How Richard Fifer of Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) treats his business partners

This month we've already seen the conviction papers that explain in clear detail how Richard Glenn Fifer Carles of Panama (and not some homonym in Miami) was convicted of narcotrafficking back in the 1970s, with half a dozen or so examples of  cocaine and marijuana pushing brought before the court, his conviction, his time locked away and his probation. So yes, despite his denials on the matter (he's now trying to play with his own name, call himself "Richard Carles Fifer" and confuse people into believing it's not him, FWIW) we know he's a convicted felon. But as a few mailers have pointed out, it was a long time ago, he did his probation and kept out of trouble afterwards and perhaps there's good reason to give him the benefit of the doubt and not to assume that leopards never change their spots.

Fair enough, so let's move on and see how Richard Fifer of Petaquilla (PTQ.to) treats people he goes into business with, shall we? This link will take you to a court decision in Panama dated May 4th 2000 regarding the case brought against Richard Fifer (via his company Minamerica Corporation) by Julio Benedetti (via his company Inversiones Geologicas SA). The court decision is in Spanish, but it's pretty clear stuff for those versed in the language and the main judgement is that Fifer (via his company) was ordered to pay back U$475,000 to Benedetti (via his company).OK, so Fifer lost his case, but the details of the action show Fifer in his true light. By way of a brief summary of the case, here are a few bullet points:

• In 1994, Inversiones Geologicas (the Benedetti company) lent Minamerica (the Fifer company) U$400,000 at a rate of interest of 9.25% annual. This interest was calculated to 1998 and explians the $475,000 total judgement against Fifer. 

• Fifer then got his company to lend him the money. In other words, he cleaned out Minamerica of all cash assets and we assume lived his own style of highlife on the $400k. And hey, that kind of wedge buys more than a single round of mojitos.

• When Benedetti (via his company) asked for his money back (we assume he went through the normal protocolar channels to do so), Fifer said something to the effect of "Minamerica is bankrupt, it has no money left, it's not my problem, sorry dude, you lose".

• So Benedetti then somehow finds out that Fifer asset stripped the company, pulled a fast one and was living on the money borrowed out of a company that he himself bankrupted.

• Then to the courts. Benedetti won.

Listen, those bullet points above are a mix of the facts of the case and a tad of interpretation of what probably went on, so I highly recommend you download your own copy and get the full info yourself. But even if the interpretation is a bit loose, we're really not going to be far away from the substance of Richard Fifer's idea of doing business. This very same dude now runs a gold mine in Panama! FerCryinOutLoud, you must be mad to put your cash to work under the auspices of a scumbag drug dealing fraudster like this. DYODD.

Mo' Richard Fifer

A lot of very interesting feedback and reaction to the post yesterday on Richard Fifer, chairman of Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) so far, and for what it's worth I've spent a good chunk of this morning forwarding the original PDF to people (perhaps people with a slower download link speed are having the problems, because others get to download the 4.9Mb PDF without grief).

One point raised by a couple of mails has been "OK he did prison time for cocaine dealng but dude, it was 1975, he did his probation and may have turned over a whole new leaf" or words to that effect. Well maybe, as long as he had by then turned over a new leaf by and since then has been an upstanding member of the bizworld. Unfortuntely for the people who have had dealing with Fifer since his drug dealing days that's a crock, so next up we'll show you how he tried to defraud another member of the Panama mining community to the tune of nearly U$500,000 in the 1990's (with all the necessary documentary evidence, of course) and only got reeled in by the courts six years after the scam he pulled. New leaf my ass. Watch this space.

Richard Fifer, convicted drug dealer and chairman of Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to)

Don't fret, kissing one's wife at Christmas is not illegal

I think we'll just go with the facts on this one. Back when Richard Fifer (Chairman of the Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) and vendor of the Panama Copper project to Inmet) was a youth of 18, he spent his days selling marijuana and cocaine in the US controlled canal zone of Panama. Y'know, just like any other scumbag who wanted to get rich and didn't care how it happened. That is until he got caught, arrested, thrown in jail and sent up before the judge where he pleaded guilty to the charges of both possession and distribution.

