The object of our affection is Baja The very recent activities (duing the past 11 months) of Mout Kellett reminds me of the lyrics of this song:
The object of my affection
Can change my complection
From white to rosy red anytime she holds my hand
And tells me that she's mine.
The object of my own affection is not Baja Mining Corp. per se. It is the Boleo project. Yes, there is a difference. If one focuses on Baja, the history goes back only to April 20, 2004. This is when Mintec International Corporation, a Barbados company, acquired First Goldwater Resources Inc. in a reverse takeover (RTO). It did so by completing "a business combination".
Two months later First Goldwater Resources/Baja Mining held its 2004 annual general meeting on June 18, 2004. Six new directors were elected: John Greenslade, Thomas Pressello, Robert Mouat, William Murray, Graham Thody and Charles Thomas Orzslo.The name of the company changed on July 20, 2004 from First Goldwater Resources Inc. (TSX Venture Exchange: FGW) to Baja Mining Corporation (TSX Venture Exchange: BAJ).
If the object of your affection is Baja Mining, the history of First Goldwater Resources, prior to April 20, 2004, is irrelevant and immaterial. FGW had become a shell company with net assets of only $46,371 on its balance sheet. But it had one thing which Mintec International Corporation wanted: an active listing on the vulture exchange (the TSX Venture Exchange).
For information on the Boleo properties, one must follow a different historical path back to 1992 when Boleo was originally staked by Terratech Environmental Corporation, a company registered in Barbados. Terratech was related to Mintec. At the time of the RTO in 2004, Mintec was the beneficial owner of Minera Metalurgica de Boleo (MMB). It was MMB which owned the Boleo property consisting of (1) three surface lots totalling 6,692 hectares, (2) seven exploitation concessiions and (3) eight exploration concessions. The fifteen concessions were all contguous, totalling 10,081 hectares.
Mintec was also incorporated in Barbados in October, 1993. Its address was Mintec International Corp., Whitepark House, Whitepark Road, Bridgetown, Barbados; although I suspect that "address" was simply an infamous offshore corporate "mailbox". It was Mintec which brought the Boleo properties to the table when it acquired First Goldwater Resources Inc. in the RTO of 2004. As of December 31, 2002 Minrwx had a share capitalization of $31.5 million of which $29.3 million had been spent of the Boleo project.
Between 1993 and 1997 Mintec conducted significant exploration and development of the Boleo deposit with close to 920 diamond drill holes. I note in passing that John Greenlade and Robert Mowat were main players long before the formation of Baja Ming Corp. and the RTO in 2004. They go back to the original staking of the depost in 1992 and the incorporation of MMB in 1993.
You may be interested to know who owned Mintec at the time its Boleo assets were transferred to First Goldwater Resources/Baja Mining Corp. in April 2004. There were three registered shareholders of Mintec:
1. J. Richard Evans & MacGregor Robertson, of Nassau, Bahamas.
2. Barfield Nominees Limited, of St. Perter Port, Guernsey.
3. ATC Trustees (Cayman) Limited, of George Twon, Grand Cayman, Cayman Island BWI.
The 40,000,000 First Goldwater Resources Inc. common shares (FGW) issued to "acquire" Mintec on April 20, 2004, went to the above three registered owners of Mintec. Here is the breakout by number of FGW shares received and the beneficial owners. Bear in mind that when I say "FGW" shares, I am really saying "BAJ" common shares. The 40 million shares were originally placed in escrow accounts. The restrictions imposed by the escrow agreement were removed when BAJ graduated from the vulture exchange to the TSE (now the TSX).
One last peice of trivia and only of historical interest. Here are Baja Mining Corporation predecessor companies on the vulture exchange, with the from and to dates:
*Baja Mining Corp. 20/Jul/2004 6/Feb/2007
*First Goldwater Resources Inc. 23/Dec/1999 19/Jul/2004
*Goldwater Resources Ltd. 10/Jun/1994 22/Dec/1999
*Pacific Century Explorations 15/Jul/1985 9/Jun/1994
1. Evans & Robertson as Trustees 13,050,000 FGW/BAJ shares for:
............. William Murray = 5,100,000 shares,
............. Michael Northrop = 7,350,000 shares
............. Tawn Albinson = 600 shares.
2. Barfield Nominees Ltd. as Trustees 14,700,000 FGW/BAJ shares for Robert Mouat
3. ATC Trustees (Cayman) Ltd. 12,250,000 FGW/BAJ shares for:
............ Stephen Holmes = 7,350,000 shares,
............. John Greenslade & family = 4,900,000 shares
The object of my affection are those who worked for twenty years -- from 1992 to 2012 to make the Boleo project a reality. I think you know who I am taling about.
Regards,
Doug.