KCN 5.17% $1.22 kingsgate consolidated limited.

It appears the wheels began to fall off when the mine was...

  1. 266 Posts.
    It appears the wheels began to fall off when the mine was suspended in January last year by Thai authorities citing health concerns.  

    The concerns were triggered by health tests by no less a figure than Thailand's chief forensic pathologist, Pornthip Rojanasunand, a celebrity who has her own wax figure at Madame Tussauds Bangkok.

    Now we all know that you don't mess with someone who has got their own wax figure at Madame Tussauds. Just ask Hugh Jackman.

    She claimed tests on local villagers found arsenic and other substances. Substances which Smyth-Kirk claimed have never been in use at the mine.

    Mining resumed in March last year, but other distractions emerged.

    Like its failed attempt to spin-off the Thai business amid allegations in the Thai press that it had corruptly received its mining leaseat Chatree.

    Then shareholders started revolting against Smyth-Kirk's long rule at the miner.

    Having spent five years in Thailand, CBD can tell you that this is the time for cool heads to prevail – you know, fly up to see the locals and keep smiling.

    it looks like Smyth-Kirk was clean out of smiles by this point.

    "It's the ultimate insult to be accused of corruption," thundered Smyth-Kirk in the Australian press.

    He railed against the "total lies and fabrications" made against Kingsgate.

    His tirades continued at the company's AGM in November where he described the shutdown as "an over-reaction and probably illegal".

    Just the sort of nice things you want to say about the local authorities when there is a cloud over whether you should operate a gold mine on their land.

    It culminated this month with Thailand's military regime ordering a complete shutdown of the country's gold mining industry. It just so happens that Chatree is the only gold mine in operation.

    An update last week from Kingsgate reported that its mining licence has now been extended until December 31 this year. A little bit short of the five-year extension Kingsgate had been expecting, but better than nothing.

    Unfortunately the Thai authorities have not allowed Kingsgate to see a copy of the decision as the "order has been classified" so the miner has continued its suspension until June 17 while it clarifies what exactly it is allowed to do for the rest of this year.

    It sounds like Smyth-Kirk and his new CEO Greg Foulis can look forward to an extended tour of Thailand's notorious bureaucracy. Boy does CBD have some fond memories on this front.
 
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