He was given a sentence of 18 months in jail, of which 90 days was under lock-up and the other 15 months suspended under four years of probation. He kept his nose clean during his probation period and was eventually discharged from probation by the courts. So how do we know all these details about a past that Richard Glenn Fifer Jr has always been at pains to deny ever happened? Simple; we've read the court documents, checked them for veracity and found them to be factual. Now you can check them out too, by downloading a PDF of the docs from right here (the file is 4.8Mb, so give it a bit of time, yeah?).

UPDATE: A couple of people have now written in saying they've had trouble downloading the PDF file (while others have had no such problem). If you're having problems, mail me and I'll send you a copy by return (but make sure your mailbox can handle a 5Mb dump).

Regarding Richard Fifer of Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to), cocaine, marijuana and prison

Richard Fifer, cocaine dealer

IKN would like to make it clear that Richard Glenn Fifer Carles, erstwhile governor of the Coclé region of Panama, qualified geologist and Chairman and main force behind Panama gold company Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to), does not have a criminal record for marijuana dealing.

The truth is that he has a criminal record for cocaine and marijuana dealing and has done his time in prison for the crimes committed, too.

Yeah, really. This guy is a drug dealing scumbag and the truth is upon us. Watch this space next week for the dirty details that he's tried to keep covered up for years.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!! Convicted Drugs Felon Bails on Gold Company

And thus the not-wanted-at-his-own-company-anymore convicted narcotrafficker who lives in Panama (hey! great place for a guy of his background, no?) Richard Fifer cashes out of the pig awful Petaquilla Gold (PTQ.to) and has himself a wodge of cash to keep his wife happy (hey man, gotta keep the wife happy). Here's the filing of the 160k shares he's dumped on an unsuspecting world in December:

Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. (PTQ)						As of January 3rd, 2010
Filing Date	Transaction Date	Insider Name	Ownership Type	Securities	Nature of transaction	# or value acquired or disposed of	Unit Price
Dec 31/09	Dec 29/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-25,000	$0.850
Dec 31/09	Dec 29/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-10,000	$0.840
Dec 31/09	Dec 24/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-9,000	$0.810
Dec 31/09	Dec 24/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-15,000	$0.800
Dec 31/09	Dec 24/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-10,000	$0.790
Dec 31/09	Dec 23/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-16,000	$0.810
Dec 31/09	Dec 22/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-25,000	$0.810
Dec 31/09	Dec 22/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-25,000	$0.800
Dec 31/09	Dec 22/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-24,500	$0.790
Dec 31/09	Dec 21/09	Fifer, Richard	Indirect Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Disposition in the public market	-500	$0.800

Petaquilla (PTQ.to): LatAm's worst miner about to hit a serious cash crunch

We've documented just how bad this mining company really is on several occasions.

• We've mentioned the as-yet unpaid multi-million dollar environmental fines imposed by the government for reckless disregard for the law, the land and the people around the mine.

• We've observed that it's run by a convicted drug trafficker.

• We've noted the BS promo techniques via lapdog press friends and BS scammy expat bloggers in Panama.

• We've seen its flagrant disregard for correct procedure and how it produces gold even though it still has no licences to do so legally.

• We even know that Panama's ombudsman has recommended it closed immediately.

But we haven't mentioned the big big financial problems at PTQ.to yet.

If we check out the working capital position at PTQ.to, we see that according to the last earnings report it is in deficit to the tune of $7.7m or so. OUCH.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Now that's a lot of money for such a pisspoor company, but the progress towards PTQ.to imminent cash crunch has now been made that much quicker by recent rulings from Panama's government. According to latest reports, in order for the company to make itself legal and get the licences it needs to operate, it will have to:

1) Pay its outstanding fines to the Environment agency ANAM that amount to U$1.93m

2) Pay its amount outstanding to the MICI commerce ministry, precisely $900,000

3) Deposit U$14.3m at ANAM as a bond to cover any future environmental fines caused by the company as well as final clean up charges.

