Hi Hans: As you know, my biggest concern with TDC for the past few months, since the elimination of the shareholder protection plan, has been whether TDC would be privatized by S&B before shareholders could participate in mine development and reap the benefits of gold production. I sounded the alarm back then and have been watching carefully for any sign of this happening ever since.

I have not been so concerned about whether a mine would be developed, because of the clear interest and solid participation of S&B both at the corporate level in changing the rather wasteful and poor strategic planning of the previous administration, and also at the financial level in their continuing accumulation of investment in the project. They are well connected and have a history of great success in a number of fields, and as we know, management is the best indicator of success in this business.

I am also very happy that the clear focus now is on construction of a mine, not on exploration, though there are many clear targets for the future (especially at the exciting Clan Lake project) and a large highly prospective land holding with a strong history of gold production in the past. I am seeing the sense of bringing in Willams Creek to explore the Big Sky property as well. If there is gold there as we expect, it will create excitement for both companies and make future financing of other projects less expensive as the share price goes up.

I am also happy that I have not seen any sign of privatization. The pattern of share price stability, volume on the markets, and especially the timing of purchases by S&B indicate that their intent is not to privatize but to maintain the share price at a level which will maintain optimism in the market, without signalling an imminent takeover by themselves. They are certainly taking advantage of low share price to accumulate shares, but I see no sign of aggressive efforts to drive the price down so that they can accumulate cheaply then use their accumulation to take the company over, which one would expect if they were opportunistic acquirers. Also, they are very responsive to shareholder concerns and make a strong effort to maintain contact with the marketplace, which one would not expect if they were planning to privatize.

Despite having purchased shares 6-7 years ago at much higher prices, I am quite happy with recent progress and believe it is a good time to continue to purchase shares. Ike