South China Resources

No, nor have I (found a website for Zangge). The Orchid releases indicate that Zangge are themselves part of a larger consortium.

Orchid made clear a month later in their Annual Report that they were pulling out of their interests in Tibet. The cost of the whole thing became clearer some months later in their March 2006 Interims:

The first months of the current reporting period were characterised by probably the most significant setbacks in Orchid's history. We learned that the Qu Long copper project in Tibet, for which Orchid had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tibetan authorities, would instead be awarded to a local mining company. After a thorough assessment of the situation, the Board decided to cease activities in Tibet, and to change the strategy of the company.

The costs of investigating the Qu Long project, and other, smaller projects in Tibet, amounted to several million Australian Dollars, most of it incurred in the year ended 30 June 2005.

However, the fallout from the Tibet project continued to impact the current period under review, with expenditure of several hundred thousand dollars incurred, for example, on severance payments, exploration activities and the cost of closing the Lhasa office.



So, a good reminder, then, that signing an agreement to do something is not the same as securing the rights to a project.