china pulls out of $6bn wa project, page-47

hws,

Weld Range is a DSO orebody therefore the capital costs are not huge (in relation to a magnetite ore).

Not as bad as magnetite sure, but they still need to get water, gas and power to the mine site and that is a lot of infrastructure that OPR doesn't provide.

The nearest grids are hundreds of km away. That is affordable for a larger project like Jack Hills but not, it seems, for a smaller project.

You don't sign off on a project on the hope they might get another 5 years through further exploration either. It has to stand on its own merits for a 10 year life of mine, which it apparently doesn't.

SMC had to submit their plans for this to OPR and the OPR guys apparently couldn't get a positive NPV for it. So their bean counters for one will be breathing a sigh of relief that SMC is out.

Unfortunately I doubt the market will agree.

I've thought it over and spoken to some people whose judgement I value in this matter (who agreed with me that this was a positive long-term development) and have decided to hold. I considered selling on re-open to buy in cheaper, but I really can't be bothered gambling the short term - and it may be too late to sell anyway. Back in the bottom drawer for another 3 years...