Cally looked carefully then said, “Not that I can see. There are links to press releases, corporate governance, regulatory news -”
“Okay, try that one for now, regulatory news.”
Cally looked at her screen and then said, “There’s quite a long list. January 2015, Exploration claims in Newfoundland. November 2014, Update on Somalia. July 2014, Update on Nigeria. March 2014, Update on Uganda -”
Neep cut in. “Go to the one about Uganda.”
Cally opened the item. “It’s headed No Evidence of Marburg Virus Disease. And it says ‘We are happy to report that following rigorous investigations in the area of our operations, the World Health Organisation has found no evidence of the Ebola-like Marburg Virus Disease and has advised against the application of any travel or trade restrictions based on the current information available on this outbreak.’”
Neep said, “That’s good news, but it’s not likely to set the commodities market on fire.” He looked at Elin, “Does it mean anything to you?”
Elin shook her head. “Ash is still very bitter about what President Amin did and he wouldn’t want anything to do with Uganda. Some of his relatives have now gone back to live there, but Ash has never visited them. The company’s link with Uganda could just be a coincidence.”
Neep said, “Sometimes coincidences are important.” He thought for a moment. “Cally, you mentioned the Democratic Republic of Congo a minute ago. Are there any entries about it? It shares a border with Uganda.”
Cally drew her finger slowly down the screen. She had almost reached the bottom when she said,
“No, but look at this one. June 2013 – more than a year and a half ago. It says Phased extension of Norexploration lease in central Norway.”
“That’s a nice way of saying they haven’t found enough mineral deposits to make it worth starting production at the prevailing price,” Neep said with a wry laugh.
Elin cut in, “Norexploration used to be in Espedalen. It’s a tiny company. I hadn’t realised it was part of a bigger corporation.”
Neep brightened up. “How long ago were they in Espedalen?”
“A long time ago. They were already there when we bought Vesterheim, and that was more than two years ago. They had a place up a hill road near the south end of the valley, just a few porta-cabins and some storage sheds made from shipping containers.” She paused. “I think they still have it. I went to see them in case they needed accommodation for their workers, but they told me they preferred to use Tronablikk hotel because it was closer.”
“And that was over two years ago?” Neep asked. “Do you know what they were looking for? What type of mineral?”
“Nickel, probably. There used to be a lot of nickel mining in Espedalen, in the nineteenth century. People are always hoping it will start up again.”
“Do you know if Norexploration are still working in the area?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think so.” Elin seemed to feel that some more explanation was needed. “We are used to seeing mineral companies in Espedalen, and we don’t get too excited over them. They come and then they go. Sometimes it looks good for a while but then we hear that the price of the commodity has fallen, and then they go away again.”
Neep said, “Did Hawkeye, the missing hunter, ever work for Norexploration?”
“I don’t know. He might have. He mainly works for the road builders now, but he’s the kind of man that does a lot of temporary jobs. Why do you ask?”
“Elin, Hawkeye is dead,” Neep said. “We found his body in a hut in the mountains. We think he was killed by the people who beat me up. They are either terrorists or people pretending to be terrorists. And I’m wondering if Norexploration and Lamechson are somehow tied up with it all.”
Elin had barely started to digest all this new information when her phone buzzed. Clearly worried that the nurse might hear it, she crossed quickly to Cally’s bed and pulled the phone out of her bag. She checked the display and said, “Excuse me, but I need to take this call. It is a councillor who has been helping to organise the sports weekend. I’ve been trying to reach her since last night.”
She moved to the corner of the room, and while she was speaking Neep said, “Cally, open another tab and do a search on ‘Lamechson Plc share price’. In the list of results there should be something that mentions a bulletin board.”
He gave her time to make the selection then said, “Now click on Share Charts and choose the chart for the last two years and tell me how it looks. Has the price been going up or down?”
“Both,” Cally said. “It went up to begin with, then steeply down, then up sharply again a few months ago. Since then it has been going down again.”
“It’s probably just following the commodity prices,” Neep said. “To understand it properly I’d really need some financial software, but let’s try one more thing on the bulletin board. Click on Share Discussion and we’ll see if it’s the kind of company that is followed by a lot of private investors.”
Cally opened the link and sat back abruptly. “Wow! It looks like people are excited. The last message is headed ‘Onwards and upwards!’ Then there was ‘This is going to soar!’ and ‘Boom!’ and ‘Expect this to rocket after the teach-in!!’”
Neep was now alert, in his element. “Go back to the price chart and select the one that says Intra-day Movement.”
“Got it. The share price has increased by twenty-four per cent today.”
Neep groaned. “I’ve been stupid, Cally. Sorry! My brain’s not working properly this morning. Can I get you to go back to Share Discussion. Scroll right down until you reach the messages posted just after seven o’clock this morning. Look for anything that mentions RNS or Regulatory News Service in the header.”
“But didn’t we just look at the Regulatory News page on the company website?”
“We did. But companies like this don’t always update their website immediately after issuing a news statement.”
