General discussion, page-1456

Annoying reporters saying 90 billion baht of 'in ground value' to make Thai nationals jealous. It's the sort of thing cowboy woman would say. Reality, like 20% profit margin, and almost as much tax going to the government.

Anyway, not a very big deal.


The government have changed their tune - stopped speaking about sick villagers, and started speaking about people wanting employment.

Also mentioned as a benefit is that the gold will be refined to a high purity in Thailand. I'd only call that a benefit for the owner of the refining company, whoever that is (and their employees). More of a PR spin than anything - but however the government want to justify the win-win to people.

Just I wonder about the benefits to KCN - royalty rate discounts especially...since the new royalty scheme is crazy. The new royalty rates increase over time with inflation. Scenario - inflation pushes the gold price from $1700 to $3000 over some years, mining cost inflation drives costs from $1000 to $2200, and the royalties which are based on the gold price, change from 10% to 20% - making Thailand uncompetitive for mining.


In Thailand, it's normal for news articles and government releases to have primary school level math mistakes. So it would be hardly a surprise for the math of the royalty scheme to make no sense (to make Thailand completely uncompetitive over 10 years). Meaning, to have any long term business planning would require a specially agreed rate, or to rely on future legislation changes to fix it.