News

January 28, 2008

Slow and Steady Wins the Race for Conroy Diamonds and Gold

Alastair Ford

Anyone who likes following market gurus might be interested to know that Professor Richard Conroy makes a very respectable showing as a tipster. This year at the annual tipsters lunch, hosted by his very good self in his guise as chairman of Conroy Diamonds and Gold, as well as off-shoot Karelian Diamonds, he came second only to the Financial Times in terms of the accuracy of his tips for 2007. Twenty seven City journalists and other industry specialists with a resources bent gathered this time last year to mull over the outlook for gold, sterling, the dollar, oil and a few other indicators. And in the individual stock-picking category, moreover, the professor is slightly hamstrung, in that he feels duty bound to choose his own company. Over the course of the last 12 months shares in Conroy Diamonds and Gold have dropped from 4.63p to 3.75p.

What they will do this year is anyone’s guess, given that Conroy made significant progress last year proving up gold ounces in the ground at its Clontibret gold deposit in north-central Ireland, released that news into a rising market, only to see the shares slide. But the professor isn’t a heavy promoter. In fact he presents as an extremely patient man, patient not only with the vagaries of the market, but also in terms of the time it takes to develop serious projects. One way or another...