re: to tastarga...some balance herald resources Watko,I neither...

re: to tastarga...some balance herald resources Watko,

I neither saw the presentation or hold HER, but am from the industry.

You first two comments re the pipeline capital costs and the financing have validity and given good project economic credentials should not be an insurmountable hurdle.

However on the ground conditions issue the point you raised does not really deal with the issue as the immediate question relates to what the ground conditions are like in the hangingwall immediately above the main ore zone.

If the ground above the main ore zone this is crappy then it could represent a technical challenge for the project that could impact heavily on dilution and mining costs. The issue of leaving the ore zones in the hangingwall unmined does not help you if the backs are falling in while you are mining the main zone.

To offset that however, most geotechnical conditions nowadays can be countered with the use of cemented fill, etc. The industry has made large advances in this area in recent years. And given the richness of the Diari deposit, I would be surprised if the extra cost of this would be a problem.

The severity of the geotechnical issue would not be countered cleanly in a Diggers and Dealers presentation and neither from a broker to a client. Mining companies have a habit of treading lightly with these sorts of issues in public.

Only people close to project will know the extent of the problem. So are you one of these people? If not then this issue cannot be resolved here.

acturtle