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We invite you to submit brief questions concerning our projects and activities. If your question is of broad significance and has not already been addressed, it may appear in the section below, along with the answer. Questions are updated periodically. We reserve the right to select which questions to use, and edit them for space and content considerations. 

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Chat Shack Archive

Recent Questions

June 12, 2008

Q: The Company has mentioned interest in becoming listed in Canada, while still maintaining its current OTC listing in the U.S.  Which exchange in Canada is being considered?  - K.S.

A:  While a number of mining companies list on the "Venture" exchange, management is currently focused on application for a "Big Board" listing on Toronto's senior exchange, instead.

Q:  Does running higher head grades at Ashdown "gum up" the works? Is the mill capable of producing five shipments a month?  What are the plans for expanding mill capacity? - D.B.

A:  During the past month, head grades up to 3% Mo have been processed through the Ashdown mill while maintaining recoveries above 90%.  Depending on ore grade and volume, production rates of two sacks per day have been achieved for short periods of time, which is the sustained production rate necessary for five shipments per month at 100% availability; current objectives are to reach sustainable production of 3-to-4 shipments per month while mill performance is undergoing continued study to find ways to improve its efficiencies and increase its capacity.  Mine management has, as one objective, the determination of ideal milling capacity relative to long-term ore production, leading to a determination of possible future mill expansion.

March 18, 2008

Q:  How many moly shipments did Ashdown make in the fourth quarter of 2007?  How is production proceeding in 2008? - A.D.

A:  Six shipments were made during Q4 of 2007, each shipment consisting of 12 Supersacks of moly concentrates.  Rate of production has continued at a comparable rate during Q1 of 2008. Details will be reported following completion of the annual audit and release of the Form 10-K, due to be published later this month.

February 28, 2008

Q:  When can we expect to see published figures on molybdenum production at Ashdown for the fourth quarter of 2007?  - D.B.

A:  The Q4 production figures are included in the annual audit which the Company must perform and report under the SEC Form 10-K.  The deadline for completing this audit is March 31, 2008, with allowance for a 15 day extension if required.  The audit is in process now, and once it is complete and the 10-K filed, the audited figures for all of 2007, including Q4 production, will be available.  In the meantime the Ashdown Project LLC, under direction of its general manager, Kent Aveson, continues in on-going production, sales and shipment of moly concentrates.

January 21, 2008

Q:  I can't believe GPXM has filed to issue another 10,000,000 shares of common stock. The company already suffers from an over-diluted float.... Please let me know what is going on because this makes me nervous. - R.S.

A: This topic merits both a summary answer, and one in greater detail, since the SB-2 filing goes to the core of the Company's strategies.

     The summary answer is as follows:  The shares registered on this SB-2 are intended to be available to pay off existing production payment obligations of the company on the Ashdown mine.  The Crestview Capital transaction actually resulted in the reduction of the Schnack production payment by $750,000 that was added back to stockholders equity, benefiting all shareholders in the Company.  Crestview's conversion price is a minimum of $0.36 per share, a price well above the current market value and thus would not be dilutive at this point in time.  The 10,000,000 shares registered for the Ashdown Mill LLC at current market value is intended to provide flexibility in preserving the Company's cash reserves by paying the existing obligation through the use of shares.  The price of $0.28 per share is determined by SEC regulations and is not at management's or the Board's discretion.  If shares are used directly or indirectly to retire the obligation in whole or part, that portion of the production payment liability will move to stockholders equity, thus improving the Company's Balance Sheet for the benefit of all shareholders.

     The following, more detailed, answer involves the bigger picture. First of all, there should no cause for nervousness regarding the latest SB-2 filing. The company was previously obligated to register shares on behalf of Crestview Capital for their funding that was used to retire the Schnack loan originally secured to begin construction of the Ashdown mine. As an adjunct to that filing, management, with the Board's approval, elected to register a block of 10 MM shares to provide the flexibility of an added form of security that could potentially be used in all or part to service the Ashdown Milling Company LLC (AMC) funding, which in addition to Schnack had provided the second block of outside funding used to build the Ashdown mill. To date, the AMC obligation, totaling $3.6 MM has been paid down by over $800,000 from Company funds. During the next several months, as the Company continues to evolve its operational and market strategies, the Company felt it important to create an additional instrument that could be available if needed to provide AMC with an alternate form of compensation, while continuing to apply cash flow toward further expansion. While the Ashdown mine continues to cash flow positively, its funds have been - and are being - applied to accelerated ramp up and development work. Therefore, the Company continues to operate its corporate and Mineral Ridge activities from reserves, while working to clean up its remaining Balance Sheet obligations and ready itself for qualification onto a higher trading platform. The Company fully expects to receive distributions from Ashdown at some point during 2008; however, until they are received, management will proceed in a conservative manner, which means providing for the use of shares to bridge this transitional period from development to full production, as appropriate, and readying the Company for its next stage of growth.               

      Please keep in mind, the application of share equity to capitalize growth and perform useful work all points to a company on the move. As evidenced, consider what has been accomplished in the last two years: construction of Ashdown and its successful start-up and earn-in of 60%; the commencement of the engineering work to reopen Mineral Ridge gold mine; formation of the Technical Services Group and the Exploration Drilling Service; the acquisition of Northern Champion moly claims; retirement of debt; and the recent staking of added Ashdown-related mining claims. While this work is greatly supported by Ashdown's cash flow, it is not yet sufficient to pay for all of it. And given the time frames in which the commodity markets are developing, it is management's philosophy that incremental growth through production and sales should, at times, be punctuated by accelerated growth in order to capture opportunities as they unfold. The creation of this share instrument provides flexibility going forward in preserving cash flow, retiring debt, and remodeling the Company's Balance Sheet; these are considered worthy trade-offs for which common-sense use of equity capital is designed and intended.

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