Very good news...I just had a 15-20 minute phone converstaion with Mr. Booth, and I am very happy with what he had to say.
I may write a longer summary and post it later, but here are the highlights:
- IR... Both and he and the board are well aware of the IR issue, and despite appearances, they have been very active on this front. He has been trying to hire an experienced IR person for some time, but they, like drillers are in short supply. He has discussed the issue with institutions (e.g. Haywood) and was told, for example, that if he hired one of the people he was inquiring about, they (Haywood) would sell all of their AUN stock. Colin was put in place as stop-gap and was expected to grow into the position, but they do recognize that they need to strengthen IR and are expecting to discuss the the matter with testy shareholdres at the AGM. They are also looking at IR firms, but he says he has used them before and and is very selective about who he would sign a contract with. I mentioned to him the company that NOT is going to hire, which I admitted I know nothing about, but the fact that Nemis of Noront is willing to give them a shot says a lot. At any rate, the bottom-line is that they recognize the necessity of IR, do not believe in just letting the numbers alone sell the story, and are actively trying put in place an effective IR mechanism appropriate for the company's growth and fundamental shift in nature of operations. After hearing right from the horse's mouth, so to speak, I no longer have any concerns in this regard.
- 43-101... Will be completed soon and he says to expect some pleasant surprises. The main reaon for the delay has been that there was a change in staff at the company conducting the resources calculation - the engineer actually responsble for the AUN contract - and the new guy basically insisted on starting almost from scratch because he would have to re-check everything if was going to sign-off on it. This included another property visit by the new guy despite the fact that representatives from this company had already been to La Negra 5 times... Mr. Booth has been doing what he can to move this process along as quickly as possible, but it was clear he was not happy with the delay and considers the new guy bit of a "fuddy-duddy".
- Analyst Coverage... They are working on it and will have Cannacord, Haywood and others going to Mexico in the fall. Mr. Booth has been active on this himself and had pushed them to go during the summer, but other committments, holidays, etc., necessitated that the visits be conducted in the fall. He has been pushing Canaccord to at least put AUN in their daily newsletter in the interim, but they insist they have to visit the property first. The bottom-line here is that Mr. Booth is actively organizing analyst coverage of AUN, and vists to Mexico are already being planned. Analyst coverage will happen probably later this year.
- Rosario... Will happen and this deal will soon be sealed. Great exploration potential and expected production start-up in 15-20 months from the date the deal is concluded. He said that he saw some excellent mineralized structure during his tour of the property and expects follow-up testing to be quite favourable. Bottom-line is Rosario is a go... And he will be going to Mexcio on Sunday.
- Antonio... The shares he is seliing are not only his, despite them being sold in his name. The 1 million shares is compensation for a number of people, and this is the first public comany they have been involved with, so if you consider the wealth this will create for them in Mexico, you can see why they are eager to sell. However, Mr. Booth is highly confident in the engineering abilities of Antonio, and also his son, Antonio Jr., who has recently moved himself and his family to the La Negra area from the comforts of Mexico city - they are highly competent and are committed to making this a success. Mr. Booth also pointed out the is Antonio who brought La Negra to AUN, so without him, we would not be where we are today... Mr Booth stated that obviously he cannot prevent insider sales, but he has told people who may want to sell to let him know so that can try and find a home for the shares instead of dumping them on the market.
I think the above constitute the salient points, but if I recall anything else important, I will post it.
Regards,
B.