Overall the interview was fine. Few things I picked on. Will...

Overall the interview was fine. Few things I picked on. Will start with the negative and move to the positives..

Nic should have communicated to the market during the last Q report and the one before about the delays at Roswell. ALK needs to be reporting budget vs actual on the expansion project.

So now we found out ALK are about 6 weeks behind schedule during a random interview rather than Q report. It shouldn't be the case.

Looks like they are going to continue to explore NMPP further which is a departure of what I was told in the past - or at least what I understood. Sounds that way anyway and it perhaps alludes to some success in the exploration there.

It seems ALK will be seeking 50/50 JV for NMPP. If they can pull it off then it is good even though I am more in favor of 80/20 where ALK has risk free 20% stake and is not required to spend anything extra on developing the operations.
50/50 will require ALK to go into big debt and with that comes lot of risks - then again, the rewards are higher if it works.

Nic struggled to explain where the value will be coming at Tomie and the interviewer had to pull the words out of Nic - had to guide him.

But Nic did really good job explaining m&a opportunities and strategies for NSW and further out.

If ALK goes for 50/50 JV at NMPP then, ALK should not be paying (planning to pay) divis until NMPP is up and running. Saving cash in order to borrow less for NMPP will be better option. Once NMPP is up and running then pay divis for ~35 - 45 years.

Around 26th minute the interviewer pushed on the SP. And here Nic did ok job explaining the potential impact SS will/may have on the SP.


One thing to keep an eye on is that if ALK lands 50/50 JV for NMPP, it will probably attract around $75m of payment to ALK. That will improve ALK's cash position lot earlier than later this year or early next year.


Check KCC out - their JV partner which is AI company is drilling around 35km south from Boda. This is an area that seats on the same volcanic belt with NMPP and the AI company discovered hydrothermal breccias there. ALK's best grades come from these breccias and especially if they also contain cemented sulphide breccias.