FWIW, you should all have far more faith in what Chris says,...

FWIW, you should all have far more faith in what Chris says, than in what I say. He's a qualified geo and has spent years examining the resource.

I'm just an anonymous bludger with a HC account.

Here's part of his CV from the Citigold website:-

His track record of success includes increasing Citigold’s mineral resources from 300,000 ounces to one million ounces in nine months, and then 3 years later to 10 million ounces. Prior to this he doubled Emperor Mines Ltd’s mineral resources to 3.1 million ounces in 1994-96 and doubled the mineral resources at the Hilton Mine with Mount Isa Mines Ltd (now Xstrata) in 1981.

In relation to Emperor, it has been a very successful resource, producing over 100Koz p.a. both during Chris' tenure there and for many years thereafter. As late as 2005, subsequent geologists had that resource estimated at in excess of 4moz. Chris was proven correct and that mine threw off a lot of cash. Unfortunately, due to years of underinvestment, the Vatukoula mine ceased production in Dec 2006, as it was no longer considered profitable to continue production, as announced here. The current owners are presently producing at a 36Koz p.a. rate, at a cost of $US831/oz, with hopes that it will ramp back up to 110Koz p.a. They now peg the resource (confirmed by another geo) at over 5moz.

The Hilton Mine (zinc-lead-silver deposit) was initially developed in the early 1970's, however was suspended for a while as MIM concentrated on Mount Isa. Investigations and developments were reactivated in 1980. It was due to open in 1986, but didn't start production until 1990. It was set to become one of MIM's major producers. In the early 1990's, the Hilton Mine was described as "among the largest known base metal deposits in the world." Hilton is still producing for present owner, Xtrata, to this day.

Even before his time at Citigold, Chris had a formidable resume and, unlike many geologists, he seems to be unusually good as an operations manager, with a history of running a tight ship and being something of a Mr Fix-it.

Good luck to him with CTO, because I think he will need it. Having said that, CTO shareholders would be hard pressed to find a better manager to try and wring some gold out of the Charters Towers fields.

If he can get CTO performing, it will be the crowning achievement of a long and distinguished career.