Ann: June 2021 Quarterly Activities and Cashflow Reports, page-41

I've only loosely followed the OBM story, and have never commented on this thread before, but I can give you a different perspective coming from my own experiences of having worked as part of ug mine technical teams for over a decade and having a fairly senior role in a current operating ug mine.

It's definitely difficult to attract good quality candidates to roles in mine engineering and geology, and just as hard to keep them. But what I find more frustrating is the lack of professional engagement and poor technical ability in a lot of these people coming through the ranks, especially in the last 4-5 years. This is partly a function of the booming job market and maybe even a generational issue. The mobile phone is the constant companion in the office, and keeping your social media status updated appears to be the #1 priority for a lot of people. This rotating door of personnel also results in fairly average technical output, no consistency or improvement in the understanding of the orebody and a general lack of accountability when poor decisions are made. Corporate leadership is the public face of the company and is vital to the success of the business, but failing to instill these values and accountability at the site level will ultimately lead to poor day-to-day decision making, and poor shareholder returns.

But what to do? This is the hardest question to answer. Unfortunately a lot of mining companies are forced into accepting mediocrity from their employees these days. Attempts to discipline and counsel people can be met with a shrug of the shoulders with the knowledge that with 2-3 years experience under their belts they can go and work in iron ore for $120-130K per annum and literally function on auto-pilot.

Most of what I know of the Davyhurst field is anecdotal and second-hand as I have never worked in this area before. However, the country rock does have a reputation of being extremely hard and abrasive on GET equipment (ground engagement tool). The orebodies themselves sound like hard work - fairly marginal from a grade perspective, fairly short mine lives, and spatially it looks like they're in multiple different locations. In short, an extremely challenging environment with which to run an operation. It would be great to see the company turn it into a success story though, and hopefully they can have a solid next 6-12 months.