Those interested in Pretium should definitely check out this Financial Post article on the company. In the article, Graham Farquharson (president of Strathcona) comments on what’s happening and criticizes Pretium’s management.
“Our differences with Pretium management are all about when is public disclosure of material facts appropriate,” he said in an email.
It’s unclear to me what the context of his statement is exactly. However, I believe that he is saying that Strathcona does not have major disagreements with Pretium over technical matters. The problem is that Strathcona informed Pretium that there are no mineral resources and no mineral reserves (reserves are resources that are thought to be economic; not all resources become reserves). Presumably, Farquharson feels that Pretium management should have disclosed those material developments as soon as possible. An earlier sentence in the article echoes this:
Strathcona President Graham Farquharson criticized Pretium management on Tuesday, saying his firm informed Pretium about its concerns several times and they were not immediately disclosed.
Some background info on Graham Farquharson
In the past, Farquharson was very vocal in criticizing John Felderhof (Bre-X’s head geologist). He argued that Felderhof must have known that there were many red flags indicating that there was something very amiss with the Busang deposit. Felderhof even intentionally allowed drillcore to be destroyed, which is an unusual practice as it makes fraud difficult to detect. (I agree.)
Even after Felderhof avoided legal repercussions, Farquharson continue to attack him. (I agree.)
I would expect Farquharson to tell it like it is and to speak the truth. The mining industry needs more people like him. He has indicated that Strathcona has repeatedly raised issues about the deposit that were material and should have been immediately disclosed to investors. If Pretium’s management team were ethical, they would have disclosed Strathcona’s concerns to investors.
*Disclosure: Short Pretium.