I have been pondering this for awhile. There is a lot of talent out here in thread-dom.....there are lawyers, webpage geeks, brokers, miners, physicists, chemists, geologists, cobblers, masons - and maybe even a witch doctor! ;^)
It is somewhat frustrating to hear many ideas, some of them superb, discussed on the thread, yet apparently have little or no impact on company thinking. I do not know what discussions take place in Salt Lake, and don't know whether they actually do take into account suggestions or ideas spawned here. I do know that they are reading SI - and it is unfortunate that, for whatever historical reasons - most ideas have now decayed into criticism, and any potential consideration of suggestions at the Salt Lake side have corroded into defensiveness. Stockholder and company man are at odds, suspicious, angry, frustrated with one another. It's easy to forget (especially for the manager) that this is a "we" proposition, not "us" vs. "them". We all are owners of the same company. As owners we are ALL responsible for the outcome, and we all have the same general goal in mind - succeeding in extracting precious metals profitably. When you step back and think about it, it's preposterous for us to continue to continue to squabble - there's so much to do, there are so many loose ends, so many corners to turn. This squabbling is seriously counterproductive, IMO.
There are a lot of talented stockholders with lots of great ideas and specialized knowledge out here frustrated, because they feel they are not being listened to (or in some cases, consulted in their area(s) of ability). One of the realities that limits dialogue is that for obvious reasons, company personnel cannot or should not participate in this public forum. But there are other means that can and should be considered. I like to think that Global directors would be willing to listen and accept suggestions/assistance, but at this point feel burnt and twice-shy - defensive. This must change. It is unreasonable to expect that any director of any company can do or know everything and be so rugged-individualistic as to not accept suggestions - or at least be willing to hear ideas. It is equally unreasonable for stockholders to expect that the directors are omnipotent and omniscient and that the stockholder can just sit back and criticize without be also held accountable/responsible in some way. However small the position held, the stockholder is an owner, and has the responsibilities of an owner. The stockholder has to contribute. The director has to be willing to accept assistance and suggestions. This is a collaborative effort, guys, and we have not been doing our jobs all that well - and I mean everybody, myself included. We must put aside (note that I am not saying "ignore") our anger, defensiveness and frustration and look at the big picture. We are now on the eve of what some folks have waited for for two decades! For me it has been only been three years, but that's a lot longer than I thought it would be! Even our detractors and gloom-mongers are suddenly not so sure of their dire warnings. Success is to hand, and should be seized with confidence and alacrity. Let's not crawl towards the finish line kicking in the shins of our own tag-team! It's time we support each other and dust off that old enthusiasm and cooperation. It will be needed. I call upon the directors to put aside their siege-mode and work at being open to a dialogue (and don't plan on it being saccharine!) with their co-owners, and really begin listening - even if the suggestion is OTT (that's "over the top"). I would like to see a Suggestion Box added to the webpage so that co-owners might drop in ideas. I'd also like to see a bona fide effort on the part of directors to reflect back on at least some of the ideas. Maybe only one in fifty will be useful, but the real point is that it would bring in a harvest of cohesiveness, trust and strength gained from the exercise of listening. I'd like to hear other thoughts on this topic and welcome comment (no Sweet & Low, please!)
And thanks for listening,
Scott
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