Hi Suzee, this was the issue which immediately came to mind for...

Hi Suzee, this was the issue which immediately came to mind for me as well when @GARETH78 suggested this was payment to a contractor for works done.

In effect, if the options are priced too high, the contractor would be unlikely to accept as he may not get paid at all. Price them too low, the contractor gets far more shares than would actually reflect straight payment for works performed - diluting shareholders more than would otherwise be considered at market rate, or if s/he is a star, at above market rate.

Someone has suggested this contractor was worth every penny paid but provided no further details - perhaps work on the plant to improve those fantastic and ever more efficient recovery rates we are achieving? Just my speculation.

If it is a one off for something critical to business sustainability then this would be a fair call by the BOD, but this is not a contractor remuneration method I would like to see exercised regularly.