Had an interesting conversation with a RIO division head at a...

Had an interesting conversation with a RIO division head at a dinner party on Sat. I mentioned to him TOX had received preffered vendor status. He then proceeded to tell me what exactly that means.

1. Tox have passed all of Rio's very tough HSE, corporate governance, fiscal stress test and much more. This is a long arduous process for any "preffered vendor" and is accompanied by an outside audit to certify company compliance.

2. Rio uses an internal IT system called SAP which combines virtually all Rio acounting, contracts etc, even the kitchen sink. By being a preffered vendor, when anyone worldwide/Australiawide in Rio types in, let's say "waste disposal", the first name on the list is Tox, all the contact names, standardized contract form, standardized approval forms etc.

Unless Tox ask some rediculous price for a service, they automatically are chosen.

Further, by being a preferred vendor to Rio, it tells other companies that Tox has passed a rigourous examination to be chosen. To become a preffered vendor, most of the expensive work has already been.

As the Rio man said in regards to TOX, that is a very valuable INTANGIBLE ASSET for TOX, which cannot be included in the balance sheet. Stock Analysts only use tangible asset when valuing a company.