i have seen this as a longterm hold but start feeling more and more uncomfortable.Well I'm starting to feel more comfortable ,although very disappointed with the revenue this quarter the company has proved it can keep its head above water despite considerable headwinds on many fronts. Those haven't totally gone away but we have likely turned the corner at Far West, although it would be nice to have been further around it.
But more important IMO is we now have some guidance on both Hillgrove and Liontown which are the future of RVR, as long as one accepts that guidance is not a fixed date but a best guess, then we are likely to have production from Hillgrove starting next quarter and Liontown possibly sometime in the last quarter of this year.
The only thing that matters with both of those mines is how they perform , delays perceived or real doesnt change the life of each mine just the timeframe they start and finish in. Its not a matter of these projects not happening its purely a timing issue . Fortunately Far West has bought time and will buy more while we get Hillgrove up and running . Permitting is a particular nightmare for Liontown but at least starting with an open pit now gives some chance of getting going this year, something I didn't expect.
Obviously delays have a cost and when a lot is out of managements hands its something that can only be mitigated not avoided. This not incompetence its a matter of playing the hand you are dealt with as best you can, if you don't believe that one shouldn't hold shares in the Company its really that simple.
So for those who like to bitch about updates below is the current state of affairs and will remain that way untill they change or finalized.
FAR WEST : Guidance is 90-100,000 /t for the quarter based around April production and operations being back on track. That doesn't mean the next two months will be the same but all the updates in the World won't change that. Certainly looking more promising.
LIONTOWN: A decision has been made to start with an open pit, mainly based around a quicker start up time. Largely being held up by Permits which is out of Management control . Guidance is for a production start before the end of this year, I wouldn't hold my breath on that as finding mining staff could also be a challenge, but its the intention and would be a good result it achieved. There could still be a bit of overlap with Far West.:
HILLGROVE : Guidance is for an early Sept quarter start at Syndicate, sounds achievable but comes with no guarantee. Mancala are still advertising for mining staff , probably on behalf of another Mining contractor so the basics are being attended to while details are tidied up.
An ANTIMONY offtake will happen, its a matter of who with and when and like the mining Contract are well advanced.
They have the plant processing tailings for GOLD recovery over the intervening weeks so will hopefully cover Hillgrove running costs at a minimum and keep the staff occupied.
The bottom line is we will have between two and three mines running at some point in the second half, with two just beginning their life and one coming to an end. This was always going to be the case eventually..
Commodity prices are always the biggest enemy for small operators with small deposits and that's unlikely to change, we will be a small player for the foreseeable future . Fortunately the commodity Gods have kept us out of the knackers yard despite other God's trying to send us there...
Cheers Whisky
