AGMI got there late but was pleasantly surprised to see Igor Klimanov himself, a guy about 35-40 years old, presenting what for the most part was upbeat stuff about HRG's existing mines and the prospects at Bissa, which he regarded as HRG's best asset at this time. Feasibility study completion on Bissa is expected this year, and he said that by Canadian law he can't disclose more info until the feasibility study is done or nearly so. He also said the 35 permits that HRG owns in Burkina Faso are very prospective--better than anything in Russia--and especially singled out the potential of the Banfora Group.
Concerning Taparko, I believe Igor said that the Royal Gold commitments would be discharged soon and that the Taparko and Buryatzoloto production should be better than last year, while Irokinda/Zun Holba output might be a bit less, with the overall result of somewhat increased production in the next fiscal year, with cash costs at Taparko still below $500 US. Significantly, Igor said that hopes the "500% increase in share price from 2009 will be repeated in 2010." Igor said he will soon be posting the new data presented at the meeting on the HRG website, so everyone reading this should check there soon. Severstal owns 69% of HRG; the other 31% is institutional and private. As to the institutional factor, there were several "suits" in the audience, which I take as another good indicator.
As to Prognoz, Igor said that it was the other 50% shareholder who forced Severstal to act. In regards to the existing resources for Prognoz he stated that estimates were prepared before Severstal involvement, could easily have been falsified while not implying that they were, and that the location was challenging and that much exploration still needs to be done. He said there was a risk that HRG could lose its 50% stake, but that a bankruptcy finding might actually improve the Prognoz situation for HRG.
The final hint for me that Severstal is now promoting HRG's SP instead of trying to trash it was the free HRG caps and cloth shopping bags emblazoned with the HRG logo available to anyone who wanted them. A tiny advertisement to be sure, but an advertisement nevertheless.
CJ, who was sitting right up front and asked a lot of very good questions, can undoubtedly add to and fine tune the few notes that I've recorded here should he so choose. CJ, don't mean to make work for you and sorry I could not stay longer to say hello as per last year.