Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Conforce International (CFRI) June 2008 results
Jackfree notes in the comments of the previous Conforce posting that Conforce International (collected entries) issued their results for the quarter ended June 30, 2008.
Here's my take on it:
No cash. It's now tied up in accounts receivable. It appears shareholders continued to loan money to the company to pay some of the bills (although I don't know how much in this quarter). No interest, no terms.
Sharecount is unchanged, although that could change suddenly without warning given their balance sheet. They claim they can finance the EKO FLOR expansion from operations, but that seems fairly impossible unless they expect the field trial results to impress the customers so much that they'll front the costs of manufacturing. Personally I expect a fair amount of dilution.
All revenue so far has been from the terminal operations. Any revenues from the field trials will occur after the trials. Revenue for the quarter was $712K with $315K gross profit. $17K net loss.
Salaries dropped from last year from $120K to $102K. Commissions are up. Garbage disposal costs were $408 for the quarter.
It all depends on the results of the field trials.
I continue to own the stock.
Note that they claimed that they'd follow up by August 19 on the U.S. Military contractor deal but they never did [UPDATE: except via email].
Here's my take on it:
No cash. It's now tied up in accounts receivable. It appears shareholders continued to loan money to the company to pay some of the bills (although I don't know how much in this quarter). No interest, no terms.
Sharecount is unchanged, although that could change suddenly without warning given their balance sheet. They claim they can finance the EKO FLOR expansion from operations, but that seems fairly impossible unless they expect the field trial results to impress the customers so much that they'll front the costs of manufacturing. Personally I expect a fair amount of dilution.
All revenue so far has been from the terminal operations. Any revenues from the field trials will occur after the trials. Revenue for the quarter was $712K with $315K gross profit. $17K net loss.
Salaries dropped from last year from $120K to $102K. Commissions are up. Garbage disposal costs were $408 for the quarter.
It all depends on the results of the field trials.
I continue to own the stock.
Note that they claimed that they'd follow up by August 19 on the U.S. Military contractor deal but they never did [UPDATE: except via email].
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Cameco has uranium problems
Well, word had it that old timers had predicted there would continue to be trouble with the Cigar Lake mine that Cameco is developing and sure enough, the dewatering isn't working so well.
This is a massive mine that utilities are counting on for future supply. If this continues to be delayed, I suspect it's going to have a significant impact on the future price of uranium and how much money the other miners make, especially the ones who are going to have mines ongoing or coming online in the upcoming years.
Tonight, Cameco reported that they're having significant unexpected problems trying to get the water out of the mine [from the last time it flooded... what is this, the third time?]. It keeps filling up too fast for them to drain: they're only licensed to pump out 550 cubic meters per hour [sustained] and it's filling at over 600.
Not only does this probably add delay to the mine timetable, but the continued problems only help to confirm the opinions some had about the mine.
Needless to say, I consider this to be good news. Note that no miners were harmed, and in fact they're probably earning lots of overtime.
This is a massive mine that utilities are counting on for future supply. If this continues to be delayed, I suspect it's going to have a significant impact on the future price of uranium and how much money the other miners make, especially the ones who are going to have mines ongoing or coming online in the upcoming years.
Tonight, Cameco reported that they're having significant unexpected problems trying to get the water out of the mine [from the last time it flooded... what is this, the third time?]. It keeps filling up too fast for them to drain: they're only licensed to pump out 550 cubic meters per hour [sustained] and it's filling at over 600.
No. 1 Shaft had been pumped down to 430 metres below surface when the increase was reported early Tuesday morning. Work in the shaft was suspended a few hours later. During the day, the inflow rate increased steadily to approximately 600 cubic metres per hour (m3/hr), which is beyond the range that can be managed while sustaining work in the shaft. The mine has a total depth of 500 metres and the mine underground workings are at the 480-metre level.They got the water level down almost to the bottom of the mine, but at that point, the inflow rate was too high. The plan is to take some measurements while it fills up and they'll let it fill all the way up.
This information will be analyzed to determine next steps. After this is complete, the water will be allowed to return to the natural equilibrium level.They can pump out water at up to 1,000 cubic meters per hour for a limited time and fill up a storage pond, but they can only sustain 550.
Not only does this probably add delay to the mine timetable, but the continued problems only help to confirm the opinions some had about the mine.
Needless to say, I consider this to be good news. Note that no miners were harmed, and in fact they're probably earning lots of overtime.
