Well, there's always one contrarian armed with a simple inappropriate psychological reason ... I wouldn't buy my old car or bike, but I might remarry my first wife if I had one (still married to the same saint) .... AND I would definitely by an old mine I sold of cheaply, if the new owner found I left a shite load of long life high grade minerals, had built a new plant my new ragtag operations desperately needs and was now seen far an wide by industry experts to be the leading candidate for further definitive regional consolidation.
Raf's old boss, the legendary Cool Hand Luke (who had a stint as Gwalia boss) certainly thinks so, and has thrown SLR's hat onto the ring and in doing so created a new benchmark SP. Imagine if SLR built a 19/9% stake and then had a conversation with GMD about a friendly merger ... how long would it take GMD to get further backing from its biggest backers to make an offer that RED SH's couldn't refuse ??
"When the facts change, smart people change their minds" .... I think everyone agrees, Rafe, CooL Hand and MW are very smart experienced people who know the industry and Leonora extremely well and all have bid for Gwalia to complement their own assets.
Gwalia as a standalone has failed repeatedly - SBM last reported AISC was close to A$2600 .... not going to cut the mustard.
Refurbishing the old Gwalia plant would be expensive, and a new one very expensive and time consuming - inflation and labour stages are still having a massive impact, and causing many projects to be aborted.
Time is money, and delay is not a luxury that GMD supporters are like to tolerate for long.
I think its not a matter of IF but WHEN and WHO leads and at WHAT price, for the consolidation of Leonora, which must include KOTH, Gwalia and others to achieve large scale economic operations with a long life - nothing less will satisfy institutional investors.
Sooner rather than later I would imagine is needed by GMD as large capital decisions are looming and the market will not tolerate another "white elephant" ego project .... time for proper leadership that will deliver ruthless, hard headed, effective decisions that will build the next great WA gold company.
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