You would still have to transport the drill-rig to Vanuatu, set up and demobilisations costs would be the largest bit. The drilling of the hole would be actually modest - even with a standard rig. I suspect you would have to case the hole as well - an added cost. And it would seem completely pointless moving a rig to Vanuatu to do one hole, it would be logical that the company would undertake do a significant programme. And it is on this basis that there are some significant questions that mangement need answering:
(a) If there a market and what price will the market bear? Or put it another way - what likely price will Kuth get? (b) The target, expected geothermal gradient, required number of holes to determine success? (c) The size of the market - what impact would this project have on that market - is there are clear and defined need (e.g. substitute oil)? Should be an easy one - but it has to be asked!!!! (d) What would be the upfront capex for the target sized plant? (e) Ongoing opex? Do you need ongoing expert coverage? (f) Is there the possibility of Australian aid grants for developing nation/foreign country building exercises such as this? (g) If the geothermal gradient is sufficient, one would expect a standard convention play with modular units. These things do require some expertise and does that technical expertise reside within the company? (h) What would be the expected thermal degradation of the project? How long would it take to recharge? And interim plans? (i) Is the resource sufficient to sustain several operations at once? (j) Possibility of economies of scale?
And a heap of others of other questions of course?
All this needs to be disclosed to the shareholders before management commits to the project. There needs to a clearly defined strategy - and personally I think that is missing, and is one of the key reasons why this company has not performed as well as it should - considering its substantial technical successes.
Otherwise management will find that when they need to raise further funds, that those funds may not exist. And no offence, but that would really piss me off.
Its all about creditability - with a capital C!!!
KEN Price at posting:
5.3¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held