Member Info for gmed-2

I wish it were true, but the 7mln shares are a put-through, a cross-trade. So no big buy (snifff). Doesn't mean buying 7mln would be a bad move, though.

Hey Funky, what a horrid experience, but at least you came out of it alive. Hope you have a swift and comfortable recovery.

My son is a doctor and he says that hospitals are some of the most dangerous places on earth. I'll tell him I know someone who's living proof of that.

We'll get our RNS whenever the big buyer is finished buying. KZG is (now) a relatively clean company, but hey, this IS the AIM.

Sounds to me like a bit of a tempest in a teacup.

I agree that although the rns wasn't any reason to break out the champagne, it wasn't all that bad either. But I think the market got blindsided by the Canadian lawsuit charge. It may be a bit of a shock now, but longer-term, it's no longer hanging over future results like a dark cloud, which I see as positive.

All the best Funky. Hope it all goes well and you're up and around again soon.

I'm with you on dividends, fleccy. I know I'm not very good at market timing, so I look at dividends as a sort of insurance policy to cover my ill-timed share buys. Over time, the dividends erase some or all of my share price losses. And if by chance the share price rises, the extra cash is a nice bonus. This is a longer term approach and has worked quite well for me.

Instead of divs and share buybacks, I'd prefer to see more of the cash used to pay down the massive debt hanging around this company's neck. Good start this morning.

So what the RNS is telling us is that the ship carrying the compressor didn't sink along the way, right?

Mr C, the plan was to pump water from the Orange River to the mine, a distance of some 10 or 12km, if memory serves. They applied for and received a license to draw water from the Orange (which is worth something, because apparently the flow of the Orange is limited and these licenses aren't easy to come by) and put out a tender for bids to build the pipeline. As far as I can remember, the pipeline was never built for lack of funds. Someone please correct me if I've got my facts wrong, which has been known to happen. Just ask Mrs gmed. No, on second thought, better not ask her.

I was also a bit disappointed that they sold the mine, harvd. I always thought the reason behind the sale was that kzg just didn't have the cash to develop it, and especially to deal with the water problem. Without much chance of raising the necessary cash, a sale of the undeveloped mine and using the proceeds for other projects seemed to make the most sense. The cash situation will soon be totally different, though, so depending on the outcome of the arbitration, it might be possible to keep the mine and develop it, perhaps as a jv with another company. If it is possible, I'd give it some serious consideration if I were management

Thanks very much for the report, obnw. Bit of a disappointment that there wasn't much said, but I suppose news comes when it comes and not just because there's an AGM scheduled. I put my faith in the "lots of confidential stuff" and, like you, shall just sit tight and wait. After holding kzg all these years, I'm pretty good at it.

My old accounting professor told us he rarely paid much attention to earnings statements, but he always studied the cashflow statement in detail, because a sharp accountant can play around with earnings, but you can't fake cash. The best advice he gave us was, "always look at the footnotes first because that's where you find all the stuff that management would prefer you didn't know about". We laughed, but I've since discovered that the fellow wasn't joking.

Sorry to hear about the medical problems, Funky. Hey, anyone who thinks Funky is exaggerating about the nerve pain, I can tell you he's not. I had my own run-in with nerve damage and the pain was enough to make you weep. That was 18 years ago and I still have constant pain in one leg and foot. It's now far less than it was and much less than what Funky is now suffering, but it's a constant companion. I think if it as my personal reminder of medical incompetence. Hope the op goes well and relieves the pain, Funky. A soaring share price won't help the pain but it will definitely give you something more pleasant to think about

Over the years vod has proven itself to be a textbook example of bad operational and financial management. A company doesn't overcome that kind of image simply by saying that things are different now. But prove it with the right actions and produce the right numbers and it can be done. The div cut and sale of italia were two steps in the right direction. I think the company is now on the right track and patience will be rewarded. Lots of patience, that is.

There a reasonable case on paper for the merger, but the big money will want to see it reflected in the earnings statement before taking a serious position in vod. There might just be some nibbling before then, if only to have a bit of a position if things really do work out as hoped. And, of course, there's always the possibility that a hedge fund will take the risk on the merger's success and hoover up a decent bit of vod at what will later turn out to be a very attractive price. Who knows, but meanwhile I'm sticking with this disaster of a share.

Hang in there, Funky. Our patience will be rewarded.

The bid doesn't necessarily have to be much higher if this time it's all cash. I expect 28-30 quid cash would appeal to a lot if shareholders (although I would probably wait for a higher bid myself)

Am I mistaken or is this the first time in living memory that something has actually happened on schedule at this company? It's even ahead of schedule! Where's me smelling salts?!

I'll be holding on to mine, so we'll have to split those millions, Licancabur. I might let you buy me out, though.