At 4.22 PM yesterday Arc Minerals (ARCM) explained via RNS why its shares had been suspended earlier that afternoon on the AIM Casino. The explanation is all very well, but…
Vassilios, the COO at Arc Minerals (ARCM), says he is off back to the copper belt in Zambia tomorrow. Ahead of his trip he says the infantry are out on the ground and sends me a picture of them in action. Yikes! I am sure Arc has some very interesting assets but I shall not be going to inspect them myself.
Any sort of tie up with a large partner is usually good news for junior resource stocks, so you might have been surprised that the market didn’t react better to the news that Arc Minerals (ARCM) had signed a deal with Anglo American to form a joint venture on its Zambian copper licences.
Finding junior mining companies that have the potential to go on to develop a large resource through to actual production, or an asset sale, is never easy and the reality is that most of these companies fail to ever achieve much other than burning through large amounts of cash over a period of years.
On 13th January Arc Minerals (ARCM) announced that it had “received a formal notice from Anglo Exploration Zambia Ltd ("Anglo American")… that, following due diligence, it is sufficiently satisfied to give notice to conduct negotiations in respect of a commercial transaction prior to the expiry of the extended exclusivity period of 180 days”. On 15th February the company hosted an investor webinar and on 5th March it was “pleased to announce that it has appointed Rothschild & Co as its retained financial adviser, effective immediately”. As the shares rose there has now followed “Surrender of Share Options” and ‘Placing and Acquisition’ announcements...
There are numerous reasons why I wouldn't run an AIM Mining company but chief among them is a terror of what you find lurking in your tent when you go out into the bush to drill. Vassilios Carellas of Arc Minerals (ARCM) sent me a photo one what his team found in one of the tents last week. This guy won't be posting on the LSE Asylum any more. Enjoy.