article in the australian 24 sep 2010, page-2

"This injection . . . will put Cudeco in a strong position to negotiate project finance upon completion of the definitive feasibility study," Mr McCrae said.

I could be wrong but I think the linking of finance to completion of the dfs is new news. Speaking of which, there can't be too much left to do to finalise the DFS, I wonder what's left? Would the engineering studies being undertaken by Sinosteel be considered to be part of the dfs? If they aren't due to be completed until November (?), it may be a little while before we hear more on that front.

Taking a step back, if hypothetically the terms for potential finance improve as time passes and the project is progressively de-risked as boxes are ticked (EIS, mining licence, engineering studies etc); then it really makes sense to defer acquiring finance (under better terms)until as late as possible. As well as derisking through technical and regulatory progress, there is also a strong possibility that the global resource will increase through further and expanded discoveries, further de-risking the project.

When you put all this together, Cudeco are on a sound strategic path. $20 million gives them stability and funding to continue on it. Here's hoping that it was provided by a little known boutique financier like Berkshire Hathaway!