So take a $1m asset, encumber it with 1% net smelter royalty...

So take a $1m asset, encumber it with 1% net smelter royalty (the $5m raising), add clauses for payments when mining commences (part of the acquisition cost) - then blame the Australian market when you can't flip it for a larger sum? Come on, be reasonable. The JV partners aren't mugs, if it was such a great deal they would have purchased it themselves. Every major miner with a passing interest in zinc would have known about the fire sale from Kagara, wasn't exactly top secret or easy to miss.

They needed to do something tangible, something value added, not some desktop simulations on existing drill results. Expensive and time consuming, which is why getting the easier to access nearby zinc mine operational would have been a logical first step.