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TWST: Could we begin with a brief historical sketch and introduction to SinterCast (OTC:SRVQF.PK)?

Mr. Dawson: SinterCast was originally founded in Sweden in 1983, when an innovator from the University of Stockholm gained enough confidence in his understanding of controlling this new material, Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI), to apply for a patent. From 1983 to approximately 1990, it was basically the professor and some of his students continuing to develop the ideas. The real commercial start of the company occurred in 1991. At that time we were working internally to develop the ideas into a sellable product that could be delivered to the foundries to apply the technology in the production environment. In parallel with that in-house development, we worked together with the foundry industry to gain their confidence in SinterCast and in the reliable production of CGI. To date, we’ve produced over 80,000 prototype CGI castings at 56 different foundries in 13 countries around the world. Those prototypes have been delivered to 45 different car and truck OEMs, so it’s not just a niche thing, it’s a new technology that the industry is taking seriously. By about 1996, the foundries had enough confidence to say, “If you, the car and truck industry, want this material, then with the help of SinterCast we can produce it for you”. At that time we started to work more deeply with the car and truck OEMs. They said that the material looks very interesting, but unfortunately they didn’t have enough detailed information about the material properties to fully optimize their designs. We therefore embarked on a two year study to develop a material property database for our development partners. Once the material property database was available and the OEMs could optimize their CGI designs, they started to manufacture prototypes in higher volumes and found that some of the machining operations were significantly more difficult than with the conventional gray cast iron. Because CGI is stronger and stiffer; it’s also more difficult to cut. The machining issue presented itself as a barrier to high volume series production so we spent four years working intensively with the industry to resolve the machining. As of about 2000, solutions had been presented to the industry to enable them to machine CGI engine blocks in high volume with the same cycle time that they currently have for gray iron and with the same surface quality and dimensional tolerance. So it’s really as of about 2000 that all of the hurdles that could have otherwise prevented CGI from going into production have been eliminated. So, the short answer is that it started in 1983 and it’s been intensive technical development until the year 2000. Now we have an open running space with the technical hurdles behind us.

TWST: Where is the customer positioned now? You mentioned during the late 90s ironing out some obstacles. Are there any other potential hurdles or any questions you’re hearing from customers, or is CGI the accepted material going forward?

Mr. Dawson: It’s accepted now. Ford, for example, has made the first high volume production commitment for a CGI engine. It’s a new 2.7 liter V-6 engine, which will begin production during 2003 and will ultimately come out in model year 2004 vehicles. It will start with Jaguar, and Ford has said that it will also be used with Land Rover, Ford and Peugeot vehicles.

TWST: Would you say the investment community has a good understanding and recognition of your company at this stage?

Mr. Dawson: We have always delivered accurate information to the market, both the customer market and the share market, whether in the form of Press Releases, media presentations or our website. We have been cautious not to inflate expectations. Most of our biggest shareholders have been with us for several years, so they’re very familiar with the company. Outside of our existing shareholders I think that we are not so well known, but that’s not just SinterCast, that’s the iron foundry industry. When the volume production begins this summer, and Ford and others begin to publicly advertise their state-of-the-art CGI engines, I believe the international investors will become more familiar with SinterCast.