2-year plan woesI was never a fan of the company’s 2-year plan, but did patiently wait to see how well they could execute year one, as that would give a good indication of what to expect down the road. Well, they pretty much blew it right out of the gate, delivering a pathetic first drill campaign and now there seems to be a fair bit of desperation in the actions of the company. From sitting on poor drill results, to not releasing results for over 50% of the holes drilled in 2021; aggressively promoting their 3 top 2021 drill targets (Cass, Albatross, and Nice Lake) but only releasing results for two of them (one of which was pretty much a dud); changing their 2-year game plan to a 3-year one after a disastrous 2021 drill campaign; dumping their VP Exploration after only one year on the job - presumably due to the shoddy drilling results; squeezing ounces out of the block model by lowering cutoffs and average grades instead of adding much in the way of new ounces by drilling; tabling a maiden resource for Treasure Island, an area they never talked about or promoted (not one of their 3 top targets) or even drilled in 2021 but suddenly it shows up in the 2021 MRE. Nice addition, but probably a last minute decision given their lack of drill success in generating new ounces. My patience has worn thin. They desperately need to generate some new quality intersections to regain investor confidence as that has eroded almost as fast as the share price.
On a more positive note, kudos in securing the funds to keep the project moving forward. An impressive accomplishment especially in this market. But even this latest raise seemed to have a bit of desperation about it. The company announces closure of a $30 million bought deal and two days later announce their VP Exploration has quit, but no worries, they have hired a green replacement. Did the finance syndicate have previous knowledge of this? The company obviously knew as someone just doesn’t quit out of the blue and a new hire is found instantly who can quickly absorb all the vast info needed to effectively target and activate drills in a matter of days. Nah....not possible. A material change happened in the middle of a large financing and either no one knew and the company sat on that info, or a select few knew (not any of us shareholders btw) who continued to pitch the deal to clients who were no doubt oblivious of this significant material change/disruption. Oh ya, and not a word on this from any of our attentive analysts. Astounding that no one seemed or seems to care. Frankly, such selective transparency gives me more reason to worry than applaud.