Oh dear, if this goes - er, well - FAR will have another $130...

Oh dear, if this goes - er, well - FAR will have another $130 million to blow.

Sorry for the bitterness, but does anyone who has been through the past seven years of Hell really want to endure another exploration drill, knowing full well that if they do find oil it will miraculously turn to shite.

As this enduring Greek tragedy has unfolded, I constantly find myself harking back to AGM circa 2016 (it's all a blur now) and Cath's infamous, 'we know we are sitting on a little goldmine' comment. The clear inference was 'and we will make sure we maximise it'. The verdict is in. They failed. Miserably.

I suspect that by this fourth paragraph, most readers will have hit Ignore on the basis that I'm an embittered loser looking to blame someone else for his losses. Most of that is correct. I am embittered. I am a loser. But I am not blaming anyone but myself: I should never have got in so deep, let alone recommending FAR to family and friends as I did.

That said, the debacle that ensued should not end without consequences for those that caused it. FAR failed in risk management 101. It bet the farm on taking 13.7 per cent to production, despite falling short on 'committed' funding. (How did we ignore that red flag?!!!) Yes, a global pandemic was the biggest of big black swan events, but risk management 101 would figure that in. Yet FAR's Board failed to protect its shareholders from such adversity. This was compounded by the whole 'there is no downside' PE farce. You bet there was downside.

In my mind, Cath is a great geologist but has spectacularly failed as a manager of shareholder funds. She should go.

Nic Limb is the captain of a ship that has long sunk. He should go.

In fact, it is hard to believe either of them have the gall to continue - and to continue to spruik The Gambia as our savior. Good grief.

I was fortunate enough to scramble two-thirds of my shares out before the trading lockdown, at a loss of 80 per cent. I reinvested that in well-managed companies and have regained my capital with good prospects of growing it. I lament the remaining third. If and when FAR does resume trading, I suspect its shares will be near worthless. If there is a divine justice, they should be.

OOO