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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Bourgeois who wrote (5915)	4/11/2000 12:33:00 PM
From: gemsearcher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7235

Hi Peter and Valuepro. I think the writing was on the wall when Leviev (our new partner/not insignificant co-shareholder) locked up the marketing rights to all of Angolan rough about a month ago. I always understood that SUF intended to bring in a JV partner on this asset at some point. It had been my fervent hope/expectation that they would have done so before they spent $50 million on a quasi- and as yet undisclosed pre-feasibility and at least at a point when they had more bargaining position than they currently enjoy. I agree on the risk/reward point , but this scenario is frankly ridiculous. Angola is a seemingly bottomless money pit where if a processing or production part breaks down , a mining co. has to pay an exorbitant "toll" to bring in a replacement part. With SUF unable to even offer the prospect of a piece of the marketing rights to a JV partner , there was really only one buyer. I suppose the alternative was to keep on throwing $ at the asset until it bankrupt the co. or walk away entirely. The deal is at least something. I completely agree that the BOD has a lot of explaining to do. They were supposed to protect CJ/LB from their enthusiastic pursuit of this pipedream and , more importantly, us shareholders from this fiasco. They failed to do that. I focus not on the deal (end result) but on the very poor judgement/stewardship that brought SUF to its knees in the market in arriving at the point the co. finds itself today. Regards.