its time for altona to move

Independent valuer!

What do we mean. Independent of what? Presumably a valuer for whom no-one in the company or the company itself has done work for XStrata or Altona, - or is likely to do so. Now XStrata is one of the major mineral exploration companies and so it is likely all canditates will have had some previous connection.

And what about value? Value for whom, the buyer or the seller? In all transactions value has different meanings.

Any agreement is going to be based on need. Whose need is greater. When the option agreement was established, Universal needed cash. Today, with the Vulcan merger and the transition to Altona the need for cash has diminished because of earnings from Finland. Altona will still need some cash input, but it is not as critical. XStrata need ore as feed for their mill. O.K. it is not essential, but still needed.

No, we don't need an independent valuer - an impossible myth. We need a negotiator, a conflict resolution negotiator, to find the common ground between parties.

In the end if no agreement can be reached then they should just walk away. This agreement isn't essential to survival of either party. Both are negotiating from positions of relative strength. Forget the search for the 'unicorn' - the fabled independent valuer.

Or are we just 'treading water' until September 7th?

In the meantime, an update on the Roseby drilling program would be appreciated.

It's time for Altona to move ahead, and to continue to create the company.