the australian page 21, page-3

"a pussy's bow"? LOL

WHAT'S more problematic than running out of cash? The answer, it seems, is having piles of it -- but no other reason for existing. Witness the scuffle as biotechs Avexa and Cytopia try to get their hands on the cash of pharma failure Progen.

Batavia has been the subject of an amusing spat on the HotCopper spruiking site, culminating in one blogger -- later outed as Batavia director Neil Biddle -- describing dissident holders as "amateurs".

Batavia has been all dressed up like pussy's bow since selling its main project, the Gullewa gold and copper deposit, last year to Canada's ATW Venture for $13 million cash and $2 million of scrip. It also sold its stake in Thor Mining Plc for $2.6 million.

According to one dissident, the board has been living high on the hog while promising to find an alternative project. "These guys have spent $2 million looking for a project and still don't have one," the investor says. "No wonder the villagers have got out their pitchforks and torches."

Another holder says: "I have voted my shares to a possible action to declare a shareholder-inspired EGM."

The life of Riley claims -- which fall short of alleging specific excesses -- have certainly riled Biddle, who has just returned from Namibia to execute a deal.

"I stayed in a two-star hotel in the Kalahari Desert," he says. He adds the company's policy is for directors and employees to fly economy class for trips under two hours and business class for longer journeys.

Biddle says it's not an easy market to find a project. "There's a misperception there's a lot of bargains around, but it's too early in the cycle," he says. Biddle adds the board has done due diligence on three gold assets and has lodged a conditional bid.

As well as holding $13.8 million and $1.79 million of investments, Batavia is owed a further $10 million from the Gullewa sale, payable over three years. This makes for cash backing of 20c a share.

As for his anonymous HotCopper postings, Biddle says he misunderstood the site's rules as requiring a nom de plume. "I'm a dinosaur. I'm never going into a chat room again," he says.

Criterion last had Batavia as a spec buy at 10c in July last year, after the Gullewa sale. Frankly we don't know what to think now, but investors should hold for the entertainment value. The next corporate meet should be a ripper, whether it's an AGM, an EGM or in a Jimmy Sharman boxing tent.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25106967-23634,00.html