I guess the difficulty with the takeover in play is that the...

I guess the difficulty with the takeover in play is that the scoping study has seemingly more significance than normal. Normally it would just be a stepping stone to the company progressing to a full feasibility study, for ESS the next stepping stone is a likely takeover.

Additionally given our short mine life even one or two years of achieving spod prices significantly above the scoping study price will make a vast difference to the NPV calculations.

I guess if a second competitor bidder is interested they will plug in their own variables, so I guess the main impact of it may be on shareholder perceptions of value and thus their willingness to accept a low offer.