ann. coming, page-19

ex yank, this part of the ASX ann of the 12th August is very specific


"" GFA’s decision to cease or suspend drilling coincided with its offer to Conquest to reduce the drilling requirement but secure a greater investment in both the regional tenements and Silver Hill ""



These two lines may have been lost on many who seem to be been swamped with the finality of the broader message. However, they represent the trigger for CQT management to adopt the stance they have.

Clearly, by making an offer for a larger holding of the Mt Carlton turf, GFA had already arrived at a decision their offer was financially beneficial to their own strategy. In other words, they already had a pretty good handle on what lies beneath the tenement, and want to own more of it.

Handily for them, if they could have matched this offer with a reduced drilling regime, there would have been a lesser need for market reporting. Which of course tends to alert the more serious investment community, and in the process, has a very bad effect on lifting the share price. Naturally a suitor doesn't want this to happen.

In my view, when GFA dealt these two cards they triggered a game-set-and-match response from CQT management. That is, the wider content of the ASX release.

However, I agree, there's some really savvy punters out there who are fully capable of reading the words. Unfortunately though, many don't get the music.

Since it is evident John Turpu arrived in China ten minutes after this showdown, one might suspect "Plan B" is now in motion. Bearing in mind, Danny Chan is a major shareholder, and it was he who ushered a contingent of PRC investors around the place a year or so ago.

Then again, maybe he's just tidying up off-take agreements