Pnina Feldman has Gold Fever!

Mining Times Newspaper June 2002

Diamond explorer Diamond Rose hopes to replicate the success of fellow explorer Striker Resources’ early results by forming a gold exploration division.

It will take advantage of exciting gold discoveries in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, recently announced by De Beers and acted on by Striker and AngloGold.

“In the light of current renewed interest in the gold sector in general and the recent gold discovery by De Beers in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in particular, Diamond Rose has reviewed its own data and tenements for gold potential,” the company’s chairwoman and executive director, Pnina Feldman, said.

Continued here

Diamond Rose and Pnina Feldman

Australian Minerals and Energy Annual Review 1997/1998

Pnina Feldman’s ability to raise eleven children and spend a decade as principal of Yeshiva Girls School hints at an energy level a good deal higher than some of the men decorating the boards of major resource companies.

Resources exploring would be a dull business without its many flamboyant players, who cock a snoot at convention as they roll the dice in search of riches. Most of these characters are men, but now there is a women who can stake a claim to being the most flamboyant of all.

Fifty-two year-old Pnina Feldman cheerfully describes herself as a: “housewife and a mother of 11 children” when she floated her Diamond Rose NL on the stock exchange in April last year. The 20 cent shares shot up to $1.75 in early trading. It that was not enough to attract attention, the chairperson rocked up at the Sydney stock exchange flanked by six rabbis, and sporting a platinum wig.

Pnina is almost literally following in the steps of younger brother Joe Gutnick, one of the most indefatigable gold miners and diamond hunters in Australia.

Diamond Rose, named after their mother who was killed in a car accident six years ago, owns 17 tenements at locations including Walgidee Hills in East Kimberley. The area hosts what is arguably the largest known diamond-bearing lamproite pipe in the world. A number of hopefuls, including Gutnick’s Great Central Mines, have already scoured Walgidee with minimal success. Some hard headed observers believe Diamond Rose might do better – in diamonds, gold, base metals or, more likely, in gemstones.

It is unfortunate that tabloid journalists gave the company a whacky name because of its alleged search for the breastplate containing 12 Hosen gemstones worn by the High Priest in the Temple of Jerusalem 3000 years ago – an item unlikely to turn up in the Western Australian desert. As the prospectus made clear, Diamond Rose is simply searching for precious and semi-precious gemstones with similar attributes to the ancient Hosen stones which symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel. The Bible says these stones include sardius, topaz, carbuncle, emerald, sapphire, diamond, ligure, agate and amethyst. According to Talmudic sources the holy breastplate will be reconstructed again at the time of the Messianic era, “at which point all the righteous dead will be reborn.”

For investors who do not wish to wait that long, Pnina Feldman says she has discovered five of the stones required, including green chrome jade-like objects which she has dubbed, and trademarked, pittados. It was this discovery which got her in a spot of bother. She called a press conference at her Bondi Junction office to announce that Diamond Rose had sold a kilo of the rocks to American consumers for US$2 million, utilizing the home-shopping channel QVC. Feldman gloated that Diamond Rose had 119,000 tonnes of the stuff and, after some back-of-the envelope calculations declared to be worth $35 billion. In fact she had mislaid a zero and the notional number – by no means supposed to be a serious forecast anyway – was $350 billion. The stock exchange surveillance department got most huffy about this and formally queried the company.

The AFX is not always consistent in hauling companies over the coals over supposed transgressions. Diamond Rose is not a stock that would attract widows and orphans. Pnina Feldman owns more than half of the shares herself – a circumstance that briefly rocketed her into the BRW rich list with a $435 million paper fortune in 1997, even though the AFX insisted 71 million shares of her vendor shares be held effectively in escrow for two years after the listing. The next biggest shareholder is one George Soros who is believed to own in excess of 10 per cent, as well as directly backing the company with a $4 million buy-in of certain leases. Most of the other shareholders are nominee companies giving addresses in places like Argentina, Uruguay, Israel and Hong Kong. Many of these came on board late last year when Diamond Rose successfully placed $21 million worth of stock at $1.20 a piece through US brokers Refco Securities.

Pnina, like brother Joe, enjoys a strong following among the New York Jewish community, not only for business acumen, but because of the religious devoutness of the family.

Feldman briefly studied law at Melbourne University before spending three years at a Jewish teachers training college in London. On her way back to Australia, she met her husband to be Rabbi Pinchus and, after a period in Israel, they returned to take up positions in Sydney’s Yeshiva community.

Pnina Feldman’s ability to raise eleven children and spend a decade as principal of Yeshiva Girls School hints at an energy level a good deal higher than some of the men decorating the boards of major resource companies. She somehow found the time to begin a business career a few years ago in the jewellery and mining industry, boasting some tenacity in sourcing and developing resource projects – the bulk of which were injected into Diamond Rose at the time of the float.

