EQN - Equinox Minerals

[MRC & Co]

haha nice work, she will thank you for once!

Yeah EQN is not bad maybe just some political risks

Earnings and Dividends Forecast (cents per share)
2006 2007 2008 2009
EPS -6.8 -6.5 45.8 143.0
DPS 0.0 0.0 0.0 24.3

ha ha, she didnt seem to care! More concerned about watching Americans Next Top Model, WTF!

Thanks for the article, I was reading about that the other day, but doesnt seem to have affected its price too much.

I think as its nearing production, everyone is becoming a bit more excited, not to mention the copper price has started to move right in time! Saw the chart on another thread if I am correct, looks like its about to break out of a symmetrical triangle. Maybe some legs left in this run yet.........

 

[rustyheela]

Yeah, she's broken out with a nice retrace to support/resistance @ $ 5.68 on below average volume, closing off the lows. Copper up again 2 nite along with other metals, so hopefully it can push on from here.

 

[BSD]

Without the frightening and dissapointing Zambian tax issues, EQN would be $7.50+ right now.

If everything turns OK - we will be seeing $9 with Cu at $3.50+.

But if the Zambian govt brings in the windfall tax and burns the development agreements, EQN will have a massive fall.

Binary events sure do suck (technical term)!!!

http://www.mining-journal.com/minin...aking_News.aspx?breaking_news_article_id=4435

I simply hope for a deal that is fair for all involved - but the windfall concept will hurt all involved.

 

[rustyheela]

Zambia lifts copper mine power tariffs by 35%
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By: Reuters
Published: 27 Feb 08 - 11:46
Zambia and foreign owners of its copper mines agreed a 35 percent power tariff increase effective January this year, and authorities have warned of possible power cuts to the mines due to a power generator fault.
"All the mines have accepted the proposal to raise tariffs by 35 percent and we are just waiting for ZESCO Ltd to sign the agreement. The increase will be with effect from January 1 this year," Copperbelt Energy Company (CEC) chairman Hanson Sindowe told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

CEC buys power from state power utility ZESCO and distributes it to the mines.

Sindowe also said the sole power distributor was negotiating with the government to provide partial funding for the construction of the hydro-electric Kafue Gorge Lower power project, which is estimated to cost around $1 billion.

About 750 megawatts (MW) of power will be generated at the Kafue Gorge Lower project. The government said last week that some foreign mining firms would partially fund the project.

Sindowe said the new tariffs would be implemented once ZESCO Ltd., signs the agreement with CEC and the copper mines.

Sindowe declined to give details of the new tariffs after the increase only saying, "the tariffs vary from one mine to the other because we have different agreements with them".

Zambia's biggest copper producer is Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources.

Others are Mopani Copper Mines, a venture of Swiss firm Glencore International AG, First Quantum Minerals and Chibuluma Mine, a unit of Metorex. Australia's Equinox Minerals owns Lumwana Mining Plc.

Sindowe said power supply had improved to the copper mines after four nationwide blackouts in January forced copper and cobalt producers to trim output.

GENERATOR REPAIRED
ZESCO spokeswoman Monica Chisela separately told Reuters that a broken-down generator at Kafue Gorge had been repaired.

"The machine (generator) has now been repaired and re-commissioned. However, we are still in a power deficit situation and rationing of power will continue because we are unable to secure additional imports from anywhere to meet the power demand," Chisela said.

Chisela said the generator which had broken down was supplying 150 megawatts of electricity onto the national grid.

But Sindowe said the situation still remained 'precarious' because demand for power was increasing while supply was low and that this had forced the CEC to venture into power generation.

"The CEC is now looking at getting involved in generation of electricity and we are negotiating with the government to expand into power generation," Sindowe said.

Sindowe said the government was encouraging private-public partnerships in power generation projects to avert serious looming power shortages in view of rising demand by industry.

The CEC plans to build a 40 MW power plant north-west of Zambia, to cost between $80 million and $100 million, he said.

Zambia was still importing 100-150 megawatts of power from the Democratic Republic of Congo for the mines, he said.

Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter

 

[56gsa]

is this just a crikey rumour?? down 3% today perhaps because of this - copper price still raging breaking all-time highs...

