great stuff mate and along the lines of my thinking.The highway...

great stuff mate and along the lines of my thinking.

The highway project is well behind now and ALK did not even have costings for it only few weeks ago. I hope they do have them by now. I can't see any 5Y plan without ALK presenting full costings for rest of the project. Based on that I think they have the numbers now and we will see them - hopefully.

Lot of murky water around any additional resources around Caloma and other legacy areas while ALK keeps producing from there.

Regarding McLeans - yes ALK can access this resource via the Production Drive.

I think it is critical for ALK to release additional step-out exploration results from around TGO (any area that is close enough to the plant) and preferably from areas under the mining license agreement which means such resource can be developed with minimum paperwork. Also, any such discovery enhances the economics of the project. Without any further discoveries the metrics will not look good as I think ALK has blown the budget by around $80m but we will have to wait and see.

Agree 100% on extending the production drive to SA and allow access to the UG resource there. I think this is on the cards anyway and will probably be included in the 5Y plan.

But the key to changing the situation is more exploration - the only way to add more value right now and outside a potential JV at NMPP.
1. Adding more resources at TGO extends the LOM and makes up for the budget blowout.
2. Adding more resources at NMPP enhances the economics for the project and allow ALK to negotiate more favorable deal with potential JV partner. Especially if the resource increase comes with improved average grade.
3. Making any discovery outside TGO and NMPP adds to the credentials and the possibility of organic growth and second mine - which means divis.