im hearing the mine has closed down., page-20

I phoned the company several times and got through to someone in charge, to whom I addressed a series of questions:

1. There is a rumour on a blog site that the mine has closed down, and that staff are not paid.

Ans: (abbreviated) A new winder was installed whilst the plant was shut down to fix some teething issues that were discussed in our recent release. It was a good time to do it, so we did. Both fixes took a little longer than expected, but all is a little late but all is on track.

2. Why were the teething problems not foreseen?

Ans: (abbreviated) They were pretty much foreseen and are not unusual, but due, in the main to some supplier errors (that were out of our control) they took a bit longer to fix than we thought.

3. Could better project management have avoided these issues?
Ans: Well, um probably yes, but then again, if you look under the bonnet of any company you will find issues and delays especially while moving from construction into production - we think ours are probably less than most, but in the current market, sensitivity to any issues has increased, so we thought it better to disclose them fully and frankly.

4. and are the staff all paid?
Ans: Yes

5. You announced an ANZ facility - Is your relationship with the Bank good?
Ans: Yes - very good - and they are happy with our asset backing. Me - way above your market cap? Ans yes - by a lot.

6. But with these delays, and cash poor position (relying on facilities) your cash flow must have been affected?

Ans: As disclosed, this caused some concern amongst the most conservative element in the company, but it has not been a real issue, because we have we many good fall back options. We have arrange more cash to the tune of around $ 1 million.

7. If you have further um "issues" can the company cover the cash flow impact?

Ans: - We don't think there will be further issues, but we do have ample facilities if we do.

8. Um - cheeky question - are you still a happy team, or are you working too hard?
Ans: Yes, we feel we have overall a pretty happy ship, and we are pleased with what we achieved, but we are all currently a little overworked - and looking forward to being consistently producing.


9. Why do you think people would be spreading nasty rumours about being closed?

Ans: - There is little point in speculating on that."

10. May I relay these answers onto the web site?
Ans - Yes mate - if you want to - we are a public company.

And that was the end of the convo - I didn't want to push my luck.