Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
After the market close on Monday Oilsands Quest announced it is cancelling a $60 million rights offer that only two weeks ago it extended for a second time. The embattled firm’s shares spiked higher 22% to 25c, five cents above the offer price, in after-hours dealings following the news.
Oilsands Quest said it was working with a third party on a deal that would “change the company’s financial position and funding requirements,” but has not ruled out a new rights offer. Investors in the AMEX-listed firm have been on a bumpy ride. The stock is down some 70% from its January highs of 64c and gained 63% in a single day after Saskatchewan granted the company 15-year leases, the first in the province. But recent investors can feel smug about the fact that they did not buy into the junior during the frothy 2006 market – the counter hit a peak of $7.76 in March that year.
The company (AMEX:BQI) said in a terse statement all subscription payments received by the subscription agent under the cancelled rights offering will be returned to shareholders shareholders, without interest. With 348 million shares outstanding the company is worth roughly $70 million.
MINING.com argued in August that Oilsands Quest is a prime example of the risks of trying to go it alone in the oil sands. Slack crude prices and a sluggish US economy may force other small players into mergers and reverse a slowdown in oil sands deals that have plunged 63% this year to $8.5 billion worth of transactions.