And the funniest thing is that so far not a single dollar of the above U$17.3m is set aside as contingency by the company, so somehow they have to add all this burden on to the books in order to get a licence to operate. Or in other words, I sure hope you're not long PTQ.to right now, dude, because if you are there's a financially religious experience coming your way very soon. DYODD.

Petaquilla (PTQ.to) recommended closed by Panama's Ombudsman

The Office of the Ombudsman in Panama (Defensoría del Pueblo) today published the findings of its investigation in LatAm's worst mining company, Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to), currently permanently laying waste to the environment of first growth rain forest around its operations under the stewardship of its CEO, convicted drug runner Richard Fifer.

The report published by the Ombudsman can be found on this link right here (Spanish only) so link-thru and knock yourselves out, but in a nutshell it takes into account 23 (yep twenty-three) different considerations of illegal or reportedly illegal activity by PTQ.to and makes seven resolutions, the main three of which being directly significant to PTQ.to are:

1) The Ombudsman states that Petaquilla Minerals has violated Panama's constitutional right of a healthy environment by proven acts of pollution, non-compliance with laws and abuses of rights (I mean hey...why mess with breaking a piffly law or two when you can go the whole hog and violate the country's constitution, right?).

2) The Ombudsman recommends to the Ministry of Commerce (MICI) and the Ministry of the Environment (ANAM) that they take steps via some precise and existing laws to stop all activity at the mine immediately.

3) The Ombudsman recommends to the Ministry of Commerce (MICI) that it moves to rescind the contract of Petaquilla Minerals under the law of "Substantial Non-Compliance" that's part of the Pananamian statute.

The ministries now have 30 days to get their acts together and move on this. It explains why the company says it's finally commissioning its mine but the stock has done nothing despite the BS pump PRs and ridiculous cheerleading from corrupted Panamanian websites that try to part expats from their retirement lump sums (and are seemingly unwilling to run today's news on Fifer's craphole...what a surprise, Don Wanker).

The sooner this thing is shut down forever, the better it will be for the world. PTQ.to is a prime example of the kind of rancid operation that gives the whole world of mining a bad name and gets dirt thrown at the good as well as the bad. Meanwhile, the sycophantic Canadian mining scene just keeps it mouth tightly shut about the stock and the scumbags running the company; it's about time you learned how to weed out your own, boyz.

Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to): "About the company...."

CEO Fifer with another crook

Part of Fifer's wardrobe

Latin America's worst gold mining junior, Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to), currently poisoning first growth rainforest without any sort of environmental approval and illegally employing its staff, put out another BS news release this morning. Those of us that read a lot of PRs tend to skip the regulatory bits at the end of the releases...y'know, the bits about "forward looking statements" and "about the company" that come with nearly all such missives. But in the case of PTQ.to it's well worth looking to see how the "about the company" part has changed over the years.

For example, in today's PR the company states:

"Full commercial production is expected to occur in the second half of 2009."

Which, since we're at the end of June right now is understandable. I mean, how they gonna start up a mine in the next 48 hours? But still if we compare it to the PR dated April 9th, PTQ said at the time

"....the processing facility will reach its full rated capacity of 2200 tonnes per day in June 2009."

So two months ago they said "June 2009", and now they say "second half of 2009"? Hmmmm.... BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Let's check back a bit further and see what this bunch of bullshit liars said on November 28th 2008.

"Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is an emerging gold producer scheduled to bring its 100%-owned Molejon Gold Project into production in the latter half of December 2008."

Here's July 2008

"..Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is an emerging gold producer scheduled to bring its 100%-owned Molejon Gold Project into production in 2008."

