Possible, but why? The current interest rate environment is so cheap, why mobilise a $10 million low capacity, high cost portable unit and pay a premium to both supply and operate, just to replace it 12 months later. Much more sensible to finance at 10% pa (an Argonaut or similar should be able to come to the party as low as that, maybe a couple of points lower if you throw them some cheap stock as collateral and promise some trailing royalty) spend $75-100 million building what you need and set up for 5 years, just take a bit longer to get there.
Dont forget no matter what you start with you still need tails dams, you still need waste dumps (maybe use old pits if they've been sterilised for cutback potential but that still needs permitting), you still have to have a reliable source of water and power, workshops, offices, etc... You still need to build a decent camp, possibly a new airstrip. None of those are cheap. A lot of it can be outsourced but again you pay a premium to whoever supplies it. TANSTAAFL has never gone away.
Regarding permitting, it should be easy compared to a greenfields, but it's still going to be a pain. Always is. At least 6-12 months of flora, fauna, heritage, native title, water, etc... studies then submission, review, re-submission, public discussion, etc... Things that didnt even exist when the mine closed last. A lot of that cant be done until the PFS is done and you have a reasonably solid proposal as to what will be done and the scale.
Again, why? Why spend 20-30% more by going cheap? You'll never win Bathurst in a Hyundai unless you put Bugatti parts in it until it looks and drives like a Bugatti. There arent that many up front savings compared to taking the time to do it properly and get the most value. Sure, a bit of dilution and some trailing costs, but these things are done by everyone else for a reason. It's the least undesirable of a set of sub-optimal options. There's also an old saying in mining, "the first dollar you spend is always the cheapest". Basically it says do it right and spend the money the first time, or you'll be fixing it at double the price forever.
Your $5-10M might get you through the PFS & FS phases. Maybe. If you cut corners. After that the real money needs spending. It certainly would not get you an operating mill, no matter how small, even if it was rented, for the reasons above. I know of at least one current PFS/FS that is costing $75M and up, just for an underground at an existing operation with operating pits and plant. I just completed a FS on a tiny project where 90% of the work had already been done as part of other studies and submissions and it was cut to the bone, tiny team, fast-tracked, corners cut everywhere - 8 months and $2.5M.
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