Pala and Mr. Vladimir Iorich Pala Investments Holdings, a company headed by the reclusive Vladimir Iorich, held 54,165,647 ASR shares earky June 2014. Checking the Targeted Holders of Stockwatch Pala does not appear any longer as a shareholder leading to my surmise that the entirely holding was sold.
Especially during the period December 1, 2014 to January 20, 2015, there was an exceptional amount of shares traded as shown in the table:
| Date | Sym | Open | High | Low | Close | Chg | Total Vol | #Tr |
| | | | | | | | | |
| 1/19/2015 | ASR | 2.82 | 2.9 | 2.79 | 2.9 | 0.11 | 761,478 | 2,694 |
| 1/16/2015 | ASR | 2.91 | 2.91 | 2.69 | 2.78 | -0.13 | 5,997,883 | 11,296 |
| 1/15/2015 | ASR | 3 | 3 | 2.86 | 2.91 | 0.03 | 8,378,301 | 13,570 |
| 1/14/2015 | ASR | 2.98 | 3.03 | 2.825 | 2.88 | | 3,978,789 | 10,374 |
| 1/13/2015 | ASR | 3.06 | 3.06 | 2.82 | 2.88 | -0.12 | 3,694,120 | 13,934 |
| 1/12/2015 | ASR | 2.75 | 3.095 | 2.75 | 3 | 0.27 | 6,042,685 | 15,216 |
| 1/9/2015 | ASR | 2.62 | 2.74 | 2.62 | 2.73 | 0.15 | 3,243,889 | 8,569 |
| 1/8/2015 | ASR | 2.6 | 2.775 | 2.49 | 2.58 | -0.11 | 1,834,446 | 8,032 |
| 1/7/2015 | ASR | 2.74 | 2.84 | 2.6 | 2.69 | -0.1 | 3,206,629 | 12,030 |
| 1/6/2015 | ASR | 2.64 | 2.87 | 2.61 | 2.79 | 0.17 | 3,424,404 | 11,690 |
| 1/5/2015 | ASR | 2.46 | 2.62 | 2.41 | 2.62 | 0.16 | 2,710,676 | 10,209 |
| 1/2/2015 | ASR | 2.33 | 2.47 | 2.26 | 2.46 | 0.13 | 2,013,719 | 8,755 |
| 12/31/2014 | ASR | 2.26 | 2.39 | 2.2 | 2.33 | 0.03 | 1,215,212 | 5,990 |
| 12/30/2014 | ASR | 2.33 | 2.41 | 2.25 | 2.3 | 0.01 | 2,522,028 | 8,310 |
| 12/29/2014 | ASR | 2.28 | 2.29 | 2.19 | 2.29 | 0.02 | 1,328,673 | 6,915 |
| 12/24/2014 | ASR | 2.09 | 2.29 | 2.06 | 2.27 | 0.23 | 1,159,438 | 4,857 |
| 12/23/2014 | ASR | 2.1 | 2.2 | 1.98 | 2.05 | -0.05 | 2,006,061 | 9,740 |
| 12/22/2014 | ASR | 2.27 | 2.275 | 2.06 | 2.07 | -0.16 | 4,320,248 | 16,441 |
| 12/19/2014 | ASR | 2.25 | 2.33 | 2.2 | 2.25 | -0.01 | 39,578,084 | 20,834 |
| 12/18/2014 | ASR | 2.35 | 2.38 | 2.21 | 2.26 | -0.04 | 3,930,401 | 14,028 |
| 12/17/2014 | ASR | 2.3 | 2.35 | 2.22 | 2.3 | 0.08 | 3,571,969 | 12,992 |
| 12/16/2014 | ASR | 2.49 | 2.49 | 2.18 | 2.22 | -0.18 | 3,440,262 | 14,444 |
| 12/15/2014 | ASR | 2.53 | 2.6 | 2.34 | 2.4 | -0.16 | 8,141,952 | 20,542 |
| 12/12/2014 | ASR | 2.56 | 2.63 | 2.49 | 2.56 | -0.03 | 3,744,722 | 12,853 |
| 12/11/2014 | ASR | 2.6 | 2.68 | 2.57 | 2.59 | -0.03 | 3,957,093 | 13,971 |
| 12/10/2014 | ASR | 2.56 | 2.65 | 2.5 | 2.62 | 0.09 | 5,595,800 | 12,014 |
| 12/9/2014 | ASR | 2.43 | 2.58 | 2.43 | 2.53 | 0.1 | 1,891,854 | 8,051 |
| 12/8/2014 | ASR | 2.36 | 2.49 | 2.33 | 2.43 | 0.08 | 2,690,932 | 7,173 |
| 12/5/2014 | ASR | 2.34 | 2.38 | 2.3 | 2.35 | -0.04 | 3,582,018 | 10,114 |
| 12/4/2014 | ASR | 2.3 | 2.45 | 2.3 | 2.39 | 0.06 | 2,607,808 | 8,674 |
| 12/3/2014 | ASR | 2.3 | 2.43 | 2.26 | 2.33 | 0.05 | 2,611,756 | 9,601 |
| 12/2/2014 | ASR | 2.22 | 2.35 | 2.115 | 2.28 | | 2,475,748 | 8,525 |
| 12/1/2014 | ASR | 2.08 | 2.34 | 2.08 | 2.28 | 0.24 | 2,108,677 | 7,121 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Totals | | | | | | | 147,767,755 | |
(source Stockwatch)
Especially on December 19, one day after a very positive PR issued by ASR, the trading volume was enormous.
