Ann: HMW Phase 1 Development Permits Granted - Works Commenced, page-22

I would agree with this synposis. The stage 1 DFS isnt going to tell us much because its like having a dfs for a pilot plant, and this whole concept of doing a DFS on a tiny 4ktpa chloride only plant still strikes me as very odd. I still think splitting the DFS into stage 1 & 2 was really just a facade done to gain more time to redo the whole DFS for the Stg 2 but they couldnt say that to the market. Honestly nobody cares about the DFS stage 1 , what counts is what economics are revealed in the DFS Stage 2.

If they had just said we are working on the main DFS but we re kicking off in the interim with a smaller pilot plant but we are just building that and getting on with it, the market would have rewarded us for being pro-active. Instead they belatedly I would say got in some higher level expertise that probably saw a lot that needed changing so the whole Stg 1 / Stg artifice was crafted.

All of that said, my main worry was a hold up with this very permit because nothing can happen without it ( to coin an engineering/project mgt phrase, it sits smack bang on the critical path) , so some welcome good news here. Some mining developments can get held up here for months/years getting this permit, so this is really a positive development. That this only goes up 2.5 cents confirms yet again to me mr market really is clueless with understanding mining development. Also shows having the DFS (stg 1 or 2) completed was never a prerequisite to getting this permit.