Owen, the Off Take agreements don't in or of themslves guarantee funding. Negotiations around such OT agreements tend to resolve very quickly once you have something to sell..
It shouldn't be too difficult to put a PFS and mineplan together for the DSO ore and, utilising the Trial Mining Licence, simply get on with it ASAP using contract mining outfits. With this activity underway it also shouldn't be too difficult to acquire a small (100tph) plant with which to process the high grade sulphide ore at AN (from memory). 100tph is not an unreasonable sized plant for copper and the profit yield will certainly fund the rest of the company's ambitous drill programme for years to come. And yes, the 100tph plant could be constructed and commissioned by end 2013 with ease: it isn't rocket science.
AVB really needs to demonstrate to the market that it genuinely intends to progress from being an explorer to a producer: time for talk is over.
BT
AVB Price at posting:
8.0¢ Sentiment: LT Sell Disclosure: Held