What About Ausenco?
FN Arena News - February 28 2008

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck


Unconfirmed, but in the current market environment important enough to possibly warrant an official company statement to the Stock Exchange: according to an anonymous tip, received and published by online news service Crikey.com.au today, Queensland based engineering and project management service provider Ausenco (AAX) is experiencing problems at its Lumwana Copper project in Zambia.


Crikey.com.au reports: "Despite company assurances that the project is on time and budget, this is not the case and the project is unlikely to meet its completion date of 28 June 08, at which point huge liquidated damages come into play. The company has failed to win a project of similar size since Lumwana, so profits are likely to fall significantly at the next half-yearly report."


Ausenco's fiscal year runs from January to December and the company reported last week its final figures for 2007. At the time management assured the market the project in Zambia was running on schedule. Brokers covering the stock currently have a positive view on the company but also pointed out post the FY07 release that the US$400m Lumwana Copper project on behalf of Equinox (EQN) is of major significance to Ausenco's long-term growth and earnings sustainability.

 

[BSD]

is this just a crikey rumour?? down 3% today perhaps because of this - copper price still raging breaking all-time highs...

Who cares?

The Zambian tax regime issue is why EQN is not over $8.00 - check out the TSX last night for the lead on the stock - nobody reads Crikey over there and EQN fell while Cu made a monster new high.

A delay for Lumwana (75% at last milestone) is a minor issue compared the potential negative of the windfall taxes and such other silly concepts being proposed by the Zambian govt.

The timing could not be worse for the tax debate for EQN holders.

The stock is worth well in excess of $10 under a reasonable tax regime at spot Cu prices whether it comes on time or 6 months late.

Ausenco carries the risk - Equinox paid BIG fees for the guarantee.

 

[petervan]

AT LUMWANA SITE, Zambia -At Lumwana, there is a palpable sense of energy in the air. After years of preparation and hard work, this massive copper project in a remote corner of northwest Zambia is just months away from production.
More than 4,000 local workers mill around the site as construction reaches its final stages. A huge processing plant sits idle, ready to process ore from two nearby pits. An army of gigantic Hitachi EH4500 diesel-electric trucks has already started hauling ore.

An employee village, which will house 1,000 worker families, is rapidly being erected.

Lumwana is the brainchild of Equinox Minerals Ltd., a company that has gone from virtual obscurity three years ago to being one of the most heavily traded names on the Toronto Stock Exchange; it was third on the entire TSX 300 last year.

Despite a hefty market cap of more than $3-billion, Equinox is essentially a "junior" company. It has one major project and no revenue. But the mine will soon be producing 169,000 tonnes of copper a year, with uranium to follow.

It will be Africa's biggest copper mine and will make Equinox a major player in the industry.

This is not the way it is supposed to happen. When junior companies identify big deposits, their job is usually to sell out to the highest bidder before there is any construction risk.

Instead of following that path, Equinox became a typically African success story by showing some initiative and bringing the project along on its own. It has done almost everything right. And now it has to ignore the takeover speculation as it works through the final few months to production.

Like many African mining stories, Equinox has its roots in Australia and Canada.

Management is based in Australia, and they took the company public there in 1994. But they found a more welcome home in 2004 on the TSX, where they reached investors who were used to the riskier parts of the world.

At the time, Equinox was a $50-million company trying to raise more than $500-million for a remote, low-grade project in a land-locked country that had gone undeveloped for a long time.

It was a hard slog.

"We went backward. We practically halved in market cap the first year," says Craig Williams, Equinox chief executive. "It took persistence and having a good story."

Lumwana was discovered in 1961, but there was no serious work done on it until Equinox got involved in 1999. At the time, the property was controlled by Phelps Dodge Corp., a major producer that showed little interest in it. Mr. Williams formed a joint venture with Phelps in which Equinox could earn 51% of Lumwana by investing US$10-million and completing a feasibility study. Later, he struck a deal to buy Phelps out for a laughable US$5-million. That contract is framed on the wall at Equinox's head office today.

"You have to put it in context," Mr. Williams says. "Copper was 63 ¢ [a pound]. Frankly, Phelps Dodge was struggling at that point and selling assets all over the world. We just hit them at a good time."

Equinox eventually identified a measured and indicated resource of about 13.8 billion pounds of copper and 21.8 million pounds of uranium. That is big enough to be a world-class resource, but there were still those who complained it was too low-grade or too remote to get developed by anyone, much less a little-known junior.

