Financial Health Warning : not for the feint hearted.
Our new trading platform allows us access to the Australian stock market. This
share - Peak Resources (PEK) - has long been one of my favourites but I have
been unable to buy it via my Hargreaves Landsdown account.
This small Australian miner has 100% ownership of a cracking Rare Earth Element
(REE) deposit called Nagualla in central Tanzania. The geology of the deposit
is simple and the ore reserves have been very well evaluated. The mining
operation ( if they do get going) is simple and "open cast" which means it is
the cheapest of all mining operations.
The 2 main REE they have in good quality are Neodymium and Praseodymium - bot
much sought after for use, among other things, in high strength magnets. There
is a scarcity of REE deposits - many are located in China and it is of course a
great thing to have a deposit outside of China.
The company has all the plans in place and has even paid £1.8m for a very long
lease on ground on Teeside (UK) where they plan to bring the concentrated ore
and refine it. They would of course need to build this facility as well.
They have been at this for some years now and of course will continue to burn
through cash until they get the one thing they need - a Special Mining Licence
from the Govt of Tanzania. Now then, the Govt of Tanzania has not got a great
track record on the mining front and historically was always in fear of being
exploited by foreign companies who were mainly after the excellent gold
deposits well after they messed up what was one of the best diamond mines in
Africa outside of South Africa. Of course, the foreign companies ( like one I
worked for) were intent on gaining the most and paying over the least they
could.
They do not yet have the SML although every report for the past 5 years is
citing this as being in the process of being gained. Cynically I might say
that they have not bribed the right people ! But the Tanzania Govt has been in
dispute with Barrick Gold and only just settled their differences over the
profit share of the venture.
So the share price is around $AUS 0.09 ( 9 cents) and has been lower but
rarely higher. The company raises funds from a couple of principal investors
by issuing more shares and it gets through cash in paying its staff and basic
operating costs of it office in Perth.
The background to this is that they see the price for the REE products rise
nicely BUT the only thing that will get the company going and see the share
price rise is when they get their Special Mining Licence granted and can get
the mining operation underway.
The financial data is pretty meaningless ; they seem to be able to raise money
they need fairly easily and I guess that they and their main investors are
simply sitting and waiting for the green light.
This is a link to their web site.
https://www.peakresources.com.au
Are we prepared to do the same - buy maybe just £1000 worth of shares and sit
tight until they either get mining or they fail. I think the deposit is too
good to give up on.
Peter