what went wrong?, page-5

Hi Griffopj

What went wrong? You ask.
Clearly a lack of construction and project management on the Red Gully project.

We are being brain washed that the current board has "hands on" experience. Yes some board members may be great geologist. But clearly they don't have much construction and project management experience in building industrial plants. This is another field in its own right.
Your either a Geologist or a Project Manager. You cant be both.
People must know that even at a cost blow out of $38+M. This is still a very small scale industrial project compared to projects that are in the Billions.

This is when EGO should have engaged an experienced gas plant project management firm instead of trying to do it on their own. (Hands on)
Clearly a Big mistake.

As a professional organisation you just can't say one day the plant is going to cost $12M, then later $20M, then almost $30M, then after construction $35M, then after commissioning $38+M.
Where the heck is the management and contracts that were signed before the project started?????
Yes something seriously went wrong.
An experienced project management firm would have given an accurate estimate and quoted the project with tight contracts and tight time frames. They would also be liable for cost blow outs if they occurred. They also would have know what labour is at hand and what suppliers to use way before the project started.

I have seen a lot of home owners trying to renovate their houses and later finding out it would have been cheaper and faster to pay an experienced builder to do their project. This is the same case.

So clearly the "hands on" board to me is not a good idea and we can see the evidence in the Red Gully final cost. That is why most top 200 company boards have members that are experienced in business management and some sit on more than one board.
In future I would prefer to see the Geologist's in the field finding us the sweet spots, let the rig operators drill the holes and leave the construction of plants to the related experts in this field. And yes. Let the board manage the business and increase our SP. That should be what the board needs to do.