My understanding of it is this. If there are substantial ounces...

My understanding of it is this. If there are substantial ounces to be had below the current pit design, then it is cheaper to make the pit wider now and avoid costly cutbacks later in the life of the pit. Yes it makes the strip ratio higher and adds to the upfront cost but in the longer term the cost is lower. It also allows for a better targeting of any future underground mine and this also can be built into updated pit designs.

Of course that only applies to existing pit designs and I heard from my buddy up in Leo that the drilling rig had moved to Never Tire and was now at Triangle. Both of these are juicy targets that I hope will prove to be mineable resources in their own right. We will need these going forward as when they get the plant up and running it will consume 3300 tonnes of ore each and every day. We need those rock lickers drilling to their hearts content and hopefully proving ore reserves to replace those 3300 tonnes per day.

As for being a takeover target, yes it is a possibility, however our chairman has a substantial holding in the company and this is the culmination of his career in the Leonora area. I believe it would take a very large offer indeed to tempt him. It is a certainty that sharp operators are working out their own numbers, they will need to make a very attractive offer to all of us or attempt to get a major shareholding somehow. With a fairly tight register that will be difficult so they will have to make that offer very attractive or go away and wait for something else.

The slippage in construction and production was obvious some time ago so it would be nice to know why it has occurred. We are in Wait Awhile state so it should not be a surprise but it is disappointing.