I'm out, unfortunately, @Bomber78. The CAPEX hurdle came in higher than I expected and is a mammoth ask for financing. I think QPM will be able to secure circa 70% of the CAPEX bill via debt, but the remaining 30% still amounts to circa A$600m in equity. That is logistically very difficult to raise with a sub A$300m market cap, even with the (excellent) support of GM et. al. and a first-class management team. I like this project a lot but, currently, I struggle to see how the financing will come together to achieve an FID. I'll return if/when financing is achieved (similarly to SRL). In the meantime, sadly, Indonesian HPAL may continue to fill the void, despite their enormous environmental footprint, until Western Governments' turbo-charge support. There is a disconnect here; investors are not stepping up to the plate to fund projects like QPM and SRL given the CAPEX-intensive nature of nickel hydromet, and nor are Western Governments, and thus the balance of power is shifting to countries like China who are bankrolling new projects for national security/advantage.
QPM Price at posting:
12.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
