Ann: Appendix 3B, page-8

No. I think that the COA decision made it crystal clear that expediancy and convenience for anybody, whether it be the SI govt, large mining companies, small mining companies or sections of the community will NOT be placed ahead of customary landowners and more importantly the system and processes set out under their constitution and legislation.

Thats the fundamental problem. The long and problematic process of getting ALL landowners onside and in agreement to enter into an SAA needs to be done. This has been an ongoing issue thumped out in the courts since 1992.

The opportunity to sidestep it all was to convert the land to registered title and then do a deal with those person whom it was registered to. This was what Ryan and Axiom KB implemented and it was a great idea becasue they simply signed the SAA with the registered landowners instead of having to go through all the BS.

It worked right through to the COA decision and then was nullified. After that it was never going to be easy because any landowners not included in the original cosy deal were more than likely going to be disenfranchised and not overly well disposed towards compromising. The group of landowners who were the appellants in the COA case did actually win the case. They had the land title restored to customary land and all the leases and dealings with Axiom KB and AVQ unwound.

Those landowners must still be in the mix somewhere and may not be well disposed towards RM and axiom since they were in a bitter legal action for 5 years or so. That bad blood WILL/MUST be affecting the ability of Axiom to progress their cause through at the community level which they absolutely must have to have any hope of the Mineral Board recommending them for a prospecting licence over Isobel.

Its been 21 months since the COA decision and yet the PL application hasn't even made it to a Minerals Board meeting by the looks of things. If i was a betting man i would say that Axiom just can't get the community support it needs to convince the Minerals Board that they can successfully negotiate a SAA and make the project work.