RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Latest short report--little bump upHomestone:
You're right that I used the term "boardroom squabble", without proof. I'm not in that boardroom, so I don't know why the Appian reps resigned, but context gives you hints. On June 8th the board appointed a "Strategic Comittee" to evaluate stategic alternatives, with an Appian guy and two independent guys as members. June 19th (11 days later), they appoint a "Special Comittee" to do the same job, with the same two independent guys, but no Appian guy as members. Late in the evening of that same day the three Appian board members resign effective immediately. Late in the evening, effective immediately, all three of them - does that sound like a planned, orderly transition, or a reaction to the events earlier that day?
Pure speculation, but I can imagine a scenario where Appian, through their rep on the Strategic Comittee, offered Harte a deal that woud let them avoid default with BNP, but the terms were so onerous that the rest of the board rejected it, thinking they could negotiate a better deal with BNP, leading to this kerfuffle.
I'm not in that boardroom, so I'll never know the whole story, but those circumstances scream to me that things are not going well in that boardroom. You are free to believe that everything is rosey, that they are all working dilligently to try to make you money, and the timing here is purely co-incidental.
You are also right that the extension of the loan to the end of the month means default is not a done deal. They aren't going into creditor protection just yet, they get to negotiate with BNP for a few more days. You can bet that, if they see long term viability here, BNP will hold their feet to the fire and extract everything the can in exchange for a longer extension. Management will accept whatever terms BNP dictates, because they have no alternative and no time to find one. If BNP doesn't see long term viability here, they'll pull the plug right now, but I think that is less likely. I expect the train crash to continue, but I've been wrong before.
There are ways that things can turn out good here for shareholders. The price of gold could rise enough to rescue them. Exploration success could rescue them but that would have to be spectacular (like drilling 30 meters of 70g/t at TT8). Those things seem like wishfull thinking to me, but I've invested time in my dd here, so I'll invest a bit more to stay current.