A Dozen Q and A with Dave Webb (DW) Today.
posted on
Jul 24, 2010 06:01PM
(PRESS PROFILE TAB FOR FACT SHEET & UPDATES)
(Dave's answers are paraphrased.)
1. What are the reasons Tyhee is so much more undervalued now than ever before?
DW: I can’t really say. It’s my experience that the market never seems to move the way that you expect. I can relate the situation back in 1980 when Cominco announced the discovery of the Red Dog zinc, lead, silver deposit in Alaska. This is the largest and richest zinc lead silver mine in the US, and one of the largest and richest mines of its type in the world. “Logically”, Cominco shares tanked. As a shareholder I asked my broker to explain. He said everyone knew Cominco would be selling shares to finance development of the mine, and today, that would drive the price down.
2. And, what does Tyhee need to do to get a higher valuation, since adding nearly a million ounces of reserves last week didn’t seem to help?
DW: At least I knew the answer to the $64,000 question. This one…. We’re working on.
3. How much cash does Tyhee have now, and how much more will it need to fund three rigs (at Clan?), the DAR, and complete a Feasibility Study in the next 12 months?
DW: The is a question we get asked the most, and the easiest one to answer. The last quarter reported $5 million cash and cash equivalents. We will have spent some of that during the current quarter. We will need approximately 20 dollars for every one ounce we want to add to the resource base. The DAR will require several hundred thousand dollars to complete. The FS needs could be in the range of $1.5 million.
4. How will you get that cash?
DW: Tyhee can complete equity financings, flow through and conventional, we can JV, we can sell other assets. There may be other ways we haven’t considered.
5. Have you yet initiated Tyhee’s Feasibility Study? If not, when will you?
DW: The FS has not yet been initiated. We need to review all aspects of the PFS and consider all aspects before starting.
6. When will the FS be released?
DW: See answer above.
7. How many rigs will be at Clan from now until this time next year?
DW: We have to see current results and adjust as circumstances warrant.
8. Will you be spending the $18K to do the PR on BNN, BTV and Fox Business and what other promo work will you do other than at conventions?
DW: We will decide when it is appropriate.
9. Are there or will there be other analysts covering Tyhee in the next year?
DW: Other analysts are aware of us, but we don’t know if they will “officially” initiate coverage.
10. Is it worthwhile to do some deep drilling? Although expensive, it might satisfy those who wonder what lies below. Will you do any in the next year?
DW: Yes, it’s worthwhile. We have plans for deeper drill holes but we haven’t planned a date to start.
11. From what you told me in New York, did I understand you correctly that the top end conversion rate for M&I resources into reserves is 50%? Or, were you just referring only to what’s possible at the YGP, whereas other projects have gotten much higher conversion rates?
DW: Conversion rates are difficult to quantify, however we know it is very rare to get above 80% for most gold deposits. It is even rarer for Archean gold deposits. Some porphyry, most VMS and sedex deposits covert at fairly high rates.
12. In the AGM presentation, you pointed out how the input costs were so much lower now than they were in 2007 when the PA was delivered, and that the POG was so much lower then. Why did the more favorable input costs for the PFS not translate into lower production costs?
DW: There are several reasons. The first and most significant is the PFS is substantially different from the PA, with a different mine model, sequencing of the mining on a tonne by tonne basis, line power vs diesel power, and more. Secondly, its higher gold prices makes lower-grade mineralization economic. As we incorporate lower gold grades into our PFS, our cash operating costs increase.