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Message subject : ATN shareholders action

This message was posted by Darrin on September 27, 2000 :

Attention all ATN shareholders.

A group of concerned sharheolders have decided to draft a combinned fax to the company chairman asking a series of questions to assist us in deciding which way to vote at proposed resolutions at the coming AGM.

If your interetsed in adding your name to this please email me at darrin70@hotmail.com - you would need to be prepared to provide your real name and amount of holding ( but no addresses are required ) - below is the suggested draft of the Fax to be sent next week

I have only just posted this draft to various sites today and so far we have commitments from people representing 1,021,000 shares

DRAFT OF FAX STARTS HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Mr Crabb,

The undermentioned names are a group of concerned shareholders who together hold X,XXX,XXX shares representing XX% of fully paid ordinary shares.

We are in receipt of the recent notification of AGM and the proposed resolutions to be considered at this meeting.

Given the recent share price of Ashburton Minerals NL we have a number of concerns regarding the companies performance this year. Accordingly we request that you provide a written response to the questions / comments below so that we can make an informed decision regarding the resolutions, in particular regarding Resolution 1 – Election of Director R J Dunn and Resolution 10 – Approval of employee option incentive scheme.

 The company has failed to achieve a number of things previously announced to the ASX regarding the investment in Optic Storage, including

1. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Optics will use ATN’s capital to seek listing on the US NASDAQ exchange during second half 2000. – NASDAQ listing has not occurred..

2. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Optics are negotiating with a number of global OEM – No agreements have been reached to date with OEM manufacturers, although discussions are obviously occurring with Samsung

3. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Optics will manufacture in house approximately 10,000 units per month, expecting to begin in March this year. – This has not occurred..

4. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Ashburton is hoping to downstream profits from the Optics Investment and the future NASDAQ listing to ease the burden of having to fund working capital through additional share listings. – Without the planned NASDAQ listing are we to assume further capital raising will be required beyond those to date ?

5. 21/2/00 Announcement is made confirming formal agreement and advising that although NASDAQ listing will occur ( no longer a mention of time frame ) ATN will assist in completing a listing on the ASX. No detailed progress of the pending listing on ASX has been announced to date.

6. 9/3/00 Announcement advises that Optics is aiming to be shipping the product within three months so it can reach market before the Olympic games. This has not occurred, we assume at this point Optics were still planning on producing up to 10,000 per month itself as no manufacturer deals have been signed.

7. 14/3/00 Announcement advises that Optics are looking forward to selling 100,000 per month by the end of this year. This is obviously unachievable at this stage and it seems possible that in fact Zero units may be sold this year.

8. 28/4/00 Announcement advises that negotiations with several major international electronic equipment manufacturers are now at an advanced stage. Announcement also confirms that DMR will ideally be in the shops in time for the Olympic games. To date no deals have been achieved with manufacturers and only one seems to have reached the stage of signing a non disclosure agreement

9. 21/7/00 Announcement made that AGM will occur in mid September and include a demonstration of the DMR. AGM did not occur in September and has been pushed back, is this to accommodate further delays in having a working product to demonstrate ?

10. 21/7/00 Announcement advises that hand made prototypes have been prepared and will shown at a roadshow in Australia going to all major cities in the last week of August. Roadshow has not occurred

11. 21/7/00 Announcement advises that the first run of operational unit’s will come of production line in September. This seems to have not occurred.

12. 21/7/00 Announcement advises that ATN will develop its own website www.ashburton-minerals.com.au” which will be operational by mid August. This has not occurred.

13. 24/7/00 Announcement confirms SAMSUNG NDA and advises that more details will be released following approval from the signatories. As no detail has been forthcoming we can only assume that this deal has not yet been achieved.

14. 14/9/00 Announcement confirms AGM date has been moved back to mid October and will include a demonstration of the DMR. Announcement also advises that the www.ashburton-minerals.com.au site will be operational from next week. This has not been achieved.

Can you provide comment on why the company has failed to achieve in so many of these areas, at times directly failing to meet previously announced statements to the ASX.