Mr. Williams set out to prove them wrong. He put together a team with experience building mines in Africa, and he has kept them together for five years. Project manager Harry Michael also built the Geita mine in Tanzania, which is one of Africa's largest gold mines. He ended up bringing nearly all of Geita's senior management with him to Equinox.

Construction of the mine started in earnest in late 2006, and investors gradually started to understand that Lumwana was for real. The stock vaulted to more than $5 today from less than $1 in late 2005.

Mr. Williams initially thought he would need to raise about US$350-million to build the mine. It ended up costing nearly US$800-million. But Equinox has done a remarkable job of keeping the project on budget as competitors struggle with spiralling costs.

The key move was ordering the big mining and plant equipment years before it would be needed. Equinox did an equity raising of $29-million in 2005, and nearly all of it went right out the door in the form of deposits on equipment. It was a big risk, but the company saw the shortages coming and locked in ahead of time. The company bought 27 of the monster Hitachis at a cost about US$3.5-million each. They weight 200 tonnes and can handle loads of 240 tonnes.

Equinox also secured crucial offtake agreements with two smelters, and a 15-year power supply contract with Zambia's state-owned utility, in which it will use about 8% of the country's total supply.

In Central Africa, another big problem is the unskilled workforce. About 80% of workers in rural Zambia have never even driven a car, much less a giant truck. Equinox brought in four simulators, at a cost of about US$400,000 a piece to give each employee at least 40 hours of training before they start working in the open pits.

For their services, workers get on-site housing, as well as salaries of about $14,000 a year. That amounts to a Lotto 6/49 jackpot in this corner of the world . The company is worried some of the tiny homes will end up housing nine or 10 people as employees move in their family and friends.

Lumwana is about 83% complete, and it is easy to get a sense of what it will look like when up and running. What stands out is how big it is: the land position covers 1,355 square kilometres, and Equinox has utilized 40,000 cubic metres of concrete and 2,000 tonnes of steel. About 60 kilometres of piping and 180 kilometres of electrical cable will go in over the next few months.

While the company has silenced the doubters who didn't think the mine would ever get built, a new theme has emerged among investors that Equinox is less than thrilled about: A potential takeover of the company.

The speculation began in earnest this past December when rival First Quantum Minerals Ltd. announced it bought 17.27% of Equinox shares. First Quantum has denied investing for any reason other than Lumwana is a good project. But some analysts speculate Equinox could effectively be in play. Alec Kodatsky at UBS even published a note saying a major company could expand Lumwana faster than Equinox.

First Quantum was the first company to set up a successful mining operation in the Zambian copperbelt back in the 1990s, and has paved the way for Equinox and others. But the Equinox team feels slighted by First Quantum, who they claim were dismissive of Lumwana at the beginning. It's a different story today; First Quantum is now talking up potential synergies between Lumwana and its own Kansanshi project nearby.

"If, for whatever reason, Equinox has any problems in the future, then we might review that stake. Either increase ir or decrease it. We have those options," says Clive Newall, president of First Quantum.

While First Quantum appears to be in no hurry to buy more Equinox shares, experts say there is good reason for it to do so. First Quantum stock has outperformed every mining stock in the S&P/TSX Composite Index in the past few years because it built the best growth profile. However, much of that is in the politically unstable Democratic Republic of Congo, where title is a concern. Investors may prefer a focus on Zambia, a more stable country that First Quantum knows well.

None of this talk makes Mr. Williams very happy. He knows Equinox is most vulnerable now, because the stock will get valued higher once Lumwana is in production. And he knows Lumwana is one of the few greenfield copper projects big enough to interest a major. He thinks First Quantum just recognized it was cheap and was not going to get any cheaper.

He says he "absolutely" does not want to sell at this stage of the game, and that any company thinking of coming after him should be prepared for a fight.

In the meantime, he can finally enjoy a little credit for building a giant mine in an obscure corner of the world that almost no one believed in until he convinced them otherwise.

"I just had a meeting with one of the world's largest mining companies who had just been through the copperbelt in the DRC and Zambia," he says.

"They visited all the copper mines. And when they got to Lumwana, they said 'This is the only one that is being run like us.

 

[blossom]

Wondering if anyone knows...heard any forecast on when EQN is expected to pay a div.
Hopeful I know, but I DO have lots of kitties to feed.........

