what the ...., page-7

re: what the ...maple The whole project is pretty much reliant on the exploitation agreement Maple.No project goes ahead without one of these,these days as far as I know.Its a basic requirement for the banks too as is the Environmental impact statement.Dont know that we've seen one of these either.

Just whether an official signed offtake is totally reliant on this is another point,I doubt it though.It wouldnt be hard to put a clause in the offtake that simply says the offtake is null and void if no exploitation license is given.I mean how desperate are these offtake guys for zinc.I thought they were just about crying for it.

I think we can assume some kind of financing order/timing from the annmnts today.We know the convertible note issue is reliant on the exploitation license and the UK share issue and these are reliant on shareholder approval at the AGM.The convertible note memorandum mentions an approximate date of some time in December under Appendix A:allotment date.
This assumes that the UK issue has been done so I would think it will be late December or even Jan 2007 as they wont get approval for the UK issue until the end of November,being the Agm.

I cant see how they can expect holders to go approving these resolutions in confidence without the offtake and exploitation license,two basic elements of the project.I have no doubt they would be pushed through without(as they have to be),but I can see the convertivble notes being a huge issue if prospective investors dont see how the baseline figures add up.The market will not take up such an issue if there is too much doubt about what their money will get them come 2010.

If Aim management are to be confident they can tie up these financing arrangements(particularly the convertible notes) then they will have to come up with a solid offtake that locks in some good revenue for at least 3-5 years from full production.

Cant say what this might be as Ive thrown the crystal ball away.

One thing Aim can be confident of is that eyes will be focused on just about any opportunity to invest in a prospective zinc producer,AS LONG AS THEY HAVE SOMETHING SOLID to base their investment on.Not all investors are fools and particularly not to the tune of US$35M.

d