Okay, it’s over now…
The afternoon session was exactly what I feared: exhilarating! If koolaid had been served, I’d have drunk as much as I could get my hands on…
No matter how many times or how forcefully Mauricio Cordova kept reminding us that everything he said was nothing but forward-looking statements, no matter how many times he reminded us that investing in mining is inherently risky and prone to unexpected disappointments and roadblocks ("Don’t forget — we might find out that the ore is not economically feasible!") it was, to me, clear from his body language and from every slide and map that was flashed up on the screen and from every mention of ore grades (always, so far, smashing expectations), that he was thrilled by…by everything Medinah/Auryn/Maglas…
This went on for the entire afternoon session — there was so much information conveyed and so many questions raised and address, I’m scared to take more than a glance at my notes, but here are some snippets:
Cordova: “Do we have the potential? Absolutely. And now we have to prove it… I couldn’t say enough how excited I am…”
He mentioned having had contact with Freeport and "two other majors of equal size or larger” who are interested in the Pegaso Negro. (“This could happen fast!”)
He said that production on the Merlin (or was it the Caren?) started yesterday (I was glad to hear him voluntarily note that Auryn’s original prediction for production had been September 1, but it had turned out to be Sept 30, due to several reasons) and things were moving ahead and grades were great (he reminded us that everything he said was a forward-looking statement and not a guarantee of anything and he was not encouraging anyone present or not present to buy any stock in MDMN or any stock anywhere, but…), and, according to my notes, he foresaw: “Positive cash flow by year’s end, first quarter definitely…”
He was definitely impressive… In no way could I dispute Wizard’s early assessment of Cordova after their meeting several months back. (And my own assessment of Wizard — our first meeting — was equally strong: Wizard is impressive.)
There was not a single question Cordova was not prepared for. (Wizard, too — equally well prepared.)
Toward the end of the session I told Cordova something like this:
“I brought 15 people into Medinah, and I’m going to report to them on this meeting. I’m going to tell them that this morning was tough, it was a gut punch, it was our worst fears – or maybe worse than our worst fears – confirmed… But what I’ve heard this afternoon from you and everyone else from Auryn… Obviously what you’ve seen of the mountain has certainly gotten your basic interest — and from your forward-looking statements, it is also clear that you think that this mountain might just be something extra-special, a world-class project, a dream… And I think I’m going to tell my friends this: If the hopes of you and your colleagues are even halfway confirmed, if this mountain even comes in somewhere toward the middle of the range of what you see as possible, then there will be so much money washing around that it won’t even matter how many shares can be clawed back or whether Les Price goes to jail or if any of those other legal things we talked about this morning ever get resolved… Should I not tell the my friends that?”
Laughter rippled around the room.
Wizard (Kevin Tupper) and Muaricio looked at each other and smiled.
They each said some things about how it was absolutely necessary that Medinah’s leadership team pursue the legal path ahead of them and follow every twist and turn by the book, and do whatever it takes to right the injustices that have been inflicted on all of us shareholders over many many years now. But while I don’t remember exactly what all those things were, I did clearly notice that before the two of them moved on to another question, neither of them tried (and no one else on the Auryn or Medinah teams tried) to talk me out of my assessment…
Hey — it was a good day. I’m glad I came.
I met Doc and Cornhusker Gold and Cabezon and another fellow (wxt?) who had been in Medinah for 25 years(!) plus lots of other nice folks.
After the meeting adjourned I asked Cordova wether, if I came to Chile, I could walk on the mountain? He said that for liability reasons he wasn’t sure he could let me go into the mine tunnel itself. But walk the mountain? “Sure,” he said. “You can walk on the mountain. Sure.” I said maybe after the first of the year.
And now I’ve got to catch a cab to the airport… (All good stories have at least one taxicab.)
I think I’ll give it a rest for a while. If you want to pm me, feel free.
— madmen (brad)
