Well, I guess I'm also one who, at least so far, has lost a few...

Well, I guess I'm also one who, at least so far, has lost a few 10's of 1000's of dollars, but I'm still hanging around hoping, one day, that maybe, possibly, I'll get them back.
But I did get the opportunity to go and have a look at some of the Tasmanian silica deposits at the time MHM was promoting them.
There was indeed a lot of silica, and it was possible to get interesting quantities of the highest grade, but much of it looked like it would need considerable processing.
I think MHM certainly exaggerated the potential of the silica, as it exaggerated a lot of things at the time, but I also think the silica could have been successfully developed to produce a range of grades for the market, - including the possible extraction of silicon metal. Unfortunately MHM at the time was already in some turmoil and at the commencement of what became the total change of management, and I think they lacked the management with any real expertise in silica, the time needed to sort it out and the ability to concentrate on meaningful negotiations. They were also facing considerable share-holder pressure to get completely out of any mining and concentrate on the aluminium waste processing.