My apologies for the slow reply but the lengthy post that I made...

My apologies for the slow reply but the lengthy post that I made several days ago vanished somewhere between my computer and this thread... My (simplified) points were as follows:

1. My background is in general and financial management of corporate entities and my own companies, however this does not provide any inside or specialist knowledge with regard to the company (MML).

2. The company may have a realisable asset (gold in the ground) but the potential benefit that this offers shareholders is closely linked to the extraction rate, operating efficiency and the price received. I have long suspected that the company's directors are more interested in collecting their salaries than they are in accumulating cash or distributing profits to shareholders.

3. They have a distinctly "bunker mentality" and seem to have almost no interest in managing shareholder relations in a positive manner by actions likely to increase the share price (e.g. tailings treatment, vat rebate information, dividend payment (even in principle), etc).

4. They do not appear to have any clear idea regarding a diversification strategy. Certainly their attempts so far have been costly and (it appears) ill-conceived.

5. Given that there are (at least to my mind) quite a number of ways in which the directors could try to increase the share price I have been more than a little surprised at the passivity of major shareholders who surely have most to gain by installing directors who could take this company by the scruff of the neck and shake it hard...

In summary, I see no indication that the interests of the directors of this company are aligned with those of their long-suffering shareholders. MML certainly still has potential but, sadly after six years, I am now sceptical that it will ever provide me with an acceptable return on my investment.