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Hi Humms,

re NZ, APG indicated tp NZ steel at the very beginning that the material NZ steel wanted to use had a "sticky' element to it and that it would not flow properly thru the plant.

After conveying this it was understood that material from another source would be used.

When it came to test time APG were presented with a sticky problem! That was to treat the material that APG said will not work.

After numerous adjustments to the plant the material was eventually treated successfully however I understand that the quality achieved was not high enough for NZ Steel.

APG has tested hundreds of samples from many deposits from all around the world. There is only one or two that APG knows they would have difficulty with.

Given the agenda for BHP, One Steel and Multi Serve APG are not about to embark on any project that is likely to fail.

In the case of BHP APG have already tested the BHP material on numerous occassions and unlike NZ Steel material APG have had great success.

These deals (BHP, OST and Multi Serve) dont just pop up out of the air. By the time we get to see an announcement each company has spent up to 6 months assessing the technology, examining the process and studying the finished product under electrom micro scope.

All of the above companies have seen enough to understand the technology and to know it works. The question they want answered WILL IT WORK ON SCALE UP!

Given the simplicity of the technology and that the scale up is relatively small by engineering standards all parties are convinced it will work at full scale.

The issues BHP, OST and Multi Serve really have to adress are management issues and Board issues. That is to say that if these guys want to keep their job or want another $100m for thier dept. then they need to follow normal procedure which includes an intermediate plant and a BFS.

In the case of APG, if they want to remain independant by not borrowing funds from these big brothers APG need to satisfy the banks and/or the financial markets (insto's etc) as APG will be in need of say $30m within a year and more as time goes on.

The future is looking great and with even more companies showing interest the mind boggles as to the possibilities1!