Cally scrolled through several pages and then said, “There were some messages during the night, and then there was nothing until 07.02 when this one was posted. The title is just RNS. It says, ‘Fantastic news!’ Then there is what looks like a cut-and-paste. The heading is, Update on geological and geoseismic analyses at Espedalen, Norway. Then it says, Lamechson Plc is pleased to report that secondary analyses of drilling samples previously taken from our exploration claims in Espedalen have greatly increased our expectations of the commercial viability of nickel and copper deposits, particularly those situated to the north of the valley.”
Cally looked up at Neep, hoping that she had read enough.
“Please keep going,” he said.
She took a deep breath and continued, “The analysis has also established that there are significant and hitherto unexpected deposits of cobalt in the proximity of Olstappen lake, especially at its south-east extremity. The work has also served to validate Lamechson’s new geoseismic technology.These findings are announced in advance of our analyst teach-in today. The slides presented at that teach-in will give more details and will appear on Lamechson’s website later today.”
Neep was now almost out of bed. “Go back to the company’s website. There will be a tab for Investor Relations. See if there is anything there about the teach-in.
It took Cally a couple of minutes to find it, and another couple of minutes to read it. Then she stood up excitedly and said, “A press release was issued just yesterday. The teach-in is being held today at Tronablikk hotel, in Espedalen.” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “It should already have started.”
Neep punched the air as vigorously as he could manage. “What was Elin saying about coincidences?”
Cally heard him but she made no reply.
She was staring at a small package that had fallen out of Elin’s shoulder bag, probably when the hotelier was getting out her phone. It was lying on Cally’s bed.
It was a very familiar-looking package.
And if Cally was right about what it contained, it explained a lot.
Chapter 40
Gunnar Hoveng sat at the back of the crowded meeting room in Tronablikk hotel and watched Hansie Botha get to his feet. Gunnar was pleased to see that the CEO was succeeding in his attempt to look relaxed and in control, in spite of the morning’s drama.
Botha moved across to a lectern that displayed the name Lamechson Plc in large, silver-coloured characters. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “It is ten o’clock, and now that the police have finally released us from their care, we can make a start.” He left a pause. “I would like to begin by taking this opportunity to commend the officers of the law for the painstakingly thorough way in which they have conducted their investigations this morning.”
He left another pause. “And I am sure you would all like to join me in expressing those sentiments.”
Gunnar sensed the CEO’s relief when this brought a ripple of laughter from the analysts.
Botha continued, “And I trust that those of you who had taken advantage of our free bar last night were not in too deep a slumber when the constabulary arrived.”
More laughter, longer this time. That was good. Gunnar could see that no-one was bearing a grudge against the company. The CEO could relax - and so could he. Now that the presentation was under way the facts would speak for themselves.
The analysts were already settling down. Even Morten Espelund was fidgeting less. Fortunately the old man would only stay for this short introductory session. Gunnar had been against bringing him into the proceedings at all, but the CEO had over-ruled him. Hansie Botha was keen to make his point about how the mining industry can be socially responsible, a force for good, and he needed Morten’s presence for that. The old man had done his duty and had put on his Sunday best. He was even wearing a tie, the only person in the room to be doing so.
“Before getting on to today’s main business,” Botha continued, “I’d like to update you on the events that took place in this valley yesterday and last night. A lot of rumours are circulating and I want to make sure you all know the true facts.”
He tapped on a keyboard and caused a map to appear on the screen behind him, then moved the cursor so that it was pointing to a long, narrow lake that ran diagonally across the map, from south-east to north-west. He let it settle on the lake’s western shore.
“Yesterday there was a fire in a cabin a few kilometres from where we are now,” he said. “It happened at about this point on the map. Last night the police issued a statement saying that the exact cause of the fire was unknown, but that it was thought to have been an accident. I am advised that some local people suspect it may relate to the illegal production of alcohol.”
He moved the cursor until it was beyond the north end of the lake. “Now the police are also following up on an unrelated incident, which took place in a hotel at the far end of this valley, about twenty kilometres from here. A very small explosive device was found in that hotel late last night and was safely disarmed. It seems to have been placed there in order to disrupt a winter sports event for children from ethnic minorities. The protest was directed solely at the other hotel, but as a precaution the police are checking all hotels in the area. And as we have seen, Tronablikk has been given the all-clear. Which means that tonight you should be able to sleep more soundly – and for longer. And just to help you with that, we have arranged for the bar to serve free drinks again this evening.”
He put up his hand to stop the applause. “But I need to give a warning that the drinks may not be free for all of you.”
He smiled, confident enough to make them wait.
Gunnar was enjoying the CEO’s performance. Hansie Botha was good. Casual, yet polished. And the free bar was a nice touch. It would cost a lot of money, but as an investment in Lamechson’s share price it was well worth it.
When the room fell quiet again, Botha pressed on. “I’ll come back to the subject of the bar in a moment. But first let me outline our programme for today. In essence, what we want to do is flesh out the news statement that we issued this morning. I’m sure you will all agree that it contained very good news. I do need to say that while we are happy to answer questions about it, you will realise we are of course unable to divulge any new information that might be deemed commercially sensitive.”
