Ryan having done well out of Lion Selection in the early 2000's...

Ryan having done well out of Lion Selection in the early 2000's this round has been terribly disappointing. I share your frustrations. One thing I have always liked about Lion though is their appetite for risk. Whether that be political or circumstantial. You look at their other smaller investments whether it be Erdene in Mongolia or Celamin in Tunisia, which has had all of the above when it comes to risk. They see an opportunity and they go for it. They are also not afraid to heavily weight their portfolio into situations they think have the best risk reward. In this case it has been Pani. I for one like this, as good opportunities in the junior mining space don't present themselves every day. If you see something you like, you go big and you go hard.

In the early 2000's pretty much everything they touched turned to gold. This time around they haven't been nearly as fortunate but having said that they have taken on a lot more risk. It must be said they haven't been nearly as well capitalised either which has limited their opportunities. I think this might be why they haven't resisted in terms of taking the money off the table with EGA and NUS (this one in particular hurt) when the opportunities arose. This will now allow them to fund their share of the JV costs I would think right up to a development decision.

@Ed1value made the point that Lion will probably have to dilute their Pani interest going forward but I don't think this is necessarily the case. I can remember Macquarie Bank offering to lend 100% of the capital costs of this project on the back of just a preliminary economic assessment study. I believe Lion will be able to borrow a large portion of their share of the capital expenditure. If or when we get a development decision, I am convinced the Lion share price will be well north of $1 a share (assuming they maintain their interest). Let's say the capital costs are A$500m and they have to fund 20% or A$100. With a stronger share price and market capitalisation, this is definitely realistic.

When it comes to executives feathering their own nests and incestuous deals I see nothing here that I don't see anywhere else. As a shareholder of these companies it is something we just have to wear. The idealist in me still gets irritated but the realist reminds me we retail investors are just the passengers. If we don't like what we see we can simply get out.

It might be just sheer stubborn bloody mindedness on my part Ryan but I genuinely believe the time has come. Lion have well and truly had to earn this JV interest. It's as it should be for a premium asset. I bought more shares on Friday's news and will continue to follow this evolving story with great interest. I think the volume of turnover will be our guide. As you alluded to, at the present time very little has changed in this department (the volume is thin).