I knew about the rush on medicinal cannabis but I did not understand … till now -The Hat In simple English, Cannabinoids are a group of active compounds found in all strains of marijuana. Marijuana contains many chemical compounds that create the different characteristics of the plant. Terpenes provide flavours and aromas, while chlorophyll in the leaves makes the plant green. But the essential chemicals in marijuana are the cannabinoids. This link (https://www.leafscience.com/2017/10/25/what-are-cannabinoids/) has an excellent explanation of what it is and how it works in a marijuana plant, so I will not go into the detail. I want to talk about what is happening with this word… I know that this is not a new topic and it is well researched. There is even a whole research centre called The Australian Centre for Cannabinoid Clinical and Research Excellence (https://www.australiancannabinoidresearch.com.au/ ) It’s just something that I think the general public is not aware of, at least aware that there has been a heap of research going on about this new “drug”. Other than that, I have just been living in a cave as I am the only one that has no idea what the fuss is all about. Basic Points Cannabinoids are the chemicals which give the cannabis plant its medical and recreational properties. Cannabinoids like THC and CBD interact with different receptors in the body to produce a wide range of effects, such as feeling high. THC is known for its psychoactive properties and is the reason you feel “high” after ingesting marijuana. CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid and works to counteract the high. CBD also has numerous benefits, such as anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. But what exactly are cannabinoids, and why are they able to interact with the body? The answer has to do with cannabinoid receptors in the endocannabinoid system. Let’s take a more in-depth look at these fascinating compounds. There are more than 113 different cannabinoids in your real plant. THC and CBD are the most prevalent and the most well-understood. Marijuana’s cannabinoids are produced and stored within the trichomes (crystals) of the plant. These trichomes give marijuana flowers their shiny and sparkly appearance (never seen one outside of a photo). While THC and CBD are the most well-known cannabinoids, there are many other cannabinoids in marijuana that offer health benefits. Some of these include cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), and cannabichromene (CBC). I do not profess to know everything about these cannabinoids but from what I have read. It seems that those chemists in this area are having a field day with the possibilities. Good or bad. In summary, its all about how receptors in our system attaching to these cannabinoids in our system and doing chemistry. Interestingly, we humans also produce cannabinoids. Read the link provided. It’s all exciting stuff. What is so fascinating about Cannabinoids? Now as we all know, there is a heap of anti-cancer solutions, but the use of cannabinoids is just too interesting for this rock-licker. This is one very scientific article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584615001190 that I found. But its just not the anti-cancer, I have seen some videos about its use with Parkinson disease and the result is short of amazing…Being a person who considers the aged with such issues, I am all for this fantastic stuff. I would be very interested in seeing if it can do anything with dementia patients… now this area I am very intimate with, and I tell you, it will make lots of peoples life significantly better. This is the abstract from that paper, It is well-established that cannabinoids exert palliative effects on some cancer-associated symptoms. In addition evidences obtained during the last fifteen years support that these compounds can reduce tumor growth in animal models of cancer. Cannabinoids have been shown to activate an ER-stress related pathway that leads to the stimulation of autophagy-mediated cancer cell death. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit tumor angiogenesis and decrease cancer cell migration. The mechanisms of resistance to cannabinoid anticancer action as well as the possible strategies to develop cannabinoid-based combinational therapies to fight cancer have also started to be explored. In this review we will summarize these observations (that have already helped to set the bases for the development of the first clinical studies to investigate the potential clinical benefit of using cannabinoids in anticancer therapies) and will discuss the possible future avenues of research in this area. In my last blog on Industrial Hemp, I was sparked by this mention of the work on cannabinoid that will push governments to look at more liberal legalisation of the uses and production of Industrial Hemp. I was not sure what that meant and was not even able to pronounce the word… and then it all clicked… so this is what all the fuss is all about on the stock market. A simple Google search will unearth a plethora of information and people can debate the moral and ethical parts of cannabinoid use. I think if we can extract these “things” naturally and it is a good thing, I am all for it. Interestingly there is a video where one researcher mentioned a study completed where they showed that heavy smokers of “ganja” showed a negative chance of cancer. Heavy smokers of tobacco were 10-fold or 20-fold positive for contracting lung cancer. Whether this is Real or Not, I will leave the decision to DYOR. source:https://atlasofscience.org/the-safety-and-toxicology-of-cannabinoids/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278584615001190 Disclaimer The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

