I agree debt would be preferable for shareholders and money is...

I agree debt would be preferable for shareholders and money is generally cheap courtesy of a world awash in misdirected stimulus but it's hard to get in this environment for any junior, let alone one in a fairly opaque and unglamorous industry as is mineral sands. By corrolary consider SYR, currently working through to construction of their plant in the buzz industry of graphite which is also opaque. They sought debt funding last year for similar scale to what SFX require. They ended up failing and instead went with a major capital issue which, by virtue of the buzz they and graphite have, got off at good prices controlling dilution. Others in their industry are struggling to raise debt funding too.

If SFX are pitching for debt now I'd be surprised if the bankers gave them more than polite attention. With sands prices seriously, even dramatically below the long term forecasts in the presentation and cash costs higher than the cheapest producers, it would be quite the effort to excite the limited imagination of the bankers.