 2016.
Its looking good for all of us, but alas, not for long:
- There is a breakdown in the relationship with the “internationally experienced mine developer” and our esteemed leader takes the project helm.
- Legal action begins with the “mine developer”
- The financing gets messy
- The start-up is delayed
- The milling gets messy
We all know the outcome:
- The relationship with 2015 darling “Barola’/Brimstone breaks down and Brimstone seeks an injunction to protect its interest in the JV asset.
- The SP is now around 1.6c (and has been down to 1.3c)
- We (share holders) have no idea what the real picture is, other than that the last campaign is done and dusted and it appears there is not enough (free cash flow)to give Brimstone $1m out of its scheduled $4.0m - based on 40% of the remaining $10m)
To be in this position after, 11 years and two start ups and after multiple cap raisings is simply not good enough, and this is evidenced by the many disillusioned HC posters.
Wolca, in light of the above, how you can honestly say “cut them some slack” (unless its enough to ---- themselves) and continue to support them is beyond me. I certainly don’t want the current directors in control of my stake and will not rejoice if Brimstone’s 40% ends up under their control.
I would be surprised if between the posters on Hot Copper we didn’t have far more “skin in the company” than the directors. The company belongs to share holders, not directors. Cut us (fellow shareholders) some slack and view our position objectively and in the famous words of Australian Democrat, Don Chipp, “Keep the Bastards Honest” or “Kick ‘em out” when they repeatedly fail to perform (anonymous).
It will be interesting to see how the court views the injunction Bentlet 007, very interesting.
Niterider
(20min delay)
