At the outset, let me says that I do not advocate corporate share buybacks, when employees are getting performance/annual stock option grants. Further, there are many possible uses of cash reserves on a corporate balance sheet, e.g., funding additional exploration.

But, anyway, I was thinking about the (growing) sharecount of junior developer/explorers, such as Tyhee, and was wondering whether and how such high sharecounts get resolved.

Do you know whether there is any history of small-cap, mid-cap, or large-cap gold miners buying back shares instead of paying a dividend? Whereas a cash or in-kind dividend might create a taxable event for shareholders, presumably a stock buyback would not.

Thanks in advance for your consideration of the issue.

dcp.

Aside from the potential conflict of interest, what do you make of this development, Baires? It's hard to find much information about Zurmont on the Web aside from the news you just cited.

With best regards.

dcp

According to a Williams Creek press release (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/williams-creek-gold-limited-releases-q1-financial-statements-and-managements-discussion-and-analysis-2011-07-27?reflink=MW_news_stmp), "Williams Creek was due to recognize a gain of $1,052,000 on its long-term investment in Tyhee Gold Corp. ("Tyhee") during the quarter ended April 30, 2011. Under IFRS, however, that gain was recognized during the quarter ended January 31, 2011."

-- Good for S & B. It must be nice to have a low cost basis.

Have any of you listened to Eric King's latest interview with Jim Sinclair? Mr. Sinclair suggested that gold miners should consider paying out big dividends to attract investors. He further suggested that dividends of miners could be in kind, namely in the form of warehouse recepits for gold.

Query how out of the box Tyhee's CEO Dave Webb thinks. Given that Archean deposits typically don't require as much money in further exploration as other deposits, I wonder whether there would be more money left over to fund dividends to investors.

Any thoughts? (Yes, I'm aware that I'm thinking years and years into the future. But, hey, I've been invested in the company for years and years as well).

dcp

The Australian: Gold One strikes it rich with accepted takeover
...
GOLD One International has accepted a takeover offer from a Chinese consortium that values the Africa-focused gold producer at roughly $600 million, adding the deal will provide funding for the miner's expansion plans and could lead to the company's listing on the Hong Kong bourse.

The offer from the consortium led by Baiyin Non-Ferrous Group comes less than a month after Gold One said it would significantly boost production of gold and add uranium reserves by investing $US750m ($712m) to acquire assets near Johannesburg.

The consortium bought an almost 18 per cent stake in the Sydney-based company in April, sparking speculation of a possible takeover.

Gold One, which has mines in South Africa and is exploring neighbouring countries, said its board was recommending a cash offer of 55c a share from a group of investors led by the Chinese mining and smelting firm, a unit of state-controlled Citic Group.

The deal comes at a time when precious metals have been trading near record levels, and the offer represents a 73 per cent premium to the company's $347m valuation last Thursday, when shares closed at 43c before the disclosure of the deal.
...
Gold One said the consortium planned to buy a stake of between 60-75 per cent and had structured a deal to secure at least the lower end of that range.
...
It said the buyers planned to retain Gold One's current management and the structure of its shareholding by black South African investors, as well as its primary listing in Australia and secondary listing in Johannesburg. The company may seek a future listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, it said.

I don't know about the effect of such a news release, but the stock price has an uncanny track record of going down every time right after I buy!

dcp