Here's January 2008

"Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is an emerging gold producer scheduled to bring its 100%-owned Molejon Gold Project into production in fiscal year 2008."

Here's July 2007

"Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is an emerging gold producer scheduled to bring its 100%-owned Molejon Gold Project into production in the third quarter of 2007."

What about January 2007?(this is a cute one)

"....The progress made at the project has reaffirmed management’s original schedule of performing the first gold pour in July 2007."

Anyone notice a pattern? Not the most difficult one in the world to spot, is it? If the fact that PTQ.to is run by crooks comes as a shock to you, please do yourself a favour and never invest in junior mining companies. Ever.

Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) implosion watch

On April 9th, LatAm's worst mining company Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) published this PR that claimed the company had made first gold pour (even though it was under a governmental stop work order due to its manifold environmental violations and had no right to do anything on the site, let alone produce gold) and that, to quote the lying scumbags:

"The Company maintains its previous estimate that the processing facility will reach its full rated capacity of 2200 tonnes per day in June 2009."

So here we are in June 2009. Now for sure it's only June 2nd and we could give the company another 28 days to make good on its prediction, but somehow I don't think they're going to make it. Why? Because it's difficult to run a gold mine after you've laid off your workforce.

This report (Spanish language) documents the clashes between riot police and the 400 workers at PTQ.to's Molejon mine who were suddenly and unexpectedly laid off by the company late May. The sacked workers proceeded to block the local main road in protest until the men in green moved in with sticks and tear gas. Eleven of the sacked miners were arrested (including this dude).

"Lost your job? No money? Let me give you a ride to the station, sir."

So you gotta wonder, what with nobody working there and that, if the company is going to make that June deadline, yeah? Isn't it strange how these things never get reported by the English language mining media that is too sycophantic to say anything against Canadian mining companies working in LatAm? This company stinks, Kosich, Wheeler, Koven...write it up.

Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to): Updating LatAm's worst mining company

Felipe Camargo: Noriega's henchman and convicted human rights
abuser is now Head of Security at Petaquilla Minerals...
you just can't get the staff these days, can you?

As birds of a feather flock together, the latest recruit to the empire of Richard 'lil dick' Fifer should come as little surprise. Its new head of security hired to keep the locals in check is a guy named Felipe Camargo. If that name rings a bell amongst all the Latin American modern history professors tuning in tonight let me refresh memories by saying that yes, it is the same Major Felipe Camargo who was head of the G-2 'Military Intelligence' army hit squad in Noriega's time and ol' pineapple face's right-hand man. Yes, it's the same Felipe Camargo that was in charge of Noriega's gun running operation. Yes, it's the same Felipe Camargo who was jailed after the overthrow of Noriega and later convicted in 1992 of human rights violations and yes, it's the very same Felipe Camargo with another 30 charges of human rights abuses left pending and unanswered.

That's the kind of guy who gets a job as "Chief of Security" under the scumbag Fifer and his worst-of-breed goldmine. I bet the Scrabble board doesn't get much use in the company canteen.

Meanwhile, locals have also stepped up their campaign against this aberration of an open pit slum and as of May 11th blocked the road to Petaquilla demanding that the government close the thing once and for all. The roadblock was solid and permanent until May 23rd (ie last weekend) when the local police were ordered to unblock the road by ultra-corrupt local politico for the Coclé region, thus the cops moved in, cracked heads, arrested 20 people including famed enviro activist Carmencita Tedman and the local head of the anti-mining lobby.

Also, despite the fact that the company is still in non-compliance with the national environmental laws it says it will be producing at a rate of 2,200tpd throughput as of next month. Its spokesidiot was also quoted in the local press as saying there is no proof that PTQ.to has polluted the local environment despite things like dead fish floating in rivers and the minor detail of a one million US dollar fine from the ANAM environmental agency that was slapped on its tush in 2008 and has so far refused to pay.

