Gilligan, Man of the Year ? Who cares.

No news.... does that mean good news? lol

Sure is quiet out here.

I have shares in ABX and I get news about what they are doing every single day. Every Single Day. In retrospect, I should have dropped this stock when people on this board complained about getting evasive or non-information from Tahera. So no news with Tahera just means no news. Who the heck knows what's going on up there. Even Silver70's contact up there seems to be misinformed. Cheers, antiki

Tahera Diamond loans send earnings down at Tiffany
Last Updated: Monday, March 24, 2008 | 10:11 AM ET Comments0Recommend0CBC News
Writeoffs of loans made to Tahera Diamond Corp. sent earnings lower in the fourth quarter at Tiffany & Co.

The jewelry retailer said Monday it wrote off just under $48 million US for loans made to Toronto-based Tahera, which went into creditor protection in January and shortly thereafter suspended mining at its main asset, the Jericho diamond mine in western Nunavut.

The charge, which amounts to 22 cents per share, is on the expectation that the loans will not be repaid.

With the writeoff, Tiffany said it made $118.3 million US, or 89 cents a share, down from $140.5 million US, or $1.02 a share, in the same quarter of the previous year.

After factoring out one-time charges, Tiffany said it made $1.27 US a share, which topped the $1.21 US expected by stock analysts.

The firm's net sales in the fourth quarter rose by 10 per cent to $1.05 billion US.

Michael Kowalski, the company's chairman and chief executive, said "robust growth" is expected in all of its markets except the United States and Japan.

"We remain cautious about the U.S., although comparable store sales are currently increasing slightly," he said Kowalski. "We still expect a slight decline in comparable U.S. store sales in the first half of the year. Overall, our worldwide sales have increased in excess of 10 per cent in the quarter to date."

Could this be good news for Tahara and for us?

How could it be? Tiffany is the company that almost soley held Tahera together during its downfall, excepting a little help from Teck Cominco.

Someone is going to buy this puppy for a song, and current shareholders will get nothing for their current holdings.

With all the money they spent on crushers, they probably could have spent the money on a crusher with higher throughput and then sold it when they no longer needed it.

HPGR is a piece of equipment used in more than just diamond mining. With Teck as a partner, finding a buyer for the equipment should not have been too hard.

If they couldn't afford the POLYCOM one that burns through ore at 3000 tph, they could have used a couple smaller ones in parallel.


Polysius: POLYCOM® high-pressure grinding roll

"60 % of the high-pressure grinding rolls installed in the minerals industry are from Polysius: the POLYCOM® operates convincingly all around the world, comminuting * copper ore * gold ore * iron ore * diamond ore * platinum ore * coal * granulated blast furnace slag * limestone * cement clinker and * other mineral raw materials."

"This type of mill offers the minerals industry numerous benefits:

* Low operating expenses: in comparison to other systems, both the power consumption and the costs for wear parts are significantly lower.
* High throughput rates: a high-pressure grinding roll can replace several reduction crushers.
* Metallurgical advantages in the downstream process stages.
* Shorter delivery and commissioning times than can be achieved with other systems."

"POLYCOM® units are designed for throughput rates in excess of 3,000 tph. The mill feed material can be dry or moist and with particle sizes ranging from below 1 mm to more than 75 mm. If required, the material can be dried in screens or air separators in a closed circuit grinding system."

Unfortunately, it means that nothing has come out of the ground to suggest that Tahera will be able to pay off its creditors. So, not good news -- and likely just another step on the road to bankruptcy. antiki

What are the chances that perhaps you could be entirely wrong Antiki? I realize that matters are terribly bleak with Tahera at the present and that not too many people (actually no one,Tahera shareholder that is) are impressed with Mr. Gillin's performance. However, being the banker at heart that he is, is it possible at all that he might have had figured out a satisfactory Tahera outcome with precision for later on?
Ohh, I will give anything if I could in exchange to stand in a corner somewhere inside the board-room while the remaining 4 directors chat about Tahera. By the way, does anyone know why the Teck representative/director would take off?
Please do not think poorly of me because of my nutty imaginary plot to invade the boardroom…. They don't give us information, so, what am I suppose to do……

__________________
Cheers. Radian sparkling Green, glowing Yellow, and Snow-y transparent power to all Taherians.
************

"As previously announced, Tahera has obtained an order from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice providing protection for Tahera under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Since the focus of Tahera is currently on conserving cash until it can secure financing and/or restructure its operations under the CCAA, it was deemed in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders to delay the preparation and filing of audited financial statements for the time being. Tahera does not know at this point in time when it would be in a position to prepare and file its financial statements and MD&A, as such filings will be driven by the outcome of its financing and restructuring efforts.