In common with most resource companies, and all junior exploration chips, Diamond Rose shares have tumbled over the past year. They now change hands at around 44 cents.

The company needs a win to complement the pittado prospect. Pnina Feldman says she operates on the four “M’s” principal – Money, Management, Mining and Mazel, which is Hebrew for good luck.

Diamond Rose glints again

The Daily Telegraph 15 January 2000 - Bloomberg

Diamond Rose shares soared 188 per cent after the company discovered minerals that indicate it may have discovered the source of some alluvial diamonds it found in Western Australia.

The Sydney company, chaired by Pnina Feldman – sister of Australian mining magnate, Joe Gutnick – said it is now confident it has found at least one diamond source in a desert region in the north of Western Australia.

Diamond Rose shares surged 6.5c to 12c with about 8.5 million shares changing hands.

Pnina’s pipe dream come true

The Australian 17 January 2000 By Richard Sproull

Shares in Diamond Rose mare than doubled at the end of the week on news the controversial company had made “mjor breakthrough” in its diamond exploration program in the North Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The tightly held Diamond Rose stock jumped 8.5c to close at 14c after chairperson Pnina Feldman told shareholders the company’s laboratory had identified “weathered grains of kimberlite which indicate the presence of at least one kimberlite pipe” at the company’s Upper Beta Creek project.

“Diamond Rose’s team is confident that it has now located at least one pipe.” Mrs Feldman said in a statement.

“It is anticipated that pipes in Diamond Rose’s area will be relatively large because the geological setting of its tenements allows for large section of preserved diatremes.”

Alluvial diamonds had been located in the tenements in creeks but the “breakthrough” needed was to find the kimberlite pipe source of sources which hosted the diamonds, Mrs Feldman said.

The find is the latest development in the colourful history of the Sydney-based gemstone explorer, which is controlled by Mrs Feldman, sister of mining magnate Mr Joseph Gutmick.

Diamond Rose evolved out of Mrs Feldman’s desire to find the 12 gemstones of the breastplate worn by the High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem 3000 years ago. The shares soared on its stock market debut in 1997, trading as high as $1.75 from an issue price of 20c.

The float was fully subscribed and most shares were grabbed by 20 major shareholders, including heavy hitters such as American billionaire financier Mr George Soros.

Diamond Rose shares have traded as low as 4c this year.

Pnina Feldman has Faith in diamonds – and the Rebbe

The Australian Jewish News, Sydney Edition 11 Feb 2000 By Stefan Bialoguski

It’s been a rocky three years for Pnina Feldman’s Diamond Rose mining company.

After a glittering launch at the Australian Stock Exchange which saw the company’s 20-cent shares rocket to $1.75, investor confidence evaporated, shares slumped to less than half the original price and the company name has been dragged into share-rigging allegations currently before the courts.

But the discovery of four possibly diamond-rich kimberlite pipes at its Upper Beta Creek project in the North Kimberley region of Western Australia has seen the share price recovering to trade at a six-month high of 17.5 cents, raising the possibility of Rebbetzin Feldman realizing her dream of becoming a major gemstone producer, and thereby spelling the end of Yeshiva College’s perennial cash-flow problems.

“You can say mazal tov when you’re pregnant, you can say mazal tov at the first ultra-sound, at the birth, and again at the bris,” Rebbetzin Feldman told the Australian Jewish News. “Every one of these phrases is a source of joy and excitement. We’re at the stage where we’re well and truly pregnant.

Like any pregnancy, however, the result is by no means certain, but it is full of promise. “I hope Hashem didn’t bring me to this point just to let me down again; He wouldn’t be so mean, surely! We have been trough a lot of ups and downs and I would have liked to get there earlier, but I’m not complaining.”

The first item of good news came three weeks ago with the announcement that a kimberlite pipe source – the type of rock which “hosts” diamonds – had been found on analysing 13 samples extracted from the company’s 546 square kilometers of tenements. Then last week, three of another 12 samples came up trumps – and there are another 54 samples to be analysed in the coming month.

In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Rebbetzin Feldman said: “Diamond Rose NL is confident that at least four kimberlite bodies have been located. These bodies are within 10 kilometers of each other which, when confirmed through imminent follow up drilling program, will constitute a new kimberlite cluster in the north Kimberley region.”

This represents a “major break-through” for the company as it now believes that it has located a source for the diamonds found in creeks and loose surface deposits in the area. And its geologists expect that drilling will find the pipes to be relatively large “because the geological setting of its tenements alloes for large sections of preserved diatremes”, whose presence closer to the earth’s surface shows that when the diamonds were formed they cooled quickly and so were less likely to dissolve into the surrounding rock.

“Finding the pipes is like finding a needle in a haystack,” she continued. “There are only five located sites in the country and only 15 diamond mines in the world. The Argyle mine is the largest in the world, and that’s located in the same general area as our tenements.

