Ann: Merelani Update, page-6

There is nothing at all stopping them pursuing a stand alone mine on their existing tenements. I don't think they have taken the easy route at all, to be honest. While the initial announcement was nearly a year ago regarding Merelani JV, the truth is that they've been in discussions for a number of years regarding it. I understand there are some good cost savings to combining the assets, and I'd also suggest that STAMICO ultimately want to split the graphite off from the tanzanite, and if the President or someone high up has said something along the lines of "we would prefer you to develop Merlani as one larger mine, rather than pursuing a separate mining application on your own bit" then I'm sure our guys would have taken the hint. Given that John Park previously was an integral part of the management that ran the Merelani mine, I'm pretty confident that the team knows what they are doing behind the scenes, and their specific rationale for pursuing the way they have.

Ultimately, KNL will be the sole operator at Merlani, including the old Richland area and the newer area under discussion with the government. The fact they have recently completed a drill program would indicate they are considering going it alone, although I'd suggest the drilling program could be an element of pressure from KNL to STAMICO to say "hurry up and finalise this, because we'll start without you if we have to". I'm only speculating on that bit, but completing the drilling program certainly won't have done any harm.