Things are pretty quiet at the moment in terms of share price movement. Hence, I recently wrote to David Sargeant and received the following response from him last week. I currently have a good stake in this one.
..We will note that we have been a little cautious and conservative since listing, yet have been advancing our exploration efforts at a fast rate.
The quarterly report is due out shortly and a full update is described.
Most importantly is the immediate role of Penny’s Find which have always described as being a potential early cash flow project.
We announced some special news from there last month, and more is following.
The market has not picked up on this but being so close to Kalgoorlie , I am sure it will.
Drilling is well advanced at this time.
Everything has been moving very quickly on all fronts except Troy Creek, which got caught up in the cyclones.
Troy Creek and Torrens are special to us in the portfolio because they can each be special company makers on a grand scale.
We have advance Torrens a lot but have been unable to source a rig yet. We have 7 good drill targets and the new work defined more.
Examples of being cautious include not making a huge thing of the new discovery at Penny’s find until we checked the assay data. This has been done and updated in the Quarterly report.
Another example is not making a lot over the Yarlarweelor project yet because the tenement is not yet granted, and similarly for Larkin’s Find.
Both are special prospects for us (due to our portfolio mix and goals) but we can expand on these when the timing is right. The new data for Torrens is also very special.
I am keen not to get caught up in any emotion of current market trends without having a solid base. For example, the uranium buzz is getting some wildish statements coming out from explorers who are clearly been associated with uranium for very long. As it happens, I was involved in the U exploration in the early 1970’s when WMC made their announcements. Our new Exploration Manager did his thesis on a uranium topic. We believe the Yarlarweelor project has some good potentially economic mineralization and we can advance this in a productive way. We are still very keen on our Noondie project but waiting the tenement to be granted.
Once these are advanced more, I will be in a position to do a comprehensive road show around Australia and put Empire before more brokers.
Most advice I get for road-shows is to make sure one has plenty to say new things, etc. not wear out the welcome mat.
In our case, developments on Torrens and new projects will be good, but getting to a position of identifying a significant resource at Penny’s Find will have a big impacts.
Obviously commencement of drilling at Torrens would also.
As far as the Option issue coming up is concerned, there will always be a balance in deciding the best scenario.
Considerations include the number of shares ultimately on issue, price etc.
By pitching the exercise price at higher than the IPO is designed to confirm the director’s view that the price is currently undervalued and potential upside is substantial.
A Prospectus/Offer document is currently being prepared and due to be released with associated announcement on schedule towards the end of this month
All in all we have been very busy since listing on February 1st.
I will be away for a few weeks but more than willing to follow-up on any queries you may have.
If you deal with a particular broker, pls let me know and I can ensure they are contacted when I go around.
Otherwise we can catch up separately.
Best regards,
David Sargeant
DYOR