The company cannot legally operate. Got that? Without the environmental permit that it still does not have it should be under a total stop-work order. However it didn't stop these douchebags from claiming on April 9th that the mine had made first pour of gold. It ignores laws, collects fines and then refuses to pay them. It hires convicted human rights abusers to run its security operation (torture and rape were just two of Camargo's calling cards according to the judge) and then beats the living crap out of non violent protestors. Petaquilla Minerals and the people that run it are a pox on the reputation of all Canadian mining companies in Latin America. How can you possibly claim to be responsible when the whole industry, from fellow miners to brokerages to analysts to commentators to investors, turn a blind eye to companies like PTQ.to? Allowing Fifer and his woeful excuse of a mining company to continue reflects badly on the sector, not just one company. Ask yourself if you want a clean and respectable industry. If you do, join me in denouncing Petaquilla Minerals.

Petaquilla Minerals and Reuters; what a pair, eh?

CEO Richard Fifer bought 1.5 million PTQ shares last year in
a desperate attempt to prop his stock. He failed.

Ladies and gentlemen, IKN proudly presents Otto's all-time fave news report out of Panama. Here below is the report from Andrew Beatty of Reuters, reprinted in its entirety.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

LA PINTADA, Panama, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Canada-based Petaquilla Minerals will start production at a new Panamanian gold mine in January, a senior official at the project said on Tuesday.

The Molejon gold project will produce 120,000 ounces of gold in the first year, senior engineer Rafael Eysseric told Reuters.

The project has been criticized by some anti-mining groups but Eysseric said the protests would not delay the start-up date.

The engineer said there was "no risk" of the mine opening behind schedule. (Reporting by Andrew Beatty; Editing by Christian Wiessner)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So why do I love this report so much? Well, I could dwell on that fact that the content is false and misleading. I could chortle a lot about that "no risk" quote. Or I could even talk about Andrew Beatty of Reuters who has a suspicious track record of pumping PTQ.to and is either lazy, incompetent or on the take (whatever way, he's a poor excuse for a journo and Reuters should be ashamed).

But the REAL REASON to adore and worship this report is the filing date, Wednesday 28th November 2007. Yep, the "no risk January" mentioned in the report refers to January 2008! Here we are over a year later and the company is still lying and cheating its shareholders and the wider investment community. And while we're at it, let's have an example of PTQ.to deeds (for that is how thou shalt know them). Here's a photo from 2005 of the Molejon site.

It was taken by Panama's environmental people ANAM to show the illegal and non-permitted logging that was going on at the site. PTQ had cleared about one hectare of jungle without asking and ANAM slapped a $10,000 fine on the company. Cut to 2008, and here's exactly the same area of jungle.

The company just kept on logging and clearing and now the exposed area is 20 to 30 times larger. Now does that look to you like a company that respects government authority and environmental rules and regulations, or does it look like a company that thinks it's above the law? And to get into context the barefaced cheek of these shits, PTQ.to is currently looking for legal loopholes and appeals to avoid paying the $1.93m fine that ANAM slapped on the company due to its continued illegal, anti-environmental activities.

That anti-mining groups hate Petaquilla Minerals is clear. However the point here is that pro-mining people should also hate PTQ.to and call the company out for what it is. It's companies like PTQ.to that give the whole industry a bad name and offer fuel to fire the illogical extremes of the anti-mining protest community. Not all miners are the same, and the majority that are socially and environmentally responsible should rise up, point their fingers at the PTQs of this world and run them out of town.

Related Post

Petaquilla Minerals: Dissecting the press release of a rogue miner

Petaquilla Minerals: Dissecting the press release of a rogue miner

The Molejon Mess

A gold mine is a hole in the ground with a liar on top.
(Benjamin Disraeli, though often mistakenly attributed to Mark Twain)

Press releases are the lifeblood of junior, exploration-stage mining companies. With no meaningful production these companies rely on PRs to keep shareholders interested and wave a "hello! look at me!" to the rest of the investment community.

