I applaud you increasing your shareholding at this juncture it certainly shows you have Orchestra Stalls and I sincerely hope it pays off for you.
Also you are correct that mining or investing in mining companies is not for the faint hearted. We should count ourselves fortunate that this last water incident was relatively benign. Blindly mining towards a large underground lake could have been catastrophic for all personnel underground at the time.
With good conditions and excellent grades in mining there is always another ingredient required at all times and that is luck. Unfortunately it would appear that the only luck that KRM ever finds is bad-luck.
I believe I am in the top fifty long suffering shareholders of this company and naturally hope that the company’s fortune can indeed be turned around.
With respect I suggest that some basic management changes could be made to improve things in general. First start telling the truth let the shareholders know what is going on at all times do not try and sugar coat issues. Make it unnecessary to be for ever apologising for missing target date etc. If a planned return to production is to take three months make sure that it does actually take only three months. Telling shareholders something is going to take 3 or 6 months and then doubling the actual time makes the management look foolish and unreliable.
In my private business life many people have told me that I am lucky I actually found that the harder I worked the luckier I became. Often when we are assembling large mining trucks such as Cat 789 or Hitachi EH500AC-3 we have to work to a schedule. The date these trucks are completed must be achieved as heavy transport slots and disconnecting electric supply to homes are required. I can’t tell you how many trucks we have put together since 1989 but I can tell you we never missed a shipping date. This was achieved by good management and planning and I can assure you even if it has meant working 24-7 the job was always completed. I mention my background just to show that I am not asking the KRM management to perform in a manner I would not ask of myself!
I can recall one of my fitters telling me a steel pin could not be removed from a large piece of machinery. I rolled up my shirt sleeves and told the fitter that the pin has to come out and that his attitude was all wrong. Had the pin been greased regularly a two pound hammer and steel drift would have done the job; however, in engineering and mining we know this is not always the case.
Current day management of ASX companies have had it so easy for so long I believe they have gone soft. When they run out of money they turn to the shareholder base like a rich uncle. They set their own target dates and then make all kinds of excuses and apologies when they don’t meet them. Their salaries are paid irrespective of their performance and they have no shame when they pocket this money under false pretences. I am currently in Yorkshire UK and believe that Australian company management should be treated like British soccer team managers and apprised of their worthiness on a weekly (match) basis.
I really do doubt that 95% of the current ASX listed company management teams would be able to cut it in the real private business world.
If any of the current management has doubts about their ability to make KRM into a profitable enterprise sooner rather than later then with respect I suggest they move on in the very near future.
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