Interesting story thanks for pushing me to look into it. I did...

Interesting story thanks for pushing me to look into it. I did some reading which does make the sale make much more sense.

Sipa first mined it 1998-2004 for ~350koz, then sold the plant in 2006. Newcrest JV'd with sipa and spent 20mill on exploration. NST picked it up in 2011 for royalties only (its refractory so more expensive CAPEX/OPEX), spent more money then POG collapsed in 2013 down to $1300/oz so they abandoned the project mine plan. So Newcrest and NST spent all the exploration money - theres that answer.

then KZR comes along
"Under the terms of the agreement, Kalamazoo will pay Northern Star:
1. $5.0M on mining of the first 250,000 tonnes of Ore; and
2. a 2% Net Smelter Royalty (“NSR”) on the first 250,000oz of gold produced, with a 0.75% NSR on
any subsequent gold produced from the tenements; and
3. the same NSR’s will also apply on any other metals produced from the tenements.
A pre-existing 1.75% royalty on gold production (excluding the first 250,000oz) is ap"

I dont see the 17.5m mentioned anywhere. Just 5mill and a NSR. What a deal. But as you said never paid it as never mined it - flipped it!

I suspect the planned plant to mine this type of gold would be very very difficult if not impossible to finance for KZR hence the low $/oz sale. DEG has the ounces to justify their plant and this is just feed for very cheap. Its of no use to anyone else - even though Ashburton seems like a great deposit.

In a nut shell KZR flipped a project that they couldnt develop anyways for alot more than they paid. Good corp deal.

Goes to show not all ounces are the same.