HPC Follower
11 Jan 2016
Re: technology...? Agreed disappointing; but not surprising with the price of zinc near $1500 a tonne.IP and know how is staying with ZOX. Next plant will not have heat exchangers, the main problem, and produce better quality zinc for improved margins. Very high risk but investment returns would be much better for the next plant. The IFC bank could easily enable this if they don't want ZOX to fail and lose their 18% money worth.
juyamah
11 Jan 2016
Re: technology...? I think the only thing that ZOX tried was the rotary hearth furnace rather than the Kilns used by horsehead, now with hindsight that looks a serious error as the vast majority of the problems have been with the Furnace.A link to Horsehead is below if you are interested.[link]
juyamah
11 Jan 2016
Re: technology...? I don't think the technology was ever that revolutionary and If my memory serves me right there are no patents whatsoever associated with the plant.I think the American Zinc producer Horsehead use a very similar method in at least one of their plants.
Madoff Jnr
09 Jan 2016
technology...? I have to say that I'm still in a state of shock as to what has happened here with Zincox.To think we couldn't/wouldn't raise only £5m sounds really pathetic to me.Surely management can see a falling share price and a balance sheet that is perilously short of working capital....? to have thrown away such an opportunity in the final straight is beyond words.As to the future,who knows.Please correct me if I'm wrong but is all that we own now just 10% of plant, a few fields in Turkey and USA and a mine in a war zone in Yemen(?)...? and is the technology ownership also being transferred to Korea Zinc.....? That last point being 'The end game' for Zincox as we couldn't build a rival plant anywhere without Korea Zinc's say so.Very disappointed and to think I was looking just a few weeks before to Top up......Phew...!!!
RatCatcher
31 Dec 2015
a surprise funding arrangement that leaves the company debt free. That would be nice. Perhaps someone has left ZOX a $60 million legacy.
HPC Follower
31 Dec 2015
Zinc price rises above $1630 a tonne I've reached the same conclusion juyamah; I don't think the ZOX management were willing to see a Placement Price below c.2.5p as the dilution would have been enormous; and ZOX would have ceded >50% control of the company.ZOX will, I am sure, keep close to 10% of the current ZincOx plant in South Korea as this is a working example and proof for the technology, and Korea Zinc will want some guarantee (incentivised) that ZOX expertise will be there to help solve any problems which arise - and the advantage now is that Korea Zinc will have to pick up 90% of any such extra costs and there is no interest to pay on those loans. One could argue that Korea Zinc have been quite generous and flexible, as they could just have claimed 100% of ZOX under default conditions. I believe that played fair because they want the plant to continue in production for many years and expect the price of zinc to recover from the awful low position in the last 6 months - just when ZOX couldn't afford this. (N.B. I am ignoring here the many problems which arose in the first plant, and the poor ZOX management to fix the root causes in a timely manner which would have improved throughput and up-time - this was the first plant without the advantage of a full prototype as we still have in the aircraft industry).ZOX have been in discussion with potential partners for the second plant and I'm pretty sure that such partners would not have wanted the ZOX team to have been overtaken by new owners, nor would they ideally want the loan and business risk associated with the Korea based plant. This will, I think, have influenced ZOX on which way to go... so I agree that now is not a good time to bale out; especially as the zinc price is strengthening ahead of the planned closure of two zinc mines in Australia later in 2016; and a placement at a very low share price was not sensible in the circumstances.Further, if I was the representative of the Major Shareholder, the IFC, I would much prefer to share in a much larger investment which will produce a new plant, with greater financial benefits given the extra process planned to refine the zinc product, where such a plant is really needed to avoid the landfill of toxic waste that is now proven able to be recycled economically with "green" advantages.
juyamah
30 Dec 2015
Re: Zinc price rises above $1600 a tonne I don't think it was a case of not getting the $5 million to keep the current plant it was the inevitability of additional fund raising in the future, the $5 would have diluted the company so much that the next fundraising would have almost made the shares worthless.I am really unhappy with how things have worked out but to continue constantly fundraising was no be the right way though I do accept they did not have any other options.
juyamah
30 Dec 2015
Re: How much of KRP-1 is 10%worth? If the valuation of the company as stated in the RNS is $63 million then 10% in sterling terms is £4 million, with close to 160 million shares in issue I make it that each share has a intrinsic value of around 2.5p.I am not 100% clear about the $3.4 million dollar loan from Korea Zinc as described in the RNS (see below)"During the transition period, outstanding invoices owed by KRP for 2015, current remediation costs and operating losses are expected to amount to about US$3.4 million and this will be covered by Korea Zinc and be treated as a loan to KRP. There will be no recourse to the Company for this loan"If the company is not liable to repay this loan then with no other debts other than those covered by the land sale agreement then its all about can the company grow from here?My personal view is probably not but I would not be bailing just yet, I honestly cannot see the viability for either Korea Zinc or Zox in us retaining 10% so maybe in a few months they will buy the rest from us hopefully the zinc price will continue to recover to boost the value of the plant, even then who will decide how much that is?The bottom line is the current NAV of the company is near 2.5p so why sell at 1p.....Hold and see how it pans out.
HPC Follower
29 Dec 2015
Zinc price rises above $1600 a tonne Too late to encourage investors before Year End it would seem...I think ZOX would prefer a new plant, with a much better NPV given the improved zinc product but will they get the finance (c. $120m) required if they couldn't even get $5m to keep the present plant, never mind another $20m to upgrade?Difficult to decide whether to sell out now, but there must be some hope whilst the IFC is a Major Shareholder.
barno99
29 Dec 2015
Re: How much of KRP-1 is 10%worth? SELL, Get something out of the mess..
