Ann: Best Diamond Drillhole to Date at Mawson, page-60

Theory…

Two weeks ago, LEG announces Hole 34 has intersected 43m of massive nickel-copper sulphides, including a continuous 31m stretch of massive mineralisation. In any normal year, headline news. Barely a ripple on the market. Strange days we’re living through.

But, it’s also announced some 250m away, Hole 33 intersects 400m down (and more importantly BELOW the fault line therefore likely associated with the elusive motherlode source they've been hunting all year) rare net-textured ‘leopard’ sulphides, giving credence to Euroz’s 26 Nov update report proposition that what we’re dealing with here is actually a vertical emplacement model more akin to the complex geology of a Voisey’s Bay, Norilsk or Jinchuan rather than the simpler horizontal plate-style formation that produced Nova.

So where does that leave us? Several years ago IGO takes the decision to secure a 13.3% holding in LEG and tips more millions in as recently as July to position itself to launch a friendly takeover when and if a commercially minable resource is defined within LEG’s strategic 3,000m2 central Fraser Range holding. Suddenly, they decide to spend $1.9B on an investment not in the FR but which still provides a solid leverage position in the future-looking EV battery commodities market (lithium).

Reading between the lines, I believe the only reason IGO (a $3B market cap co) would spend $1.9B (a smidge above the Nova acquisition price and clearly funds that would’ve been earmarked for a LEG buyout) to secure a 49% stake in Tianqi Lithium Energy is because, as part of the inner sanctum, they know what LEG has found (and which will become obvious as soon as the drills start up again in the New Year) is a freaking monster of a resource waaay too rich for their blood and which has shunted LEG so far up the food chain it’s now sitting squarely in the sights of alpha predators of the size of FMG and BHP, to name only two.

But as I said, just reading between the lines.