Does everything sound OK?Well, hard to be precise on this, but...

Does everything sound OK?

Well, hard to be precise on this, but having spoken to Rowbottam a fair times now he did not come across as someone who despairs of his current employer. I get the impression that there was a frustration within the company (and without) that SN hadn't closed off the Seychelles, and this was a factor (maybe not the only one) in his decision to resign.

Did he mention why he has stepped down from his post as secretary?

No (I hadn't seen that when I called him) but I would speculate that he might take over the MD role - at least temporarily - given that he has MD experience at Exoma. I'm not sure if it'd be perceived as good practice (it may not even be legal) to have the MD (or temporary MD) also fulfill the Company secretary role.

Was this also a board decision?

No specific comment from me - see above

Did he say anything about potential impacts on the projects at hand?

Nothing in detail, and certainly nothing negative. He expects the meeting with the Seychelles gov (the one we all know about) to go ahead as planned (i.e. soon), and didn't suggest anything to contradict the previous guidance that La Bella is close to finalisation. I spoke to him immediately after the Seychelles JV fell apart. Not that this is a quantifiable measure, but he sounded more upbeat today than he did back then.