re: announcement out - attached/stoss Some call me too much of a...

re: announcement out - attached/stoss Some call me too much of a conspiracy theorist Stoss.Virtually all mining projects have to comply with WB standards these days or they dont get a guernsy for any sort of finance from any lending institutions.Most anyway.

But as Cso1 said considering this is in Egypt with all Cnt's apparent environmental problems(that was part of the explanation I saw from from the Cnt mess in the media anyway)its good to see that Gip is going through ALL the correct channels to make Abu Dabbab comply with necessary regs considering the lack of track record that Gip(as a company)has in terms of carrying something like this to a conclusion.

Ive said it before,I'd rather see as many i's dotted and t's crossed and it take a while longer than to see it all fly in Gip's face for the sake of such details.Also imo the recent news on the lack of urgency regarding tantalum stockpiles gives Gip that little more breathing space(perhaps).

Just as an aside(another Gip conspiracy theory?)imo another reason for the length of time this is taking is Gip's aim in keeping this projects finance to the absolute minimum in terms of dilution.Its in the MD's interest(considering his holding) as much as anyone elses that this be the case and once again if it takes a little longer to achieve this to this end(as long as it doesnt hurt the ability of Gip to meet contractual commitments)then so be it.Its a fact of life that the smaller you are in this world generally it takes longer to get things done(particulalry with the booming mining industry atm)due to the fact you are put lower down in the pecking order when it comes to other companies prioritising your work relative to the BHP's and RIO's of the world mining scene.Perhaps another element that could be allowed for.

One thing that I should mention is that if you do a general search on this Wadi area there are genuine scientific concerns for some of the environmentally unique characteristics of this region,so its important that the environmental aspect is looked after as well as can be.But,this is almost literally the case for any nook of the world.

Getting back to why Ive read the WB might be involved.It was mentioned back in 2003(I think) that the WB were one of the financial instos involved in ongoing negotiations.Add to this what Tas said re that often it takes a while to get the cash from the IFC(the WB'd commercial lending arm)probably due to all the rules and regs that have to be complied with,and the factors mount up,albeit more conjecture than fact atm.

Now this may all be BShite and Gip may be pulling a giant swifty over all holders heads but the mention of the environmental consultants is interesting from this view point as well.Gip obviously want any potential lender to be able to go to these orgs and ask the appropriate questions if needs be.This is not to say that they havnt already been informed.One would think that these potential lenders would have been given the detailed report for their analysts to go over anyway.

As we have been told though this is not the last step in the EEAA's approval of the project so this is something we will just have to wait on.However Gip seem to feel confident that final approval will be forthcoming and confident enough to continue with other parts of project whilst this process is taking place as per the annmnt.

d.

BTW more of a position than I had before.My confidence builds in Gips.Slowly BUT surely.