Just went on a trip to the Pilbara for a short job with a client and I had forgotten how beautiful this place was, especially in winter. Arriving on a Friday, I did the usual visit the office, drop my gear off and then I went looking for my site and drove down the Tom Price bitumen road. “Do or Do Not. There is No Try — Yoda” I remembered the famous quote by Yoda and took off the road to find an obscure turn off before a Floodway sign where it will lead me to a site I have never seen before, that was the directions given… Luckily being an Exploration Geologist, I found it and never got lost like accountants…… After a day of locating drill sites and talking to the appropriate people to clear drill pads, it was back to see what has changed to the township of Karratha. The last time I was in Karratha (https://goo.gl/maps/chpkAwcWCqL2) for a decent time was in 2007. I had a brief stop nine months ago, but we were in the field all day, and all I saw was the night version. My verdict is that they have taken away the swimming pool and built apartments. Apart from that, it is the same with the addition of KFC, Subway and MacDonalds. Oh and excellent pubs/restaurants that charge like a wounded bull :-). The next day was spent making sure all was good with the earthworks, talk to the drillers and more photography. I went wondering outside the drill area, as I always do, to see what I could be drilling into and I came up with these two beauties. At a temperature in the high 20s Celsius, it was as perfect as you can get to do some geological wonderment. The Pilbara in my opinion is one of the best places to work; it just grows on you. The third morning is when I took my first sunrise photos, and it was a good morning. The drillers were a touch late…. 10 am…but who is counting.  Anyway, I enjoyed sitting around the weather and just relaxing, but it would have been good if I could have had a couple of coffee as well. The best part of this trip was the fact that a guy was mapping the area. We had many great discussions on what possibly could be happening here, and I was all ears to his thoughts. I was surprised that I had some excellent insights myself (always under appreciating my talents….). This help is the best part of exploration. “It is a previlage to be an exploration geologist as you get paid to go to places people who pay lots of money will never get to go and experience the wondrous Australian outback.” The job was over in a hurry, and it was back to photography and then having a mellow return to civilisation. I look forward to the next job and hopefully a trip to a nice place and not some boring mine site…… Disclaimer The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

In my endeavour to look at new concepts and creating new networks, I visited the 2018 International Business Festival in Liverpool, UK between the 11th June and the 25th June. The festival took the format of 3 days per week for 3 weeks, so a total of 9 sessions. Although the main components of the talks were about the UK, I picked up a lot of concepts and ideas for the Austalasian sector. There was also the creation of new networks of investors and projects. Each day had a different theme and within each day, there were micro themes. https://www.internationalbusinessfestival.com/ Week 1 1. Global Economics 2. Urbanisation & Cities 3. Sustainable Energy Week 2 4. Future Transport 5. Manufacturing 6. Global Logistics & Shipping Week 3 7. Health & Life Sciences 8. Creative Industries 9. Sport, Culture & Travel The one major story I kept hearing was the aggressive nature of British government spending. The figure of £6B were being spent to generate business in the UK. There were also the numerous government sponsored agencies that were created to aid small businesses to compete and participate within the EU and the rest of the world. I attended one stand and it was showcasing a satellite imagery software to monitor mining and environmental projects. It was one of two things i saw that had direct relationship to the mineral resources sector that I seem to live in. However, the lady explained to me what they do and I wondered if we had anything like that in Australia. They were called Catapult – Satellite Applications (https://sa.catapult.org.uk/about-us/) and they were one of 6 or 7 other catapults in the UK. There was one for different “sectors”. Then there was the daily Investor Pitch which was the organized by the UK Business Angels Associations (https://www.ukbaa.org.uk/). These talks were the best thing about the whole festival. I found myself a comfortable couch (yes, they had one) and I sat down and listened to a myraid of 5 minute talks on everything from IT to Hemp building products. While we are all going through our networking, we were graced with the company of Prince William. Apart from the great talks and networking, the 2 weeks had other enjoyable parts, such as my trip around Manchester and Liverpool, my scenery along the journey by train from Manchester to Liverpool and my trip to Anfield… Disclaimer The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