“I asked our geologist – who was involved in the team that let to the discovery of the Argyle – whether our find could rival the Argyle; she said on one pipe no, on three or four maybe’. We will not know exactly what we have until we drill into the pipes and see how many diamonds there are. But I’m hoping that it’s a world-class discovery. The odds are that it could be because the pipes are large and the area we’re in has produced very nice gem-quality diamonds.”

Should the drilling planned this year realize the potential, it will give birth to a substantial injection of funds into Yeshiva College – of which Rebbetzin Feldman’s husband is the dean – and into Sydney’s cash-strapped Chabad houses, and will be a reward for a protracted and stressful test of faith.

Rebbetzin Feldman, whose brother is mining magnate Rabbi Jospeh Gutnick, said: “What’s kept me going, firstly, is the faith and belief that I’m going to be successful because of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s blessings to my family. I just believe that whatever the Rebbe says happens eventually. God may be a bit slow, but He gets there!

“Secondly, the motivation has been t a major supporter of the Yeshiva and Chabad houses. I just felt that I couldn’t give up because the purpose was too important. Money alone would not have been a sufficient motivator if it was just for me. Money is not that important to me – otherwise I would not have married a rabbi!”

Pnina Feldman pushes on with diamond hunt

Resource Stocks Magazine February/March 2001 By Sinead Mangan

Diamond Rose chief executive Pnina Feldman describes her quest for diamonds as a labour of love. Her latest deal has seen BHP farm into the prospective Upper Beta Creek project.

One-time headmistress, sister of Joseph Gutnick and executive director of junior explorer Diamond Rose, Pnina Feldman, could hardly be accused of not having strength of spirit.

Like many diamond explorers, she’s a risk-taker. Take Diamond Rose’s cash position – it’s skirting dangerously close to running dry.

According to Feldman, the New South Wales-based company has less than half a million dollars in the bank, but she’s willing to take the risk of pushing ahead with exploration this quarter in the hope that her field team turns up something special in the sparkler department.

“Considering how much money has been spent by other companies to find diamonds I think we’re doing pretty well.” Feldman said. “diamond Rose has spent $10 million over two years and we’ve been lucky in finding what we believe to be 21 (kimberlite pipes). Why wouldn’t we be lucky in the finding of diamonds?”

More than three years ago, Feldman was the toast of the mining industry. When Diamond Rose launched on the Australian Stock Exchange its fortunes soared – the 20c shares hit $1.75 on the first day of trading. Feldman made the Business Review Weekly rich list in 1997, which estimated her personal wealth at $80 million.

These days things aren’t looking so rosy. Diamond Rose’s shares are trading around 9c. but Feldman, the eternal optimist, believes the joint venture Diamond Rose recently struck with BHP over the Upper Beta Creek project in Western Australia will lift the struggling explorer’s share price out of the doldrums.

Employing its Falcon technology, BHP has flown over Upper Beta Creek to try to pinpoint the exact location of the kimberlite pipes on the property. “We believe we are at the centre of a cluster and that companies like Striker Resources and what have you are on the periphery,” Feldman said.

Under the terms of the joint venture, BHP will manage and fund the Upper Beta Creek project through until bankable feasibility. After completion of a bankable feasibility study, Diamond Rose will contribute its equity share (50-50) of the project. An additional 9% of Upper Beta Creek can be earned by BHP upon the decision to develop a mine.

“I wasn’t particularly keen to do a deal with anybody unless I though it would be of benefit to the company because I am used to slugging it out,” Feldman said. “But the deal alleviates the whole worry of me having to (fully) finance the project.”

The issue of funding bears heavily on Feldman’s mind. Her private companies, mainly through Vageta Pty Ltd, hold about 51% of Diamond Rose.

“It (Vageta) is a privately financed company, but that’s my husband’s department,” Feldman said. “Whatever I’ve managed to finance and whatever I’ve managed to achieve in Diamond Rose initially and the takeover of Striker was due to his contacts. I don’t know these people.”

Diamond Rose will again rely on the kindness of strangers when it draws on a $4 million convertible note facility provided by Vageta. According to Diamond Rose’s annual report this could leas to an increased working capital of up to $28 million when coupled with the exercise of all attaching options.

The company’s overseas backers in the past have included a George Soros’ investment fund, Mountain Side Holding, which still holds 1.45% stake in Diamond Rose, and members of the New York Jewish community. “When you’re onto something good there are people who will support you.” Feldman said.

Diamond Rose’s falling out with Striker in 1999 is still a sore point for Feldman. “It (the Striker deal) proved to be a disappointment and a distraction rather than an enhancement,” she said. “I didn’t like the way things progressed with Striker once I got the money fro them.

“Things with Striker are okay now. It’s like family, it’s better when you’re separate.”

Working in the predominantly male world of mining has not worn down this mother of 11. “It’s being a CEO which is the challenge,” Feldman said. “I haven’t found being female inhibiting in any way. One thing I’ve had to learn is that business is business and anything goes.”