Not just psychological for Rio, I think it would be a decision over having additional production co-located vs the risk of having more money invested in Mongolia.
I found the JOGMEC reversal on the farm-in interesting, it seemed they were getting decent intercepts. Either they were looking for something specific and the geology they were seeing was not supportive of that (I am not a miner so I have no idea if that is a reasonable conclusion) or there is some agreement that eventually leaves XAM the money to explore an 100% owned Red Mountain and JOGMEC a large deposit which is closer to production than the under explored Red Mountain. JOGMEC and XAM are still collaborating on drill core scanning (so the relationship is intact) and there was a few mentions of the Red Mountain repurchase (and forefeit by JOGMEC) being part of a larger corporate strategy to consolidate and simplify ownership. What better way to simplify than to go royalty only on a giant project you are too small to develop and direct those funds to a smaller, earlier stage prospect which is 100% owned.
I know it is all wild speculation, it is just something seemed off with the Red Mountain changes in October, at the time I sold out thinking it was a sign that Red Mountain wasn't shaping up. Coming back to this, after XAM met their target, I wonder if it is all pieces of a larger plan...
All my own speculation, please DYOR and GLTAH.
XAM Price at posting:
3.3¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)