The most interesting thing about Hemp is that the seeds are a good source of Vitamin E and B, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. The plant contains all nine essential amino acids. The group that was presenting was called the Margent Farm. They appeared to be a small company seeking public funding of £600,000 during one of the investor pitches. Apparently it only takes 100 days to have an adult hemp plant. No wonder many people make loads of money from the other strain….. The industrial benefits that was being demonstrated during the presentation, to me, was mind blowing. I never knew that these things were being made to be building products. What was surprising to me was that with all the known beneficial properties, why are these products not more in the public domain? According to www.hempcrete.com.au, “ HEMPCRETE has no equal as a natural building product, sequestering carbon dioxide for the life of the building.  Created by simply combining water, hemp aggregate and a lime-based binder it produces a building product with excellent thermal insulating and acoustic properties. The insulation forms the entire wall with the load bearing timber frame fully encased. Hempcrete is not just an insulator – it buffers temperature and humidity, prevents damp and mould growth, making the building a comfortable healthy environment. “IT IS A BIT DEARER, BUT A LOT BETTER!” Hempcrete buildings last as long as a castle and save energy for ever. It is fire and termite resistant, lightweight and forms a hard wall surface yet is vapour permeable to help reduce humidity and prevent condensation – a truly natural product..” The images below from Hempcrete Australia Pty Ltd shows some of the uses of the product and how they are being harvested. Kevin McCloud of the Grand design television show shares his opinion about the uses of hempcrete …..https://youtu.be/SbXyUcRACmY Technically, hemp seeds are a nut with a mild, nutty flavour containing over 30{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5} fat, being rich in two essential fatty acids, linoleic acid (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3). Other interesting things about Hemp are that the seeds are a good source of Vitamin E and B, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. The plant contains all nine essential amino acids. My research has shown that Industrial hemp is not new phenomena more like since early 1700s. In fact, the uses for Industrial hemp is so large and it all sort of came into prohibition in the 1930s. One commentary on the google search mentioned that Henry Ford made one his cars with hemp materials which if it was true, would make it very interesting. John Patterson has a more in depth video on Industrial hemp… https://youtu.be/s599N6f-6s4 What is Industrial Hemp ? Industrial Hemp is a herbaceous flowering plant and its scientific name is called Cannabis Sativa. It’s most famous property, the psychotic constituent, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is less than 0.3{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5} which makes is an irrelevant psychotic substance. IT can grow up to 4-6m in height. There are many other benefits of Hemp as a superfood, a substitute for fibreglass and textiles. The list is endless and a simple google search will show that there are significant benefits that Hemp can provide to the common person. Disclaimer The information contained on this website is the writer’s personal opinion and is provided to you for information only and is not intended to or nor will it create/induce the creation of any binding legal relations. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

This is an updated post from Sam Ulrich. The mining industry mantra “Grade is King” is often used, especially in the gold industry. But is it true? Do higher gold grades automatically mean lower costs, potentially higher profits and possibly better returns for investors? What sounds so simple in theory is not in reality. At the single mine scale, the grade is king holds true. All the costs of extracting the gold and sustaining the operation, known as the All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) on a per ounce basis varies with gold grade, where at higher grades, AISC is lower and vice versa. But when collectively comparing the Australian gold industry as a whole, such a relationship is not transferable between deposits. For example, in the September 2016 quarter