PRs from straight-shooting, upstanding companies with good reputations and honest management can be read quickly and, for the most part, be taken at face value due to the respect and trust earned previously. Off the top of my head, an example from a company I follow but don't presently own is Chariot Resources (CHD.to) that only releases a PR when it has something to say and gives plenty of factual detail when it does say something.

However, there are also companies like Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to), a company with top management under charge of embezzlement in Panama and with a history of issuing PRs full of deception, doublespeak and lies wrapped in evase legalese to make them technical truths. When PTQ.to issues a press release it can only be taken at face value by people with more money than sense and must be examined closely, else you risk falling into the traps laid by its devious owners and believing something that may cost you dearly at a later date.

Here's the link to PTQ.to's latest offering and below I've pasted it out in full. However by way of an example I've also added my own comments in red between the lines of the PR in italics. So here we go with today's episode of "Spot the PR bullshit":

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 16, 2009 -- Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. (the "Company") announces that, further to the Company's news release dated November 28, 2008, the Company has established a working group to collaborate closely with the Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente ("ANAM"), the environmental agency of the Government of the Republic of Panama.

The news release dated Nov 28 is the one I pulled apart on this link. It's the one that PTQ.to used to imply that it had received its Environment permit and was commissioning its plant, with the first pour due in the latter half of December. Obvious BS as it's now January and no pour was made, but for further reasons why the Nov 28 PR was a pack of lies check the previous post.

On November 26, 2008, ANAM issued a resolution (the "EIS Resolution") approving the Company's Environmental Impact Study Category III (the "EIS"). The EIS essentially brings up to World Bank standards the environmental impact study prepared by the Company and approved by the Panamanian environmental agencies in 1996.

No it doesn't! The Cat 3 study is only one part of the full approval needed to start production. Also, 1996 regulations are a light year away from what is needed now; the 1996 approval may as well have been written on toilet paper and used by CEO Fifer for toilet paper's intended purpose.

The EIS Resolution sets out a number of conditions to be satisfied before the Company can attain full commercial production of the Molejon Gold Mine, which forms a small part of the overall project area.

Here we have the first number fudgery. When PTQ.to says "a number of", that actually means 45 requirements that have to be complied with before the EIS is approved. As for "a small part", that's a silly thing to say. Since when has a production plant taken up anything more than "a small part" of the total area of any mine?

On detailed review of the EIS Resolution by the Company, it became apparent that some conditions are inapplicable to the Molejon operation, and others have already been satisfied by the Company.

More number fudging. Of the 45 requirements, all we know is that "some" and "others" are not a problem. Is that 3 requirements? 27? 14? 42? We don't know, but given the history of deception and lies you can bet your sweet bippy that it's at the lower end of the numbers scale. And I've mentioned it before but I'll mention it again; just one of those 45 requirements is to locate, design and build a tailings dump at Molejon. To understand just how amateur this company is, consider it was seriously thinking of going into production without a place to put its waste. A tailings dump is not something you can whip up in the space of a couple of weeks; it's a complex piece of engineering and it will take a long time to get EIS approval, even once the mine gets it act together and submits a plan. These people are the Keystone Kops of junior miners.

The Company therefore established the working group to cooperate with ANAM to ensure that all conditions are satisfied or waived, so that full commercial production in 2009 will take place without delay.

Notice that flourish at the end, "without delay"? Laughable. This is the same company that promised production (and check these links cos I'm not making this up) "in the first quarter of 2008" then "in fiscal year 2008" then "in the latter half of December 2008" and then "in the first three months of 2009". As each deadline passed, the production start was booted forward. And now the company has the brass neck to say it will start production in 2009 "without delay". Are you beginning to see why these jokers can't be trusted?

The working group has met with the ANAM representatives on four occasions, and the Company is very pleased with progress to date. ANAM has received the Company's presentations in a spirit of cooperation and the Company is committed to working with the agency to resolve all outstanding issues.

Yeah, so what? Want to tell me what the alternative to this is?

