Ann: Star of Mangaroon Acquisition & Consolidation, page-31

I personally see this deal as a win, given the relatively small cash consideration for what appears to be a significantly underexplored historical gold center. Any comparable gold prospect/historical production center of similar scale/grade over in the Kalgoorlie/eastern Goldfields would have been extensively drill tested!
That said, Millgates does raise a valid point, so thanks for sharing - the additional view points are always worth considering. It prompted me to have a quick look at the current minimum expenditure commitments in relation to current and pending tenure positions.
The current minimum annual expenditure commitment across DRE’s tenure is ~$2.3M (plus $326k rent). Comes from:
- Mangaroon (excluding FQM earn-in ground) $1.3M minimum annual expenditure and $174k rent
- West Kimberly $820k minimum annual expenditure and $110k rent*
- Central Yilgarn $193k minimum annual expenditure and $44k rent
*Does include a couple of pending EL's but I kept them in as they are effectively part of the overall project.

The potential minimum annual expenditure commitment across DRE’s large pending EL's in the Ashburton and Abra regions would be an additional $3.1M minimum annual expenditure and $419k rent.

[Might be some rounding issues and it is only based on current tenure maturity]

The point is that despite the increased burn rate for the REE drilling - there is still a large tenure list that requires a non-trivial minimum expenditure upkeep. Obviously the ‘pending applications’ are only of concern from an expenditure perspective once they are granted, and there is always potential for deals, earn-ins etc which can significantly reduce the commitment. But I agree with you in that its definitely something to watch.

Ultimately, having prospective ground with multi-commodity potential in the hands of an experienced exploration team who consistently put the majority of the dollars into the ground is a good scenario, all just imo.

DYOR