"It’s still a bitt of dirt with a fence around and really...

"It’s still a bitt of dirt with a fence around and really doubtful of any production 2025."

Is that meant to be taken seriously?

You could say that about LTR too but it's still valued in the billions under a takeover offer.
Also, if you've been around long enough you would have remembered Fortescue when it had nothing but red rocks in the ground. Twiggy was ridiculued for thinking he could possibly raise the enormous amount of capital it takes to build the scale he would need to compete against RIO and BHP. Somehow he eventually raised enough, almost entirely through debt thanks to a promising iron ore market but then very few believed that he could take on BHP and RIO with that level of debt and last. Then the GFC hit and any company with excessive debt was expected to fail and was heavily sold down and shorted. I thought they had no hope of surviving that period with lower iron ore prices and massive debt. Very few expected Fortescue to survive but they did and they are now a huge company that no one doubts anymore. The GFC drove the sp down from $13 to just above $1. Down around 90%. That's a market losing all belief. Mnb has fallen from a peak of 21c to a low 7c or 67% in a similarly disastrous bear market for small cap stocks. A much smaller fall despite being a much smaller, much less liquid stock.

FMG



That 2c stock with land full of red rock (and fences!) is now worth $28 dollars per share. The odds of even funding that project, succeeding against the biggest competition in the world that were operating in Fortescue’s own neighbourhood and surviving the GFC with that huge debt durden must have been miniscule compared to MNB's chances to prosper from here with major plant components already paid for and on site, the IDC loan for US$14mill of the $26mill remaining capex, this cr to fill most of that gap and other non equity options still on the table to cover working capital.
Unlike Fortescue’s huge upfront debt, MNB's total debt will probably be roughly US$20mill, or less than half of its first year's profit. That's a very small debt level even for a small cap ASX listed company.
No local competition, very low debt, strong government support for the company and for locally produced products as well as a strong cost and price advantage over imported fertilisers.
I think it will be risk off time after this cr, although we might first see a few weeks of post cr volatility. Some cr related selling no doubt but how much buying now that funding risk and risk of further delays is greatly reduced and newsflow sure to begin on construction activities.