the Gwalia gold mine processed ore grading 10.00g/t producing 67,118oz of gold at an AISC of A$774/oz (US$587/oz) and the Mt Rawdon gold mine processed ore grading 0.99g/t producing 24,878oz of gold at an AISC of A$764/oz (US$579/oz). Both of these mines will be two of the lowest cost gold mines in the September 2016 quarter, and yet their grades are an order of magnitude different. Most mines in Australia will have gold grades between these two mines and will have AISC higher, than these two mines. Collectively as an industry “grade is king” does hold true at the ore processing stage, but not at the ore mining stage (Figure 1). Knowing this, additional geological factors other than grade must have an influence over the operating cost structure of the mining operation. The minable geometry of the orebody generally decides the mining method, which influences costs, what derives this minable geometry? Answer, structure, mineralisation style(s) and grade. These factors combined with scale (size of the orebody) determine the costs. A good way to get a feel for this is what is the average gold ounces per vertical metre. Differences obviously exist between open pit and underground operations and the operations that use both mining methods. Whenever you hear that a gold resource is of good grade and better than, ding, ding, ding projects/mines, ask the additional important questions, what is the underlying structure, mineralisation style, scale of the deposit and how many average gold ounces per vertical metre does that relate to? It is easy to pull out a so-called comparable selection of deposits to show a gold resource in good light with respect to grade, but it does not mean it is any good. For an excellent recent summary of the Australian and New Zealand gold industry for the 2016 June quarter check out. http://www.cet.edu.au/news-and-media/news/news-details/2016/09/02/ravensgate-cet-gold-operations-bulletin The author, Sam Ulrich is a consultant geologist with over 20 years’ experience, primarily in mineral exploration, resource development and mineral asset valuation in Australia and Asia. He is presently undertaking a PhD part-time at The University of Western Australia, investigating the geological controls on the operating cost structure of Australian and New Zealand gold mines. The aim is to link economics with geology to understand the drivers of competitive advantage between gold deposits. He is contactable at sam.ulrich@research.uwa.edu.au LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/samulrich Disclaimer The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

Written by Adam Smith Shoe Ask anyone to share with you what they know about economics and chances are Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will get a mention. Ask an economist what is GDP in private, and you will hear that it is a lousy measure but better than nothing. GDP has been around long enough to provide relativity for analysts, commentators and joe-public alike. But it is still a lousy way to measure. Here’s why. I refer to the three letter GDP acronym as a measure that “Grossly Deceives People.” One and all sell it as THE measure of economic health to all and sundry. In reality, it is an easily gamed measure that incentivises poor choice and compounds mal-investment. Take Australia’s record 24+ years of uninterrupted positive GDP. Politicians in government spruik this as a miracle of fiscal government engineering. How long? Note how the line stays above zero after 1992 in the above chart. Peel back the GDP numbers, like most economic measures, and the miracle is how miraculous politicians have been in getting away with the GDP deceit. For the average person a good outcome is to be able to get on with life, contribute their bit, have some R&R in between, and accumulate some wealth. Pretty basic stuff. One would “think out loud” (sic.) that a quarter of a century of faultless positive GDP would translate into a citizens paradise. Surely a nation of utopian wonderment? Far from it, and the public is waking up to the GDP deceit; too late for many. Manipulating the GDP spin is easy. For example, as GDP goes up, so too goes up the nation’s wealth. Great! Take that growing wealth and divide by the population number means not so great for Australia. You see aggregates like GDP are deceitful unless pulled apart and put through comparative analysis. A stagnant population with upward GDP is a population where the benefits per-capita are going up. That’s a good thing; only that is not what happens in Australia. True, GDP has been positive for 25 years or so, but so too has net immigration. And the “net” of net migration dispersal across Australia is narrowed to two cities; Sydney and Melbourne. That means GDP for these population centres in NSW and Victoria is excellent, per-capita GDP, not so. Immigration is just another of the three card tricks in the GDP game. Add more people to a country, and you can add the new arrivals as a percentage directly to the GDP number. What? If GDP was stagnant at 0%, but you allow an influx of migrants, adding 1.5% to the population total, guess what? GDP goes from 0% to +1.5%. Clever isn’t it. Population growth through net positive internal population growth plus positive overseas migration to Australia has subsumed any clarity GDP measurements can provide business and the general public. Back out population stuffing from the GDP number and Australia looks like an ossified economy creeping to a halt. As I type this Australia’s population will reach 25 million souls; 30 years ahead of schedule. Thanks to bringing forward population growth to support the positive GDP narrative, GDP has remained upward, even though Government as a share of the economy now makes up 25% of activity. (Federal – ex-State and Local). Significant manufacturing is all but dead, but for a few outposts, if it wasn’t for extractive industries the whole economy would be transfer payments (welfare), government pork barreling infrastructure like roads, and not much else. What has Australia got to show for 25 years of continuous positive GDP? Infrastructure demand out-weighs the ability of government to deliver or indeed even fund it. One new person requires about $350,000 of immediate infrastructure. Yes, really. All these new souls have brought the miraculous GDP growth rate to a tipping point where growth can’t keep pace for per capita benefits to wash through. Combine the cost per person in new infrastructure demand and it the word Ponzi scheme comes to mind. GDP based on population stuffing ignores positive and negative “externalities”; a clever economists’ word to describe the unseen impacts of an outcome. Constant positive GDP has given rise, in concert with lower inflation, to cheap interest rates. The negative externality of cheap debt causes the maximalist behaviour in house owners; borrowing up to their eyeballs to “climb the property ladder”. Population stuffing has created demand for housing, add low-interest rates, and you get a housing boom, great if you are an existing owner, not so if you aspire to be one. For some, owning a home means moving State or relocating to regional centres far away from familiar family and friendship ties. Theoretically possible, but in an age of me, me, me, there’s little chance we will see wholesale migration out of the bulging State capital in NSW or Victoria any time soon. Positive GDP, great for housing but only if you can afford it. GDP masks productivity changes too. Australia’s productivity index is flattening out at 100. That’s terrible news; productivity should be the primary driver of positive GDP (The P is Product). A quarter of a century of comfortable economic conditions gives rise to inefficiency and idleness. Australia’s workers are going backwards in productivity, at a time when the machine age is encroaching on workers one and all. Not a healthy combination. Negative GDP means recession and recessions are aren’t they? Well, yes recessions are bad, Western Australia has been in one for four years, but thanks to seasonal adjustment revised numbers – another of the card tricks on offer. The data for WA GDP at a State level is massaged monthly so that no two following measures come out negative, thanks to revising the previous one every time the new one comes out. Don’t believe me? Check it out yourself. Laughable. The recession in WA has left households in negative equity territory, retail sales flat to negative and unemployment at around 6-7% depending on the workforce participation rate changes. Greater efficiency and less price gouging are positives for WA out of the four-year contraction in the State economy. Want a house built? Now is the time, the fat in the building industry is gone, gone, gone. For WA the GDP con has delivered a recessionary environment that encourages efficient allocation of resources. Not so in the East. Light rail in Sydney, road contract cancellations with billion-dollar penalties etc, the “other side” of the Federated States and Territories is living in an altered universe. Eventually, the GDP game will be up, no amount of population stuffing and gaming the system can keep it together. Jobs growth is another favourite. Politicians think politicians create jobs. No, they don’t, sorry for the truth syrup. But in taking the credit for the upside politicians must accept they also take the blame for any contraction too. Insofar as successive Governments have hung their shingle on positive GDP as a thing entirely of their making, any shift to the downside is their fault also. Dream on! But dreams, in this case, will come true, in the next term of Federal Government (3 years) the chances of a recession are pretty high. As such, the winner of the next election might turn out to be the loser if the public doesn’t buy the line that the recession was not their fault. The “Gross Deception of People” is about to get more deceptive. Watch this space. Disclaimer The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

