The Storey Teller News and commentary on what’s really going on in Storey County.
If you were to believe the press releases festooning the otherwise vacous pages of the Comstock Chronicle, you would think that Comstock Mining Incorporated (CMI) was making millions while employing thousands here in the “Richest Place On Earth”. The CMI cheerleaders at the Comstock Chronicle (deemed the Comstock Comical by local residents who see their content for what it is) have run CMI press release fluff in 6 of the last 8 issues. Karen “Pom-Pom” Woodmanse and crew tout the galactic accomplishments of the Nevada mining juggernaut day in and day out.
However, based on facts gleaned from the most recent report from the 10-Q statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, you would be wrong. Read the 10-Q for yourself here
CMI tallied it’s tenth consecutive quarterly effort in futility, this time losing $ 2,497,011 in Q3 2017. This brings the total loss to $185,386,755 since Chief Flim-Flam Officer Corrado de Gasparis and John “The Puppeteer” Winfield started mining for chumps at the Lucerne Pit in 2009. Read the 10-Q for yourself here
With the stock price dipping to .13 per share and facing a November 13th deadline that would have delisted their facade from the New York Stock Exchange, they performed a 5-1 reverse stock split. By consolidating every 5 shares into one, they saved the stock from falling below SEC guidelines and saved precious face.
“That Trick Never Works” – Rocky The Flying Squirrel
During the quarterly shareholder call (the transcript you can read here), Chief Flim-Flam Officer de Gasparis explained, “We did announce this morning the final NYC approval for 1:5 reverse split. This split satisfied the New York Stock Exchange’s minimum share price requirement and the company is and has always been compliant with all other requirements. We sincerely consider this just a mechanical change that does not impact our strategy, business plans, liquidity, operations or the intrinsic value of the shares. Our focus is on growing that value with an outstanding investor and share base.”
While the CFO considers it a “mechanical change”, the market sees a bit differently. The day before the split (November 9th), CMI’s stock went buck. At one point trading for 3x value; the volume was 6-7 times the normal shares changing hands. In the days since, the stock has tanked.
As you can see from the above chart, CMI’s stock has fallen 50% since October. If they were set to be delisted at .13 a share, they seem to be headed for the inevitable. Trading at .40 a share at the time of this keyboard clattering, they are now at a pre-split equivalent share price of .08. OMG, that hurts.
Maximize Intrinsic Stockholder Value
This news does little to slow down the the spin doctors. With eloquence reserved for the toppest top-shelf Flim-Flammers, de Gasparis alongside CMI Shareholder Relations Officer and Comstock Chronicle Owner Zach Spencer, (Wait. What?) emote the following “forward-looking statement” tucked inside a truly remarkable Q3 statement which you can read here:
“The near-term goal of our business plan is to maximize intrinsic stockholder value realized, per share, by continuing to acquire mineralized and potentially mineralized properties, exploring, developing and validating qualified resources and reserves (proven and probable) that enable the commercial development of our operations through extended, long-lived mine plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible.”
How’s that Intrinsic Shareholder Value working out, CMI Shareholder?
Oh, and yes, Zach Spencer, with his wife Elaine (former CMI pubic relations employee), own the Comstock Comical… err Chronicle.
The next time you see an article about CMI in the Comical, you know who’s getting paid.
SMH
