Stockbrokers advised AMPL to re-structure its operations due to poor sentiment from the market.

“AMPL was tarred by the same brush as mining companies that had switched dot.com,” Maxe-Tec managing director, David Adams, said.

“We are now running two separate companies with two separate boards.”

AMPL recently changed its name on the Australian Stock Exchange to Maxe-Tec.

The company plans to raise $3.5 million when Goldex is floated on September 1. The issue price will be 25c, and Maxe-Tec shareholders will be entitled to a 20% discount, with a minimum of 10,000 shares being issued to each shareholder.

Maxe-Tec will continue to hold about 10% of Goldex shares and Findlay & Co Stockbrokers will underwrite the IPO.

Goldex Resources has three key prospects - Tablelands, Shamrock and Manumbar, situated 30 minutes from Gympie in Queensland.

The Goldex project area is self-contained, complete with new tailings dams, a 120,000 tonne per annum mill, a water purification site and two freshwater dams. The project sits on a granted mining licence.

The areas to date have produced 63,000 ounces of high-grade gold but mining was stopped by Goldex to delineate the full extent of its resource position.

SRK Consulting Pty Ltd has been contracted to assess the Goldex ground and has identified two potential “bonanza” grade epithermal gold deposits at Manumbar and Tablelands.

“What we are sitting on is a short-term, high-grade opportunity,” Adams said.

“Potentially we have a very high grade and we have an eye on bringing the project into production in six to 12 months.

“With funds raised through the IPO we intend to drill holes beneath the existing mines where independent analysis describes potential for bonanza grade feeders.”

The company is optimistic that once new resources have been proved up it will be able to start mining underground.
Undeterred by the recent low gold price, Adams said the Goldex project would operate at a low cost.

“I’m not worried at all by the gold price, particularly considering the grades we are looking at,” he said. “Personally, I think the gold price will continue to come down.

“But we will operate at the bottom end of the gold cost curve, so I don’t foresee the gold price affecting our business.”

Maxe-Tec has been something of a share market darling since listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on May 30. Its shares have been traded heavily in both Australia and Germany.

“At the moment, 15% of Maxe-Tec shares are owned by Europeans,” Adams said. “They’re buying them like there is no tomorrow.”

Bad press and market antipathy in Australia were the deciding factors which persuaded Adams to list Maxe-Tec on the FSX.

“The Australian press created a blood-bath for high-tech companies,” Adams said. “I decided to go to Europe where the press were friendly and people were continuing to acknowledge the potential in high-tech businesses.”

Currently, Maxe-Tec shares are trading at 7.7c on the ASX.