half the cat is out of the bag me thinks...., page-38

Hi Fizzy,

Yes you're probably right in a lot of cases.

Each situation is different though, and it depends on how likely it is that the 'front runner' will actually be able to move the project forward in the eyes of the Government.

SDL was aiming to have off-take contracts and project finance in place before the end of the 2010 calendar year. This was over 3 years ago.

I could probably go back further and find even earlier time frames, but you get my point.

When the off-take and project finance didn't occur by the end of 2010, using your logic the Cameroon Government would have thought, 'best stick with the front runner.'

Fast forward to 2014 and off-take agreements and finance are still not in place. Construction on port and rail is yet to start.

If the Cameroon Government had taken action at the end of 2010, there is every chance the project would be far more advanced than it is now. I'm sure this point isn't lost on the likes of Biya.

It depends on how much faith the Cameroon Government actually has in SDL being able to deliver after so many years of crying wolf so to speak.

Like I said, it's probably unlikely that anything major will happen with the Convention, I think the probability is higher that a deal will be struck with SDL and others.

But, the issue is there though and the time frame of 18 months was inserted into the documents for a reason. Investors and those interested in the stock should be aware of it.

The reason was that if certain milestones aren't met then the Government has enforceable rights if they wish to take them up. No Government would leave something like a Mining Convention open ended without the possibility of review if there wasn't sufficient progress.