Thank you for your introduction and the opportunity to
speak at such an important forum. I feel honoured to be the Tas McKee speaker
for this year's conference. I can honestly say that Tas McKee typified the
spirit that has ensured the survival of the mining industry despite the
modern-day challenges that we encounter. He was one of the most influential
people in the New Zealand
minerals industry. In 1938, with his father and brother, Tas established Lime
& Marble Limited. Over its history, this company evolved from its original
base of marble mining to diversify into gold mining and exploration for other
industrial minerals, uranium, precious and base metals. He was truly a pioneer
that persevered against the odds.

That leads me to the subject of my discussion today. I am
going to delve into today's challenges as they apply to gold companies. While we
gold miners should be generating record returns, the gold industry shareholder
return performance in this buoyant market has barely equalled that of the gold
price. It is a dilemma but one that can be resolved with the right
strategy.