AGM reviewHere is a copy of the AGM summary posted on or around June 5, 2006.
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This is a summary of the Annual General Meeting for Odyssey Resources Limited on Thursday, June 1, 2006. Please bear in mind that I am a humble shareholder and not a professional writer by any stretch of the imagination.
The meeting was held at Odyssey’s Headquarters, located at 144 Front Street West, Toronto. Odyssey’s office is a beautifully finished open-concept conversion in a very old building. Original exposed brick abounded, and combined with stylish fittings, created comfortable, elegant atmosphere. Upon arrival, invitees were offered a selection of snacks and beverages.
In attendance were President, CEO and Chairman of the Board Avrom Howard, CFO Hatem Kawar, Exploration Manager(Morocco) Michael Mlynarcyzk, Board Member and President of Dundee Precious Metals Inc. Jonathan Goodman and via conference call from England, President of Grove Communications and Board Member Stephen Coates. There was also a Corporate Development representative (I missed his name!) and Odyssey employees whose last names I did not catch, as well as a rep from CCNMathews. Through either attendance or by proxy, there was 25% shareholder representation.
Avrom chaired the meeting and began with the formalities of Management, Board of Directors and Auditor resolutions. Of note was the passing of a resolution capping yearly potential Private Placements at 10% of total shares outstanding. This got my nod of approval!
Once the formalities were dispensed with, Avrom led a presentation of the Company Profile, Financial Overview, Corporate Strategy, then overviews and highlights of the Moroccan and Turkish properties. Avrom came across as charismatic, dynamic and extremely well-spoken.
Here are the highlights:
-Due to the progression on the properties, Odyssey is moving towards developer from explorer status. As of June 1/06, their Market Cap is $11 million. I was astonished by this, as historical resources TO DATE are over 300,000 ounces of gold, 5 million ounces of silver, and 250 million pounds of copper. Avrom later said that if you were cut the 3 current commodity prices in half, Odyssey’s market cap would still only be 10% of those commodity valuations! I had to give my head a shake on that one, as there are 2 Independent Resource Estimates due out this summer which will boost the resource base dramatically! I had to bite my lip to stifle a laugh – the current valuation is crazy.
-Morocco and Turkey were chosen for their beneficial mining rules, low tax rates and governmental stability. Exploration risks are minimal: properties in both countries were ancient sources/deposits, with much greater potential highly evident.
-Management is focusing on how to better-communicate the companies’ advantages to public and private investors alike and improve the investor profile overall(this is where Grove Communications will be utilized). The composition and continual improvement of the Management Team is further evidence of this(see the news releases).
-Odyssey intends to reach critical mass via potential joint ventures and further acquisitions to expand their asset base. There are some potential developments and possible news to come in this regard, I found out later.
MOROCCO
-Odyssey is the ONLY private mining company actively exploring/developing property in the country of Morocco, period. There has been no other modern exploration! The Moroccan Government last mined the area in the 1970’s.
-Either under Government option or private acquisition, Odyssey holds 31 licenses on every property in the Anti-Atlas region known to have copper-silver deposits. WOW. Nothing like cornering a market!
-Infrastructure is all-season, with road, power and water access readily available, as is a nearby deep-water commercial port. Labour is abundant and the Moroccan government is enthusiastic about Odyssey’s activities and progress to date, to say the least. Arvrom noted it took a DAY to acquire all of the relevant and required licences to begin operation. Cell phones can be used on the sites and the closest major city centre is only 45 minutes away.
-Confirmation Drilling at Alous was completed in April, and the Independent Resource Estimate is already underway, anticipated to be completed by the end of June. Due to efforts to confirm historic resources, they will be included in the NI 43-101. Historic grades from Alous were are an average .87% copper and 12.12 g/t of silver!
-Diagrams were presented – Alous is composed of a giant hill, with a massive fault separating zones A and B(as per diagram on the website). The deposits are at-surface or shallow, and management is of the opinion they’ve just scratched the surface of what they feel is a potentially massive deposit (50 to 100 million tons) at this location. The climate is arid, the ground sedimentary, making for simple and straightforward extraction.
-There are 2 nearby tailings deposits (Assif Imider and Imin Irfi) which are being studied, and if feasible, the implantation of a mobile unit to process the tailings. This would place Odyssey into producer status, create cash flow to finance further exploration/acquisition activities. The initial metallurgical report was completed by Kappes Cassiday & Associates and is evidently highly favorable.
TURKEY
-Tavsan (pronounced Tav-shawn) was acquired from Teck Cominco in May/03. It is an epithermal gold deposit like that of the Carlin(Nevada) classification. The historic resource was completed by Cominco in 1997, for 300,000 ounces of gold. It is at-surface and therefore open-pit potential.
-What has caught management’s eye, however, is the locating of numerous feeder structures(one example; 4.52 to 8.42 g/t of gold), proving that this is not a greenfield deposit, there is a high probability of richer grades at depths. Arvom pointed to the example of Atna Resources Ltd’s Pinson Property in Nevada (which I later found has verified 1.273 million onces of gold, inferred, to date).
-Drilling is two-thirds of the way complete, the historic resource has been verified and will be included in the NI 43-101.
-The final third of drilling is underway and is focused on the main zone.
-Future drilling (est 3rd quarter of 2006) will be focused on the feeder fault. Management is extremely excited about the fault and the potential at depths that it may present.
-An Independent Resources Estimate is scheduled to commence upon completion of the final third of drilling (end or June to middle of July) and should take an estimated 30 days.
-Turkish Industrial Clays – Odyssey’s Fatsa property in Turkey has been independently proven to hold high-grade White Bentonite. Odyssey is currently exploring their options, including the potential for joint venture or lease agreement with clay producers. (I later found that this is an invaluable industrial product with uses such as a suspending agent, gellant and binder for use in household products, automotive products, aerosols, paints, enamels, and other industrial specialties when white color is needed)
CONCLUSION
-Avrom concluded with 2006 plans. In Morocco, Odyssey will define a strategy and timeframe to develop the tailings. At Alous, the NI 43-101 will be completed shortly, then a Scoping/Pre-feasibility study.
-In Turkey, the final third of grid drilling is to be completed within the next 30-45 days followed by the Independent Resource Estimate. New targets will be delineated and drilling commences in the feeder fault zones. Negotiations for a joint venture or lease agreement to produce the bentonite clays.
-Odyssey plans to take aggressive steps to improve investor profile. I got the impression that he is as please about the current valuation as us shareholders might be.
-questions were fielded, then management thanked the attendees and concluded the meeting. Refreshments were served in the large reception area. All of the management and staff were available to talk to, and all were exceptionally friendly and forthcoming. I learned that Avrom is off to Morocco next week, his plans there were too numerous and complex to get into detail.
My conclusions were this: Odyssey is a brilliantly managed company sitting on 2 (3 including the bentonite clays) massive open-pit-potential properties, both of which have Independent Resource Estimates coming out this summer.
In addition to this, money-generating tailing and industrial clay processing is in the works which can fund future development, exploration and acquisitions, as well a minimizing the needs for further Private Placements.
The stellar prospects and potential of this company is overwhelming, to say the least.
Shitchyason