Good thoughts, all. Personally, I took this as the first piece of good Kimber news in a year and a half.

We don't know which way Jim will take this. But we do know a few things about Jim:

1. He's vocal about naked short selling. I know there's no regulation in place, and that crooks might scoff at his appointment. But crooks are cowards, and cowards like low-hanging fruit. Might KBX fruit hang a little higher with a higher profile Chairman? Are there so few juniors out there to be targeted by the naked shorts that they must stick with Kimber? If Kimber starts to run, might the simple fact of higher visibility due to Jim prompt the shorters to vacate?

[ I never like naked shorting of KBX as an excuse for its poor performance. But it does take place.]

2. Jim's template is Minefinders, a company that decided its paucity of bidders was so insulting, they just went ahead and mined their land themselves. Whenever JP mentioned Minefinders, I imagined that he was thinking about Kimber. So his acceptance of the CEO role means that going into production is still a credible option. (My doubts were growing at this share price.)

3. JP has often discussed his disdain for juniors who print shares. Yeah, here and there, money will be raised. But as the SP tanked recently, I feared that KBX would launch a big offering, like the final salvo of a sinking ship. In my mind, that's no longer a fear.

4. There are a lot of eyes on Jim. And ears. He is not a faceless executive whose name appears on no more than a Google search, a man who can in relative anonymity watch his company die and still slip into the ether of a comfortable retirement. Beyond his share investment, he has public, name-recognition capital which is now fully invested in Kimber. He cannot quietly leave.

Before, he was just on the board. What did that mean? Read a few reports? Attend a bi-annual meeting? Now, he is the figurehead.

5. It's one thing to answer to shareholders. It's another to answer to CLIENTS. Jim put other people's money into this company, and you best believe he's heard about it all the way down.

In conclusion, we are at a heinous, unthinkable share price of twenty cents. We got as low as thirteen. We are at a nadir of sentiment and valuation. KBX is the lowest it has EVER been. And the price of gold just plummeted, a notch so severe, a four day move is visible on a ten year chart.

Anyone who has imagined himself to be a contrarian needs to take note of just how bad KBX looks right now. And, I hope, Puplava's appointment might be a sign of better times ahead.