Financing challenge & strategies, page-2

A two-tranche approach suffers from there being no-TIVAN; without the refinery, the vanadium grades are quite low out of the ground, and the titanium isn't pigment level. I have to read up again on whether the iron is freely available, or needs to pass through the refining process to be liberated from the ore. The economics shift substantially; indeed, Mt Peake would likely not be economical without the refinery. I don't think this can be pulled apart - it's all or nothing in my view.

That's where the trick will lie for funding; this is the first plant-at-scale, and therein lies a substantial level of risk for any financing party/parties. Binding agreements for offtake are all well and good, and they would play a part in getting people over the line to stump up cash, but this is an entirely different proposition.

BUT the CSIRO badge on the scale-testing will be a boon no doubt. We'll see how this plays out - my sentiment remains solidly positive.

Oh - and the fact that they decided to immediately bolt in the Woojin process says to me that PB has some level of confidence for funding. I thought that, there, was where the two-stage might kick in. Save a couple of hundred million by leaving that off the production line, and then self-funding that as a bolt-on later.