He tapped the keyboard again and a new image appeared: a simple graphic with the words Team-Building Weekend for Lamechson Staff across it. “While we are on the subject of commercial sensitivity,” Botha said, “I hope you will appreciate that it has been important for us to be somewhat secretive about the arrangements for this teach-in. In a tightly-knit community like Espedalen, rumours can spread quickly and we have had to take precautions. Even our hotelier has not known the exact nature of today’s proceedings. And that is why you may see documents bearing this heading.”
He pointed at the graphic on the screen. “Please don’t be worried. We are not planning any challenging ordeals for you.” He left one of his pauses then added, “Of course, as notified in your programme, we are planning to take you to Hell this afternoon. But we do intend to bring you back.”
When the new laughter died down, Botha changed the display back to the map. “As you know, Lamechson is not the only company to have been interested in the nickel and copper potential of the Espedalen area. Over the years there have been several others. But they have mainly concentrated on re-evaluating the specific locations that were exploited in the nineteenth century, a time when Espedalen was the most important nickel-mining area in the world.”
Gunnar was pleased to see that Morten Espelund was taking a close interest in the proceedings. The old man studied the screen as the CEO moved the cursor back and forward between two points on the map.
“Broadly speaking,” Botha continued, “those historic areas are situated to the east and west of the long lake, which is called Espedalsvatn. However our own investigations have always focussed on two other areas. One lies to the south-east of the lake, and has not yet yielded commercial results. The other is at the top end of the lake. It starts near the northern shore, and extends northward to the settlement called Slangenseter. And, as outlined in our news statement this morning, it has now - most definitely - yielded commercial results.”
Botha pointed to a man in the front row and said, “In a moment I will pass you over to Terry McEwan, Managing Director of Norexploration, which is one of Lamechson’s newest constituent companies, acquired just four years ago to drive Lamechson’s strategic push into Scandinavia.
Terry will describe how, in the summer of last year, his team field-tested Lamechson’s new geoseismic technology here in Espedalen. In brief, this work involved revisiting a sample of the drilling-holes that we made during our last two major surveys of the area, which took place two years ago and four years ago respectively. In layman’s terms, Terry’s team unplugged the old drill holes, lowered our new sensors into them and then fired some long salvos of ground-penetrating radar. Then they analysed the results in Norexploration’s local base, which is just a few kilometres from here.”
Botha changed the image. The new one showed two men standing in a grassy, forested location, beside a light-weight metal frame from which a cylindrical probe was hanging. “The photo shows one of the new sensors,” he said. “The caption was typed at the time,” he added, moving his cursor over the words, Positive nickel site: south of Slangenseter.
“The results of this partial re-survey delighted us,” he continued. “In the first place, they confirmed the accuracy of the new geoseismic sensors, when tested against known baselines. And that has a considerable commercial significance for us - the new technology is valuable in its own right. But the results also suggested that in some places the levels of nickel and copper mineralisation were much greater than we had first thought. This prompted Norexploration to carry out a full re-survey of all the earlier drill-holes. Because of the commercial sensitivity of our new technolog
y, we felt obliged to carry out this work, which continued well into the winter months, in a rather secretive way, occasionally using trusted local people to help with the transport arrangements. For example, we employed a man who normally drives a machine for preparing ski-tracks.”
Botha changed the image again, and now displayed a photograph of Morten Espelund wearing his red parka. The image showed Morten against a snowy landscape, standing beside Vesterheim’s ski-track machine. He was with the same two men who had been in the previous image, and who were working with the same light-weight metal frame and cylindrical probe.
“The gentleman in the red jacket is in the room with us right now,” Hansie Botha said. “Not only has he been assisting with our transportation, he has also cooperated with us in a land-transfer arrangement, as a result of which he will be able to advance and accelerate his long-term project to re-introduce wild reindeer into the nearby mountains.”
Botha pointed to Morten, who dutifully stood up and nodded. Gunnar realised the CEO had been right about using the social responsibility theme. Morten’s shy, self-conscious smile was just perfect.
Botha tapped the keyboard and said, “We even used a local hunter to help us access the most remote drill sites.”
Gunnar’s heart sank as an image of Hawkeye Skaugen came on the screen, an image with the caption Positive cobalt site: near Olstappen. The craggy-faced hunter was pushing high-tech equipment on a simple wheeled carriage, moving over ground streaked with a few traces of snow and heading toward a metal frame that had been set up beside an attractively ramshackle wooden signpost. It was a compelling picture. But in showing it the CEO had made a real faux pas.
Gunnar could see Morten Espelund’s expression change abruptly, no doubt at the realisation that in working for Norexploration he had been unwittingly collaborating with his arch-enemy, the poacher Hawkeye Skaugen.
Gunnar had always known that Morten would find out about it sooner or later, but he had been betting on later. Even later today would have been preferable, after Morten had done his stuff with the snowshoes and the reindeer, along at the canyon. The old man needed to be smiley-faced for that, not grumpy.
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