RE:Philippines political situation[ The mistake Henry, was that OGC should have ensured that the FTAA was renewed/ renogotiated to an appropriate time period before pumping in a ton of money. That is it in a nutshell. There are 4 other FTAA agreements in the Philippines and none have been shut down, either was OGC. As usual it was poor leadership that caused the problem and that has been addressed. OGC clearly states how much Didipio is costing per month. mining in all jurisdictions comes with risks, some more then others. All things are possible. I have read the FTAA in its entirety. It's is not such a simple case on either side. That is why it is in a case of stalemate Stalemate is not good for a private company with shareholders to appease and cash flow that it needs and costs to be borne. If the Philippines really wanted to more mining there they would have just done it. As you say they have that power. Changing the operator without cause per the agreement is another matter. Of course it could be done but it would have serious consequences on more investment in the country. That is what all countries weigh.. I am confident that if the FTAA is renewed it will be very positive for the share price. I am betting the market will agree with me. I equally agree that if it is not renewed and a clean and quick exit results it will be good longer term for share price. Markets hate uncertainty especially when it comes with costs. quote=HenrySC]No, Esther, I don't think folks here know the political situation there. A year or two ago I said that OGC shareholders actually needed to read the FTAA, because folks thought the company owned something at Didipio when the company did not. OGC still owns nothing in the Philippines.
OGC is paying some amount of money every month to maintain the Didipio site in a state of preparedness. I wish we could learn the exact amount. Continuously pumping water out of a mine excavation costs a lot of money.
In May, 2022, the Philippines elects a new President, and Duterte will be gone. The current leader in the polls is his daughter-- but she said she's not running! And Duterte doesn't want her to run.
His political opponents have said that they plan to put Duterte in prison after the election-- again, the election is only 11 months away. So even if Duterte signs the new FTAA tomorrow for OGC to re-open the mine, there's obviously a great possibility that it will be shut right back down right after the election. Oh, but the Philippines courts won't allow that, you say..... Ha !!
This should never have reached this point, of course. Two years ago, when the FTAA was not renewed, OGC should have said "Okay, that's the way it is, and we're pulling out." Think of the $Millions that move would have saved. I think at the time that there was a new venture in Nevada that was being considered by OGC. But that had to be abandoned-- I'm guessing because of a money shortage at the time? Maybe someone here knows more of the details about that. [/quote]