Ann: Conquest rejects Gold Fields' offer to i, page-14

re: Ann: Conquest rejects Gold Fields' of... From the ASX announcement Gold Fields advised "CQT that it did not undertake any drilling at Mt Carlton in the March 2009 quarter and does not intend do any further work in this (September 2009) quarter."

In addition Gold Fields had completed "less than 10% of the Drilling Requirement of 150,000m completed more than half way through the Earning Period under the Agreement' so naturally CQT stated "we do not believe it is possible for Gold Fields to complete the drilling program within the timeframe required by the Agreement."

So not surprisingly, according to CQT, "Conquest invited GFA to withdraw from the JVA on the basis that it will be unable to meet the Drilling Requirement, but GFA declined to do so."

Now that's a beauty. How does Gold Fields, which has announced a suspension of drilling, plan to complete the remaining 135,000 metres of drilling in time?

So despite Gold Fields completing according to CQT "less than 10% of the Drilling Requirement of 150,000m" as per their agreement with CQT, with according to CQT the "delays in the exploration of the surrounding area included in the JVA, which is currently under management of GFA, to be detrimental in realising the upside potential for the entire region" which of course imo affects the CQT share price, Gold Fields had the temerity to play CQT for suckers imo:

As CQT tell us: "GFA’s decision to cease or suspend drilling coincided with its offer to Conquest to reduce the Drilling Requirement but secure a greater investment in both the regional tenements and Silver Hill."

It runs along these lines in my words:

We haven't really bothered to do much of the drilling fellahs. About 15,000 metres. We should have done about 75,000 metres by now, but never mind, let's just change the Agreement and reduce our drilling requirements PLUS how about rewarding us for our lack of action by giving us a greater incentive to do more drilling like greater equity in it!! While you're about it fellahs, we love the progress you've made at Silver Hill. So how about giving us a greater equity in Silver Hill where you have done all the hard work and proven up a really robust, exciting project.

This is quite amazing. In my opinion, based on the assumption that what CQT have reported to the ASX today is correct, it reflects quite poorly on Gold Fields and I suspect their ability to make any deals here in the immediate future with other juniors.