No, I don't believe its "Strategic"...
Well, don't say I didn't warn you. On the 1st March, I wrote Note a very contrarian trade in KAT today. Something is up.
That day I concluded, ... I'm certain something (-ve) is in the wings.
Well, last night KAT announced what had been happening. Their CEO had resigned and they had been racing to stem the leaks and replace him, seemingly, in an orderly manner.
Seventeen days later, we get this:
https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKCN1RU0W4-OZABS
And no attempt to state why this is really happening and where, exactly, Callow is going. No wishing him well either.
This is pitiful. We just lost our new CEO and I want to know why.
Why would a very experienced African operator, appointed only recently on 18th January 2019, suddenly resign so soon into his new role?
Note Danny Callow, a highly experienced mining grad from my Alma Mater, had up until his KAT appointment, spent 12 years inside Glencore in various increasingly senior operational and executive roles, finally as the Head of Africa Copper Operations of Glencore International, a position he had held for 3 tumultuous years prior to being seconded to run KAT.
Now we get a coal guy with no DRC experience? This does not add up.
Ive long been suggesting that the Ion Exchange Circuit will never be built. I think our ex-CEO agrees with me and he just built our WOL circuits/trains: he would know.
So I speculate Callow resigned because he felt uncomfortable continuing the alleged Glencore radiometric cobalt ruse; my words used to describe, allegedly, a Glencore imposed market volume control (thus pricing control) ploy, whereby exports of Co(OH)2 were suddenly found to have been radiometric beyond acceptable export thresholds, thereafter seeing all KAT exports halted.
On 2nd March I wrote: GLEN has also stated it has "been working on various alternative interim solutions, both operational and regulatory, to recommence the export and sale of cobalt and KAT's disclosures tell us that "On January 30, 2019, KCC received a letter from the DRC Minister of Mines following the inspection conducted by the DRC Government in Q4 2018. The Minister of Mines raised certain concerns with the technical solutions identified by KCC (namely tthe ION Exchange Circuit) and requested KCC to suspend the project to build an Ion Exchange Plant until further notice. KCC intends to engage with the Ministry of Mines to understand and address their concerns.
This is important. It means Kinshasa doesn't believe the alleged radiometric cobalt ruse either.
Now let's not also forget all the recent big fines! Canada's stock market regulator, the OSC, sanctioned KAT and former Directors and Executives heavily on 18th December 2018.
In that light, if you know something, how exactly can you continue in your executive role? It would carry too much personal risk.
Callow's appointment came as part of that OSC sanction, replacing the fired, and personally fined Johnny Blizzard a month later.
To remind you, the OSC said the sanctions were punishment ...in response to false accounting from Katanga and Glencore directors on its board participated in instructing management" to report output at a certain level, reporting that subsequently proved false and required restatement:
https://www.biznews.com/global-investing/2018/12/19/banned-board-glencore-boss-cooking-books
These were the unprecedented OSC sanctions: 1: Gallagher: personally fined a $950,000 penalty and given a six-year ban; 2. Tim Henderson: personally fined a $450,000 penalty and given a three-year ban; 3. CEO, Johnny Blizzard: personally fined a $400,000 penalty and two-year ban with minor exceptions as well, required to resign CEO position within 30 days; 4. Former CFO Jacques Lubbe personally fined a $550,000 penalty and a four-year ban; 5. Matthew Colwill got a $350,000 penalty and a two-year ban; 6. Jeffrey Best got a $750,000 penalty and a four-year ban; and 7. Aristotle Mistakidis, Glencore's billionaire Head of Copper trading made to retire and hit with a $2.45 million fine and a four-year director ban; and 8. KAT (us shareholders) fined a penalty of $28.5 million with costs of $1.5 million.
So I ask again, how many more shoes have drop with this company?
Yes, the assets are exceptional - and the promise is tantalizing - but the continued vacuum of leadership and paucity of confident, clear corporate direction; the pitiful, woeful, minimalist disclosures, written by people who have no idea what they are doing; the missteps, the abject lack of clever, publicly stated strategy and promotion, as well as the horrible big +86% shareholder "blocker" that frankly, probably doesn't give a hoot about us minority shareholders ARE ALL CONSPIRING TO HARM AND HINDER KAT CAPABILITIES IN ATTRACTING BUY SIDE & SELL SIDE INTEREST.
These are my views only. Thanks for reading.