 

[semochen]

any thoughts on how the sp will perform after the new tax rules in Zambia?

would have thought it was priced in already, and was actually looking for a rebound on 1st April, but only to see it drop another 7% in 2 days.

could be from broker downgrades?? saw Huntley's recommendation to sell - on the 2nd of April on Etrade.... what a slow response that was.. recommending selling before the taxes were introduced would have been more professional IMO

also how much impact does this have on the future earnings, anyone know?
(sorry not good at this sort of things)

 

[rhyslivs]

After doing a little research into EQN I noticed that Zambia is a completely landlocked country. I had a look on the EQN website and it doesnt really detail much on the logistics side of things. So my question is, how do they plan to get the copper out of the country? Or, does it become the responsibility of the smelters?

Forgive me if this is a really stupid question but i dont know!

Rhys

 

[MRC & Co]

WOW, now is this a case of supply being SUCKED up by demand at these levels of 4.80. Narrow range, HUGE volume and closing towards the high, which is a great outcome.

At these prices, EQN looks cheap fundamentally and the massive demand coming in at these levels is promising. I just LOADED up on EQN about 5 minutes ago FWIW. See how we go, only plays of mine are EQN and BHP (which is forming a high tight flag) at the moment.

 

[petervan]

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

The Zambian government will start issuing uranium mining licenses effective June, a government official at the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

According to the official, this follows approval of the country's legal framework to guide uranium mining activities by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We have been cleared to license uranium mining and we shall start issuing mining licenses in June," he said by telephone from Lusaka, the Zambian capital.

Zambia has been waiting for the approval of the IAEA before clearing uranium mining, global demand for which continues to soar, propelled mainly by resource-hungry China and India.

Toronto listed Equinox Minerals Ltd. (EQN.T) and Australia-based Albidon Ltd. (ALB.AU) have discovered commercial uranium reserves at their respective properties in Zambia. Despite this progress, Zambia hadn't cleared either of them to start mining.

Last year, Kalombo Mwansa, Zambia's minister of mines and minerals development told Dow Jones Newswires that because of the sensitive nature of the metal, the government was treating uranium mining with caution. Companies which have discovered uranium currently only hold exploration licenses and aren't allowed to mine it.

According to an official with Equinox Minerals, uranium and copper ores are embedded in the same rocks at the Lumwana Copper Mine, which starts copper output in the middle of this year.

According to company information, Equinox is finalizing the Lumwana uranium feasibility study and plans to start uranium output in 2010. Company data indicates Lumwana hosts a probable uranium resource containing around 22 million pounds of uranium concentrates.


-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256 75 262 4615; bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-21-08 1017ET

Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

 

[dj_420]

EQN looking good for a start up with production coming online during next couple of months. With copper still up close to $4 US per pound and stockpiles nearer to the 100 000 tonnes on LME they are surely placed in drivers seat to take full advantage of any further supply shortfalls.

Stock has not recovered like others have, the highs were around $7 and now trading around $5. My preferred play on the copper front. Anyone else holding?

 

[dj_420]

"EQN") ("Equinox" or the "Company") reports that the uranium feasibility study
("UFS") at its Lumwana Project located in the North-Western Province of Zambia
has been completed.
The Lumwana Copper Project, presently nearing construction completion,
was approved on the basis of mining 20 Mt per year of copper ore with any
coincident high grade uranium mineralization within the Malundwe and
Chimiwungo pits being mined, stockpiled at surface and progressively
encapsulated. Equinox is pleased to report that the UFS has demonstrated the
economic viability of treating stockpiled uranium ore through a dedicated
uranium processing facility.

Uranium Resources and Reserves

In 2007 Equinox completed drilling of the uranium mineralized zones,
within the existing Malundwe pit. The data used for resource calculation
included 170 new drill holes (including 12 PQ diamond core holes) and 14,183
assay samples collected during the 2007 infill drill program, as previously
described in Company press releases dated July 24 and November 14, 2007
(available on the Equinox website and SEDAR), and from data already in the
Company's extensive drill database. The Lumwana Project uranium resources are
as follows:

<<
Uranium resources at Lumwana at 0.012%U(3)O(8) (100 ppm U) cut-off grade
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class Tonnes Grade Grade Contained Metal Contained Metal
(Mt) U(3)O(8)% Cu% U(3)O(8) lbs Cu tonnes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malundwe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated 4.7 0.095 0.86 9 920 000 40 800
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 3.9 0.047 0.38 4 009 000 14 800
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chimiwungo
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred 2.2 0.056 0.74 2 660 000 15 900
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>

