However Pasdonnay still has until the 12th of May to appeal against a Supreme Court decision forcing it to complete the agreement.

In 2002, SDS and Pasdonnay, the holding company for Drill Quip, entered into a $5.5 million agreement for SDS to acquire certain assets and liabilities from Pasdonnay.

Just six months after the deal was announced, SDS was forced to launch legal proceedings against Drill Quip in the WA Supreme Court in order to get access to information to carry out due diligence, which it claims were being withheld.

Pasdonnay subsequently sought to be released from completing the proposed transaction.

On February 27, 2004 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of SDS and ruled that Pasdonnay complete its obligations under the agreement.

Since September 2003 the ACCC has conducted substantial investigations into the proposed acquisition and has advised SDS today that it will not oppose the acquisition.

SDS has also announced the appointment of Robert (Bob) Crew as a non-executive director.

Crew has been involved in the mining industry for the past 40 years obtaining his experience in a variety of mine locations in Australia and Papua New Guinea. In 1992, Crew was also awarded the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy President’s Medal for services to the industry.