Clive Johnson at BMO ConferenceWorth repeating from the Argonaut (AR) board:
Thanks to geosan and phatboy for highlighting that presentation. I've had a back-burner interest in BTO for over a year or two, but I keep waiting for the proverbial trigger to be pulled. BTO has stalled out at a million annual ounces and it's time to move the needle. At the recent (September) gold conference in Denver, a well-spoken vice president stated out loud that the company was going to grow BY ACQUISITION. So now 6 months later, we have Clive himself talking about M & A.
In his BMO comments, Clive refers to attempts of takeovers 7 years ago, and complaining about stall tactics of self-serving management teams refusing to provide information. He says that this continues today. He talks of giving presentations to institutional investors in an effort to make these self-serving managements come to the bargaining table.
That he is still complaining is sad testament to the obvious truth that your average institution wants absolutely NOTHING to do with anything the least bit controversial.
So what now? If Mr Johnson really wants to effect change in the mining industry, he can keep making quiet presentations to institutions OR he can do something useful: go public. He can identify said self-servers who refuse to provide necessary due-diligence information, or he can launch a low-ball bid for Company X, Y, or Z with the asterisk attached that such bid MIGHT be improved if management supplies the necessary info. If such info isn't forthcoming, the bid just might be withdrawn. Tell me, what is the downside to this strategy??
This topic has risen on the Argonaut board. Personally, my guess is CJ & Co have minimal interest in Argonaut. Just my opinion. But when he says that financings are happening right now whereby companies are giving away their future, I tend to think of Sabina.
No matter. The important point is the opposite of Henry Ford's old advice: "Never complain, never explain". If you're gonna complain, Clive, don't keep it a secret, give us details. Just who are these corporate ne'er-do-wells that are cheating their shareholders out of a far better future??