Something about 'having a significant presence in the NT' I think is the first criteria. CXO fail immediately on that.
I doubt having some Els and a couple of MLs could be considered "significant". They don't even have an office in the NT. They aren't using any local companies, and its probably certain the contractors selected (all interstate) will use a lot of FIFO staff.
You might find the NTG a bit wary of actually spending money in the next year or so on listed companies with limited financial resources.
And the new bloke in the food chain... from Fitzroy River Corporation Ltd who is now on the board. Yes he will come up with some dough, I think you can be sure of that. It would not surprise me if they are inking up a Royalty Deed as we speak.
Now that the timelines have been pushed right out to never land, what happens with that Royalty Deed CXO signed (2.5% gross wasn't it?) with those other lenders of last resort from Canada? I can't be bothered looking it up now, however I seem to remember there were delivery timeframes and milestones associated with that Deed. Did anyone ask CXO about that?
I am guessing no one asked about the green credentials of the company regarding the technology base planned. You know... decarbonisation and the green myth of CXO.
I hate to mention the buffalo in the room, but its there. It's a buffalo, and its name is Carbon. Its daughter at hoof is called Oxides of Nitrogen.
And then... the glorified, almost haloed... MMP approval.
Did anyone ask about the ministerial conditions to be imposed on the MMP? Probably not. And I doubt that's a subject any of CXO would discuss. Best left for a quiet ANN on a Friday afternoon.
It would be my guess that Paul Kirby would be keeping those conditions very close to his chest until such time as it suits Territory Labor to approve the mine if they do so.
I have no doubt though, that the directors of CXO at least would have some indicative information about what these ministerial conditions might be. Hence you 2021 timeline.
There is also a bit of contentious legislation sitting in the pipeline now for committee review after the recent Parliament sittings. Much of this committee review is scheduled for late Feb, early March. You might find that some of this legislation, while mostly related to the O&G industry will still have an impact on all mining operations in the NT.
They also have a huge regulatory agenda to get through, once the enabling legislation has been assented by the Administrator.
The NTG may well be worried about approving a contentious mine, with many climate and pollution issues, amid what will be a busy legislative agenda in the new year of Parliament.
You might find this quote from today's NT Hansard (Gerry Wood MLA I think) interesting. Its actually Council amalgamations (yawn).
If you wanted a natural configuration it would be when the future Cox Peninsula township is established, it could be amalgamated into that council or you could have an amalgamation with the existing Wagait council.
The "Future Cox Peninsula Township". Theres already 2 townships on the Cox Peninsula, but this new one will be mega. This was / is part of the Kenbi land claim.
I don't know about the town (several sites suggested), but I do know that the NTG will start building the new $60 million Mandorah marina jetty thing before the next election.
The reason they are building this is because the owners of the only privately held land on the Mandorah side of the harbour foreshore (where the pub used to be), maybe inking their own deal with the Chinese to build a mega resort (where the pub used to be).
The existing towns of Wagait Beach and Belyuen are way more influential than you might think. There are NT public servants, media personalities, business owners, lots of retired people, artists, hippies, and many other luminaries of the Darwin bubble living there. Its an extremely cool place, and it is not a' disadvantaged' community. Quite the opposite in fact.
Belyuen is where many countrymen, countrywomen and bush mob stay when they come to Darwin for medical, sorry business etc. I have met country people from all over the NT at Belyuen. They stay there for a reason. Its cool. Its out of town.
The new town proposed for Cox Peninsula will be a very sort after location. Of this there can be no doubt, and there are many real estate types salivating over this plan.
The current government is well aware of these competing future developments. They are stumping up $60m for the jetty alone. They are not building the jetty for CXO.
The problem for the government is how to sell this Cox Peninsula dream (which has been on the cards for like 40 years) while allowing a polluting, short term mining operation right beside the road?
Many of those tourists will drive to Mandorah and the Cox Peninsula township. The people who live up here will drive to Bunnings and the chemists, woolies whatever.
There is little social license for CXO all the way from Berry Springs to Belyuen, to Wagait Beach, to Mandorah. It is disingenuous to suggest that 6 quad a day will solve the Berry Springs problem.
Also what does 60% of the nominated quad traffic mean for mine output? Only 60% of the quota getting to the Chinese port?
I live in the NT. With the countrymen and the luminaries.
Having worked for the government and its contractors over the last 17 years, I can tell you the NT public service started shutting down today, now that Parliament has risen for the year.
After all its Christmas party season. One huge government corporation is having the first of several salubrious Christmas parties tomorrow afternoon. The December party season is a thing to behold. Also the FIFO public servants from down south all rack off home again for summer now the build up/wet season is here.
January of course is limited to dealing with hangovers, finding all those emails you neglected for the last 6 weeks of 2019, and reseting all your passwords for the fantastic IT systems here.
So yeah, little to no chance anything will happen with the NTG before February or March. The FIFO public servants don't come back until April.
Territory Labor may well decide to reserve the decision until after the election. Kind of fits with the 2021 timeline babble from
Anyhow its very interesting to see how CXO seems to be able to urin8 in people's pockets, make you all feel great about everything with 'hoping' and 'promises', with little substance provided.
This notion they have provided at the AGM about the MMP approval is just that. It's notional at best.
Those directors got all their options, perks and a blip in the SP. However you slice and dice the myriad potential final outcomes of this proposed quarry, some people will make a fortune regardless what happens.
I think you mob should really think about starting a formal shareholders association. They cost about $80 a year in the NT. you need to have a few meetings a year, fill out some forms, provide a secretary and public officer, and some other directors/members.
Each one of you should transfer some stock (not much) into this shareholder association, so the association too becomes a shareholder.
By doing this, you can aggregate you shareholdings and votes at the next AGM.
It seems to me the very last thing CXO director have worry about is the Remuneration reports and the 3 strikes rules.
If you mob seriously got together (quietly and legally) and worked out how much shares you collectively own, you may find you have a potent collective voice.
Also I think the CXO Shareholder Association might serve you all well in the future should any of the standard bourse playbooks get enacted by the directors.
CXO Price at posting:
3.8¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
(20min delay)