Pending the filing of its financial statements and MD&A, the Company intends to satisfy the alternative information guidelines recommended by Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") Policy 57-603 and Canadian Securities Administrators ("CSA") Staff Notice 57-301. The Company will request from the Canadian securities regulators, that a management cease trade order related to the Company's securities be imposed against some or all persons who have been directors, officers or insiders of the Company since September 30, 2007, which cease trade order would generally not affect the ability of persons who have not been directors, officers or insiders of the Company since that date to trade in the Company's securities. If Tahera has not filed its audited financial statements for the 2007 year by May 31, 2008, the OSC may issue an Issuer Cease Trade Order as such term is defined in OSC Policy 57-603. In accordance with the alternative information guidelines of the OSC, Tahera intends to file throughout the period in which it is in default the same information as it is required to provide to its creditors at the time the information is provided to such creditors in the same manner as it would file a material change report under securities regulations.

The Company also anticipates having to postpone its annual meeting of shareholders until such time as audited annual financial statements for the 2007 financial year are prepared and available for mailing.

As part of the management cease trade order, the Company is required to issue regular updates. Within the coming weeks the Company intends to provide un-audited financial and operational results as they are available."

This just seems to be yet another one of those times, in a long string of times, time and time again, that we thought, this is it... bottom... it can not possibly get worse. lol.... hmmmm.... I hate to say it, but it can, and it will.

Indeed.

By the "sound" of things our here, or should I say the lack of sound, does this mean no one has any new insight or news?

De Beers is having their own troubles too -- the Ontario government being one of them.

The same blog entry mentions a company called Hudson Resources ( Hudson Resources Inc. ) operating in Greenland.

(Side note: Remember when Tahera said they were going to check their Muskox test results again? They never did report back.)


Diamonds Update

(1)

"Even though diamond prices have increased, the production costs have increased even more, resulting in economic challenges for De Beers’ Snap Lake project. With construction costs, three times original estimates, De Beers recently took a billion dollar write down in stated value of its Canadian diamond mining operations.

De Beer’ Victor mine in Northern Ontario is planned to begin production later this year but it is facing the same financial pressures as the Snap Lake mine. The economic troubles were intensified by the Ontario government increasing the value tax on diamond production from 5 percent to 13 percent, resulting in an 8 percent increased burden on mining operating margins."

(2)

"While not part of Canada, Greenland shares the same geological craton (stable part of the earth’s crust) which has produced the major diamond productions in Canada. Hudson Resources, an exploration company, is conducting bulk-sampling operations in West Greenland to determine the diamond content of the ore."

Operational Update

The total number of dry tonnes processed during the fourth quarter of 2007 was 155,000 tonnes at an average grade of 0.79 carats per tonne, resulting in carat production of 122,500 carats compared with 127,500 tonnes at an average grade of 0.78 carats per tonne for carat production of 99,300 carats for the third quarter of 2007. The value of production for the fourth quarter of 2007, based on values of the Government Diamond Valuators, was US$11.6 million, compared with US$8.4 million in the third quarter of 2007. The cash operating cost related to the production of these goods was CAD$18.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2007 compared with CAD$17.9 million for the third quarter. These costs include all mining, processing and related overhead charges for the quarter. Certain of the cash items consumed during these periods were purchased and paid for in a prior period.

The Company has held two valuations for goods produced in 2008. Production from January 1, 2008 to February 5, 2008 yielded 45,026 carats at an average value of US$95.32 per carat for a total value of US$4.3 million. Production from February 6, 2008 to March 12, 2008 included two parcels of goods. Normal run of mine production totalled 31,271 carats at an average value of US$106.96 per carat and a batch test of the F1N lobe yielded 2,768 carats at an average value of US$87.80 per carat. The combined total for the two parcels from the March valuation was 34,039 carats at an average value of US$105.40 per carat for total value of US$3.6 million.

As previously reported, mining was suspended at the Jericho mine on February 6, 2008, to conserve cash and fuel inventory while restructuring efforts continued. Processing of ore is now expected to continue until the end of the third week of April 2008. All mining contractors have now demobilized their equipment, supplies, and personnel. The Company has purchased certain items required for the Care & Maintenance period, which is expected to begin shortly after production is completed as the mine site assets are properly prepared for a period of inactivity.

As previously announced, Tahera has initiated a court approved marketing process of the assets of the Company, which requires interested parties to submit written expressions of interest by no later than April 28, 2008. Blair Franklin Capital Partners have been retained to manage and provide guidance during the marketing process. As previously announced, on January 16, 2008, Tahera entered into protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The stay period under the court order extends to June 30, 2008.