ANAM has recommended that it, the Company and the Republic of Panama Ministry of Commerce and Industry ("MICI") work on a tri-lateral basis to fulfill the terms and conditions of the EIS Resolution, and this collaborative effort is underway. MICI is the Governmental organization with overall jurisdiction over the Molejon Project.

This is where the interesting political angle raises its head. On May 3rd 2009 Panama has its Presidential election and Fifer's friend Torrijos loses his job. One of the hot issues in the election will be the environmental mess caused by dirty miners such as Fifer at Molejon and its very likely that the new President (whoever he or she may be) will not let Molejon move ahead (after all, it's only got this far due to the 'close relationship' between Fifer and Torrijos). With MICI in on the decision process, politics is about the get difficult for Fifer&Co.

The Company has advised ANAM that it has reached the stage of pre-production testing and equipment calibration at the Molejon Project Site and, at ANAM's request, has provided ANAM with a comprehensive data package describing such testing procedures, which will include the production of gold. The Company anticipates that its on-going consultation with the Governmental Agencies will result in a smooth transition into full-scale commercial production in 2009.

Check those links above and remember how many times PTQ.to has 'anticipated' things that have not come to pass. Also note "include the production of gold". How much gold are we talking here? Otto wagers about 5 to 10 ounces as part of the test runs, but whatever it is it's about as likely to be commercial as a flying pig.

The Company has been advised that ANAM has rejected a reconsideration request by the Company and its subsidiaries and Minera Panama S.A., (formerly Minera Petaquilla, S.A.) against a US$1 million fine imposed by Resolution dated November 13, 2008, for alleged violations by such companies of environmental laws that took place on the main Petaquilla Copper Concession in 2005. The Resolution also assessed damages in the amount of US$934,694.54. The Company has been advised by Panama counsel that there are several grounds on which the validity of the Resolution can be challenged. The Company is currently assessing the situation to determine what action, if any, should be taken. Consequently, the amount, if any, that may ultimately be payable by the Company cannot be determined.

This is the bonus prize, removed even from the ongoing EIS compliance procedures. What we're supposed to believe is that ANAM fine PTQ.to $1.93m, then ratify and confirm that decision, but then PTQ tries to make believe it can get out of paying the fine and get final EIS approval from the same people at the same time! Anyone who thinks this is remotely possible knows nothing about Latin America.

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And here endeth the lesson. Why you should believe a single word of what this company says is beyond me. It's run by an accused embezzler, has a loathesome environmental track record, refuses to pay its fines, can't design a paper aeroplane correctly let alone a mine, its share price is constantly propped up by CEO Fifer's insider buying and has a proven track record of delays and deception when informing its shareholders. Nuff said.

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Petaquilla Minerals: "Oops, we forgot to tell you that we're a bunch of lying shits."
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Top of the Props
Petaquilla delays its first pour: surprising for Reuters readers, not for IKN readers

Top of the Props

On the day Petaquilla Mining (PTQ.to) did over 600k of volume.........

Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	9,500	$0.425
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	10,000	$0.400
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	15,500	$0.400
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	13,000	$0.400
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	7,000	$0.380
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	500	$0.380
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	19,500	$0.370
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	20,500	$0.370
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	13,500	$0.370
Dec 19/08	Dec 18/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	2,500	$0.365

Nuff said.

Petaquilla Minerals delays its first pour: surprising for Reuters readers, not for IKN readers

When we last caught up with Panama's answer to Madoff, Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) was claiming to all and sundry that they had all their environmental permits in place and that they'd be making first pour in December. They even got the local Reuters patsy reporter to publish that PTQ would "start production before the end of the year". Hmmmm; it seems that since then the PTQ.to IR dep't has forgotten to update its valued and loved shareholders on the latest developments at the company, so allow me to fill in the details:

• In a bizarre twist, PTQ.to is now appealing AGAINST the environment permit that it was so loudly trumpeting just a couple of weeks ago. The Panama News reports how PTQ is appealing against 14 of the 40 extra requirements that this blog mentioned in previous posts. Remember this was the same piece of paper that PTQ.to trumpeted to the North as its ticket to production and riches. Funny how they've been keeping knowledge of its own protests against the ANAM permit away from the investment community, innit?
  