In 2009, I sought out to list a company on the ASX with the sole determination to discover the next gold mine or the next commodity mine. I looked at the market and decided that the best commodity is gold for the uncertainty and the fact that it has been over sold. The other was Uranium and that was because I believed that the cleanest and most efficient form of future energy is nuclear. Now, I was correct in predicting that the pricing of gold and uranium (Figure 1 and 2) would rise and the market will be there if you discovered the deposit. Now the fact that we could not find that deposit was the problem…… Although the uranium price did tank after Fukushima so technically, we could have found the deposit but the market was just not interested… :-). My story is not different to that of many explorers looking for a go, some come and go and some come and become monsters, such as Sirius Resources Limited (ASX:SIR), Sandfire Resources Limited (ASX:SFR; Figure 3), and maybe ………….. well nothing else really…….There are many other success stories but I cannot remember any significant discoveries that would fall into a “blind discovery” story, I am more than happy to accept the ones that have forgotten….. just a sign of old age….. I guess, Great Central Mines with Bronzewing and Jundee could well fall into that category but that is going back to the early 1990s. However, in my opinion, the Nova story is the most impressive and I am sure, every exploration geologist would like to write as his or her own. I for one, would have liked that to be my story, but it belongs to Mark Bennett and the Sirus team. The exploration process or sequence is pretty well captured by a article written by Brendan Jephcott in Linkedin. It is a well written article and gives the reader a good understanding of how it went from a grassroot exploration project to a major discovery that is worth every dollar spent in exploration. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nova-bollinger-ni-cu-deposit-brief-history-brendan-jephcott-{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5}E4{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5}B8{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5}81{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5}E4{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5}B8{e84228ce8c9f7001611629be1db85467cf541581cf1fd5424de0612b3249e3f5}81) A couple of YouTube videos of Mark Bennett is excellent for those that are interested. The presentation is made to the Australian Institute of Geoscientists so its a geological presentation. What is a good note is that in the Q and A part, you can pick up that the discovery is primarily a test and see method. His title of WHO DARE WIN is exactly what EXPLORATION is all about and that is why I loved the Nova story. Presentation of the discovery by Mark Bennett – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIk3nCBtuC4 Q and A with Mark bennett after his presentation – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGryOpjM2o8 Sandfire has a similar story but my point is that there has not been many major discoveries in recent time that is worth mentioning. There have been success stories where companies have extended mineralisation in old mined deposits or discovery of major deposits within the mineralsied zone. Probably the best is that of Trident Gold Mine which was discovered by Avoca Resources. It had a resource of over 900,000oz. The company discovered the deposit after near mine exploration. The other is the Invincible deposit discovered by Gold Fields Australia just south of “Kambalda Goldfields”, (http://diggersndealers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/GoldfieldsDiggers-Dealers-Invincible-FINAL-for-DD-Presentation-Copy.pdf). The AUSIMM published a very interesting article in 2015 titled, ” Tackling the crisis in mineral exploration” https://www.ausimmbulletin.com/opinion/tackling-the-crisis-in-mineral-exploration/“ This is a very economic article on the merits of exploration and why exploration is very important, complicated and expensive. I would strongly recommend a good read as this will really caputre the real essence of why we need to explore. It makes a very interesting read and it highlights out the increasing cost of discoveries. I believe that the cost of discoveries are due to many factors such as greater depth, greater difficulties in finding deposits, greater cost of labour…etc However, the lack of discoveries is significant as that means the rate of replenishment is not being met and in many circumstances, the supply is going to be lacking behind demand. With this in mind, expenditure into exploration will need to increase in the near future and all the neglected advanced exploration projects will eventually demand value and those that sit on the sideline now will be regretting this lack of movement now. For those who wants to understand who I consider a modern day prospector who has made persistent prospecting a real success, have a look at this …… Mark was a prospector for almost 20 years before his first major win and that was the Bronzewing Gold deposit which he sold for about AUD150M. It was another 20 years before his next win and that was the Nova Nickel Deposit, and I think he sold his remaining share for a total win with Nova of about AUD600M+. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yABf8vBW6LA On a final note, this is what exploration is all about on a small sacle…. just for fun, watch this………. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXahfkEia2g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrz-Qf-WM-c Disclaimer The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso

