To state the obvious, it is the uncertainty going forward that...

To state the obvious, it is the uncertainty going forward that has killed the share price. Freight rate increases have erased the profit margin and the weak bauxite price recovery combined with a stronger A$ have not helped.

If you look beyond the current issues (and the $35m debt) the economic attractiveness of the stage 2 expansion is still very appealing – with a forecast significant reduction in unit operating costs and most of the capex to be provided by NAIF Infrastructure Facility.

Given the above you wonder whether a real option for MMI is just to shut up shop, renegotiate the debt, try to secure the equity funding for the expansion from major shareholders, build it, and then re-open at the new 6Mtpa rate. Noting that temporary closure costs and customer reaction are unknowns.

This would provide absolute certainty around future cash needs and allow time for the bauxite market to recover and hopefully freight rates to normalise.

The alternative isn't really viable - blindly push on whilst losing money and hoping for factors outside management control to improve?