Road show
The following was written before the report of the accusations that the locals near the Tulin Mill have made against Titan Minerals, were released by Mr. Piggott. If proven, and there looks to be major efforts to do that by Peruvian officials, I would think criminal charges are an obvious outcome. I don't know if Peru has an extradition treaty with Australia. It would also seem pretty likely that down the road, Peruvian authorities will seize The Vista Mill, to collect on the fines they will levy against Titan ,which Titan no doubt won't or can't pay. Seems pretty likely this is the end of Titan in Peru. And it would seem there must be ASX involvement. So how might this affect things with the merger vote? Well, the merger now looks quite a few notches crazier, but it is still all accusations, and turning those into proof will take time. So Core will probably continue with the vote. And of course Titan will. So please don't think you can forget about this, it is far from over. Take the time, make the effort, and be very careful to vote correctly so it will get counted. Core BOD 4 looks to be out of tricks, but we all know about cornered animals. I guess there is the possibility that Core BOD4 will realize the gig is up, and in order to pay Titan the 3 million break fee, back out before the vote. A BOD that was working for Core would terminate the deal and say good luck collecting the break fee to Titan. (The best case would be if Titan couldn't continue, and then they would be required to pay Core the break fee, but then it would be good luck collecting for us. ) But I think the accusations will take too long to turn into proven charges for Titan to be forced to withdraw. Ditto what the ASX might do. Maybe possible they would suspend Titan, but I guess even then the merger vote could proceed. Is it possible to merge with a company that doesn't have a listing? How does that work? I think we need to assume the vote is on, perhaps even hope so in order that Core BOD 4 doesn't break the deal in order to pay the break fee. Written earlier I am so glad that this merger deal is finally coming to a vote, now taking place, with the proxy thing. Whenever I read the next Core BOD4 proclamation, it is so sickening and disheartening for me. And it is so on two levels: - That what they say is all lies (ok maybe some is just misleading, obfuscation, etc. ). And the world is so full of lies right now, and here we are with something quite close to home (my money) and it is impossible to have a truthful discussion because one side is not truthful. - I also despair about what this is doing to Core Gold. Dynasty and then Core were never great success stories but they always did their best under Washer and then Piggott, never resorting to dirty tricks as a substitute for honest endeavor. If the merger is defeated it will be a long time before Core will build back up trust , enough to attract new investors; and years to get rid of the stink of corruption that this merger deal has brought down on Core. How will anyone ever trust Reyes again, as we did before this, and give him the benefit of the doubt? Sedun has totally been exposed as a scoundrel - now we can only hope he just quietly leaves the scene. Tad did a great job of countering the latest Core BOD4 news release, but really every statement they make needs pages and pages of explanation to show how profoundly they are misrepresenting the facts . Luckily a lot of that has already been done and they are basically just recycling old arguments. It is getting a little boring to continually refute their latest attempt. One small thing that Tad didn't mention again, when they claimed that the new management would save the day, was that Marsland, the new proposed CEO, was 'fired' from his last job at Dundee Precious Metals and then sued by Dundee for breach of confidence. I can see why Sedun would like the guy. I agree with the theory proposed earlier on another post here, that if the merger were to happen the shares would be concentrated in few hands, and then Core will be sold , possibly piece by piece. Marsland would probably just be used to prepare things for sale, if the merger happened. Can't see how anyone would think Core could prosper under his guidance. I hear that Sedun and Sam Wong, Core's CFO, are conducting a phone in show: talking to Core shareholders, convincing them to vote for the merger. Now, one would think that the BOD and CFO would try and maintain at least the pretence of impartiality, representing the interests of Core shareholders. Trying to get the best possible deal for Core. But this thing is totally wacko. Apparently one of the not-that-new arguments that, Sedun and Wong, (Cheech and Chong anybody?) are pushing in their telephone road show is that if the merger doesn't happen and Core doesn't get the money that Titan might bring (and I say 'might' because the amount Titan would bring is fluid: anywhere from zero to the promised $20M A) Core will go to zero very fast, overnight it seems. Scary stuff if your retirement depends somewhat on at least getting something for your Core holdings. Fear mongering most certainly. So we are to believe that Reyes would let his 30 million shares go to zero, when they had a pretty good chance of being worth 30 million dollars not that long ago. And the trip to zero will be very fast and short. Well us old timers remember when Dynasty hit bottom, in much much worse shape than Core is in now. The workers on strike, the mill shut down, the government closing in, etc. But the story dragged on for ages as Mr. Washer looked for away out to avoid the zero option. At the