 The companies governance current consists of three directors only, two of the three have the status of executive directors and therefore involved in the day to day running of operations. This structure leaves very little representation of shareholders interests with only a single director having a non – executive status. This would appear to create an obvious governance problem with the board collectively having no real power to manage the performance of the executive officers. Can you advise why Ashburton has not increased its Director representation to provide shareholders with greater representation through the board.

 Why has the company not introduced a board member with a technology / retailing focus considering the considerable investment Ashburton has made in a technology firm which includes the distribution rights in the southern hemisphere.

 Note 22 in the Accounts, entitled “Investment in Associated Company” indicates that Ashburton’s share of Optics operating profit was a loss of $ 70,501 with Optics reporting a loss for the period of $ 440,636. The note also advised that Optics reporting period is from 31 December each year. Can you advise for what period was the loss of $ 440,636 recorded ? If this loss reflect the last completed period of 31 December 1998 to 31 December 1999 can you also advise why Ashburton is liable for 16% of the loss given that Ashburton seems to have become a shareholder after 31 December 1999. If this loss reflects the current partial period can you advise the predicted loss or gain for Optics for the period 31 December 1999 to 31 December 2000.

 Given that the recent financial results suggest a loss of $ 440,636 can you advise the profit and loss history of the company for the last three year.

Mr Crabb, the undermentioned names unitedly represent shareholders who greatly believe that Ashburton Minerals NL are a company of enormous potential. Many of those listed below have purchased large quantities of shares reflecting their belief in Ashburton and its subsequent investment in Optics Storage, however the failure of Ashburton via it’s investment in Optics to provide any gain to shareholders either in form of dividend or capital gains remains of great concern given the companies recent history of being unable to meet previously stated objective on numerous occasions.

We look forward to your response which should be directed to the following email address to facilitate its circulation amongst those named below.

Email address for response : darrinj70@hotmail.com

Yours faithfully,

Darrin Johnson - 665,000 shares
Add your names here !!!!

