Mode here's how it may play out from my perspective. Yes, the macro scene will drive both copper and gold. Shortage of copper is obvious, but there are a couple of plays that affect people with regards to the US dollar. Firstly, there has been a a small counter rise on the dollar index due to the Fed raising rates but it remains on long term downtrend which is good for gold due to an overall impact of de-dollarization in global trade. The recent rises in US rates is limited by their legislated debt ceiling. They have got inflation down from 12.5% to 5.5%. This gives them room to move rates up and down within the proximity of the debt ceiling simply to support their domestic economy and defence IMO. I think the inflation goal of 2% is a false flag. The effect is to divert capital to the best alternative use e.g. critical minerals and defence, with a causality being the housing sector both here and in the US. Its a question of priority. Here, because our banking system and government borrow from the US where rates are passed on. The effect on our domestic economy is worse because, as the dollar rises ours goes down so we are parting out with more of our domestic funds due to the exchange rate. There is less liquidity in our market. This impacts retail investors and margin borrowers. Gold is also a strategic asset of US competitors which was effectively determined by BIS (Bank of International Settlement) rulings of 2021.
However, in regard to gold, it makes it worth more in Australian dollars and viable for gold producers. Its about $2530 Australian at present.
This makes Steam Engine which we believe is part of the Bottletree porphyry system much bigger, and likely to improve with depth. Steam Engine is already viable at around $2500 to toll treat and given the likely scale and high grade it would certainly be the catalyst to develop the copper prospects. Yes, I agree that the zinc assets should be sold off while the zinc prices are rising. You can't apply capital deepening processes to everything because it will dilute the rate of return. In the next several decades, could you get it all done given the scale of the tenements SPQ holds. They are tremendous commodity assets and a source of collateral. The demand for commodities is rising.
I have always been conservative in relation to price progress given the timeframe to pull it all together to identify a critical path for development making the best economic use of capital.
The current drilling program at Bottletree was to scope the boundaries of mineralization to determine size. A porphyry deposit is different and its not all about the core, but what lies around it, as I have said before. Its about the size of the balloon envelope around the core, inclusive of other mineralization credits. Don't dismiss the molybdenum and the gold credits that lie within that balloon. Its the scale that drives the economics, not the grade on porphyry deposits. Yet the grades we have seen stack up very well against other emerging world deposits. The world has already been cherry picked for copper. This drilling program may not hit the core, but it will enable SPQ to follow the fingers of mineralization to it. Given what we know from surface down, we expect core(s) to be very large, but we are not there yet. For some to trumpet massive returns on a hit of the core maybe premature. Then the disillusion may set in based on a false premise. Its about methodically working through the ground which has not stopped from an operation perspective. That is the important thing, the reports will come in due course from the players involved. Sometimes it can be like herding chooks. I do not think SPQ is holding this process up. It is not in its interest to do so. The truth eventually spills.
In the meantime, JV's are being negotiated for the nickel, to free SPQ to focus on copper. The drilling program at Cockie Creek will commence when the wet ceases. That is a huge target with strong magnetics. The news flow should increase from it and not be restricted from SPQ's perspective as is the case with Bottletree. We also know the other prospective porphyries lie in a chain 5-10 k apart.
So my view would be to get Steam Engine moving, maybe with a small raise complimented by toll treatment which will multiply its value. My long view has not changed. The outlook for commodities, inclusive of gold is sound.
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