avebury killed us but was it ams fault

kohler was right in focusing on this disaster

the $1bn spent on that could have been used to retire all debts

imagine that we could have been debt free

If we hadn't bought Avebury we could have survived.

Avebury killed us.

Avebury holders (AGM) must be thinking they dodged a bullet

their mine wouldn't have gone into care and maintenance the whole company would have gone into administration

instead they got a 50% premium

Apparently Michelmore wasn't totally responsible

someone down the chain had decided to buy and Michelmore signed off on it

Kohler: didn't you decid to go ahead and buy Allegiance?

ANDREW MICHELMORE: I was certainly CEO as that decision had been made, I started in February the decision had been made in December...

ALAN KOHLER: So you did inherit the decision?

ANDREW MICHELMORE: The decision was made in December and I was aware of that decision being made through that period, I took up as CEO the 1st of February but that information being provided to me, everything looked sensible, that was a sensible investment.

might be difficult to go against previous decisions

at least I would find it hard to reverse decisions when I had taken on a new position and was trying to find my feet.

in this regard Michelmore is not totally responsible




from memory Michelmore actually lifted the takeover offer and he didn't need to