Differences of opinions aside, I'm glad to hear any information you guys have got to share but keep your heads on guys, its not about being right or wrong its about identifying opportunities.
It's been good to see some positive volume action over the last couple of days (especially today!), the bargain hunters are starting to give us some nice buoyancy at 160 - 170
Hi Gar,
More than happy to provide you with a bit more info. I've had a look through this thread and I haven't seen anyone seriously analyze the Brightstar project, question its feasibility or is even aware of its somewhat "chequered" history, to say the least.
These deposits have been known about for donkeys years Gar, and have been worked over before, and and far as I'm concerned the Brightstar project is an absolute dog, pure and simple. A company called Deep Yellow had a mine called Mikado at what is now known as Brightstar Beta during 2003-2004. They did mange to toll-treat some of the ore at Sons of Gwalia's Barnicoat Mill, but in the process managed to completly mis-interpret the ore body, and before they new what had happened they had gone bust, citing "poor continuity and highly variable gold distribution". These deposits are infamous for their highly variable grades and spotty ditribution of the ore.
In the bottom of the Beta pit, there is a big evil-looking stope, so obviously Deep Yellow or someone before them has stoped the qtz vein and tried to chase it to depth. No-one I've talked to has gone anywhere near it because it is so unstable, but how deep, whether it is flooded at the bottom and most importantly, "how much grade has been taken out?" are all pertinent questions here.
As far as I know, it's pretty much just Williams and a couple of his mates trying to flog this off to the market as a viable project. Tony Ryall is apparently good value, a real "old-school" type Geo and is definitely on the level, but I have very little confidence in the rest of them. For their contract drilling, they mostly just use contract Geo's, so potentially attracting and retaining key technical personnel could also be an issue.
The capex to bring these projects to fruition will be very substansial Gar, remember that Brightstar is spread over a number of satellite pits, which are very spread out. If Williams wants to get serious here, he'll basically have to dig the ore out in one go rather than try to toll-treat in local facilities bit-by-bit. Which raises the following question?....does he have the financial back-up to do this, well I don't think he does. Trust me on this one, no mill in the area is going to go into shut-down mode so they can treat A1 minerals ore for 2 days out of every 7, especially if he is trying to drive a hard bargain to go with it, it just wouldn't be economic.
If you aren't sure what toll-treating is, well it can be a good way for companies with limited capacity to get their ore treated. Generally both parties would come to an agreement re the head grade of the ore going through the mill, and there is usually a lot of assaying and spot-checking which goes on as well to confirm the parameters. Obviously the mill owner will take into account costs per ton to treat the ore and so on, and an acceptable financial arrangement would be made.
That's pretty much my assessment of where their at with this Gar, no-doubt it'll enrage a few people and cause a bit of jumping up and down, but I'm not particularly concerned about that. if people think they can trade the daily "blips" in this and make a bit of pocket money then great, good luck to them, but I personally wouldn't go near this.
Good luck
jman
PS, have a look at their presentation for the 2008 RIU Explorers Conference, it has a couple of their pits with about 25,000L of water sitting in them.