Apologies to those who only want short posts....but for all the good he does our MD needs to look at some aspects of how we are putting ourselves forward....with the greatest respect.
GD, DH, and others , at least ideas are being advanced without unnecessary arguments, which is better, and a lot of what posters are saying is true, though the unnecessary "sheep" bit sours me, as who are we to get into others whose investment MOs may require different actions than do ours.?
Specifically, our (FNT) approach to the Tolukuma application, I learnt a long time ago not to go to the Casino and "put it all on red" every time....be prudent and accord the administering parties due respect.
Tolukuma to me is better than Sinivit in that Sinivit is an unmitigated disaster -first class - and remains so. FNT ought do itself a favour and let the others have it. How do I know this?....I lived just down the road for many years, some of my family still do, and I know personally many of the landowners ( LOs), and some of the former staff and business associates of the mine. Let it go (the only possible exception is if you have monstrous amounts of money, and we don't.)
Unfortunately with Tolukuma, we have created a situation where we must get the area or be SP horsewhipped if we don't. This is because Peter chose once again to "put it all on red". Why? The Solomons experience where we went public early, before tenancy was assured, taught us nothing?
As with Solomons these are sophisticated landowners. Port Moresby, one of the world's toughest places to survive especially for those with little money, is not far away, and most of these landowners frequent it. A Mogadishu style environment, so that if you are not world wise, and sophisticated in the ways of survival, you wont last 7 hours in POM, much less even 7 days (unless you are tucked away in a gated compound with guards roaming), so these LOs know what is what.
Sophisticated (relatively) LOs relate to investors who are obviously well endowed financially. They are not impressed by foreign investors or others who drop by for an important meeting in a sweaty loose Tshirt and chew the fat with "all" the locals .....they will only tell you what they know from long experience in similar situations is what you want to know.
Those of you who have been in FNT a while, will recall "Peter with parrots", "Mumu" and so on.
FNT are dealing with a brand new minister who will want to show he has a mind of his own, and rightly so. You have LOs and holding companies (eg Petromin) who are presently (at the actual mine site) in the very embarrassing position (for them) of having to do business with a Singaporean company (so said to be) who appear to have no money, and who owe their workers 8 fortnight's wages. They will be exercising caution in present deals. When you habitually "put it all on red" there exists no Plan B for failure, so if you do not get awarded Tolukuma then it will be far worse than not having got Sinivit, because FNT have gone public to preempt the ministers opinion claiming 100%LO support, and made it clear FNT expect the Tolukuma hearings and decision are a certainty to go FNT's way......truly FNT have not said this per se, but nonetheless that is how it will be viewed locally by the powers that be, so it is now imperative that we do get Tolukuma, and lets hope to God we do, or the fallout will be far worse than anything so far. Unfortunately this pretended air of certainty raises spectres of almost arrogance and could well cause FNT to be rejected, especially a company whose finances are shaky at best, in an area where the Singapore group has already put a sour taste in LO mouths, those same LOs FNT has to deal with. At days end it's all up to the Minister , the government agencies like Petromin etc., and they need to know they are being respected by a friendly investor who has capability to perform.
Hopefully, they will see it our way, and award FNT Tolukuma. Perhaps the poor performance by the Singapore group may actually work in our favour, as the Minister may not want to give them any more areas.
If we do not get Tolukuma the way back will be difficult because of our tweets and go public style approach. The written word usually gets about. From now on caution in making public comments in someone else's back yard should be de rigueur, and leave it all up to the minister.....any public comment should only be directed at giving FNT an air of capability and control in its dealings. In the washup we ALL want a good result for FNT, nobody wants to be lining up at the soup kitchens.
Regards to all.
FNT Price at posting:
1.4¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held