Latest letter from Bob McNeill received today hereunder, first...

Latest letter from Bob McNeill received today hereunder, first good(ish) news for a while, thank God for Torque helping FNT with it's cash flow in the short term -

"Firstly I, and other Torque employees, would like to wish all Torque shareholders a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Success for Torque in 2014 will be largely dependent on a resurgence in the gold price. An increase in the gold price will bring more confidence into the market and will assist our plans to list Torque on an appropriate exchange in 2014.

Mining of ore and stripping of waste rock at the Stormont Mine commenced in December 2013. Mining of ore is now well underway and processing of ore at BCD Resources’ gold plant at Beaconsfield is planned to commence on Wednesday this week.

Commencement of processing at Beaconsfield was delayed until a substantial stockpile of ore was built up at Beaconsfield and because there was no activity at the Stormont site over the Christmas/New Year break. Mining and trucking of ore to Beaconsfield recommenced on 2nd January 2014.

As at 3rd January the following had been achieved:

• approximately 6,200t of ore mined (actual figure may vary as specific gravity of ore in the oxide zone is very variable);

• approximately 3,700t of ore trucked to Beaconsfield and at present awaiting processing;

• approximately 2,500t of ore is on the ROM (Run of Mine) pad at Stormont awaiting trucking to Beaconsfield;

• 13,605 BCM (bench cubic metres) of waste have been mined and moved to the waste dump (approximately 26,000t); and

• within the above 13,605 BCM of waste is included 4,830 BCM of black pyritic shale which requires special handling – it must be encapsulated with limestone to prevent acid formation.

Mining is proceeding as planned, environmental monitoring is within EPA set limits and there are no health or safety issues.

On 9th December 2013, BCD paid to Torque a pre-production payment of $200,000, with a further $200,000 to be paid on 7th February and $100,000 on 7th March 2014. These payments are pre-payments of proceeds from the expected sale of gold. After 7th March 2014 (and after the $500,000 has been repaid to BCD from Torque’s share of gold sale proceeds), the net proceeds, after all costs, will be split 50% BCD, 45% Torque and 5% Frontier Resources. Of the initial $200,000 paid to Torque in December, $100,000 has been paid to Frontier Resources as a partial repayment of long standing debt.

BCD is Manager of this Joint Venture with Patrick Ball, an experienced mining engineer, as Project Manager. Torque is heavily involved in the operations at Stormont with geology and grade control under the direction of Grant MacDonald, Torque’s Exploration Manager. Bob Quilliam, BCD Production Manager, is in charge of the Beaconsfield processing plant.

Torque’s exploration will recommence this month with diamond core drilling at the far west conductivity anomaly (west of Stormont).

I expect to be able to provide you with a further update in early February."

All I can add to that is well done Bob, here's hoping the POG is on the up!