• It's not December any more, folks. According to PTQ's Engineering Veep on December 12th, the first ounce is now going to be poured "in three months' time". Shareholders of PTQ shouldn't be too shocked with this "unforeseen delay", though; we're talking about the company that assured everybody it would be producing in the first quarter of 2008.

All this doesn't take away from the basic facts, not least of which is that PTQ at Molejon doesn't have a tailings dump and a tailings dump is not something that you can just whip together in a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months. But the good news is that if you're still holding PTQ.to in your portfolio you still have time to dump the stock, as CEO Richard Fifer continues desperately to prop up his stock with multiple buys. Here are the latest trades as per Canadian Insider:

Dec 15/08	Dec 12/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	27,500	$0.440
Dec 15/08	Dec 12/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	17,000	$0.440
Dec 15/08	Dec 12/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	2,000	$0.435
Dec 15/08	Dec 11/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	4,500	$0.450
Dec 15/08	Dec 11/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	24,000	$0.450
Dec 15/08	Dec 11/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	5,000	$0.440
Dec 15/08	Dec 11/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	2,500	$0.435
Dec 15/08	Dec 10/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	500	$0.500
Dec 15/08	Dec 10/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	20,500	$0.500
Dec 15/08	Dec 10/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	9,500	$0.500

At this rate Fifer will be able to OPA the company before it ever produces gold, as by that time he'll be holding all the shares himself!

Related Post
Petaquilla Minerals: "Oops, we forgot to tell you that we're a bunch of lying shits."
Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) update: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
More Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to)

More Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to)

Richard Fifer (white stubble, invisible hair) posing with Mel Gibson...or is it
Noriega? Or Don Winner? Uff, I get confused....

Y'know, after fanfaring to the world that your gold mine was about to open and your gold mine was going to produce 100,000 ounces of gold in 2009 and your gold mine was wonderful and cheap and everything (and even getting local Reuters lapdog to regurgitate your BS for the wider world), you would have thought that it might drum up a bit of interest among the investment community.

Not at Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to). It may have something to do with the fact that the management are liars and the statement aboout PTQ.to having the necessary environmental permits is 100% false, misleading and fraudulent. It might have something to do with CEO Richard Fifer's dubious past as a local politican now under embezzlement charges. It might have something to do with the total and utter rejection among locals of his mining project that is screwing up the quality of life in the area. Hell, it might be due to this humble blog getting the word out about these shady characters and their, "Pssst! Wanna buy a gold mine in Central America?" marketing techniques. But for one reason or another, the dreams that PTQ.to might have had of buyers queuing up to get a slice of their action has not materialized.

So what to do? Well, you can always prop up your own stock price by buying every single bid on any given day. For example, note that of the eight trades completed in PTQ.to on Monday 8th December, eight (i.e. all) of them had a certain Richard Fifer as the buyer (and note the cute little 500 share tape-painter at the end of the day....you go girl).

Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	500	$0.500
Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	9,500	$0.490
Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	1,500	$0.490
Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	11,000	$0.470
Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	500	$0.470
Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	5,000	$0.450
Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	5,500	$0.450
Dec 09/08	Dec 08/08	Fifer, Richard Glenn Fifer Carles	Direct Ownership	Common Shares	10 - Acquisition in the public market	20,000	$0.450

At least Fifer has the morals of a ship's captain and has decided to go down with this sinker. Must be looking out (from the concessions picked up in 1986 and never developed in the last 21 years) to the Panama Canal that does it.

Related Post
Petaquilla Minerals: "Oops, we forgot to tell you that we're a bunch of lying shits."
Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ.to) update: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire