Jack, no delays in restarting--as Charles notes, the retrofitted pumps are in place. The new pumps constitute an upgrade to make the system more reliable. As for the 20-week delay, these are highly specialized pumps built to order, and 20 weeks represents the manufacturer's backlog of orders.
Although Charles is correct that, in the specific sense of the operation of the Charleston processor, only the limited partnership is involved, one of the conditions of the sale to the partnership was that GRNO could continue to use the machine for sales and R & D purposes, provided that these did not materially interfere with the overall partnership goal of maximum reasonable production. Putting different manufacturer's pumps at the same duplex point to test their relative performance under actual operating conditions would be a good example. In the larger view, therefore, whatever is learned from these kinds of tests with the Charleston processor will affect the production and performance quality of machines sold or operated elsewhere.
As far as the partnership is concerned, getting the machine permitted and operating at its full design capacity is the primary goal--as long as that happens relatively soon and can be maintained for the 20-year life of the partnership, the partnership will be financially viable regardless of what happens to GRNO. But all the partners are also significant holders of GRNO stock and warrants, and those will be valuable only if the company succeeds. So we have dual interests and see the connection between the two--and I'm in absolute agreement that we must have sales to get both the company and the stock up off the floor. Personally, I am still hopeful of two or three sales--with deposits--before the end of the year, despite the risk to other companies of putting up front cash in the hands of an unproven, financially insecure firm. Once somebody takes the plunge and goes first, I suspect that others may follow relatively quickly. And I also hope that the restart of regular production of the Charleston processor will provide the final push for that first plunge.
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PS--Brenda and I have also bought more stock during the past month, so we have been supporting this long-term view with our money as well. |
