I've just received the following in response to a query I penned...

I've just received the following in response to a query I penned a couple of weeks ago. I asked what management were doing to advance activities at Romblon given the length of time we have had no information.

There are no surpises beyond what we have already surmised (and no new information) in the response....

Let me start by saying we had absolutely no indication whatsoever prior to the Governor?s Executive Order (EO) relating to the moratorium on mining in the Romblon Province. The first we or the SNPDC knew of the Executive Order was via a newspaper article picked up on the internet. In fact we still haven?t been sent any written notification from the Governor?s office. We extracted the EO from the Governor?s website.



There are two issues we have been faced with since the governor of Romblon issued the moratorium on mining in the province. The first being the legal issue which, as we announced, we believe we have a valid and enforceable right to conduct mining activities in accordance with our MPSA. The second is the practical application of our rights given the governors Executive Order. As you would appreciate it is not the best situation to be working in someone?s backyard if they seemingly don?t want you to be there. So we have been working very hard to clarify the concerns of the governor and allay any fears he and his constituents may have regarding our specific activities. From our enquiries it has become apparent that the major concerns of the governor is the gold mining activities in the area and the high amounts of mercury being used which is contaminating certain areas of the province. We have made it quite clear that we will not be using any chemicals in our mining activities. In fact we will simply be excavating very small areas and shipping the ore to be processed outside the Philippines.



You would appreciate the situation is extremely sensitive and involves a fair degree of diplomacy and we do not believe any announcements to the market at this stage would be in the interest of our negotiations and as such in the interest of our shareholders.



We are however making a lot of progress and hope for a positive outcome for all stakeholders