hanlong mining probe provides insights , page-44

Again indigo and foxtrot, the sentiment is lovely, but commercial realities tend to dictate events rather than sentiment. Do you really think Hanlong, or any other interested party for that matter, is going to take the memory of SDL's previous board into consideration when negoitiating with GJ, GC etc? If, as we are lead to believe, Hanlong has the Chinese seal of approval and no other SOE's will become involved in negotiations, can you please enlighten us as to what SDL's current board should do? It's all fine and dandy to keep envoking the memory of previous board members, or that 60-70c undervalues the potential of the company, but what other avenues are open to the board if Hanlong is the only one seriously talking to SDL? How long do you seriously think the Africans are going to let SDL sit on it's hands and try and find another development avenue if Hanlong has been in their ears saying, "Hey, we are ready to develop this as soon as SDL agrees to a T/O." SDL have been trying to find a development partner since Jesus was a rookie with the Jerusalem U/12's.

I would gladly eat my hat if SDL comes out and announces a JV, as it's where the long term value lies and I'd retire early, but weighing up the probabilities, I just don't see it as a likely outcome at all.