Shareholders Letter
Dear Shareholder
It is little more than a few weeks into my tenure as the new Chief Executive Officer of Carrick Gold. I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to share my early thoughts.
It would be remiss to not acknowledge that Carrick Gold has had a tumultuous six months since the passing away of founder Frank Carr. Frank’s legacy was to leave the Company well funded, with an excellent ground position in one of the world’s best known gold fields. As far as I am concerned it all starts now. The Board and I look forward to rebuilding Carrick Gold and realising its great potential.
I believe Carrick Gold is well positioned for a period of strong growth as we evolve our focus from pure exploration towards developing the first of our projects in the 2012 financial year. We have a great base to work from, though it will take some time for the new team to get familiar with a set of assets that would be the envy of most resource companies.
My background
I have over twenty-five years experience working for international mining companies including Normandy, Newmont Mining and MIM. Most of that experience was in gold – and much of it in the smaller, high grade operations akin to what Carrick Gold has in its portfolio.
I consider myself to have a proven track record of corporate success and the creation of shareholder value. In my most recent role as Chief Executive Officer of North Queensland Metals, I had a team of 180 people, executed feasibility studies, managed joint venture relationships, delivered profits from operations and increased shareholder value significantly.
In selecting me, the Board has clearly shown that they want Carrick Gold to transform itself from a gold explorer to a producing miner with increased market presence.
A strong base for growth
My attraction to Carrick Gold is its strong base and significant upside potential. It was also the opportunity to work with a high quality Board of Directors. Having ample funds to see the Company through to a production phase is an additional and very substantial positive. Carrick Gold has an excellent asset portfolio which now needs – and will get – a proper focus to develop and get into production.
The Board
The Company’s Board of Directors has undergone a period of significant and positive change over the past six months. This has included the recent appointment of two highly respected businessmen, firstly Laurence Freedman AM as Chairman and Robert Schuitema, with global resource finance experience. This transformational change has significantly enhanced the capabilities and brought independence to the Board. Their expertise shows the direction in which the Company is moving.
Funding
Access to funding is an issue which restricts the progression of many junior resource companies. Importantly, this is not a problem for Carrick Gold. We have a very strong balance sheet, with over $20 million in available cash and no debt. This enables the Company to internally fund both a very active exploration program as well as to progress our most advanced projects into production.
Conclusions
Carrick Gold’s projects sit in a highly prospective location. Our suite of tenements covers a large geographical footprint within an hour’s drive of Kalgoorlie. Needless to say, we are located adjacent to numerous commercial discoveries and plentiful existing infrastructure such as power, transport and mills. Exploration work undertaken to date has been very encouraging with three deposits in project status – at Lindsay’s, Kalpini and Kurnalpi. New areas which will soon receive the new team’s attention are Kalgoorlie West and Spargoville.
We are recruiting additional quality people to continue exploring while taking the three identified projects through a thorough evaluation process to determine how they can best be mined.
I intend to communicate regularly in order to ensure that you the shareholders – the Owners of the Company – are always aware of developments.
Yours sincerely
John McKinstry
Chief Executive Officer
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