very least they could check out what Copper Duke might sell for. Perhaps even drill a couple holes, which we seemed to be a couple weeks away from doing before this merger started happening. This could be done at very low cost since we have our own drills. Perhaps spend a little on finishing up the mill expansion and sell it with the Zaruma underground mine. Or seeing if the company Mr. Piggott said was interested in Dynasty Gold Fields was still interested. It seemed they would probably pay quite a few million for 100% of DGF if they could just quickly drill a few holes to confirm the results that Dynasty got back in 2014. They were willing to pay Core $20m up front plus give Core 40% of the $60m mine/ mill they would build, so 40% of $60m is $24 m , and 20 plus 24 is 44 therefore it would seem they would give Core $44 m for 100%. And there's still Linderos, Jerusalem, and I forget the names of the others. I would think that at the very, very, very, least they could get $75 million for these (which is a fair bit more than zero) and most likely much much more. Copper Duke is quite possibly worth a lot more than that on its own. If they only got the 75 million that is still 50 cents a share for Core shareholders if Titan is out of the picture. So saying that Reyes would ever let this go to zero without trying a few other things is pretty preposterous (putting it nicely). Of course proceeding as before is the best option, with a look at what the company that Mr. Piggott brought an offer from has to offer, and also check out the other companies that have been shunned by the BOD4, but expressed interest. When they say that Core is on the verge of going to zero, I can't help but wonder what Bailey is doing with Core down in Ecuador, wondering if he has made his first trip down there, I think someone said after many years as a BOD he had never taken the effort to visit. No one expected much from him as a CEO, but to wipe out the company from a pretty solid position to zero in 2 months would be impressive. Even Titan took much longer to destroy all value in the projects it attempted over the years. Another big part of the roadshow is to continue attacking Mr Piggott, personally and his track record. Their big argument is that he is self serving. I went back over all their releases and they have used the term self serving to describe Mr. Piggott 18 times. ( ok ,I made that up, I have better things to do. You see the difference between me and Core BOD4, is I just am not comfortable bxllshxting you, and so tell you when I do) Now no one will suggest Mr. Piggott is the next Mother Teresa, ( though it was reported that he and his wife did some community outreach stuff at Cores operations) but isn't looking after NUMBER ONE what humans do? I am trying to think of the last not selfish thing I did. And even Mother Teresa had detractors: In 2013 , a trio of Canadian academics published a scathing critique, titled The dark side of Mother Teresa". The other part of the attack is Mr. Piggotts track record. Firstly that he has done bad at Core. I could make up a number of how many times I have listed Mr. Piggotts accomplishments at Core Gold, and they are impressive, but everyone is familiar with them so won't do that again. Maybe they realize that the ice is thin here, so they have gone back a project to Gold Group. Now it is true Gold Group wasn't a great success, and the better things to do argument keeps me from investigating why. But it is interesting that Mr. Piggott is still on the BOD, still CEO, and President. Sedun was on the BOD, but is now no where to be found. If I get motivated , I will go way back and bring forward a post of Mr. Seduns track record ,tit for tat I figure, where it was shown that Seduns only success was really Diamond Fields decades ago, and his role there was minor, and a couple others after that that he followed the Diamond Fields guy to. And then a string of 7 failures, without a single success, when he played a larger role. My final comment I have, and it isn't terribly important, is that I think Sam Wong, of the Sedun and Wong show, actually believes all the stuff Sedun has been pumping into him about this merger. I think that Sedun has him under some kind of spell. The older of you will remember Waco, (not wacko like this merger deal), a classic case of what the human brain, in the right situation (or perhaps wrong is a better description) is capable of in terms of suspending normal rational thought. I feel that perhaps being involved and a big part of what seems like a big deal (really Sam this Core/Titan thing is pretty small potatoes in the scheme of things), being given a seat at the 'big boys' table (if you can call Sedun a 'big boy'), being in a fight with a bunch of buddies who say nice things to you; I can see how that could lead to the suspension of belief. The brain is capable of weird, sometimes wonderful, and sometimes very harmful things. For me, just writing the crxp I do here, feeling like I am helping to slay the dragon that Sedun etc. represents, being part of a group of shareholders all working together, maybe isn't putting me into a spell, but maybe I get some warm feelings. But Sam's involvement is huge compared to mine. And I think it is obvious that he believes this stuff, even the obviously untruthful stuff. He is a very enthusiastic salesman, and to be so you gotta believe in what you are selling. Sedun, on the other hand has been a terrible salesman, but then he knows the truth isn't what he's selling. I hope with therapy, and deprogramming Sam can be returned to normal human brain function- he doesn't seem like a bad guy.