continental gives mashala execs plum roles, page-2

I am rapt with today's announcement. It highlights the world class quality of Conti's new management team, and sets a positive tone for the development of Conti's near-term projects.

One aspect of the Mashala acquisition which has not received enough attention or recognition IMO is the depth of experience Conti gains with the addition of Johan Heystek, Rachel Hebron, Haroon Alli, Andrew Lipshitz, Ken Hodge & Andries Mtsweni. Having worked at a high level for many years at Ingwe Coal, BHP, Shell, Noble and XStrata - management of this calibre is unprecedented for a so-called specky stock. It is worth remembering that Mashala brought 4 coal mines into production over 7 years, amassed enormous resources & exploration targets (Botswana), and have close personal/business contacts with all the big players in SA coal. People of this calibre are priceless - and it speaks volumes that they wish to join DT and the Conti crew.

It seems like the market is taking a long time to realize the magnitude and value of this Mashala acquisition, and is being currently held back by the all the 6.4c placement shares which still remain to be "laundered".

Jason Brewer promised in his last 2 BRR interviews that the news flow from Conti would be strong in the next few months - and he has been true to his word. I really can not fault the PR & marketing capabilities of Conti execs & managers.

One thing we need to clarify is the pay/share/option offer arrangements for the ex-Mashala managers. At this stage they still own 34% of the Mashala assets - so perhaps we will have to wait until Conti acquires the full 100% before these details are finalised. I would expect that the new managers would want to take a substantial personal equity position in Conti Coal. This may be a part of the proposed JSE listing next year.

Enjoy your weekend all & congrats to Brenden for cracking the TU ton.