RE:ceetong.........why no answerCeetong would be better-served not to push this topic further, as he has no idea what he's talking about. Hence the reason I ignored his misrepresentations initially, but seeing as this has now become a topic...
Despite Aberdeen publishing financials and MD&A regarding ATP in their disclosures, Ceetong posts statements that are patently false. He claims Stan Bharti and George Faught are both directors of ATP, this is untrue. David (Stein) and George were directors of ATP, and David subsequently stepped down once the decision to sell the Smokey Hills project was made in July.
Ceetong is unaware that the operational team that ran Smokey Hills initially overpromised and underdelivered, resulting in massive operating losses that Aberdeen and Pala had to rectify by ceasing operations and putting the mine on care and maintenance. Ceetong also misses that the company brought in a seasoned veteran in the space, Brett Richards, who performed a thorough review of the company, its restart costs, and the SA platinum/mining sector. During this period the ATP restructured its loans and Stan and the Aberdeen team were able to strike a deal with Pala so they wouldn't have to invest anymore funds into the project. No credit was given to Stan or senior leadership of AAB/ATP in striking this deal, one that was most certainly advantageous when you're talking about the company putting up $1 million on a quarterly basis in what has proven to be a very unprofitable venture. Tying up that much cashflow would have crippled Aberdeen's ability to diversify, and in the end shareholders are far better off today because they did. Not to mention, this entire time, and to the chagrin of many expert forecasts, platinum remained stubbornly low, while the SA Rand (in which is used to pay operations) gained and maintained its strength, driving up the costs. You think ATP is the only company suffering because of these market conditions? I would encourage you to take a look at the various PGM miners in SA, name me one that is flourishing. I'll wait.
I can just imagine Ceetong's reaction if this had been the end result and Aberdeen instead keep feeding the project. He would likely accuse the company of throwing money into something they "knew" was going to decrease in value for the sake of their salaries. Despite not even being able to accurately name the directors, that doesn't stop Ceetong from attacking Stan and George by accusing them of swindling money from ATP shareholders, namely Aberdeen, and offering nothing in the form of leadership or preserving shareholder value. Its sad, rather than even checking whose involved and having no intimate knowledge of the project, Ceetong would rather continually make crafty insinuations and in this case, slanderous accusations without having any facts.
But hey, why let the truth get in the way of a good story?