Gycor, I feel for the long term investors who had faith in this...

Gycor,

I feel for the long term investors who had faith in this company and supported it and now have been given a good solid kick in the guts by the newbie board.

But spare a thought for those like me, who were not only investors, but also worked long and hard, often in remote and difficult conditions, to try to build a solid and reputable mining company.

It's ironic that almost 22 years ago, two geos were having a beer in Jakarta, JCC had recently left Newcrest and I had left them about 6 months earlier. JCC was in the process of setting up Austindo and I was consulting for FMI, a Canadian/Indonesian venture that was, wait for it, drilling at Trenngalek. It is amazing how things go round and round.

Over the next 10 to 12 years we looked at just about every reasonble prospect in Indonesia, which was not difficult given that everyone else ran away after the Bre-X fiascio and the Asian Financial Crisis. We also reviewed projects in Australia twice.

Highlights were Saran, where a technically robust program of exploration was carried out and the project eventually dropped, but for all the right reasons.

Then came Cibaliung which was languishing and unloved after Bre-X. It was acquired and probably the best team of professionals I have worked with was assembled and completed a textbook program of exploration and evaluation delivering a company making opportunity to Austindo. Unfortunately the management team assembled to develop it were less than adequate, as history tells us.

Many projects were evaluated and rejected, usually but not always for good reason. These included Mt Muro, Toka Tindung, Sibolga and Rawas where we nearly came unstuck badly.

We also reviewed projects in Australia. Some like Fosterville and Costerfield were rejected but they are still profitable mines. Mt Alexander goldfields, centered on the Castlemaine Goldfield, was acquired for a song by the good work of Colin Davies. It went on to acquire the entire Ballarat Goldfield and is still producing a profitable 50,000 ounces per annum. But the 2005 wonder team put together to build Cibaliung rejected it and sold out.

The sleeper in all this was the JV with Anglo in West Papua. Colin Davies again, put this deal together, and it had the potential, had it really gained the financial support of Anglo, to propel Austindo into the big league. The same was true at Trenngalek where I still believe that the real potential is Porphyry Copper not the narrow, small teaser veins at Sentul and Buluroto.

Gycor, we are all dissapointed in how this has ended up, but please remember that many dedicated professionals worked hard to reward your support, and we have probably lost much more on this investement than you have.

What of the future? Well I really cannot see a future for small ASX listed companies in Indonesia. There are too many political difficulties similar to the experiences at Bima. No doubt Anglo decided to pull out for many of the same reasons. Perhaps its better to leave it to the likes of Indonesian tractor companies.

I suspect that we will see ARC privatised and de-listed and it will go off and become a real Indonesian entity doing something else, but in any case there will be no place in it for the likes of you and me.

Still waiting for someone to stump up with two slabs of Cooper's Pale Ale to buy me out.

Good Luck

MG