As you all know I thought the cash shortage was simply rumours...

As you all know I thought the cash shortage was simply rumours and nonsense, but now it seems clear that my faith in HGO was not well placed - at least not on managing to budget.

On the scale of cost blowouts, this one does seem fairly modest. It was far less than last time when they started open pit mining and the first thing they realised was they had bought a crusher that simply was not capable of crushing the ore and had to be replaced as soon as it was turned on! It’s really frustrating that there are so few projects in mining that can deliver on budget.

However, the bottom line remains that less exploration will now be done now as working capital is eaten up. On the bright side it is still conceivable that some of these funds will be recovered if grades are strong.

Ever the optimist, I am still expecting that they can hedge at higher prices when the time comes. Historically, HGO has run a very good hedge book, without which they would have been broke years ago.