This week I have decided to go off tangent and introduce an associate of mine who works and lives in the exciting city of Dubai. Maria Kanakrieh and I met in 2013 on one of my many investor relations trip and we have kept in touch sporadically. I was surprised to find out that Maria is now an IT guru with the launch of her own App. I was automatically intrigued with what is it and how she started this journey with multiple questions. So I invited Maria to share her thoughts on the journey and her App. Maria Kanakrieh began her career in a specialist marketing role, before shifting to a business development role which services all sizes of businesses in the Middle East. The positions allowed her to gain great relationships with many local and international companies ranging from SME to corporate. After joining the investment industry, Maria has been able to connect and coordinate opportunities ranging from oil and gas, confectioneries and mining. After a few years in the industry, Maria decided to pursue the entrepreneurship road where she is currently focusing on tech business ideas. The End of Outdated Resumes by Maria Kanakrieh Finding the right job might sound like a dream come true to many, whilst finding the right candidate – better yet, team player, is one of employers’ toughest jobs. They say, hire people smarter than you, hence why many dedicated much of their time and resources to go through hundreds if not thousands of resumes and dissect experiences of those beings, on a piece of paper! Fascinating stuff. LinkedIn has successfully been able to cater to the professional world and been one of the most used platforms to connect to potential candidates. They mastered the art of taking an outdated resume and plugging it on the web for easier access, plus added some pretty cool features to make it more social. Major thumbs up where simple creativity had put them on the map of superbly successful companies. The question is, is it not an outdated method? Aren’t many candidates losing their chance of being hired due to reasons such as not enough degrees because of money issues, or, not enough exposure to corporate companies because they did not attend elite schools and colleges, the list can go on. My co-founder (Laith Al Hassan) and I spent some time trying to figure out how we can begin our entrepreneurship journey with a cool business idea that would be useful. That is when some funny and crazy ideas started bouncing off during our brainstorming sessions. A shorter version of the story ends with us thinking about our close friends always asking us to hook them up with job openings. They were all great individuals; smart, presentable, hardworking – the whole package! Why were they unable to secure interviews from sending through their resumes? Because they were not even given a chance to show their personalities. They were only being judged by a piece of paper – that, let’s be real, sometimes includes information that is exaggerated and not interesting. It is, after all, a piece of paper. With social media’s popularity over the past few years, and peoples’ obsession with their smart phones and stalking – I mean, watching other peoples’ moves online, came the idea of our first business. Clipme – think about resume, in a clip form (and yes, it is pronounced similar to resume with the accent). Clipme is an app that allows anyone looking for a job, to upload a 20 second clip of themselves. One can simply pitch themselves and enjoy their 15 seconds of fame (hence why we went with ’20 seconds’ – close enough). Once their clip goes live, employers can simply scroll through the different categories of jobs and double tap on the clips of candidates they fancy to connect with. Sounds interesting? Would you like to know more? Check out www.clipmeintl.com Please feel free to contact Maria through www.clipmeintl.com or email me on noel.ong@samso.com.au and I will make the connection for you. Disclaimer The information or opinions provided herein do not constitute investment advice, an offer or solicitation to subscribe for, purchase or sell the investment product(s) mentioned herein. It does not take into consideration, nor have any regard to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, risk profile, tax position and particular, or unique needs and constraints. Read full Disclaimer. www.samso.com.au If you find this article informative and useful, please help me share the information.  I try and write about topics that are interesting and have the potential to be of investment value.  It is not easy to find stories that fit those parameters. If you or your organisation see the benefit of what Samso is trying to achieve and have a need to share your journey, please contact me on noel.ong@samso.com.au. About Samso