Key personnel
June 7, 2010
In my view, there is no consideration more important than the study of the people involved in a project. Lesser people can screw up the best of projects. Money runs from such people, no matter how promising the properties may be. Good people, on the other hand, consistently find and create good projects and make them work. Money loves good people and good projects.
When I visited SA’s West Lombok property in September 2007, I was in the company of retired newsletter writer Bob Bishop, current newsletter writer Greg McCoach, financial analyst Rob Furse, and geologist Wendell Zerb. Other than Zerb, nobody else was qualified to look at the rocks and know what they were looking at, so I wondered out loud to each of them why they had made the long trek to Indonesia. I mean, it was not a tourist site, to be sure, and business travel is only glamorous to those who don’t do it. So why were they there? I was fascinated to learn, independently from each of these four men, that there were two key reasons for making this trip around the globe. Ask and answer the questions: Do Company personnel look like they know what they’re doing? Can I trust them? I followed up with each visitor at the end of the three-day visit. Their answers were affirmative on both counts.
In my observation, the Company has been unusual in its receptiveness to enquiries coming from the lay shareholder group. In each of the past three years, they have made detailed presentations to shareholders at special sessions in conjunction with the PDAC annual conference in Toronto.
In three years of exchange with SA personnel, I am struck favourably by what some might describe as a negative, that being the absence of a slick promotional stance. Unlike other junior explorers, this is a Company that does not let the cart run out ahead of the horse. There’s certainly a story to tell, but I’ll be damned if I can get them to make some sort of forward-looking statement about the prospects for this Company. Just doesn’t happen. Operating in Indonesia, these people are very much invested in cultural sensitivity, and have been busy over the years lining up a series of ducks that appear now to be coming well into focus. When the last of these ducks come into position, and not a moment before, I sense a very important story about to be rolled out.
Southern Arc insiders own 10,675,631 shares and hold 4,425,000 options. This represents 13.9% of outstanding and 18.6% of fully diluted shares, respectively. Note that these figures do not include spousal or familial shareholdings. Without any direct knowledge on the matter, I am left to suspect (and I do, strongly) that there are significant spousal and familial shareholdings. None of the three key players sold any shares in the last 12 months. They rode share price up to its all-time high of $2.48 in June of 2007, and then down to its low of $0.05 in December of 2008. They’re in this one for the long term. My exit strategy is to keep my eyes on the backs of these key insiders. When they head for the door, so do I. Until then, I’m staying within arm’s reach (so to speak) of those who control the Company.
While there are others, my focus here is on:
- John Proust (shown above to my right)
- Hamish Campbell (shown above to my left)
- Mike Andrews (updated November 24, 2010)
Insider Trading Report (October 7, 2010)
Mate in Three? (January 31, 2011)