You could be right as substantial commencement may be satisfied by the clearing of the trees (90ha) and the built road access, built in 2009. By law there is no actual definition of 'substantial commencement', it is open to interpretation.
There are a number of regulators including the EPA who have responsibility in determining such. Then that could or undoubtedly would be subject to legal appeal etc etc etc.
In fact Gunns position on the matter is "Gunns Ltd does not accept that the pulp mill permit is subject to any limitation as to time,"
The reality is that should they not make an announcement to the ASX before the end of August it has to shake shareholder confidence.
Gunns have or are giving the facade of moving forward calling for contractor tenders and the like.
As Joridigi said, there is someone there pushing around rubble, so I suppose Gunns/Southern Star Corp could claim continuing work.
In all probability they have or are doing enough to satisfy legal requirements, certainly enough to muddy the legal waters anyway.
I guess my frustration stems from the fact of the sheer lack of news from Gunns as to their present position. One must assume bad news at this stage as I am sure if they had secured financial backing to go it alone they would have announced it. They certainly haven't announced a Joint Venture partner.
There is still a month to go before anything comes into question at all.
Having said all that I am still optimistic for an 11th hour result. As I've previously said, to me the potential profits out weigh the potential loss (or possible small profit) should they hit solvency.
To me the countdown has become more a target symbol of what is occurring due to the lack of corporate information.
GNS Price at posting:
26.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
