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Hi all,
Time to put Michelago back on the watch list if it's not
there already.
BioGold acquisition has been confirmed as proceeding,
however; lots of new shares being allocated also - see today's ASX notices x
2.
It has been on the boil this morning. Yesterday's close .09, opened at
.096 today, presently trading at at .10. Big move today, quite a few
sellers, so may drop back a little first.
Regards,
Cris
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 8:30
PM
Subject: Re: RE: [sharechat] MIC
-Article
Thanks Gerry.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 6:55
PM
Subject: Re: RE: [sharechat] MIC
-Article
MIC is in
the last stage of reorganizing in China and it seems that the Chinese are
very cooperative.
The picture will look quite different once the new
financial year starts.
Gerry
Readers, please do your own research and you decide if and when to buy,
hold or sell any stocks.
________________________________________
Here is MLC's
website:
http://www.michelago.com/home.html
Article from
Miningnews.net (about $160/year):
_____________________________
In
search of Chinese gold
Tim Treadgold
Wednesday, March 10,
2004
USE THE words China and gold in the same sentence and you're
guaranteed to grab the attention of anyone in the mining industry. The
combination explains why Sino Gold has been a spectacular success on the
Australian stock market and why more newly-created China gold specialists
such as Michelago seem to be travelling the same pathway with a sharply
higher share price and the promise of substantial gold production starting
later this year.
Speculators love the Michelago story, as is obvious
from the share price. Ten months ago the stock was limping along at 0.6c a
share. In early February the price was 12c. The rise of 11.94c is, just for
the sake of a silly calculation, a remarkable 19,900% -- not that this
number is the height of the Michelago miracle; that is bestowed on the
imaginary punter who got set at 0.6c on April 4 last year and sold at the
52-week peak of 16c on October 6 – a cool 26,566% in six months.
The
share price rise, obviously, is a meaningless exercise, though it does serve
to illustrate the point that China and Michelago are hot. The only question
left hanging is why?
The answer to that lies in the fascination with
the theory that says China is opening itself to foreign investment, to
greater gold ownership among its 1.2 billion people, and to modern
exploration and mineral processing techniques which will cause a revolution
in the world gold market.
"China is already a world-class player in
the gold industry," said Michelago chief executive, Peter Secker. "On mined
ounces alone it is the fourth biggest producer after South Africa, the US
and Australia.
"But that is only one aspect of the industry. For the
past 15 years, gold mining in China has been pretty much dormant. It is a
country with a highly attractive geology that is crying out for investment
and the application of modern mining technology."
Secker said some
outsiders still had a false view of doing business in China and of its
mining industry. "New mining laws, modelled very much on Australia and
Canada, were introduced in 1997," he said. "In 2002 laws governing foreign
investment in gold were lifted which have proved to be a real attraction to
international miners."
As an example, Secker points to recent joint
venture exploration deals involving South African gold giant, Gold Fields.
However, what he should really be pointing to is his own involvement in
China and the deals he is pulling together for Michelago. Understanding what
Secker has done goes a very long way to explaining how Michelago evolved and
why it has its current shape – a shape which can be confusing because it is
"a work in progress".
That work consists (as at early February) of a
proposal to own 82% of a gold treatment complex in northern China called
BioGold. It has a bacterial leaching and carbon-in-leach processing
facility, plus a gold refinery to toll treat ore and dore.
Michelago
also has a 60% stake in a proposed 40,000oz per annum gold mine scheduled to
come on stream later this year in southern China, plus interests in a number
of exploration plays, some of which are chasing "Carlin style" gold deposits
of more than one million ounces.
"I've been involved in China since
1993," Secker said. "Originally I was vice-president of Sino Mining, which
became Sino Gold. My work put me in charge of all operations in China,
living there for three years, building mines, before leaving in 1999 to do
my own thing in China."
One of the projects Secker became involved in
was a bacterial leaching plant, designed and built by Minproc, and working
as a replacement for environmentally unacceptable roasting plants on the
Chinese coast.
"I had previous experience building the Youanmi
bacterial oxidation plant, using BacTech technology, for Gold Mines of
Australia," he said. "I left Sino and said to the government why don't I
build you a plant using BacTech. After a lot of thinking they said do it,
and they now have the most modern bacterial processing plant in the
world.
"We took a plant that would have cost $25 million in Australia
and built it for $10 million. China is a place where you can achieve some
astonishing things. We started the plant in late 1999/early 2000 and within
three months we had it commissioned, which is exceptional. It is now
producing between 80,000-90,000oz of gold a year with some concentrate from
Sino and from other mines, which we blend to get a constant
feed."
The total BioGold facility (consisting of a number of plants)
produces 300,000oz of gold a year. The original plan had been to acquire a
50% stake in BioGold. This has risen to the current 82% which is waiting on
government approval which Secker expects to receive around
mid-year.
For students of Australian gold history, BioGold in China
completes a circle by bringing together again Secker and Stephen Everett,
one-time chief executive of GMA and a strong proponent of the BacTech
process. Everett is a major shareholder and non-executive director of
Michelago.
THE second key deal being worked up by Secker is a 60% stake
in the Jinya gold project in southern China.
John Horan, Peter
Secker, Andrew Haythorpe, Stephen Everett
,b>MARKET
CAPITALISATION
$50 million (at press time)
MAJOR
SHAREHOLDERS
Peter Secker (9.1%)
Stephen Everett (5.8%)
Andrew
Haythorpe
(3.4%)
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