Letter to CEO Gerry Brockelsby of Marquest
in response to
by
posted on
Oct 19, 2012 03:48AM
Resource projects cover more than 1,713 km2 in three provinces at various stages, including the following: hematite magnetite iron formations, titaniferous magnetite & hematite, nickel/copper/PGM, chromite, Volcanogenic Massive and gold.
Hello Fani.
Because of your far deeper pool of experience and knowledge, I trust your judgments even more than my own (that is the judgments I make on my own, before getting your input). Without having the Marquest information you have, I spoke to CEO Gerry Brockelsby on Wednesday and wrote to him yesterday. I believe my instincts were right. Correct me if I’m wrong. Even given the financing angles you’ve just mentioned, I believe extending the hand of friendship to him is the right thing to do. Plus, he’s a buyer.
Regardless of his special financing motivations, the guy has good business sense (which, obviously, is missing elsewhere). So, at the very least, we will benefit from his presence as a counterweight to unintelligent business as usual. When it comes to motivations, of course, we all have a right to be suspicious, even of ourselves. Certainly, loading up (at such times as now) is a temptation shared by us all. Too often, the markets are cruel. On the other hand, to make up for it (if you’re patient and a little lucky), sometimes adversity becomes advantage.
Hello Gerry Brockelsby.
This is a very long story that’s hard to truncate. It’s important to know there’s a very long history of shareholders trying to be conciliatory and shareholders trying to talk common sense. There’s a reason why every single person who’s tried it has given up. I promise you that you would be hard pressed to find one retail shareholder, familiar with the situation, who descents from the picture I’m painting.
The conversations have become more and more one-sided as those who were once the firmest in their trust and belief in Peter Smith—in response to their long time frustrating efforts to get through to him—are now his most outspoken critics. I’m talking about important investors in their own right who, in turn, have personal and professional acquaintances who, in turn, have made very substantial investments. The most active amongst them—whofirmly believed from the beginning in getting involved—regularly spoke to Peter Smith on a weekly basis and were on the friendliest terms with him. They are intelligent investors. They were not born yesterday. I respect their opinions as I’m sure you will after you get to know them.
More about that when we talk later. Of course, right now, it’s not possible (or even a good idea) for me to try to say to you everything on my mind all at once. But, certainly, top on my list is to thank you for your courteous open-mindedness and to thank you for having expressed your interest in the opinions of our group (and even going further in your curiosity of my own opinions). However you may want to look at it, individually or as a group, we are tired of talking to the wall. We hunger for the kind of responsive businesslike leadership I more than suspect you will soon be providing for us. We sorely need to be run by somebody who knows something about salesmanship and who knows something about the norms of good business practice and successful business practice.
When you look in the mirror, every morning, do you notice anyone peering back at you who might fit the bill? This is just a wild guess but it’s well within the realm of possibility: That mirror-image guy possibly knows what we should be doing at this point and knows how to get it done. I have no doubt (without me telling you or without you telling me) that it’s already self-evident to you (even this early) that what Fancamp sorely needs more than anything right now is businesslike corporate leadership. We need elemental rational reforms, which will give us something approaching fairness in how the investor advisory community estimates the value of the assets we own.
Of course, I’m getting a little ahead of myself. But I’m speaking of my intentions and what I have in mind. I have no doubt, we can mix a potent formula by adding yourself, together with your business resources, together with the shareholder consensus, together with simple business logic.
Attached are two letters (with minor variations) addressed individually to each of the Board of Directors and to the Advisory Board Members and to Officers at Champion and to some of the Major Shareholders. Again, you don’t need my help to draw your own conclusions. So far as I’m concerned, I much prefer to be a listener than a talker. Please give me your take (even if it’s brief). Please let me know what additional information it will be helpful for you to have.
Best regards. Spokesman. Shareholders for Accountability at Fancamp.