As both a HMX and a CNB shareholder this deal releases the value...

As both a HMX and a CNB shareholder this deal releases the value of an unconstrained pit design on a mining lease that everyone knew was too small to be practical, and the boundaries of which actually impeded exploration within the CNB granted mining lease and the immediately surrounding HMX exploration ground. The market is rewarding HMX shareholders for upside exposure in future exploration and a small free carried interest in any mining operations and is not rewarding CNB shareholders due to the cash payments and issue of CNB shares to HMX. Thats fine, the market is forward looking but on very short term time-frames and is inefficient at pricing potential extensions to mineralisation or increased potential for a larger resource. Future discoveries in the JV 70/30 CNB/HMX ground will add value to both in rough proportion to their beneficial interest, and CNB has a practical pathway to do proper exploration within the JV ground and also apply for an expanded replacement mining lease that would have room for open pits, possible underground mines and waste rock dumps plus a possible mill.

Some may argue that this JV agreement might prevent CNB vending the project to someone else, or being a takeover target because the ownership of some of the resource will be tied up in the fate of HMX, but I've got no reason to see why HMX would want to impede any deal - after all 30% of nothing is still nothing, and they would be motivated to do a deal to realize the value of their share in the Mt Hope area. The added bonus for me is that these modest cash payments free up money to spend on exploration within HMX's ground, hopefully they use this money wisely.