qtrly, page-30

makattack, the word I've heard is that the institutions that supported the big cap raising share your disappointment and it's they who have been selling of late. This is essentially rumour but it does seem to make some sense.

MAK do have a second chance though by holding back on Wonarah and pushing ahead with the Sandpiper project. With a bit of effort, together with UCL (I hold UCL hence my interest in MAK lies) they can get Sandpiper to bankable by the end of this year and potentially producing sometime next year.

This can be done comfortably within the constraints of their current cash position with plenty of money to spare and no need for a cap raising until funding is required to move to production. Keeping the obvious market pressure on MAK in mind, the advantage of Sandpiper is that the operating costs of production are currently estimated at US$57 per tonne - it has no reasonably foreseeable threat of not being a profitable operation. If these numbers hold through the BFS, which looks likely and all other feasiblity stacks up, also likely at this stage then the JV will have no trouble attracting the necessary funds to go to production and AD will be forgiven for the various wanderings of the last couple of years. (Which I personally think, although not a holder, will be beneficial for MAK holders longer term).