As announced at the AGM, the negotiation of terms with strategic...

As announced at the AGM, the negotiation of terms with strategic investors was delayed to allow the initiatives proposed by Tom Revy to be demonstrated given the material impact on the project economics - in effect, why negotiate a good deal when you can wait a few months, show that the cards that you hold are much better and then negotiate a great deal. The following is from the Chairman's presentation at the AGM:

"Since commencing as CEO, he [Tom Revy] has identified a number of opportunities to refine or optimize our development pathway. These include a dry comminution process as opposed to the ‘thirsty’ process currently in our design circuit, production of by- products from our waste stream, such as haematite and silica sands, which could generate substantial additional revenue or reduce capex and running costs as well as other initiatives which he will outline in his presentation following this meeting. These initiatives could very materially impact the project economics favourably.

Consequently, the board is beholden to pursue these initiatives and determine the achievability and impact of them on the project before we negotiate terms with strategic investors. Therefore, the timetable for bringing the Strategic Investor process to a close has been extended."

I think today's announcement is a great summary of the progress on the initiatives that the board thought were worth exploring before negotiating a deal. I also liked the following comment regarding strategic investors:

"That in discussions with potential Strategic Investors, there is a growing confidence that the Hawsons project will produce a consistent high-quality product capable of meeting their off-take specifications over the long term"

Still some work to go, but heading in the right direction.