My guess is: With the corruption crackdown officials haven't been able to demand bribes, make decisions and award licences or progress applications and permits and BSX has no idea how to operate in this environment.
As there's new leadership in Vietnam and things are stabilising then there should be an increasing likelihood of getting permits for underground mining of the MSV's but moving a community to cut the top off their mountain home and build a refinery without knowing how to offer suitable compensation, or even having access to the funds to do so is less likely IMO.
Haven't looked at the resource estimates for the MSV's for some time but rather than selling Ta Khao for peanuts and leaving Vietnam entirely, it would make sense for a corporate raider to take them over and dig them up. They're an exploitable resource, worth a considerable amount, an electric smelter can be built cheaply enough to profit from them and Vietnamese officials are much more likely to progress underground mining applications when not coupled with an open pit application and pie in the sky scheme to move a community, cut the top off a mountain and build a refinery that doesn't yet have a contract to supply feed or a big enough local resource.
BSX Price at posting:
2.7¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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