The infill drilling on the Malundwe uranium resource has provided the
tight definition required for the selective mining of the uranium ore within
the much larger copper mining operation. Although this selectivity, combined
with the application of a higher cut-off grade at 0.024% U(3)O(8), has
resulted in an overall reduced uranium resource within the copper pits, it is
consistent with the objective of the selective mining and stockpiling of the
Lumwana uranium reserves.
The Lumwana Project uranium reserves and resources within the designed
copper pits are as follows:

<<
Uranium reserves and resources within designed pits cut-off grade 0.024%
U(3)O(8) (200 ppm U)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnage Grade Grade Contained Contained
(Mt) U(3)O(8)% Cu% Metal Metal
U(3)O(8) lbs Cu tonnes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probable Reserves
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malundwe 3.3 0.123 1.00 9 006 000 32 900
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Mineral Reserves 3.3 0.123 1.00 9 006 000 32 900
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred Resource
(within existing pits)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malundwe 1.0 0.086 0.91 1 893 000 9 100
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chimiwungo 1.4 0.072 0.69 1 583 000 9 500
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>

Equinox believes there is good potential for increasing uranium resources
available for treatment from further exploration on both the Lumwana mining
lease and the Company's surrounding prospecting licences. There may also be
opportunity to stockpile and process uranium ore below the 0.024% U(3)O(8)
cut-off grade.

Lumwana Uranium Project Overview

The uranium ore will be mined concurrently with the mining of copper ore
from within the existing Malundwe and Chimiwungo pits and stockpiled in a
dedicated facility. Following commencement of production from the dedicated
and stand alone uranium processing plant (U Plant), the stockpiled uranium ore
would be reclaimed and trucked along a dedicated haul road to the U Plant.
Neutralized tailings would be stored in a separate uranium tailings storage
facility with tailings return water re-used in the U Plant. Existing
infrastructure (including waste rock dumps, raw water, potable water, housing,
access roads, power supply etc) can be used and supplemented.
A summary of the flowsheet is provided in the diagram below. The U Plant
design uses conventional milling and flotation to produce copper concentrate
for transport and sale to a copper smelting and refining facility. The U Plant
flotation tailings reports to the uranium leach circuit which uses
conventional acid leach, solvent extraction, precipitation and calcination to
produce uranium oxide.
The uranium ore is proposed to be processed through the U Plant at a rate
of 1 Mt per year to recover approximately 2 Mlb per year of uranium oxide
(U(3)O(8)) and 15,000 t of copper concentrate per year. Uranium recovery to
uranium oxide is estimated to be 93% and copper recovery to the U Plant copper
concentrate is estimated to be 80%.
Marketing and offtake discussions are underway with interested parties.
The uranium oxide is planned to be transported under IAEA guidelines and sold
consistent with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).



Capital and Operating Costs

Capital cost estimates have been prepared by Equinox and its consultants,
including Ausenco Services Pty Ltd ("Ausenco") and Knight Piesold Pty Ltd
("Knight Piesold"). The project capital costs are as follows:

<<
Lumwana Uranium Project - Capital Costs Estimate (+/- 15% Accuracy)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area Pre-Production Deferred Total
(US$M) (US$M) (US$M)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process Plant 80.3 12.3 92.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Onsite and Offsite Infrastructure 31.7 0.0 31.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tailings and Water Management 8.5 15.1 23.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indirects (EPCM) 30.8 0.0 30.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process Plant and Infrastructure 151.3 27.4 178.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Owner's Costs 14.4 0.0 14.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mining 7.8 5.2 13.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contingency 26.0 0.0 26.0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Below the Line Costs 48.3 5.2 53.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Closure Costs 0.0 19.8 19.8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Capital Costs 199.6 32.6 232.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>

Operating cost estimates have been developed by Equinox, Ausenco and
Investor Resources Finance Pty Ltd ("IRF"). Operating costs, for the first
four years of operation, are estimated to average $16/lb U(3)O(8) without
copper credits or $11/lb U(3)O(8) including copper credits. These operating
costs include marketing, product transportation and product realization costs
and exclude royalties.

Something just released might start to fire up the sp, uranium production set to be $16 per pound cost before copper credits and $11 per pound after copper credits.

