Ann: Response to ASX Price Query, page-9

Sadly no news first thing today.

Looks like the article was about giving us the heads up, off the record, that the FID is not the next step along the path to a restart.

Concentrating on getting the mine plan more robust and increasing the LOM free cash flow projections to give lenders comfort will also kick the SP up in the lead up to finalising the funding. That makes a lot of sense to me, particularly if the decline and underground drilling is advanced as part of that process to shorten the time line to first ore delivery.
The higher the copper price the better for any necessary hedging. Likewise the higher the SP the better if any equity has to be raised or any option sweeteners are required by the lender.

Whilst the first tranche of funding is higher risk and therefore likely to be more expensive, a more robust mine plan and more certainty about the available resources should make the rest of the development funding far less risky and therefore cheaper.

Fingers crossed the story might end up being good enough for the lenders and board to be comfortable with principal and Interest debt funding and no further dilution.