Over recent months and weeks, I managed to persuade, cajole and convince my wife to allow me to spend around $35,000.00 of our savings, to invest in Mustang Resources. My wife is very conservative and careful with money, and it is only because of this, that we have what we have, today. I was completely honest with her, and told her that investing in the stock market carries a risk factor, and stated that many people have not only made a fortune, but, also, lost a fortune through this method of investment. I encouraged her to join with me in taking the risk - after all, Rubies are rare, and highly sort after, so I felt investing in the company was worth the risk, and with the pending auction in mind, I couldn't see how it could really go wrong! She viewed two of your recent media interviews, read some online details about the company, as well as the plans for last weekend's auction. It wasn't easy to convince her, but I did, and I was pretty excited that we were going to invest in the Company.
In the lead up to the auction, I eagerly read hundreds of posts in the Hot Copper forum. Last weekend, during the auction, I spent hours and hours on the forum, reading all the posts that were related to the auction. On Saturday night, after reading the very negative report on Diamondworld.net, I started to feel quite concerned that everything may not be turning out the way we'd all been hoping it would. Then, after viewing the constant stream of Instagram posts by Mr Vincent Pardieu, and reading a myriad of posts on Hot Copper, my concern gradually turned to outright worry! To top it all off, the trading halt on the ASX, yesterday morning, totally compounded the situation. I have to admit that the shock I experienced when I read the report on Diamondworld.net on Saturday evening made me feel physically sick, and I could literally feel my heart beating in my chest. This was not only because of the disappointment of hearing that the auction wasn't going as well as expected, and because I was concerned that I may lose a significant proportion of the funds I had used to invest in the Company, but, most importantly, the fear of having to break the news about the whole situation to my wife.
Since then, there appears to have been nothing but total silence from you, as the Managing Director of the company that conducted the auction. There has been no announcement via the ASX, and no announcement on the Mustang Resources website. All the shareholders appear to have been left totally in the dark as to what the results of the auction are, why there is a trading halt, what is being done to promptly resume trading, and what is going to be done to try to rectify the current mood of negativity among many of the shareholders.
Christiaan, I feel you need to realise that there are hundreds of dad and mum investors out here in suburbia, who have invested their hard-earned money in shares, as a way of setting ourselves up for financial security at as we approach our old age. I'm sure all of us are fully aware that there are always risks involved when playing the stock market, however, if the auction didn't turn out to be as successful as you, the Managing Director, or the Board, had hoped, I feel we, the investors, need to know, and have the situation explained to us. To still be waiting for some type of explanation about the reason for the current situation, is almost beyond my comprehension.
Now, I'm sure you're far from enjoying the current situation, and you're, no doubt, suffering a great deal of stress and pressure trying to placate the ASX, the Board, and the shareholders. However, I urge you to consider what we, as shareholders, are going through as well. Many of us are anxious, worried, stressed, and downright panicked by the current situation. This morning, I read in one of the Hot Copper forum threads that one of the investors hadn't been able to sleep at all last night, due to the worry and stress he is suffering.
With all this in mind, I urge you to promptly facilitate an announcement, to set out and explain the reasons for the current situation, and to provide us with full and frank details pertaining to the auction.