This can only be caused by a very large share holder, again ponting in the direction of Pala.
At the same time interval Mr. Vladimir Iorich sold in excess of 17,000,000 shares:
| Insider name: | Iorich, Vladimir | | | | |
| Insider's Relationship to Issuer: | 3 - 10% Security Holder of Issuer | | | Indirect Ownership : | Acquisition or disposition in the public market |
| Ceased to be Insider: | Not applicable | | | Pala Assets Holdings Limited |
| |
| | | Transaction date | Filing date | Common Shares | Exercise price |
| |
| | | 12/15/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -209,214 | 2.45 |
| | | 12/16/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -25,154 | 2.36 |
| | | 12/17/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -47,239 | 2.30 |
| | | 12/19/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -605,150 | 2.27 |
| | | 1/5/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -21,027 | 2.50 |
| | | 1/6/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -51,526 | 2.78 |
| | | 1/7/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -53,450 | 2.76 |
| | | 1/8/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -21,380 | 2.59 |
| | | 1/9/2015 | 1/13/2015 | -101,555 | 2.65 |
| | | 1/12/2015 | 1/13/2015 | -160,350 | 2.97 |
| | | 1/13/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -49,794 | 2.85 |
| | | 1/14/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -70,000 | 2.90 |
| | | 1/15/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -250,000 | 2.90 |
| | | 1/16/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -75,000 | 2.90 |
| | | 1/16/2015 | 1/20/2015 | -60,399 | 2.75 |
| | | 12/15/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -1,747,886 | 2.45 |
| | | 12/16/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -210,146 | 2.36 |
| | | 12/17/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -394,661 | 2.30 |
| | | 12/19/2014 | 12/19/2014 | -5,055,750 | 2.27 |
| | | 1/5/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -175,673 | 2.50 |
| | | 1/6/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -430,474 | 2.78 |
| | | 1/7/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -446,550 | 2.76 |
| | | 1/8/2015 | 1/9/2015 | -178,620 | 2.59 |
| | | 1/9/2015 | 1/13/2015 | -848,445 | 2.65 |
| | | 1/12/2015 | 1/13/2015 | -1,339,650 | 2.97 |
| | | 1/13/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -416,006 | 2.85 |
| | | 1/14/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -630,000 | 2.90 |
| | | 1/15/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -2,250,000 | 2.90 |
| | | 1/16/2015 | 1/16/2015 | -675,000 | 2.90 |
| | | 1/16/2015 | 1/20/2015 | -504,601 | 2.75 |
| | | | | | |
| | Totals | | | -17,104,700 | |
(source Sedi)
Note: this time the stocks are allocated to Pala Assets Holdings Ltd. How those two entities are related is not quite clear. Mr. Iorich seems to be very reclusive according to stories on the internet.
In short it looks to me that both Pala and Mr Iorich are selling their holdings or have already achieved it. For what purpose the selling occurred is not published, It certainly has nothing to do with the prospects of ASR which are very positive in my opinion.
This enormous selling has depressed the stock valule of ASR, but it is remarkable how the stock has kept a fairly steady value, lately approximately $3.00.
No doubt the stock will bounce back to higher levels in line with the other gold stocks.