Hi All
Some very good comments made by the likes of @tbirdsrgo@Kipper01@sinical@coto @ rotichan @InvisibleKid @ trademig2.Yes @ozblue picked the S1 hole failure but this is not over by a long shot however the St George team has many challenges ahead of them to deliver and win back holder confidence.
Yes today’s St George announcement regarding the S1 result was very disheartening for all of us and definitely not in line with the modelled analysis, expert interpretation and what many of us were expecting.Has me puzzled given the expert interpretations!The St George team needs to answer many questions and factor these answers into the modelling of the remaining seismic holes as we are all now sceptical about the modelling accuracy and success of the remaining seismic targets given S1 ticked many of the boxes and failed to deliver.The key questions for me are why the interpreted massive sulphides signature was not hit, why the dhem detected nothing given the confidence surrounding the seismic signature of the target, why the dhem was stopped 70m short of end of hole, why the hole was 100m off target (around 7 degrees closer to the surface - a substandard drilling variance imo), why nothing but various rock alterations, faulted zones and some mafic were hit even though the hole was still within the 450 dip length, and why St George still only have 1 drilling crew given the covid related resourcing issue occurred 2 weeks ago.I have already communicated my extreme disappointment to JP and he assures me that his team is addressing these issues for the remaining targets, including a full review of the modelling and interpretation of the seismic data based on the S1 findings.Guess we all just have to wait to see what transpires with S2 which lies in the Transits fault and S3 which looks to line up with the MT/AMT fault area identified in 2020.
Regarding the other items covered in the announcement:
- I believe they should hold off on doing any additional seismic surveys until they have proven up the modelling and have some solid success or leads with the current seismic targets.
- I like that they have found additional dhem targets at Stricklands to drill and that they are looking to do a mini plant programme once they get their flow sheets, however to minimise costs moving forward I believe they should be expediting the process of getting a mining license to start digging an open pit with no processing plant.Initially they can sell the offtake unprocessed for say 12 months to generate cashflow to fund their exploration.All mining costs would be 25% funded by WSA.This approach may not net them a maximum profit as others will be doing the value add processing of the ore but it would allow them to see what is actually in the ground and where to focus.The ore at Stricklands is not deep and they do not need to initially setup a processing plant so the costs would be low.They can then fund their drilling, pilot test and then build a processing plant with the cash that comes in.Several of us did suggest such an approach years back and I feel it is now time to move forward with this approach rather than wait another few years to build something for the cash to start coming in.
- Stricklands and Jailbreak lithium initiative was added to soften the blow as others have suggested.Still pie in the sky and should have been announced after positive assay results come in and not before.
Finally, St George has definitely had its fair share of bad luck over the last 3 to 5 years plus some poor management outcomes along the way but sheet happens as even some of the best run companies stuff up.We’re due for some luck soon and we just need to stay positive. Onwards and upwards I say!
Let’s see what S2 and S3 bring us.
Cheers
SandyC
(20min delay)