Ann: Court grants Kidman request to separate hearings, page-40

"Do you think mzn will risk it and if they lose have a huge damages case against then, honestly..."

Honestly I think that is an interesting question although I doubt that KDR would be able to recover "huge" damages from MZN. Damages would be limited to the cash and assets that MZN own and those would be subject to being eroded before the end of a trial by their own legal costs if they lose. I'm not that interested in MZN so don't know the extent of their assets and liabilities. Someone else who is interested in MZN would need to check that.

What I suspect from my experience in courts is that if KDR were interested in pursuing a counter-claim for damages they would probably be allowed to apply to hear/attach such a claim to the current proceedings, this is pretty common rather than waiting. The disadvantage for KDR might be that they delay the trial further if arguments need to be brought to determine whether or not such an application would be successful. I'd imagine if KDR did do this it might be an attempt at a killer blow to get MZN to drop the case without a settlement. The problem for MZN might then be that even if they dropped their claim against KDR they would still be forced to answer the counter-claim filed against them.

I've said all along that the MZN claim looked like it had big holes in it but at the same time we don't know all the facts. We can deduce one fact. MZN's claim didn't get rejected by the judge because it was lacking a prima facie basis or was frivolous, vexatious or ambit. If that were the case KDR would have had it struck out on that basis. KDR filed a defence which means the claim is arguable but there is also that unclean hands plea which casts some doubt over MZN's claim but yet that is for KDR prove. Probably difficult to prove unless those unclean hands left grubby marks everywhere.

I know of at least one recent example of a company walking away from a claim they filed in a court just before a trial. You just need to look up one of the cases Alliance Resources (AGS) started against their JV partner Quasar over 4 Mile uranium deposit. They backed down just before trial and paid Quasar's costs, not a major blow at the time.

If MZN were to do this it wouldn't look great for Martin Bennet but at the same time if he took the case to trial and lost, it would look even worse for all involved in the MZN camp.
I've got a feeling they are at a stage now of waiting to see who blinks first.

If it actually went to trial and I was a holder of KDR shares I'd be starting to get worried because if MZN takes it to trial with unarguable or flimsy arguments and no evidence it could spell suicide if they lost. Nobody is that stupid. I'm surprised KDR haven't counter claimed yet. Esh