Axu all "blue sky" and is it a "CHEAP" sale?Thoughts posted here are for entertainment purposes only.
No Axu is not a "cheap sale", maybe even lucky they got a buyer.
What will happen next, will the speculators get their money back. Is this a good deal? Will the board retire? Where did all the promoters go (you know who you are )? Was the intent all along to sell, was it a lifestyle company, who knows.
Sorry for all the investors that poured money into this speculation and did not bail in time.
But then this outcome may not be much of a surprise. A few here expressed deep concern and there are a few notables here over the last two years posting saying that there appears to be something wrong. They were sent packing by promoters and speculators. Everything was blamed on everything except the real issue, namely this is a hard area to mine and make profit.
Keno Hill has a lot of history and this outcome was, to some, not surprising. Maybe Hecla just wants this to be shuttered. Maybe Hecla ran the numbers and decided it was a cheap price to take millions of oz. of the table for now.
Keno Hill profitabilty is all speculation on the price of silver, always has been and always will. From the hand picking high graders of pure silver at the turn of the last century, silver heists, through to the final UKHM closure. Never mind Treadwell and all that crazy.
There is no room for error in execution of mining in this area regardless of what the promoters say, current and past history has proved that and I beleive always will. I would not be surprised that other very small juniors operating in the area, may just drill and drill and fade away. Do your DD.
According to Axu this sale to Hecla is a good deal with an immediate uptick. Depends on where your investment was when that bit of news was broadcast, your either happy or not.
Axu hasn't mentioned who gets what for a final paycheck? It is interesting to note the amount recently raised, before Hecla, sort of equals a years worth.
Did Hecla just get a mine for 'CHEAP' , not really, non-revenue generating mines are expensive and no one wants them. Above ground you have ongoing infrastructure costs, labour, managment, consultants, underground continuous dewatering, shoring repair, clean up and so forth.
Therefore the "pennies on the dollar" price sale (but probably fair considering the state of the mine (mill shuttered), expressions of a six month inventory review and current stock market conditions plus the price of silver).
Buyer gets all the baggage, ongoing mantenance and remedial costs. But you do get to ensure that deposits stay underground. Maybe someone ran the numbers and saw that it was better to wait as Axu didn't have the pockets to continue and saw that it was focused on exploration and hoping for better feed rates, the rest was speculation waiting for silver price to increase and then sell.
Hecla Q1 22 here.
https://ir.hecla.com/News--Media/news-releases/news-details/2022/Hecla-Reports-First-Quarter-2022-Results/default.aspx https://ir.hecla.com/News--Media/news-releases/news-details/2022/Hecla-Reports-First-Quarter-2022-Results/default.aspx
Hecla news release (promo)
https://ir.hecla.com/News--Media/news-releases/news-details/2022/Hecla-Acquires-Alexco-Resource/default.aspx https://ir.hecla.com/News--Media/news-releases/news-details/2022/Hecla-Acquires-Alexco-Resource/default.aspx
Alexco news release (benefits) :)
https://www.alexcoresource.com/news/hecla-acquires-alexco-resource/ https://www.alexcoresource.com/news/hecla-acquires-alexco-resource/
But then maybe, just maybe, Gaffin had it right.
"Keno, the venerable old gentleman mine, refuses to die a natural
death as long as a probable hundred
million ounces of silver keep its heart
beating. Yet, the federal government
is bent on subjecting the mine to
euthanasia."