This is where my expertise comes in handy - as a development...

This is where my expertise comes in handy - as a development consultant (including some miners and huge quarry operations), I can tell you that from what was said in the presentation there is some good news, but don't go getting too far ahead of yourselves.

Mining leases in place and a highly disturbed site is an advantage in any attemps to gain approval to commence mining again. However, this does not mean that they will quickly get their development approvals to commence mining easily (or in a short time frame).

There is a difference in having 'mining leases' and having 'approval' to actually do the develomment (ie work) that is involved in mining.

To use an analogy, you might lease a parcel of crown land to run your horses on.... this lease allows you to use the land to run your horses on, but does not give you automatic entitlement to erect stabbling and exercise yards for your thoroughbreds - you have to get seperate approval for such works! Make sense?!

There are potentially two paths here, and without knowing the specifics, I couldn't say which one the project will go down. One is a significanly better path for shareholders than the other.

PATH ONE - There may be a way that the mining activities could be carried out under some previous approval (assuming, of course, that they are still in place). Older approvals are sometimes in place for mines and quarries, although they would generally be extinguished if works have not been undertaken for a signficant period of time.

PATH TWO - the company will have to get relevant approvals from appropriate gov't agencies before work commences.

Perhaps there is even a third path (called PATH 2B) - maybe existing approvals will allow them to do a certain amount of work, but approvals will be required for other works - which may be good for share holders, as works ccould commence on something whilst waiting for the larger components to get approved.

Some positive wordings there that will help include things like the land being already disturbed, infrastructure being in place and the key one is a supportive government.

AtM