update

People, as has been mentioned the banter on this company has certainly quietened since Tony's departure. I took the liberty of asking Tony a few questions and below are the responses:

I was just wondering how life on Irvine is going, more particularly:

1. Are we likely to see some more drill results from Isthmus soon (pre-Christmas) ? Yes I would expect so, the assays have been slow in coming as the labs are flat out.
2. Can you advise how long it takes to drill a hole, or an idea of number of holes drilled per month ? That depends on depth of the hole, ground conditions, lightening storms etc? but we usually expect each hole to take about 7 days, so all things being equal 4 holes per rig = 8 holes/month
3. Is the drilling continuing at Isthmus and can you advise how many more holes you expect to drill in this area ? The Isthmus is very complex in a geology sense, we expect at least 30 holes
4. Are there any new thoughts on Cethana, or has this been parked when you have more time available ? We are doing a technical review of Cethana and Dove River to decide what to do with these assets. Our focus is Irvine. We expect to make a decision on the Tassie assets in the new year.
5. How is PLV tracking for the release of the PFS in March 2011, when did you start the PFS ? PFS is on target at this stage. We started a few months ago. The PFS is longer than usual because we need to the info more detailed than normal as it is required for our EPA submission. So this takes longer, but will shorten the BFS time.
6. Can you give any indication as to when we may be advised who the Japanese company is ? Unsure, probably not until we do a deal around April/May.
7. Do you have any idea of when the testwork by the Japanese company will be completed and do you know if the results will be published to the market ? should be in January, and yes we will publish the results. Wait for the AGM presentation, tests looking excellent at this early stage.
8. With your recent 13.3M raising, can you advise how much cash you have as of end of Oct (including the raising $s, an estimate is fine) and what your current cash burn rate is expected to be per month ? cash on hand about $15m, cash burn about 1.5 to 2.0 per month.
9. Is there a quiet period over Christmas whereby the drilling will be stood down ? Yes but only for 12 days. We have been drilling for over 12 months and a few of the guys need a break.
10. How did you feel your Chinese presentation went and did you have a keen audience ? The presentation went very well and was well attended by many interested parties. I was swamped after the presentation. There is no doubt about the Chinese looking to tie up resources, and willing to pay highly to do it. We have time on our side and will make the right decisions at the right time. As the resource grows and we tick the boxes the asset is growing in value more than what we are spending on it.
11. Any other information you can openly offer on what the Company is up to ? Not without getting shot! Things are going very well here and exciting times are ahead.

I like this guy and the confidence he exudes.