Hello all, I have just had a conversation with Stephen Prior. He...

Hello all, I have just had a conversation with Stephen Prior. He assured me most adamantly that the company was not being wound up and that that was not the reason he was there. He was quite emphatic about the fact that the company owns however many million tons of iron ore and has no debt. I did ask about actually selling it but he was rather dismissive of such a simple/stupid question.

He is on his way to Chile on Sunday for a week for meetings with the management there and he said he would be happy to have a meeting with shareholders when he gets back. We need to make an appointment via the lovely Maria (not his words!) Although he would not disclose what the meetings are about exactly I should assume that, if he's going on a trip at our expense, he should have something to report on upon his return.

He was unaware of the email sent by Andrew A as it was addressed to the chairman which, he pointedly reminded me he is not. So that message has to date been ignored by Ross Harper and the question of what he actually does for his money remains.

I asked him if he was aware of the Hot Copper forum and he said that he certainly kept an eye on it. He was most irritated by the fact that one person's opinion that the company was going into administration was then jumped upon by others and considered fact - not something I said. I merely said that the assumption was more than understandable given the lack of progress and the fact that he was, with all due respect, an accountant and not a miner. Anyway, that's about it. Not a great deal but a little something. I did make a point of saying that the lack of information, dare I suggest progress (!) only adds to the negative speculation and that updates of any kind would be appreciated. He muttered something about not putting anything out until there was something to say, blah, blah, which didn't sound too positive to me. I think we really need to group, get down there and get some answers. Who wants to go? Week beginning 22nd Feb.