I disagree Sack.I think MF can pull this off.Sure this might be...

I disagree Sack.

I think MF can pull this off.

Sure this might be taking a bit longer than we all expected but this is Africa and its NEVER EVER EVER easy to get something like this going on the African continent.

BT had a huge advantage with Dikulushi in that the mine was easily started as a staged development and he could slowly work the size of the mine and plant up as funds allowed.

Perkoa is all or nothing.Underground ops cant be staged.The capital just has to be thrown at them.Its still a big ask for all this to be brought together by effectively ONE PERSON.

Yes I say one person as imo Reid and Innis were there to push the financing arrangements along and not much else.They have done what was necessary and have obviously outlived their usefulness to Aim as it moves towards being a zinc producer.

MF may have slipped behind on the time scale

BUT

*He has managed to pick up Perkoa for an absolute steal from BHP/Metorex and had the foresight to realise zinc was going to be a commodity in strong demand for as long as Chinas growth remained strong.Which may well be for quite a while yet.

*He has been able to court a major US fund manager to take a substantial position in the company,whether because of his abilities or just the strength of Perkoas economics doesnt matter.MF was still the one with the foresight to pick it up which led to this eventuality.

*This led to a massive reduction in Shares issued in the UK(predominantly) issue

*He has overseen the exploitation license approval,which effectively gives Aim ownership of Perkoa and any possible project expansion in the license area if they uncover more decent zinc mineralisation.

Make no mistake I have nothing but admiration for BT and what he has achieved in the DRC but in some respects Dikulushi was an easier proposition particularly from a capital raising aspect.Sure logistically it was nothing short of a nightmare and this is where BT's abilities shone through.

Would MF be able to succeed at a Dikulushi?Not a chance in hell.

Will he succeed at Perkoa?My oath.

Its a large chunk of capital thats needed and thats what he's best at.Due to the exceptional economics of the resource he can chuck the cash at it and it pays itself back in around 2 years and the actual mining/processing is all deligated to experienced contractors.He will now be assisted in his balance of equity efforts by the new non exec Chairman who has had much experience in capital raisings in Canada from the looks of the annmnt today.

Now all we need is a quality mining engineer on board to oversee the contractors and look after the extended Perkoa exploration and we will have the management we need to see this through.

d.