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Have you missed the RNS at end of July that stated GAP certification was received? I would also add the BRC website states that their standard procedure is to give a site on the enrolment programme 3 months to respond to any nonconformities raised on the enrolment audit, as there are often many and the new patterns of working have to be bedded in properly. they then return to site for a certification audit. So the company should be on track for October. One would also hope the GAP accreditation has covered a number of the issues the BRC would cover, and that with the help from Julia Dedmans team they have done a thorough job all around. We will see. .

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the Initial increase earlier today, but now we are nearly 18% positive. If it'news related can only be timber can't it? Too early for interim. But then with this lot who knows. Probably bought out Apple

But year end. . Butcher?!

Danke and agreed. One more for the melting pot is the near £4m 'short term investments' stated in the accounts (page13). What exactly are these and in what are they invested? There was talk on PRG that a long position had been taken by OBT after the sale of shares to Titanium. If so why don't we know that? A list should be declared. Lastly, it is interesting that the company turnover for 6 months end of June were £1.157m butcher end they could only muster £1.69m. And logging season starts 1st April and LCS came on board 13th Oct. So does that mean payments for timber are booked first half of following year or was trade just that poor. Confusion as always

It's truly difficult to say due to the lack of transparency which has driven investors away. I would expect much improved sales on the LCS front and some improvement on farm front though not outstanding due to the certification issues. I did read elsewhere that the strength of the rand, or lack of will have affected sales but I don't buy that completely. The rand stood at around 11 rand to 1 US dollar when they purchased the shops compared to 13.80 now, so it has slipped but it is not delapidating. They have opened one new shop when 3 were scheduled, so news on this should be given. The plan for ramping up dried fruit business is major so should be explained. The development of the timber assets and sales needs updating. Where is it going? Some explanation on the fruit tree orchard progress and explanation of why the lesotho cannery is being Renovated. One would guess it is because it also requires certification? If so timescales please. All in all the company needs to wake up and sort their reporting lives out. If things are delayed we should be updated at half year, not treated like mushrooms. I am a long term holder here but even my trust has wavered considerably over the contradictory nature of the RNSs dating back the last year or so. The company is essentially 18 months behind their plans and don't have the balls to say so.

I in no way believe this is a dead duck. Progress is NOW being made with the food certs and with this next year should be very fruitful (excuse the pun). I feel somewhat unnerved by the managements approach to news this last year or so but with fresh faces on the board and a push on the dried fruit and mama Joe sales, there is definitely good money to be made, particularly at these sort of prices. If so then all will be forgiven. But at present performance levels sentiment has certainly been eroded because even this avid fan is faltering. I hope big Frank isn't driving the price down so he can launch a cheap takeover

Have been here for 2.5 years and was a great fan of this share but my support is waning. They used to update far more regularly and I feel the reason they don't so much now is simply because they have nothing positive to tell. They are hiding their poor performance and missed targets. This can be seen when positive news does become available it is immediately pushed out by the board. Yet updates on the various areas of the business is absent. When I first invested they were regularly talking about the fruit business and rarely updating on the timber. I hope that the new faces on the board will change things somewhat and with the food certificates wrapped up perhaps early October, there will be things to talk about. In the meantime the majority of my money is better off somewhere it can work a bit harder.

It's interesting that he took the lead on the RNS rather than Scolario. Let's hope it continues. No reaction on SP or volume it seems

I am one of them ChrisJ1. Am sick of my money achieving nothing. Especially with so many livelier opportunities elsewhere and no news really expected here until early October at best, and even that does not guarantee a rise. My faith in this company is waning and we should not need a timber divest to make it move, the company should be far further down the line by now. I still hold a good chunk and will be back in time with more but for now like many others no doubt there is better investments to be had. Though we will be at bargain basement levels soon

What we need is more focused reporting from the BOD. The potential in the assets is there and I can even forgive the lengthy set back in the dried fruit development. But the BOX 're a lily need to report better on their plans and strategies.

For the avoidance of doubt the additional forestry acreage has already been valued in the end of year accounts for 30th June. I believe it is on page 43. Am on holiday and only have my kindle, so problematic to check at present. I have seen posts elsewhere that state it is still awaited. People really should research the companies they so readily pass judgement on.

