Ann: BFS supports strong commercial case for developing Sconi, page-379

I don't think there should be any surprises with the numbers, nickel oxide has never been cheap or fast plus there are a dozen or two full feasibility study level reports between the asx and tsx one can read from years gone by to give a feel for possible numbers and Capex intensity. The focus should be on the nickel market which has a problem coming into higher demand for EVs and what the situation will look like for AUZ in the next few years. High grade large scale sulphide discoveries are getting harder to find and clearly big oxide mines takes of bare minimum 6 years from project development, finance, approvals, construction and full ramp up phase inclusive. There is no magic supply tap for nickel or a DRC type country to push production. The current pricing or higher is giving no incentive to increase production on mass. Not even MCR can be arsed restarting mining at current prices even though they can with a 5 min phone call and small cheque book.

Given the long window to production the focus for AUZ should be on what nickel price (and corresponding NPV IRR) will be in the 2020-2022 construction production window. Can AUZ nut this sweet spot in the cycle, locking in finance and equipment supply-capex during low prices (US$5-7/lb) and start construction and commissioning as prices rise before supply side competition accelerates?? And also control share dilution to preserve share price leverage?

At the moment AUZ is an out of money call option on the nickel price (assuming moderate cobalt pricing) with some big backers that can see the writing on the wall for the nickel market as they can't expect to get nickel when needed going forward. I expect the nickel price is heading back well into double figures. It's a question of which vehicle (s) is best to ride the coming rise in prices. If some people are arguing about the current nickel price or what pricing AUZ have used in a study then perhaps they have missed a few things and the bigger picture.

And the CLQ vs everything else has been done to death. If these guys go and sell ice cream to eskimos CLQ would still trade higher than AUZ and others as they have a few $B runs on the board. It's completely understandable and justified until proven otherwise.