Why do you see this as a conflict of interest. It's not clear...

Why do you see this as a conflict of interest. It's not clear from your post. The Chaiman of Altus being the chair of Canyon is a statement of faith in Canyon's bauxite plateaux in general and the overall potential IMO, is that your issue? His involvement? 

Altus run a generator model so don't explore, just farm out interests. David Netherway obviously saw enough in this and Canyon's potential to want to maintain his role and interest as they went towards exploration and development. I don't see that as a conflict?  To the contrary, I see it as keeping experience inside the project and a statement of faith in the project's potential.

Or is your issue that Canyon did work and lifted the value of Birsok? Maybe Altus were quietly supportive of Canyon all along as they worked to get the Minim Martap licenses?  Of course Altus are entitled to an uplift in their remaining share. It's why they farm it out in the first place.  We can all debate values but I'm sure directors would have taken some sort of advice or be comfortable in their position. . Both Altus and Canyon will know more about what is in those "birsok" halves of plateaux and hence their value than us mere mortals. Perhaps most importantly, the infrastructure available to support this project is only sufficient for one mine. Can you imagine what would have happened if this deal was not signed off?  Consolidating the ground was an imperative. I would argue that it would have been a dereliction of duty as a board for Canyon not to have done so. If left for later they could well have argued for a much higher price.

The more I think about it the happier I am that it's all tucked away. 

PS Hit Cameroon in about 8 hours. Addis Ababa at the moment.