This is on an estimated through put of 2 million pounds of u, not bad for a copper explorer who could be set to realise an additional billion dollars of profit. Will start to make them a very cheap and attractive copper play now!

 

[dj_420]

Equinox Minerals "buy," target price raised
03/27/08 - UBS
NEW YORK, March 27 (newratings.com) - Analysts at UBS maintain their "buy" rating on Equinox Minerals Ltd (EYO1). The target price has been raised from C$7 to C$7.25.

In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the uncertainty surrounding the new tax laws in Zambia is expected to have a negative impact going forward on Equinox Minerals’ share price. The actual financial impact of the proposed tax measures on Equinox Minerals’ performance is hard to assess in the absence of details, the analysts add. The potential hike in the tax rate is expected to be more than offset going forward by the rise in copper prices, UBS says.

 

[semochen]

Down day after the uranium FS both in TSX and XAO...

Is the UFS not as good as people thought? Don't understand much
of it myself (Don't seem like a "sell on the news" situation since there wasn't much of a
"buy on rumour" anyway..)

Tax issues still keeping people uncertain, but my main concern is whether construction will be done on time. A guy at topstocks keeps going on about how Ausenco will not be able to finish the job on schedule...

not that I believe people there at topstocks, but still raises a concern
since if it is true, it will be a major issue

 

[MRC & Co]

This looks an EXTREMELLY promising long play to me, just so much confluence today.

I see accumulation taking place, a doji yesterday providing a micro double bottom pattern and a breakout signalling a buy today.

Some strong support, and some great fundamental value here at this price for EQN.

I placed a stop below yesterdays doji and bought today.

Great long swing trade here IMHO.

 

[Schmuckie]

I just had a look at the TSX trading on EQN. It's not quite 3:00 p.m. here, and already 13 million shares have traded while the stock is down just over 6% from yesterday. During the period shown in the Price History chart of March 28 to May 28 the previous volume high was 9,461,428 shares.

Can someone with more experience provide any kind of interpretation of this?

Thanks,
Schmuckie

 

[MRC & Co]

Schmuckie, just means a lot of sellers, however, quiet a few buyers coming in to suck up supply. Still down 6% is not good.

I sold this at close yesterday, as the trade did not go my way immediately, however, I will be monitoring this one closely for another trade to come up.

Not an overly large room for downside for this one IMO. Just a waiting game for investors and some fantastic trading opportunities for traders. It has been my most successful trading stock bar none.

 

[Schmuckie]

I'm in the very early stages of researching this company and want to look a bit more at their financials, their geological reports (comparing them to the grades and costs of other copper miners) and have an independent look at the background of the company and its officers and directors and assess geopolitical risk before making any decisions. Any thoughts here are more like "thinking out loud".

It looks like from the news reports here in Canada that countries like China have a sufficient supply of copper warehoused to meet immediate needs and new suppliers are coming on stream to meet the forecasted needs: hence, copper prices are falling. This would, of course, put downward pressure on the share price of all copper miners. Share price and fundamental worth of a company don't necessarily align with each other.

Looking at EQN's trading history on the TSX, there was a huge spike in buying with more than 40 million shares trading in a short time (accompanied by lower prices) in December when First Quantum purchased its stake in the company.

Although EQN has stated that it wants to go it alone, consolidation in the industry is the order of the day (whether EQN is taken over voluntarily or not - I understand they have a poison pill defence). On the other hand, all the big miners had to start somewhere.

I'm not in a position to be an active trader. First, I don't know enough about it and, secondly, we have an account with a full-service broker/advisor serving high net worth individuals. Our brokerage account gives us a number of free trades but it's certainly not limitless. Because we don't use all of those trades, I'm able to use the little bit of "fun money" that I've accumulated to do some buying and learn a little bit about the stock market. My spouse, an accountant, has made our investment decisions, but it's irresponsible of me to have left learning how to invest so long and it's time I caught up.

If I were to decide to pick up a few shares after doing my research, it would be a buy-and-hold investment decision. I simply hate paying too much for anything and would be looking at how to time a purchase. Based on the spike in activity with lower prices, I wonder if we can expect continued lower prices for only a few more days or whether that it would be to wait a little bit longer. I'd be interested in knowing what members of ASF are thinking.

Many thanks,
Schmuckie