Mr. Gull,
I'm excited now, so I'll try to respond to ALL of your questions, not be selective like others.
G:Where would the diamond industry be without De Beers.
C:A lot worse off. De Beers has been the reason why diamonds have the value they do today. No doubt about it. In the past, their ability to control supply/production/prices of rough diamonds has been immensely important to valuations. However, times do change. Since De Beers controls the sale of 70% of world diamond production, 30% obviously come from elsewhere. This is what attracts exploration and development and will drive diamond production into the future. That being said, I would hope that SUF and De Beers could work out a marketing deal, so each company can concentrate on what they do best.
G: Why do you think that people who have tried their own marketing have always come back to De Beers?
C: As above, De Beers is easily the world's best diamond marketer. But 30% go elsewhere, so not all comes back to De Beers.
G: Stability is always a good thing.
C: Unless you want to shake up the old, unfair status quo to introduce a fairer, more equitable business climate.
G: I wonder who stole the find originally?
C: There was no find before SUF explored the property, developed mineral trains, spent time and money drilling and eventually found M1. During the course of this time period, they were advised by the DME as to proper procedure and followed it to the letter. The intention of the DME and SUF are very consistent throughout. Nothing has been stolen, with the possible exception of the time delay from M1 production from March 1, 1998 to today. How many jobs for how long have been "stolen" by the money grab of the "heirs"?
G: We all know who tried to steal the find from the heirs.
C: See above. Can you not understand how SUF shareholders feel the Marsfontein rights were "stolen" from them? Let's wait until M1 is in production, see how many new jobs are created, how a growing company like SUF can create even more employment in the area from further exploration and then we can work backwards and see who got what and who deserved more/less
Confluence
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