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: Attention all ATN shareholders. : A group of concerned sharheolders have decided to draft a combinned fax to the company chairman asking a series of questions to assist us in deciding which way to vote at proposed resolutions at the coming AGM. : If your interetsed in adding your name to this please email me at darrin70@hotmail.com - you would need to be prepared to provide your real name and amount of holding ( but no addresses are required ) - below is the suggested draft of the Fax to be sent next week : I have only just posted this draft to various sites today and so far we have commitments from people representing 1,021,000 shares : DRAFT OF FAX STARTS HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : Dear Mr Crabb, : The undermentioned names are a group of concerned shareholders who together hold X,XXX,XXX shares representing XX% of fully paid ordinary shares. : We are in receipt of the recent notification of AGM and the proposed resolutions to be considered at this meeting. : Given the recent share price of Ashburton Minerals NL we have a number of concerns regarding the companies performance this year. Accordingly we request that you provide a written response to the questions / comments below so that we can make an informed decision regarding the resolutions, in particular regarding Resolution 1 – Election of Director R J Dunn and Resolution 10 – Approval of employee option incentive scheme. :  The company has failed to achieve a number of things previously announced to the ASX regarding the investment in Optic Storage, including : 1. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Optics will use ATN’s capital to seek listing on the US NASDAQ exchange during second half 2000. – NASDAQ listing has not occurred.. : 2. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Optics are negotiating with a number of global OEM – No agreements have been reached to date with OEM manufacturers, although discussions are obviously occurring with Samsung : 3. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Optics will manufacture in house approximately 10,000 units per month, expecting to begin in March this year. – This has not occurred.. : 4. 17/1/00 Announcement advises that Ashburton is hoping to downstream profits from the Optics Investment and the future NASDAQ listing to ease the burden of having to fund working capital through additional share listings. – Without the planned NASDAQ listing are we to assume further capital raising will be required beyond those to date ? : 5. 21/2/00 Announcement is made confirming formal agreement and advising that although NASDAQ listing will occur ( no longer a mention of time frame ) ATN will assist in completing a listing on the ASX. No detailed progress of the pending listing on ASX has been announced to date. : 6. 9/3/00 Announcement advises that Optics is aiming to be shipping the product within three months so it can reach market before the Olympic games. This has not occurred, we assume at this point Optics were still planning on producing up to 10,000 per month itself as no manufacturer deals have been signed. : 7. 14/3/00 Announcement advises that Optics are looking forward to selling 100,000 per month by the end of this year. This is obviously unachievable at this stage and it seems possible that in fact Zero units may be sold this year. : 8. 28/4/00 Announcement advises that negotiations with several major international electronic equipment manufacturers are now at an advanced stage. Announcement also confirms that DMR will ideally be in the shops in time for the Olympic games. To date no deals have been achieved with manufacturers and only one seems to have reached the stage of signing a non disclosure agreement : 9. 21/7/00 Announcement made that AGM will occur in mid September and include a demonstration of the DMR. AGM did not occur in September and has been pushed back, is this to accommodate further delays in having a working product to demonstrate ? : 10. 21/7/00 Announcement advises that hand made prototypes have been prepared and will shown at a roadshow in Australia going to all major cities in the last week of August. Roadshow has not occurred : 11. 21/7/00 Announcement advises that the first run of operational unit’s will come of production line in September. This seems to have not occurred. : 12. 21/7/00 Announcement advises that ATN will develop its own website www.ashburton-minerals.com.au” which will be operational by mid August. This has not occurred. : 13. 24/7/00 Announcement confirms SAMSUNG NDA and advises that more details will be released following approval from the signatories. As no detail has been forthcoming we can only assume that this deal has not yet been achieved. : 14. 14/9/00 Announcement confirms AGM date has been moved back to mid October and will include a demonstration of the DMR. Announcement also advises that the www.ashburton-minerals.com.au site will be operational from next week. This has not been achieved. : Can you provide comment on why the company has failed to achieve in so many of these areas, at times directly failing to meet previously announced statements to the ASX. :  The companies governance current consists of three directors only, two of the three have the status of executive directors and therefore involved in the day to day running of operations. This structure leaves very little representation of shareholders interests with only a single director having a non – executive status. This would appear to create an obvious governance problem with the board collectively having no real power to manage the performance of the executive officers. Can you advise why Ashburton has not increased its Director representation to provide shareholders with greater representation through the board. :  Why has the company not introduced a board member with a technology / retailing focus considering the considerable investment Ashburton has made in a technology firm which includes the distribution rights in the southern hemisphere. :  Note 22 in the Accounts, entitled “Investment in Associated Company” indicates that Ashburton’s share of Optics operating profit was a loss of $ 70,501 with Optics reporting a loss for the period of $ 440,636. The note also advised that Optics reporting period is from 31 December each year. Can you advise for what period was the loss of $ 440,636 recorded ? If this loss reflect the last completed period of 31 December 1998 to 31 December 1999 can you also advise why Ashburton is liable for 16% of the loss given that Ashburton seems to have become a shareholder after 31 December 1999. If this loss reflects the current partial period can you advise the predicted loss or gain for Optics for the period 31 December 1999 to 31 December 2000. :  Given that the recent financial results suggest a loss of $ 440,636 can you advise the profit and loss history of the company for the last three year. : : Mr Crabb, the undermentioned names unitedly represent shareholders who greatly believe that Ashburton Minerals NL are a company of enormous potential. Many of those listed below have purchased large quantities of shares reflecting their belief in Ashburton and its subsequent investment in Optics Storage, however the failure of Ashburton via it’s investment in Optics to provide any gain to shareholders either in form of dividend or capital gains remains of great concern given the companies recent history of being unable to meet previously stated objective on numerous occasions. : We look forward to your response which should be directed to the following email address to facilitate its circulation amongst those named below. : Email address for response : darrinj70@hotmail.com : Yours faithfully, : Darrin Johnson - 665,000 shares : Add your names here !!!!

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