I'll repeat some Rio Tinto comments on exploration I posted earlier this year. Please remember this is Rio who have everything to hand, including relatively limitless cash.
(page 5) "The evolution of a project from initial testing to commissioning can take 10 to 20 years".
(page 8) "The mining industry norm is that approximately 0.03 per cent of conceptual targets that are assessed lead to a discovery. This means only one in 3,000 of all ideas in the exploration pipeline would proceed to the detailed evaluation stage".
http://www.riotinto.com/documents/reportspublications/corppub_exploration.pdf
Bear in mind if you will Frieda River Cu/ Au (PNG) and one of the world's largest and richest still untapped , has been going for 50 plus years, still no mining done, and that is by no means unusual.
I find it hard to belittle the efforts of BML, who to me seem to be doing the required yards. The management are committed....? How so? Look at their investments.
The report issued last night: page 6 - 21 reviews operations, and for those interested, 21 - 23 outlines the Li/Ta situation, bearing in mind it is a report to end June, but with some coverage of activity into the 'new' financial year.
Of particular interest and worth reading are the " Going Concern" comments pages 42 and 43, which shows how management view the company, and their commitment to conserving funds.
Going Concern
"The Group reported a net loss for the period after income tax of $945,679 (30 June 2015: $725,374) and operating cash outflows of $898,438 (30 June 2015: $527,156). At 30 June 2016 the Group had $488,249 in cash and cash equivalents (30 June 2015: $276,922). The financial position of the Group has stabilised considerably since the BCL farm-in agreement became effective on 1 April 2014 and the Group intends to continue to conduct future exploration activities. The Directors consider that the going concern basis is appropriate for the following reasons: The Group has secured tenure to its key exploration assets being PL 110/94, PL 111/94 and PL 54/98 (“the three PLs”) and the licences will now run to 31 March 2018. BCL is funding exploration activities on the three PLs and is reimbursing the bulk of the administrative and other costs incurred by the Group in Botswana. The terms of the BCL farm-in joint venture agreement required that BCL meet all expenditure required to meet the licence conditions of the three PLs. The Group has applied for the renewal of tenement PL 059/2008 and, post balance date, was granted three new prospecting licences. The Company, principally through its Chairman Pat Volpe, has a track record of raising substantial additional capital. The sum of $1,599,397 (before costs) was raised by the Company in the year to 30 June 2016 to meet its corporate and administration overheads, provide working capital and possibly fund exploration activities on areas outside the BCL farm-in joint venture agreement. The Group has continued to reduce overheads wherever possible. A partial freeze on the payment of remuneration to Directors remains in place. The Directors have confirmed their intention and ability to forebear from seeking cash payments from the Company in respect of accrued remuneration owing as at 30 June 2016 for a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing of these accounts, or to such point in time that the company is able to satisfy its commitments and obligations to its suppliers and employees without such help and without jeopardizing its available working capital position. Directors will continue to be paid part of their remuneration in cash and the balance will be accrued.
The Group is not obligated to renew its Prospecting Licences, and therefore has the ability to scale down its operations sufficiently if required. The Group can enter into a joint venture or sale arrangement over some of the tenements should there be a need to scale down operations. The Group has no material contracts with suppliers or employees (aside from standard employee entitlements). The financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of assets and liabilities that may be necessary should the Group be unable to continue as a going concern.
Commitment.....page 32 , number of options held by key management personnel....
Largest and substantial share and option holders can be seen pages 71 - 73.....suffice to say, committment wise, the two listed substantial holders are both executives
(D) SUBSTANTIAL SHAREHOLDERS "Substantial shareholders in the Company are: Ordinary Shares Number Percentage Vermar Pty Ltd / Trayburn Pty Ltd / Mr Patrick John Volpe 187,827,897 16.22%
Bell IXL Investments Pty Ltd / Cellante Securities Pty Ltd 73,941,742 6.38% ."
Also worth noting that the present options pain is shared, PV having 10.8% (44,296,738), and C 3.66% (15 million).
To me skin in the game counts.
In advance I humbly apologise for the lengthy post.
(20min delay)
