Ann: Trading Halt, page-13

I think you might be confusing "fair" with the mining act.

Essentially, Paterson is entitled to whatever shareholder monies which had been sunk into that tenement, because his name got pulled out of a hat. That doesn't fit under any definition of fair I've ever heard of.

Yes, previous management is to blame for the error - shareholders reap the consequences, Paterson winds up with a wad of cash in his pocket.