I was wondering how the company would play the GAP. They have a habit of appearing indifferent to news flow. The immediate release proves in my eyes that the company realised the significance of the accreditation for investor interest and so we're keen to shout it. Be interesting to see if they follow up in the coming weeks on news of how they intend to implement it white awaiting the processing unit sign off. All in all though a very positive step forward and we are still only recovering the last few weeks losses, so who knows may see double figures in the next few weeks. I believe the 300 000 trades are rollovers which are exceptionally common on this share.

It depends which accreditation one is reviewing. Under the BRC Simon Rollason states that the audit was an enrolment BRC audit. This would indicate that Obtala were new to the scheme as BRC employ an enrolment programme for all sites new to the standard. Also post audit non conformities are usually given 28 days to rectify not 3 months, which would also indicate that the process has only recently begun. Why is anyones guess. Non conformities can be broken down into critical, major and minor, but this only maters if the site is producing goods for export and Obtala are not. They are only producing fresh produce for the local market which it seems has less stringent controls on accreditation. This is clearly a stop gap whilst they achieve accreditation and can go for the better returns from Europe and Asia. Under the GAP accreditation the process for rectification of non conformances is always 28 days. There is no break down of the criteria only that they are non conformances. The good news is that once the final inspection has been carried out and all non conformances closed out, the certificate can be issued as soon as the next day. And from what I can see Obtala can ramp up some exports on just the Global GAP acreditation.

Taken from Bloomberg. One would wonder why he is still with Obtala Resources. He joined the company when they were a mining outfit. With the sale of the Paragon Diamonds asset, the company has become a food to fork operation. So why is he still with the company? Mr. Simon Rollason, BSc (Hons) Geology, MIMMM, FGS serves as Managing Director of Obtala Resources Limited. Mr. Rollason has over 18 years international experience in mining and geological exploration having worked in Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and the Far East with both multi-nationals and junior resources companies. He served on nickel, gold, copper, base metals and gemstone projects, ranging from grassroots to producing assets. He has been involved with and managed operations which have varied from exploration, evaluation projects to successfully feasibility studies. He served as Non-Executive Chairman and Director of Gemstones of Africa Group plc since June 1, 2009. He has been a Director of Obtala Resources Limited since September 22, 2008. Mr. Rollason received a BSc (Hons) in Geology.

As for the food certification, this is also mentioned by Simon Rollason on page 4 of the 2014 accounts with G.A.P approval due in the next few weeks, whilst BRC is expected to be given around October. This will release much neede sales of dried fruit and Mama Jos to world retail, not just Africa. Clearly there has been mistakes made in obtaining this certification. It smacks of inexperience and the company is brushing over past promises made. Perhaps some of the director chnages are a result of this. However, they are finally on track for it now. Whether they make a big song and dance of G.A.P approval when it comes or not hide it in the small print again, the fact remains that the returns achievable on dried fruit and mama jo sales will push the company into the next phase.

Posted FRiday late but worth saying again. If you read the 2014 financial report, page 40 item 33 states that the valuation has already been carried out on the additional 2 blocks of forestry and is valued at £8.6m with a 15% discount. I would hazard a guess that equates to approx $13m. Strange way to communicate it but means the company knows the value of the timber for divesting. Something the accounts state will be concluded in 2015.

You need to go to investors relations/financial statement/year end results 2014. Page 4 under Morogoro covers accreditation time scales. Page 40 covers post statement events, which is the additional timber valuations.

I suggest you read page 4 of the 2014 year end financials, gives you the procedure and timescales which are split for GAP and BRC. GAP will be approx a month so perhaps next 2 weeks and BRC approx 3 months, perhaps 4 months with follow up audit required.

I would also add that on page 3 Fransesco Scolaro states the timber concession now stands at 314,000, which means he has included the 35000 additional acres. Note - the additional concession value is actually on page 39 (was page 40 on my downloaded copy).

If you read the financial report, page 40 item 33 states that the valuation has already been carried out on the additional 2 blocks of forestry and is valued at £8.6m with a 15% discount. I would hazard a guess that equates to approx $13m. Strange way to communicate it but means the company knows the value of the timber for divesting. Something the accounts state will be concluded in 2015.