HPC Follower
29 Dec 2015
Re: How much of KRP-1 is 10%worth? This is very disappointing... I had hoped for better, but the current exceptionally low price of zinc, even though this has only lasted for the 6 months or so, has put all the investors off.The main hope now for ZOX now is a new plant, with the extra process to improve the returns, with up-front payments for preferential off take agreements. This has also been in discussion for some time now. This could, have course, have been their preferred solution... who knows...The main savings at present are the ZOX shares weren't diluted and the loan is being repaid by the delivery of 90% of the current plant whose profitability has been questionable over the last few years.
juyamah
29 Dec 2015
How much of KRP-1 is 10%worth? That is the question, with the other company assets worth in total about £400,000 which will not last long even with cost saving measures, best we can hope for is the Koreans taking the extra 10% and the company being wound up.
juyamah
29 Dec 2015
Fundraising Unsuccessful, big fall expected. 29 December 2015 ZincOx Resources plc("ZincOx" or the "Company"
Fundraising Unsuccessful Proposed Transfer of 90% of KRP to Korea Zinc Plans for the Company Going Forward On 30 November 2015, the Company announced that it had entered into an agreement to reschedule $57.1m of debt owing to Korea Zinc (the "KZ Agreement". The terms of such agreement were set out in the announcement and included a condition set by Korea Zinc that the Company raise at least $5m (net of expenses) before 31 December 2015. Following intensive efforts over recent weeks to raise at least $5m before the end of the year, the Company announces that it has not been able to secure sufficient investors to fund this amount. Accordingly, under the terms of the KZ Agreement, the Company is obligated to transfer 90 per cent. of its interest in its wholly owned Korean subsidiary, ZincOx Korea Limited ("KRP" or "ZincOx Korea", owner of the Korean recycling plant, to Korea Zinc, or, upon Korea Zinc's request, have KRP cancel all, or part, of the existing issued share capital of KRP, and issue and allot to Korea Zinc new shares in KRP through conversion of the outstanding loans into equity such that Korea Zinc owns 90 per cent. of KRP in each case for nil consideration (the "Disposal". The Company will continue to retain a 10 per cent. interest in KRP. As announced on 30 November 2015, since the Disposal would constitute a "fundamental change of business" for the purposes of Rule 15 of the AIM Rules, in the event of an unsuccessful fundraising the Company sought, and was granted, approval by Shareholders for the Disposal at a General Meeting of the Company on 18 December 2015. The Disposal will now be formally effected during the course of January 2016. There will be no cash or other consideration receivable by the Company in respect of this Disposal. It has been agreed with Korea Zinc that ZincOx Korea's share structure will be reorganized so that 90 per cent. of the shares will be valued at the amount of the loans, which currently stand at US$57.1 million giving an imputed value for these purposes of US$63.4 million to ZincOx Korea. ZincOx Korea will, subject to the loans raised during the transition period as set out below, be debt free. The transfer is expected to take at least a month to complete and during this transition period ZincOx will continue to assist the operation, as required, on a day to day basis so as to enable a smooth transition into management by Korea Zinc. The KRP plant is currently closed to carry out a repair to the evaporative cooler and production is expected to resume on the 7th January. During the transition period, outstanding invoices owed by KRP for 2015, current remediation costs and operating losses are expected to amount to about US$3.4 million and this will be covered by Korea Zinc and be treated as a loan to KRP. There will be no recourse to the Company for this loan. In view of the current and negative short term outlook for the price of zinc, KRP may continue to suffer losses in the near term. If Korea Zinc continues to support the operation by injecting cash and if ZincOx is unable to provide its share of support, such injections may be treated as loans or may be capitalized (including the above U$3.4 million loan) in which case ZincOx's interest in KRP would be diluted according to a formula based on the imputed value of the company as described above. For example, if the US$3.4m required during the transition period were to be capitalized, it would have the effect of reducing the Company's interest in KRP from 10 per cent. to 9.5 per cent. Following the transfer of 90 per cent. of the shares in ZincOx Korea, in addition to its residual 10 per cent. shareholding in ZincOx Korea and its technology "know-how", ZincOx will have net cash of approximately £240,000 and its only other notable assets will be its industri
HPC Follower
24 Dec 2015
Merry Christmas to you all... I wish all ZOX shareholders an enjoyable Christmas and a very Happy New Year.We can hope for a major new partner (or two) to help fund the new planned plant with enough cash to buy in a placement price of at least 2p a ZOX share.Who knows what the future may bring, although we will hear more from ZOX management before the end of 2015 - it's only really debates on how to grow our "money" here...If the zinc price recovers as quickly as it fell over the last 6 months, the ZOX future could be bright once more...
juyamah
24 Dec 2015
Re: Zinc price improvement... Any rise is good news but it has a long way to go to make ZOX profitable, the company now has a market cap of somewhere around £3.5 Million and made losses last year of 18p per share.The current attempt at fund raising will again only provide a short term funding fix covering the next few months (as all the previous ones have), a fact that any potential investor will be well aware of, which got me thinking about the recent price strength and I suspect that it may be possible that they are looking for a longer term fix with a major investor, perhaps to fund KRP-2 or another plant in Thailand.What kind of deal could be done and at what price is open to discussion but if I were a major investor with say £60 million to invest, I would not be doing it by any other way than buying the whole company for £5 million and make my plans from there.I know the volume of buying does not suggest a take over bid but at these prices who will drip feed the company knowing another placing is just around the corner...
