Kibo Mining (#KIBO) - Upbeat Quarterly operational update

Kibo Mining – making the best of a thoroughly bent market

When I interviewed Kibo Mining (KIBO) CEO Louis Coetzee six weeks ago, the company had just placed at 1.5p. Shareholders were furious and there were even whispers of an action group to oust the board. Realistically, such an attempt would have been futile, and today the company’s outlook is much rosier. 

Kibo Mining seeks project partners

Louis Coetzee, entrepreneurial chief executive officer of Tanzania-focused Kibo Mining (KIBO), says he is talking to 12 companies as he looks for a development partner in the power side of Kibo’s $60 million (£38 million) Rukwa coal and power station project in the country’s south-western Mbeya region. Kibo, which had last year signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea’s state-owned East West Power group about possible participation in Rukwa, is now concentrating instead on a pre-feasibility study, due this month from energy-to-infrastructure specialist Aurecon, of its plan to build a 300 to 350 megawatt power station there.

Exclusive interview with Kibo Mining CEO Louis Coetzee – Part 2

In the first part of this exclusive interview with Kibo Mining (KIBO) CEO Louis Coetzee we discussed the company’s flagship coal project at Rukwa, investor disappointment in 2013, why Kibo did not complete the deal with EWP, the unexpected interest from other major development partners, the current status of negotiations and the technical stage the project is at. In this second part of the interview, Mr Coetzee goes on to talk about Kibo’s other flagship venture, the gold project at Imweru, as well as the reasons for last week’s placement. Shareholders are not happy with Kibo at present, but Mr Coetzee delivers candid answers to the direct questions I put to him. 

Exclusive interview with Kibo Mining CEO Louis Coetzee – Part 1

Last Wednesday, Kibo Mining (KIBO) conducted a contentious £855,000 placement at 1.5p. The general mood among shareholders is pretty furious and it would have been easy to write a piece in response, blasting the company. As it happened, earlier in the week I had had a discussion with CEO Louis Coetzee about the future of the company, what happened in 2013 and Kibo’s relationship with the market. Mr Coetzee didn’t mention the placement to me when we first spoke. However, I obviously had to follow up with him to understand why Kibo had raised money again, having last been to market in July. Kibo now trades at 1.32p (last seen), valuing the company at £3.45million. The question many are asking is, is this time to bail out or hold firm?

Open letter to the FCA; please investigate Kibo Mining’s placement of March 31st

On March 31^st this year, Kibo Mining (KIBO) raised £750,000 at 2.5p. The price of this placement was horrific, at a 42% discount to the previous close’s 65 day Moving Average (65MA) closing price. On March 28^th Kibo’s 65MA closing price was 4.28p. In percentage terms, this was one of the worst recent cases of placement value destruction I have come across and there was a very strong suggestion that Kibo, and its shareholders, had been victim of blatant (and sloppy) forward selling. Forward selling is the term used to describe a version of market abuse whereby certain parties, armed with confidential “inside” information, use this to profit, by going heavily short a stock, which they know is trying to raise money. We see possible cases of forward selling of placements regularly on AIM and there is an impression that that the regulator is doing little to nothing about it. Below I have drafted an open letter to the FCA to ask them to investigate this matter.

Kibo Mining – could the horribly priced placement pay for entry into the Promised Land?

Rumours have abounded for a while that Kibo Mining (KIBO) has been the target of a coordinated shorting campaign. Although I’ve noticed it has been problematic buying Kibo stock in volume at times, so far I haven’t seen any firm evidence to confirm whether or not there is truth to the whispers. They could just be the sour grapes of investors who put money into a cash hungry business, during the severe sectoral downturn. Long term holders are bound to feel extremely disillusioned with how this company has developed, but after today’s RNS I am going to stick my neck on the line and say the worst could be over.

Decision time at Kibo Mining

The coming weeks and months are likely to prove pivotal for ambitious Kibo Mining (KIBO) and its clutch of prospects in Tanzania, ranging from coal and nickel to platinum, gold and lithium. Kibo, steered by entrepreneurial chief executive officer Louis Coetzee, is currently talking to five potential major partners about developing its flagship project, a proposed $700 million (£435 million) thermal coal mine and power generation plant at Rukwa in the south-west of the energy-starved East African country, whose current 7 per cent rate of economic growth is putting a premium on electricity supply.

UK Investor Show 2014 video - Louis Coetzee of Kibo Mining

Direct from the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre a video featuring a UK Investor Show 2014 presentation by Louis Coetzee of Kibo Mining (KIBO)

Kibo Mining – bitten off more than it can chew?

There’s an idiom in English. It’s quite well known. You might even have heard of it; don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you happen to have the email address of Kibo Mining’s (KIBO) Chief Executive, Louis Coetzee, perhaps you would be good enough to share with him this little pearl of wisdom...

Kibo Mining: Buy at 4.5p - Targets Retest Of 6p Plus

For shares in Kibo Mining (KIBO) we are in the technical position of being forced to give the benefit of the doubt to what is clearly a bulletin board favourite situation. So it is a BUY!